Ready for the Storm
"The waves crash in and the tide pulls out.
It's an angry sea but there is no doubt
the lighthouse will keep shining out
to warn the lonely sailor.
And the lightening strikes and
the wind cuts cold
through the sailor's bones to the sailor's soul
'til there's nothing left that he can hold
except the rolling ocean.
But I am ready for the storm.Yes
sir, ready.
I am ready for the storm.
I'm ready for the storm."
Leslie, Stetson, and Charlotte Turner at Bear Island, Maine (est.1927).
The Newspaper Report
PRESUMED DEAD-Mr. and Mrs. E.J. Turner, of Island Falls, have received word from the U.S. War Department that their son, T-Sgt. Leslie L. Turner, who had been reported missing in action on April 25, 1945, was killed on that date, while on a secret mission over Austria. He had delivered his mission and was returning to his base when hit by a night fighter. T-Sgt. Turner enlisted in the Army in March, 1943. He was assigned to the Air Corps, trained in Florida, Biloxi, Miss., Texas, Nebraska, and received his wings at Harlingen, Texas, in March 1944.
He was home on leave in Feb., 1944. In July he went to England as engineer on a B-24 (Liberator). In December he went to Italy, with the 15th Air Division, and was there when sent on his last mission, which was the 46th one. He was born in Hancock, Maine, Aug. 3rd, 1921. He attended schools of Southwest Harbor and Northeast Harbor. Before entering the Army he was a welder for the Southwest Harbor Boat company. Besides his parents, he leaves two sisters and three brothers. Mrs. Thomas Fennelly of Lamoine; Mrs. Harvey Sawyer of McKinley; Claude Turner, who is in the Civil Service and Elmo Turner, who was in the U.S. Coast Guard through the war, both of Southwest Harbor, and Herlbert Turner who was in the U.S. Navy four years and two months. He lives in Wakefield, Mass.
Memorial services will be held in Southwest Harbor.
Leslie L. Turner
3 August 1921 - 26 April 1945
Bear Island Light
He was one of my father's three older brothers and closest in age. I have been told he liked machines and was thinking of starting a repair business after the war. I remember my father, Stetson Turner, telling me the story. There was irony and sadness in his voice as he noted his brother died dropping leaflets less than a month before the war in Europe ended. I spent some time recently researching Leslie's life and death. This is what I know so far.
Leslie was born on 3 August, 1921 at Hancock, Maine to Bessie and Elmo Turner. Their fifth child and third son. Before his third birthday his father entered the Lighthouse Service assigned first to Duck Island Light and in May 1924 to Bear Island Light, both on the coast of Maine. Bear Island is located a few miles from Northeast Harbor which itself is located on Mount Desert Island. The family remained on Bear Island for 10 years leaving in 1934 for the station at Southwest Harbor, also on Mount Desert Island.
While at Bear Island, during the spring and fall, the children would row a small boat to school in Northeast Harbor. In the summer the children watched the Rockerfellers and the other "summer people" move into the mansions of Northeast Harbor and sail their yachts on waters around Bear Island. The sea was part of the children's lives as was the lighthouse. They joined their father in caring for the light by polishing the glass and the brass hardware and on many days and nights listened to the fog horn and bell. As they grew to adults, Leslie's brothers joined the Coast Guard and the Navy. His sisters married lobstermen and boatbuilders. Leslie went to work for a boatbuilder in Southwest Harbor.
In March, 1943, Leslie entered the Army and eventually joined the Army Air
Force. This would take him far from his life on Bear Island. He
would train in Florida, Mississippi, Texas, and Nebraska and eventually enter
combat from England and Italy. It is hard to imagine a place more removed
from Bear Island and his life there then the top turret of a B-24 flying over
the Alps but that is were he would be in just over two years. The journey would
end at a farm called Scherpenlehen, in the Alps of Austria. Its
final moments would touch the life of an Austrian farmer, Maria Pöchlauer, and
greet her every morning thereafter.
T/Sgt. Leslie L. Turner
Technical Sergeant Leslie L. Turner was engineer on a B24-Liberator (B24-H 42-95131) named Mag Drop which was shot down in the early hours of 26 April, 1945 over Austria. It was his 46th combat mission.
Leslie entered the service from Bangor, Maine in April 1943. He completed basic training at Army Air Force Basic Training Center 4 in Miami, Florida in July 1943. Leslie was then transferred to Keesler Aircraft and Engine Mechanics School in Biloxi, Mississippi. He completed his mechanics training in January 1944 and entered gunnery training with the Flexible Gunnery Training Group at Harlingen, Texas. This training progression indicates by the time he completed mechanics training he was being readied for his eventual combat role as engineer in a bomber crew. In February he returned to Maine on leave, probably before actually traveling to Texas..
