Blaine Jones was born on April 26, 1920 and was from Mifflin County, Pennsylvania.
He was the XXX on B-24H “Cookie (42-40549) Liberator of the 856th Bomber Squadron, 492nd Bomber Group performing the “Carpetbagger” flying from Harrington Airbase (Station 179) on a mission to parachute four OSS (Office of Strategic Operations) operatives from the Norwegian Operational Group as part of Operation Rype into Norway on April 7, 1945.

He was an Office of Strategic Services (OSS) member and part of the OSS Norwegian Operation Group. His team was being transported by a B-24 “Cookie” (#42-40549) of the 856th Bomber Squadron, 492nd Bomber Group flying from Airbase 179, Harrington to a parachute site in Norway as part of Operation Rype.
Operation Rype (Grouse) was a mission to impede the redeployment of enemy forces from Norway to Germany. The OSS was a precursor to the CIA.
While enroute to the parachute drop, the plane crashed near the drop objective. All crew and OSS Operatives were killed in the crash on the Plukkutjønnfjellet mountain peak near Snåsa in Middle Norway. (Reference Missing Aircraft Report {MACR} 13740).
The crew of B-24 “Cookie” (42-40549) included:
1LT WILLIAM H. HUDSON -PILOT 1LT LEON G. DIBBLE Jr. – CO-PILOT 2LT RICHARD A. BOSCH - BOMBARDIER F/O ARTHUR. H. BARBKNECHT- NAVIGATOR SGT GILBERT. F. MAGRUGER – RADIO OPERATOR SGT FAYETTE SHELLEDY- GUNNER SGT JACK H. SPYKER- GUNNER SGT ANGELO SANTINI - ENGINEER
The Operatives of the OSS Norwegian Group on board included:
1LT BLAINE E. JONES T/3 ROBERT. N. ANDERSON CPL KNUT J. FALCK T/5 BERNARD N. IVERSON
A memorial to them in located at the crash site in Norway.
FROM FIND A GRAVE:
PARATROOPER KILLED First Lt Blaine E. Jones of Milroy, a paratrooper, was killed in action April 6 in Norway, according to a telegram received by his wife, the former Louise Esh, who is serving with the Army Nurse Corps at Camp Lee, Va. Lt Jones had been in the army since 1940 and was a veteran of overseas service. The Daily Item; Sunbury, Pennsylvania; 07 Jun 1945