Warning: This is the first part of this terrible story. The second part needs to be redone from zero because some crazy lightning struck our area last year in Francorchamps during the month of May, and 11 houses were impacted. Personally, my entire lab was destroyed: computer (motherboard, alimentation exploded, 3 HDDs were also killed … 5 TB; A3 printer & Scanner; TV; Camera etc. So this text is the first part and it will be finished later when the HDDs can be again working (I have to replace the board from each to try because they ask about 1000 US to recover a 250 GB HDD).
(Document Source:) This is the ultimate and improved version of this archive by Willis ‘Sam’ S. Cole and Doc Snafu. This is not just a simple republishing. A series of articles laying out the true events behind the crash of the Gott & Metzger B-17G and the creation of my best seller book The Best Kept Secret Of World War Two published a couple of years ago and still available on Amazon. I think it is also interesting to let you know that I have published a second book, also available on Amazon under the title Why We Killed Patton because he had stated that he was going to quit the Army and then, he was going to destroy those bastards who were going to destroy him! In December 1945, when it became known that Gen George S. Patton had told his staff he was quitting the Army so he could speak freely and after the New Year 1946, he was going to tell the American public the truth about what those who were attempting to destroy him had done. He was positive, once that truth was known, he could live freely and it was their careers that would be destroyed. A series of day-by-day articles beginning on Nov 9, 2015, which was the 71st anniversary of the crash of the Lady Jeannette, B-17G, SN: 42-97904. I will describe the shooting down and the crash of two American bombers in France. One was the B-17G #42-97904 (Lady Jeannette), and the other, was B-24J SN:42-51226 (I Walk Alone) which was flying a top-secret night mission while attached to the 100th Group Royal Air Force. The B-24J also crashed in France, early on the morning of Nov 10, 1944, 138 miles from the crash site of the Lady Jeannette.
CREW MEMBERS #42-97904
2/Lt Joseph F. Harms (Bombardier)
729th Bomber Squadron – 452nd Bomber Group
Eight Army Air Force (Heavy)
Air Medal, Purple Heart
T/Sgt Russell W. Gustafson (Flight Engineer)
729th Bomber Squadron – 452nd Bomber Group
Eight Army Air Force (Heavy)
Air Medal, Purple Heart
1/Lt Daniel J. Gott (Pilot)
729th Bomber Squadron – 452nd Bomber Group
Eight Army Air Force (Heavy)
Medal of Honor, Air Medal, Purple Heart
2/Lt William E. Metzger Jr (Copilot)
729th Bomber Squadron – 452nd Bomber Group
Eight Army Air Force (Heavy)
Medal of Honor, Air Medal, Purple Heart
2/Lt John A. Harland (Navigator)
729th Bomber Squadron – 452nd Bomber Group
Eight Army Air Force (Heavy)
Air Medal, Purple Heart
T/Sgt Robert A. Dunlap (Radio Operator)
729th Bomber Squadron – 452nd Bomber Group
Eight Army Air Force (Heavy)
Air Medal + 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart
S/Sgt James O. Fross (Belly Gunner)
729th Bomber Squadron – 452nd Bomber Group
Eight Army Air Force (Heavy)
Air Medal, Purple Heart
S/Sgt William R. Robbins (Gunner)
729th Bomber Squadron – 452nd Bomber Group
Eight Army Air Force (Heavy)
Air Medal
S/Sgt Herman B. Krimminger (Tail Gunner)
729th Bomber Squadron – 452nd Bomber Group
Eight Army Air Force (Heavy)
Air Medal, Purple Heart
The crew of the #42-97904, B-17G, Lady Jeannette arrived in England on D-Day (Jun 6, 1944). As a replacement crew, the men were assigned to the 452nd Bomb Group, 729th Bomber Squadron (Eight Air Force) until their last mission over Saarbrucken (Germany), then the crash in Hattonville (France), November 9, 1944. On November 9, 1944, the 452nd Bomber Group, was assigned a support mission ahead of Patton’s 3rd Army in the Army’s new push into Germany. The day’s targets were located along the German border in the area opposite the region of Metz–Thionville (France). One of their B-17G bombers was the Lady Jeannette, piloted by 1/Lt Donald J. Gott.
The 452nd Heavy Bombardment Group (USAAF)(45th Combat Wing) was activated on Jun 1, 1943, at Geiger Field (Washington). The group was immediately sorted into four squadrons: 728th Bomber Squadron, 729th Bomber Squadron, 730th Bomber Squadron, and 731st Bomber Squadron while the Cadre formation took place at Salt Lake City Army Base. During training, the troops would be sent to various locations, including Ephrata, Walla Walla, and Moses Lake (Washington); Rapid City (South Dakota); Lincoln (Nebraska) Grand Island (Nebraska); Sioux City (Iowa); Wilmington (North Carolina); Shaw Field (South Carolina); Oklahoma City (Oklahoma); Pendleton Field (Oregon); Redmond (Oregon); Peyote (Texas); and Great Falls (Montana). They would become one of twenty-four B-17 Heavy Bomber Groups in England.