Leslie earned his US Army Air Force (USAAF) wings at Harlingen, Texas, in March 1944 upon completion of gunnery training. In April he was then transferred to the 2nd AAF, a training force, at Lincoln, Nebraska and from there quickly on to the 2nd AAF's Combat Crew Training School at Peterson Field, Colorado. There he joined the 10-man crew of 2nd Lt. Edward Reilly, Jr. as flight engineer and aerial gunner.
Edward F. Reilly Jr. and Crew
It is likely this photo was taken in June 1944 when the Reilly crew completed training with the Combat Crew Training School at either Peterson Field, Colorado or Mountain Home, Idaho. Edward Reilly, Jr., the pilot, is probably standing on the far left. Jack Scott (bombardier) is standing second from right. Leslie Turner (engineer) is kneeling 3rd from right. It is also likely three of the other crewmen flying the 46th mission are included in this photo. These would be John C. Proaps (radio operator), Noland J. Griffin (gunner), and James C. Johnson (gunner). The other four men in this photo are likely Edward G. Firdler (navigator) , Garth Bowen (co-pilot), Merle R. Harlin (gunner), and Joseph C. Mick (gunner). Reilly, Bowen, Firdler and Scott, as the officers, would be standing. James Poletti sent this photo to Leslie's mother although his connection to the Reilly crew is as yet unknown. In this photo, Leslie is wearing his seargent's stripes. If you can identify any members of the Reilly crew from this or other photos, please visit: http://www.wam.umd.edu/~hturner/Leslie/Photos.htm
The Reilly crew was assigned to the 8th Air Force's 14th Replacement Control Depot ("Repple Depple") at Stone Army Air Field in England in July 1944.
Leslie Turner was a relatively small man. His records state his height as 5' 7 1/2" and his weight as 129 lbs. with a shoe size of 7. His relatively small stature and mechanical skills probably contributed to his assignment as engineer and gunner. Leslie had blue eyes and brown hair.
Carpetbaggers
On 11 August, 1944, the Reilly crew was transferred to the 36th Bomb Squadron, 801st Bomb Group (Provisional). At that time, the 36th Bomb Squadron flew as part of Operation Carpetbagger. This volunteer group, flying all black aircraft, specialized in low-level night missions in which they dropped supplies supporting the resistance fighters, inserted Office of Strategic Services (OSS) agents (known to them only as "Joes" or "Joesephines"), dropped propaganda leaflets ("nickels"), retrieved agents, VIPS, and downed flyers, and conducted night bombing missions. The Carpetbaggers were among the forerunners of the elite Air Force Special Operations squadrons. The Reilly crew's stay with the 36th Bomb Squadron was brief as on 13 August a major reorganization of 801st was undertaken with the 36th Bomb Squadron being absorbed into other squadrons at Harrington. The 801st Bomb Group (Provisional) was redesignated the 492nd Bomb Group.1 The Reilly crew was transferred to the 492nd Bomb Group's 856th Bomb Squadron remaining at Harrington and training for Carpetbagger operations.
At the time of transfer to the 36th Bomb Squadron, it is likely the Reilly crew was reduced in size from 10 to 8 men as the primary missions they were intended to fly had changed from strategic bombing to agent insertion and supply drops. The aircraft were modified to perform this special assignment. The bottom ball turret was removed from the Liberator allowing agents to parachute out of the hole left by its removal (the "Joe hole"). Bomb racks were modified to drop supply canisters. It appears two gunners (Merle Harlin and Joseph Mick) were removed from the crew to bring it to 8 men.
On 24 August, 1944, Edward Reilly, Jr. and his bombardier, Jack Scott, flew as observers out of Harrington on a night supply drop in France. Since the pilot and bombardier guided the aircraft together during the final low altitude approach to the drop zone, this training mission indicates the Reilly crew was preparing for Carpetbagger operations at that time.
Edward Reilly, Jr. also flew as co-pilot on a C47 on 11 September. This may have been his first combat mission. Harrington flight logs indicate the first combat mission piloted by 2nd Lt. Reilly may have been flown on 17 September, 1944 departing at 1505. It is assumed this may have been the first combat mission of Leslie Turner as well. At the time Carpetbagger crews and aircraft were temporarily employed flying fuel to the Allied forces in Belgium. Available logs show Reilly flying six missions out of Harrington between 25 September and 30 September. Working backward from the 46th mission with all available flight logs, it is possible the crew flew an additional ten fuel hauling sorties out of Harrington between 17 September and 25 September bringing their total to 16 sorties as of 30 September. Fuel hauling operations ended that day and the Reilly crew, as all the Carpetbaggers at Harrington, received an extended break while it was decided where their special skills where needed next.
