B-17 (44-6359) Crew KIA Memorial -Mission 263
Details:
In front of the buildiing adjacent to another monument.
MonumentAn inscribed concrete tomb shape memorial with a wing shaped object on the top.
The monument remembers three crew members of B-17 (44-6359) of the 20th Bomber Squadron, 2nd Bomber Group, 15th US Air Force, which was shot down on August 29, 1944, during "Mission 263". The crewmen killed in action were: 1/Lt. William C. Bullock Jr.; S/Sgt. Joseph M. Laratta; and, S/Sgt. Maurice E. Nelson. Six of the remaining crew members were taken as POWs and the Co-Pilot, 2LT Clarence Jackson was able to escape and evade capture with help with local civilians and partisans after this "Air Battle over the White Carpathians". The three crewmen killed were buried in the churchyard in Kasava, about 100 meters from this location where another, older memorial also remembers them. The monument also remembers local citizens who were victims of Nazism; the adjacent memorial remembers a boy killed in the in the B-17 crash.
On August 29, 2944, the 15th Air Force conducted "Mission 263", a raid on the Moravska Ostrava industrial complex (current-day city of Ostrava). The 2nd Bomber group supported this mission flying from flying from Amendola Air Base, Foggia, Italy. as become known as the "Air Battle over the White Carpathians", nine B-17Gs from 2nd Bomber Group were attacked by 89 German fighters and 20 minutes later eight of them were shot down and crashed in Slovakia (1), Czech Republic (7) and one crash landed in Hungary. 41 US airmen lost their lives, 28 of them were buried in a mass grave in Slavicin. Four fliers evaded capture, and 55 airmen ended up in German POW camps. All the planes of the 20th Bomber Squadron were shot down that day. Missing Air Crew Reports (MACR) 8083.
The crew of the B-17 (44-6359) who were killed in action included:
See Site Banska Bystrica -Hotel, Memorial: OSS & SOE Slovak Uprising Plaque for more on the OSS Operation that assisted 2LT Jackson to freedom.
Several museums in the area also remember this battle. See sites: Sanov, Slavicin, and Bojkovice.
Search "Mission 263" for memorials and cenotaphs associated with this event on our website.
For more information, see the Air Battle over the White Carpathian website at: www.leteckabitvakarpaty.cz
Special thanks to Mission 263 - Aug 29, 1944 / Letecká bitva 29.8.1944 Facebook page & group for remembering this battle and for the several memorials that remember this mission.
Monument Text:
The text on the memorial is in Czech and reads:
NA VNOU PAM OBTEM NACISMU
TEFAN HUDRO
PÍSLUNÍK 1. S. ARMÁDNÍHO SBORU
*NENÍ ZNÁMO / +5.5.1945
ZASTELEN V KAAV
OBANÉ KAAVY
OLDICH KNEDLA
*12.10.1918 / +21.12.1944
ZASTELEN V KAAV
ANTONÍN LANGER
*20.8.1920 / +5.5.1945
ALOIS TEFKA
*15.1.1908 / +8.5.1945
ZAHYNULI NA POCHODU SMRTI
POSÁDKA BOMBARDÉRU B-17G, S/N 44-6359
UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES
WILLIAM C. BULLOCK
*22.10.1921
JOSEPH M. LARATTA
*22.5.1924
MAURICE E. NELSON
*NENÍ ZNÁMO
29.8.1944 ZAHYNULI PO LETECKÉ BITV V KASAVA
The translation is:
IN ETERNAL MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF NAZISM
TEFAN HUDRO
MEMBER OF THE 1ST CZECH REPUBLIC ARMY CORPS
*UNKNOWN / +5.5.1945
SHOT IN KASAVA
CITIZENS OF KASAVA
OLDICH KNEDLA
*12.10.1918 / +21.12.1944
SHOT IN KASHAVA
ANTONÍN LANGER
*20.8.1920 / +5.5.1945
ALOIS TEFKA
*15.1.1908 / +8.5.1945
DIED ON THE DEATH MARCH
B-17G BOMBARDIER CREW, S/N 44-6359
UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES
WILLIAM C. BULLOCK
*22.10.1921
JOSEPH M. LARATTA
*22.5.1924
MAURICE E. NELSON
*UNKNOWN
29.8.1944 DIED AFTER AIR BATTLE IN KASAVA
Commemorates:
People:
Units:
15th Air Force
20th Bombardment Squadron
2nd Bomber Group
Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
OSS
Partisans
Resistance
Wars:
WWII
Other images :