On Jan 2, 1944, the 1st wave of the 452-BG’s troops embarked from Camp Shanks (New York), many on the RMS Queen Elizabeth liner, arriving in Scotland on January 8. The servicemen experienced cramped quarters, taking turns on deck, and eating meals twice a day. Many flight crews assigned to Station 142 started their journey in a B-17 via Newfoundland and Labrador. The troops spent a month getting used to the British weather, attended classes, and received tips on how to operate their ‘Stove Pipe’ heaters, and warm beer. Although the 452-BG arrived late in the war, it proved critical timing. On February 5, 1944, the 1st mission was flown, target Romilly (France).
After take-off from Deopharm Green (UK-AFB-15), the Group joined the mission stream and crossed the English Channel into France. Over the Channel, each of the gunners tested his weapon and the bomb bay doors were opened to verify if they were operating properly. Their bomb load that day was eight 500-pound bombs in the bomb bay and two 1000-pound bombs, one under each wing. As they approached the IP (Initial Point) of the Primary Target, the Group in front sheared off and went toward the IP of their Secondary Target, the marshaling yards at Saarbrücken (Germany), just across the German border. The mission plan varied little, except they would fly south toward the new target, drop their bombs, and circle around to the east to begin their flight back to base.
As they left their Secondary Target IP, they opened the bomb bay doors and went on automatic pilot under the control of the bombardier. Unable to change altitude or position, the crews felt most vulnerable as they approached the black clouds of exploding FLAK (Fliegerabwehrkanonen – Antiaircraft Artillery) in front of them. As they approached their Secondary Target, the pilots sat with their hands lightly on the controls as the controls moved automatically by the automatic pilot, ready to take over, if necessary. Each man, in his position, followed the routine of their previous missions, except for the co-pilot, 2/Lt William E. Metzger Jr, who was on his second mission with the Gott crew to obtain combat experience, and the bombardier, 2/Lt Harms, who also was on his 
second mission, as a fill-in for the normal Gott crew bombardier, who failed to report for the mission.
Each of the gunners scanned the sky for any approaching German fighter, however, their minds were on the bank of exploding German FLAK staining the sky ahead. In their previous 27 missions, the crew had never seen a single German fighter, however, at every target they had seen other B-17s going down and crashing due to FLAK. All they could do was hope that Lady Luck would be with them again. In another B-17, in the formation behind them, 2/Lt Collins, their normal copilot was flying with Lt Metzger’s normal crew, to give them a battle-experienced pilot during their first missions. Lt Collins was watching the Group approach the FLAK cloud and suddenly, he saw a FLAK burst on the right wing of the Lady Jeannette.
Immediately, it began to move around, as the pilots attempted to regain control. Aboard the bomber, each of the crew experienced the FLAK burst differently. The pilots immediately tightened their hands on the controls, as the plane began to pitch up on the right side, due to the explosion. The men in the nose, Lt Harms, bombardier, and Lt Harland, navigator, were shaken in their seats and turned to see if they could find out what had happened. The intercom was suddenly full of everyone talking at once, asking what had happened or reporting what they had seen. In the rear, the tail gunner, S/Sgt Krimminger, was badly shaken as the tail whipped back and forth and suddenly, he saw a stream of fire to his left. The waist gunner, S/Sgt Robbins, was thrown to the floor and was getting back up to find out what had happened. The radio operator, T/Sgt Robert A. Dunlap, could not see what had happened, but he had his right hand at his radio controls, in order to broadcast what the pilot might order. In the top turret, the flight engineer and gunner, T/Sgt Gustafson, looked to his right to see what had happened and was astonished to see the number four engine, the outboard engine on the right wing was missing. He had seen B-17s that had returned with engines missing, but the engine mount and cowl back to the wing were still there. Their engine, its mount, and the engine cowling were gone all the way back to the wing, leaving a large hole in the leading edge of the wing. He also saw a large fire flowing back into the slipstream and at first, he expected to see the wing was melting and they would crash, but taking a second look, he realized the engine had been blown down and off the wing, taking the fuel line with it, until it broke and the escaping fuel caught fire.
Fortunately, the fire was below the wing and it was no immediate threat to the bomber. Gustafson attempted to contact the pilots via the intercom to find it was not working, so he swiveled around to be able to get off his turret seat and tell the pilots the fire was not going to make them crash. As he put his weight on his right foot, suddenly there was another loud FLAK explosion. A fragment of the shell, which had exploded under the numbers 2 and 1 engines, on the left wing, broke through the fuselage, cutting the bomb bay controls, and slicing through Gustafson’s leg, just above the ankle, cutting out an inch and a half of his leg bone. It then broke into the hydraulic oil tank behind the copilot, allowing the hydraulic oil to flow down and over the flight engineer’s parachute.