On 21 October, 1944 the Reilly crew was transferred to the 857th Bomb Squadron and on 11 December, 1944, to the 859th Bomb Squadron. Both these squadrons were stationed at Harrington as part of the Carpetbagger operation. In both transfers, along with the six original members of the Reilly crew (Reilly, Scott, Turner, Proaps, Griffin, and Johnson), were Flight Officer (F/O) Irwin Kelly, co-pilot, and F/O Clayton W. Pluff, navigator. Seven of these eight men (Irwin Kelly, the co-pilot, was at some point replaced by Thomas Zinkand) flew the last mission of Mag Drop. While they were technically still part of the 492nd Bomber Group and the 8th AAF, the 859th Bomb Squadron was detached and sent to the 15th AAF at Brindisi and later Rosignano, Italy. The transfer of the 859th Squadron to Italy was completed on 17 December. Special operations supporting resistance forces in Italy and the Balkans began almost immediately after arrival in Brindisi.
In Italy the 859th Bomb Squadron operated with the 15th Special Group (Heavy) (Provisional), later designated the 2641st Special Group (Heavy) (Provisional). This group, which included the 885th Bomb Squadron (Heavy) (Special), a veteran of special operations in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO), flew missions identical to those of Operation Carpetbagger. The men of these two squadrons did not have regularly assigned aircraft nor did they always fly together as a crew although that was most often their preference. They volunteered for each individual mission. Photographs are rare as cameras were forbidden by the commanding officer, Col. Monro MacCloskey; an indication of the secrecy surrounding their missions.
Leslie was promoted to Technical Sergeant and awarded the Air Medal on 8 February, 1945, while in Italy. The rest of the crew that flew his last mission with him also received this same medal and similar promotions at that time. It has been noted that the Air Medal may have been awarded after completion of five combat missions and that subsequent to the initial award, each additional five missions entitled the wearer to an additional Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster. Five Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters would be replaced by a single Silver Oak Leaf Cluster.
According to flight logs, Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) 14061, and OSS files, Leslie Turner's 46th and final mission was a single aircraft sortie delivering two OSS agents and their supplies into the Linz, Austria area. The OSS code name for the mission was HOPE. 1st Lt. Reilly's crew flew Mag Drop (295131) that night. It was their 3rd mission in that A/C. Leslie was assigned, as flight engineer, to the top gun turret which kept him just behind the pilot and co-pilot and near key engineering stations. His station was just above and forward of the bomb-bay.
This was the second attempt to insert the HOPE mission. The first attempt was flown by the crew of 1st Lt. Hendrickson the previous night, 24 April, but was unsuccessful due to "solid undercast" at the target.
After dropping the HOPE team and their supply canisters, the Reilly crew was to drop supplies to the nearby DUQUESNE mission already on the ground in Austria.
They departed at 2131 on a relatively clear night with only a light haze.
They flew a direct route with a maximum altitude of 14,000 ft. flying for four
hours. Their route carried them over the Gulf of Venice and the Italian and
Austrian Alps.
Missing in Action
The 859th Operations Officer, 1st Lt. Earl McKenney, reports the following on 26 April, 1945:
1. B-24H no. 42-95131J departed its base at 2131 hours 25 April 1945 on an operational mission. No R/T or W/T contact was ever established with the A/C after its departure from the airfield.
2. Crew members of this squadron's A/C and the other squadron's A/C flying the same route as the missing A/C reported no unusual incidents enroute or on return from their targets that would give any indication as to what might have happened to the missing plane.
3. Extensive efforts on VHF, R/T and W/T frequencies were made to establish contact with the overdue plane. No word was ever received from the crew nor at the time of this report has any information concerning the crew or A/C been received at this headquarters.
The report lists the Mag Drop's crew that night as follows:
|
Pilot |
1st Lt. Edward F. Reilly, Jr. |
|
Co-Pilot |
1st Lt. Thomas Zinkand |
|
Navigator |
2nd Lt. Clayton W. Pluff |
|
Bombardier |
1st Lt. Jack H. Scott |
|
Engineer |
T/Sgt. Leslie L. Turner (Top Turret) |
|
Radio Operator |
S/Sgt. John C. Proaps |
|
Aerial Gunner |
Sgt. Noland J. Griffin (Tail Gunner) |
|
Aerial Gunner |
Sgt. James C. Johnson (Waist Gunner) |
OSS files for the HOPE mission also report the missing aircraft noting
"A/C took off and S/C for target and nothing else heard from A/C."
These initial OSS memos also note the loss as 26 April with the pilot "1st
Lt. Reilly." At that time the OSS would have been unsure of the fate of
their agents.
MACR 14061 contains the results of an interview with 1st Lt. Jack H. Scott who survived the downing of Mag Drop. 1st Lt. Scott, badly burned, was taken prisoner by the Germans the day of the crash. He was liberated at a later date by the advancing Allied armies.
The report notes scattered clouds and light haze that night. The mission departed Rosignano at 2131 on 25 April. The mission was to Linz with target time set for 0130. Excerpts from MACR 14061 follow:
This was a "single aircraft" sortie. 1st Lt. Scott stated that he bailed out but had "no knowledge" of how or if the others exited the ship. The plane struck the ground twenty miles south of Linz, Austria. The pilot, co-pilot, engineer and radio operator had been killed and were still in the ship when it crashed. 1st Lt. Scott saw the navigator (2nd Lt. Clayton Pluff) in a German hospital, "alive, burned on face and head - left arm had been amputated at the shoulder."
"The mission was secret supply & personnel drop near Linz, Austria - Target reached and contents of plane dropped according to schedule - Seven minutes (20 miles) south of Linz, Austria on return trip to base plane was attacked by night fighter - Fighter made one pass from below firing rockets, small cannon and machine guns3 - First blast set plane (B-24) afire in nose and flight deck - Probably killed crew members on flight deck as plane immediately went out of control - Four men bailed out successfully before plane exploded in midair - Was told by Germans that plane crashed and bodies of four men had been found - Men killed included
Pilot - Reilly, Edward F. Jr., Co-Pilot - Zinkand, Thomas, Engineer - Turner, Leslie L., Radio Op. - Proaps, John C.
Other four men returned to US at close of war."
The flight log for Rosignano supports MACR 14061 indicating Mag Drop was dispatched to target code name DUQUESNE in Austria with two agents and two packages. It was the only A/C assigned this target that night. Three other A/C departed Rosignano within the same hour bound for targets in Czechoslovakia and Italy but none was carrying agents.
The Luftwaffe aircraft that downed Mag Drop was later identified as a
Ju88.
MACR 14061 lists the addresses of the next of kin giving an indication of
the probable hometowns of the men flying this mission. They are as follows:
|
1st Lt. Edward F. Reilly Jr. |
Brooklyn, New York |
|
1st Lt. Thomas Zinkand |
New York, New York |
|
2nd Lt Clayton W. Pluff |
Greenfield, Massachusetts |
|
1st Lt. Jack H. Scott |
Stanley, North Carolina |
|
T/Sgt. Leslie L. Turner |
Island Falls, Maine |
|
S/Sgt. John C. Proaps |
Sebastopol, California |
|
Sgt. James Johnson |
Summit, South Dakota |
|
Sgt. Noland J. Griffin |
Baltimore, Maryland |
Both Jack Scott and Edward Reilly, Jr. left behind wives.
Regarding the loss of Mag Drop and a previous 2641st loss
(McCarthy2) over Czechoslovakia on 16 April, 1945, Col. Ken Strafer
made this observation: "This was the problem...16 and 25 April, the
Germans were tracking the flights with two forms of radar and we, the crews,
did not know this. It was very de-moralizing to have the guys picked of
by the night fighters that were vectored in on them. The radar would put
the Ju-88 or 210 into the general area and the exhaust flames would give the
aircraft up." Later eyewitness and survivor reports would confirm this
scenario.
Survivors
A statement from 1st Lt. Scott written on 7 March, 1946 in Stanley, N.C., contains further information on the loss of Mag Drop and the fate of her crew. Scott states it was 0130 and they were at 14,000 ft when attacked. There was a single burst which "centered in the nose and flight deck of the B-24, causing terrible explosions and flames immediately. No fire was returned from the B-24, as it lost control at once and the crew members who were able, bailed out instantly. The plane exploded in midair approximately sixty (60) seconds after attack by the fighter."
Badly burned, 1st Lt. Scott surrendered to a farmer the next day and was turned over to the Germans. He was informed by his captors that the air craft had been found with the bodies of four men. "They then handed me a pistol holster and belt stamped with the engineer's serial number." They stated this belt was around one of the bodies in the plane.
On 26 April, 1946, Status Review and Determination (S.R. & D.) No. 5861 concluded that Edward Reilly, Jr., Thomas Zinkand, Leslie L. Turner, and John G. Proaps were very probably killed in action (KIA) on 26 April, 1945. On 17 October, 1946 this conclusion was approved by order of the War Department. It is likely this decision triggered a letter to Leslie's kin and preceded the newspaper announcement and memorial service.
Numerous statements from survivors, in addition to 1st Lt. Scott, supported the KIA conclusion. Sgt. Noland Griffin noted the plane crashed near Amstetten. He states after being hit "a fire broke out in the Bombay (sic) trapping above the men Reilly, Zinkand, Turner and Proaps. A minute or so later the plane crashed into a mountain."
Sgt. James Johnson states "I was in the waist and tried to get through
to the front of the plane but it was impossible. The whole plane was
afire by then so I went back to the escape hatch and jumped out. Inside
of a few seconds after I jumped the plane exploded in mid-air. As I was
descending in my chute I could see the wreckage hit the ground and it exploded
again." Johnson escaped capture for six days at which time he was
taken to Waidhoffen. He notes "The Germans must have found the
bodies because I saw a pistol holster of the engineer's. I know it was
his as it was hand made."
Pfc Walter Haass, the Fifth Survivor
On 11 May, 1945, Pfc. Walter Haass of the OSS submitted a written report to Lt. Col. Chapin, Chief, Secret Intelligence Central Europe (SICE). A copy eventually reached the 859th Bomb Squadron. A hand written notation at the top reads "Reilly's A/C 131." According to this document, Mag Drop was carrying three OSS agents that night. One was Pfc.Walter Haass. Excerpts follow:
"Take off at ROSIGNANO, Italy, at 2100 local time. Two men and four bundles to be dropped at target HOPE, and two bundles for target R."
"The target area was perfectly clear and there were no clouds. The drop at HOPE was made at 2440 local time, altitude 1,000 feet, air speed 135."
"From HOPE we went to target R, 40 miles east of Linz. We passed the target area first at 2455 local time, 5,000 feet, and no signals were seen. After we made a large circle we returned over the target area at 3,000 ft, and still did not see any signals. After I told the pilot to head for home, we turned our heading and gained altitude. This was 0100 local time. At this moment we received a direct hit in the bomb-bay. The waist was immediately filled with smoke and flames, and everybody fitted chutes."
Walter Haass describes bailing out with "the tail gunner and the waist gunner."
"I was captured near WEIDHOFEN, 25 April, around noon after I had already walked quite a distance and even passed through a German training camp near BOHLERWERK, KREIS AMSTATTEN."
Walter Haass notes after capture he saw 1st Lt. Scott and 2nd Lt. Pluff in a German hospital in Bohlerwerk. Both were badly burned. The German doctors said that one of them "will lose his left arm" and the other "will possibly be blind." Walter Haass notes he overheard his Interrogation Officer speaking to an aide noting "four bodies had been found in the wreckage of a plane." The German captors, according to Haass, did not know he understood German nor were they sure precisely when and where Haass had himself crashed.
While the MACR makes no mention of Walter Haass, the OSS files for the HOPE
Mission note he was assigned to the HOPE mission as "conducting
officer." This and later Austrian Police reports collected as part of the
crash site investigation support the fact that Walter Haass was aboard Mag
Drop that night.
HOPE
As noted by 1st Lt. Scott and Pfc. Haass, Mag Drop was shot down after dropping the two HOPE mission agents. Later OSS records describe the actions of these agents in the last days of the European Theater of Operations (ETO).
1st Lt. Joachim Stenzel of the OSS Austrian Desk submitted several briefs of the missions in Austria. The following is his brief for the HOPE mission:
"The team consisted of two DV's and was dropped in southern Austria on 26 April, 1945. The pinpoint was missed by several miles, and most of the containers including the radio, drifted against the "Schoberstien" mountain and was never found.
The team managed to recruit some assistants for tactical work but never attempted to establish communication. The joined the US forces on 7 May."
The mission debriefings contain more detail on HOPE. The mission was conducted for Company "C", 2677th Regiment (Provisional), OSS. Company "C" was based at Bari, Italy at this time. Headed by Al Ulmer, Company "C" oversaw Balkan OSS operations and eventually included German-Austrian operations. Company "C" was under Secret Intelligence (SI) Central Europe based at Caserta, Italy.
The HOPE agents' code names were "Ernst Cole" and "Harry Hague." The declassified OSS documents state their real names as Emmerich Kohl and Helmet Hagendorfer respectively. Their task was to collect intelligence on German troop and supply concentrations in the Linz area and report back to OSS via radio. The coordinates of the 1st target DZ are noted as: 14o 15' 30" - 47o 48' 42".
Despite having lost the radio in the drop, the HOPE mission attempted to
make the best use of their circumstances. During their brief operation (26
April to 7 May, 1945), they encountered a German platoon which challenged their
"cover." Despite the fact that their cover held, sensing something in
the Germans' demeanor, the team admitted their true mission and convinced the
Germans to join them. The combined group of nearly 20, including one woman, a
refuge from Vienna, roamed the local mountains collecting information and
eventually passing it on to the 3rd Army upon contact on 7 May. The
OSS was particularly interested in the German platoon as it was comprised of
German mountain troops whose assignment was to infiltrate Allied lines and
report back on the suitability of the terrain for armored operations.
612 Graves Registration Company
After the war, 1st Lt. James R. Nixdorf of the 612 Graves Registration Company was charged with investigation and victim recovery at the crash site. His team was the last of a series of Allied investigations at the crash site, the first of these being conducted on 19 September, 1946, by a British team on the advice of Russian authorities. Nixdorf first visited the site in March, 1947.
The final visit and recovery of the bodies was conducted on 25 June, 1947. The exact location was stated as "HEIMLEHEN, Meierrotte 19, Community of WAIDHOFFEN, a.d.Ybbs" (an der Ybbs). The team proceeded to the village of KONRADSHEIM; "the village nearest to the reported burials." The terrain was described as rugged with the site "extremely difficult to reach." The village is "squarely on top of a mountain" according to Nixdorf. He notes the villagers of Konradsheim stated his vehicles "were the first motor vehicles that had ever climbed to the town."
The investigation revealed that laborers, under the direction of German soldiers, had buried the four victims were they fell, in three separate graves, on the afternoon of 26 April, 1945. Graves were marked with wooden crosses. A grave containing two victims was marked "2 American flyers fallen 26 April 1945." Two other graves were nearby. The wreckage of the plane was scattered over a 1 square mile area. The fuselage was located bearing the number 295131; Mag Drop's tail number. The report contains a hand drawn map of the crash site including the locations of the graves and wreckage.
The only body positively identified at the crash site was that of Leslie Turner. His identification tags had been buried with him. The others, while assumed to be Edward Reilly, Jr., Thomas Zinkand, and John Proaps, remained officially unknown. Positive identification was made later confirming these identities.
Nixdorf's team conducted several interviews with eyewitnesses and police officials. The witnesses were the farmers on whose land Mag Drop had crashed. Their farms became the initial resting place of those lost with her. Two witnesses noted the time of the crash as 0100. There was shooting in the air, red and yellow flares lighting up the sky, and a plane coming from the east circling overhead. It was on fire and exploded over their farms. Some trees caught fire.
Police reports note the capture of 2nd Lt. Pluff, 1st
Lt. Scott and Pfc. Haass. Clayton Pluff and Jack Scott were sent to the
hospital in Waidhoffen. Walter Haass was turned over to a Wehrmacht
patrol. The reports note three flyers captured and four killed (Sgt.
Johnson and Sgt. Griffin escaped initial detection). The crash site was
said to be 10 km north-west of Waidhoffen.
Scherpenlehen
Maria Pöchlauer, proprietor of the farm Scherpenlehen.
"On the 26 April 1945 at 0100 hours I heard shooting in the air. I was not looking out of the window as I thought there are some fighters flying very low. It was bright like during the day and I could see also signal flares. After that a burning plane approached from the East, circling over our area, at once it exploded and fell in parts on the ground."
At 0400 that morning Maria Pöchlauer saw the body of a young flyer of medium build with blond hair lying only "50 steps" from her home. At 1400 that afternoon she witnessed the burial of the flyer on her farm. For the next two years, the body of Leslie Turner was in her care, resting at Scherpenlehen, in the Austrian Alps.
The 612 Graves Registration Company map - Leslie's grave is identified as "grave 1 IF 7096" on the left. It is marked by the word "body" and a cross shown to the lower right of Maria Pöchlauer's house at "Maierrotte 14"
The crash site - May 2004
Looking up the mountain from the valley at the stream's edge
The Cost of Freedom
German armies in Italy surrendered on April 29. On 4 and 5 May the bulk
of the remaining German armies surrendered. At 2:41 AM, 7 May 1945,
Germany surrendered unconditionally. While the were other non-combat
losses following 7 May, including losses to the 2641st Special Group, Mag
Drop was without a doubt one of the last air combat losses of the ETO.
Leslie's remains are in the Ardennes American Cemetery at Neupre, Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium (Plot C, Row 4, Grave 16). He was awarded both the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster. Also buried in Plot C at Ardennes are Edward Reilly, Jr. and Thomas Zinkand. John Proaps was returned to the US at the request of his kin and buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery.
"Find the cost of freedom
buried in the ground.
Mother earth will swallow you.
Lay your body down."
Past and Future Efforts
On 4 December, 2000, I was contacted by Jack H. Scott, Jr., the son of Jack H. Scott, Sr. His father passed away in 1959 possibly believing that only he and Clayton Pluff had survived. Apparently Clayton Pluff had a nickname. Jack Scott Sr. called him "Lucky."
Jack Scott, Jr. relayed a story from his father. "Shortly after parachuting out of the plane, my father was unable to see, and the villagers turned him over to the German soldiers. When he was in the hospital, a German pilot visited and assisted him in eating. This German pilot thought that he may have shot down the Reilly airplane."
In June 2001, I received a call from Gerald Schwab, author of OSS Agents in Hitler's Heartland, in response to an inquiry I had made to him regarding the whereabouts of Walter Haass. Mr. Schwab informed me the Walter Haass had died of cancer in the fall of 2000. Thus only three survivors of Mag Drop's loss remain to be accounted for today.
Over the last few years I have received occasional email correspondence from relatives of Clayton Pluff. His relatives showed him this site. Clayton Pluff found this description of the events of April 26 to be accurate and asked that a message be passed to me: "your uncle was a nice guy". I would like to meet with Clayton Pluff someday but I understand he may not want to relive these events. I respect that completely. He has given enough already.
The fates of James Johnson and Noland Griffin remain unknown. All that is known is that they returned home after the war. Sharing information and memories with these men and their relatives is a goal I continue to pursue.
Mr. Pöchlauer's salvage
In the summer of 2004, I was able to travel to the crash site in Austria and to the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. This was one of the most remarkable and moving experiences of my life. There are many stories to tell of that trip. But one moment, captured in a photo, will always stand out. It is a photo of an elderly farmer standing next to a pile of salvaged metal and miscellaneous parts. It is a photo of one of the Pöchlauer children as he is today. He was a young boy in April 1945. He doesn't remember the night but he has heard the story from his brother and other family members. On top of the scrap pile is a large piece of corrugated metal. It is from Mag Drop; probably a piece of the bomb door. Mr. Pöchlauer pointed to a spot nearby. He said there had been a body of one of the fliers buried there.
He told me that there were many pieces all over the farms on the mountain side and that many had been used to build things. Among these was a bridge over the stream made from aircraft parts. To me, this bridge is a fine memorial. I hope Edward, Thomas, Clayton, Jack, John, James, Noland and Leslie would also see it that way. I think my father would.
The bridge over the stream
I hope to find more time to research the OSS files at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in College Park The OSS files at NARA are enormous but fortunately they have been well catalogued. There is an index by missions and both HOPE and DUQUESNE are in the indexes. It is an odd sensation to hold in your hands a fragile piece of onion skin paper stamped "SECRET" and typewritten on a desk in Bari, Italy over 55 years ago.
A chronology of Leslie's 45
other missions is also being pursued as are his service records although
those may have been destroyed in a fire at the St. Louis repository in
1972. I am attempting to trace Leslie's service
backwards from Harrington and Stone through the files at the Air Force History
Office at Boling AFB in Washington. The goal is to follow the life of Leslie
Turner from his home in Southwest Harbor, Maine through his AAF training and
combat to his loss in the Austrian Alps. In so doing, the story of the
men flying these special missions will also be told.
A less formal photo of a veteran crew. Leslie Turner is on the far right. The others remain to be identified. They are probably John Proaps, Noland Griffin, James Johnson and one additional person; possibly James Poletti, Merle Harlin, or Joseph Mick. Poletti, Harlin, and Mick were not with the Reilly crew at the time Mag Drop was lost. Leslie and John Proaps were killed in the crash on 26 April, 1945. Noland Griffin and James Johnson survived.
Special Operations Aircraft
Miss Fitts - B24H 42-51211 Y
A Special Operations B-24 Liberator of the Carpetbaggers
Photographed at Harrington sometime in July of 1944. Photo courtesy USAAF and the 801st/492nd BG Association and Thomas Ensminger, whose Carpetbagger sites and personal assistance have been invaluable.
The modified B-24 above is painted all black. The markings have been de-emphasized by judicious use of black paint. The ball (mounted on the underside) and nose turrets have been removed. The ball turret has been replaced by the "Joe hole." The nose turret has been replaced with a "greenhouse" in which the bombardier has improved visibility allowing easier location of the drop zone at night. The 859th Bomb Squadron carried these modifications with them to Brindisi in December 1944.
The plane Leslie crewed would be very similar to Miss Fitts. It is likely Leslie would have taken off from Harrington on his first combat mission only weeks after this photo was taken.
More details on the B24 Liberator
Special Operations B-24 Liberator of the 2641st Special Group (Provisional)
Mag Drop
B24-H 42-95131 (A/C 295131), Mag Drop, was produced at Ford Willow-Run. It was accepted into inventory on 20 March, 1944 and transferred overseas on 14 May, 1944. A/C 295131 was transferred to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) on 30 Jan 1945 as J (squadron A/C identifier) in the 859th Bomb Squadron, 15th Special Operations Group (Provisional). It had previously been C in the 850th Bomb Squadron, 801st Bomb Group (Provisional) and subsequently, also C in the 857th Bomb Squadron, 492nd Bomb Group. It is an interesting coincidence that Mag Drop was accepted into inventory the same month that Leslie Turner earned his Wings at Harlingen, Texas.
Another crew (Johnson) at Harrington posing in front of Mag Drop.
Endnotes
1 The 492nd Bomb Group existed prior to this reorganization but it was withdrawn from combat in August 1944 as a result of heavy losses. Some references refer to the original 492nd as the "old 492nd" to distinguish it from the 492nd Bomb Group organized as the successor of the 801st Bomb Group (Provisional).
2 The entire 8-man crew of this A/C, Flying Rumor, piloted
by Lt. McCarthy, successfully bailed out near Tisnov, Moravia. They were
captured and eventually liberated. At the time of the Reilly crew's last
mission the McCarthy crew was still MIA.
Bibliography
15th Special Group Unit History, Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA), microfilm
856th Bomb Squadron Unit History, Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA), microfilm
857th Bomb Squadron Unit History, Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA), microfilm
859th Bomb Squadron Unit History, Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA), microfilm
2641st Special Group Unit History, Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA), microfilm
Army Air Force Historical Office, Special Operations: AAF Aid to European Resistance Movements 1943-1945, AAFRH-21.
Corvo, Max, The O.S.S. in Italy, Preager, New York, 1990.
MacCloskey, Monro, Secret Air Missions, Richards Rosen Press, Inc. New York, 1966.
OSS files, Record Group 226, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD
HOPE Mission, Entry 124, Box 26; Entry 154, Boxes 45 and 60; Entry 190, Box 190; Entry 199, Box 3; Entry 210, Box 60.
Parnell, Ben, CarpetbaggerS, America's Secret War in Europe, Eakin Press, 1993.
Persico, Joseph, Piercing the Reich, Viking Press, New York, 1979
Schwab, Gerald, OSS Agents in Hitler's Heartland, Preager, Westport, 1996.
The Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. III - Europe: Argument to V-E Day January 1944 to May 1945, W.F. Craven and J. L. Cate, Eds., Univesity of Chicago Press, 1983.
For more information on the 15th Special Group (Heavy) Provisional / 2641st
Special Group (Heavy) Provisional visit http://users.rcn.com/hugh.turner/2641st/2641st.htm
Thanks
I began this effort on 21 September, 2000, with only the newspaper clipping. I sent it to the HeavyBombers email list. Within 35 minutes I had received my first substantive reply. Within 1 hour I had the aircraft number, the squadron numbers, and the location of the grave from two different individuals. 12 hours later I had pieced together the story of the Carpetbaggers and the transfer to Italy and the 2641st Special Group. Within 20 hours I knew the names Mag Drop and Edward Reilly Jr. Some details of the 46th mission were taking shape. Three days into the effort I had the crew list, transfer dates, and the initial loss report. At the end of the third day I received word of survivors. Before the end of the fifth day I had excerpts from a missing MACR, confirmation of survivors, and the words of one survivor. Within a week I had hard copies of the Haass letter and flight logs and within two weeks reports from the crash investigation team including eyewitness reports and the name of a farm in the Austrian Alps. I also had several new friends and a renewed respect for those who risked their lives. I wish I could share this all with my father whose own sadness over his brother's loss led me to this point.
Special thanks to the members of the HeavyBombers email list and others, including some of Leslie's other relatives, for their assistance; especially Jack Scott, Jr., Erich Brown, Terry Lindell, Dick Nottelmann, Ken Strafer, Rich Birkbeck, Bill Beigel, Margery Turner, Charlotte Sawyer, Donna Fennelly, Tom Turner, Shardi King, Serge Blandin, Al Hunter, Gerald Schwab, Jack McKillop, John Mattison, and Gary Mailander.
Gary's uncle, 1st Lt. Robert Maxwell, was a pilot with the 857th Bomb Squadron (Heavy) and 859th Bomb Squadron (Heavy) and went to Italy in the same transfer as the Reilly crew. He was lost with his crew on 9 February, 1945. It is very likely our uncles knew each other.
John Mattison was ground radio operator at the 2641st Special
Group (Provisional) base. He would call out over his radios to the
missing A/C crews until their fuel would have expired. At that time he
would cease his calls. He has spent the last 20 years researching the
fate of friends in the 885th Bomb Squadron which, like Leslie's
squadron, was part of the 2641st Special Group. Perhaps he is
still performing his duty; calling out for survivors.
Disclaimers and credits
This site is a private project and is not affiliated with the United States Air Force. The author is solely responsible for its content. All referenced material is declassified. Errors and omissions should be brought to the attention of the author.
Copyright Hugh S. Turner. All rights reserved.
Ready for the Storm, by Dougie MacLean
Find the Cost of Freedom,
by Stephen Stills
For questions and comments email: Hugh Turner
http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/lbpp/faculty/turner.html
Last updated: 21 December, 2005