B-24H Jolly Duck - Plane Crash Sites on Waymarking.com

The Crash
The plane clipped a dike, breaking off the nose wheel. It then flew just off the ground for a few hundred yards before touching down and ripping the main landing gear off at the wings. It narrowly missed a farmhouse, but its right wing cut off the tops of some fruit trees. The nose finally hit a dike on the other side of the farm and the ship came to an abrupt halt. The propellers were bent and the nose was broken off by the force of the impact. Otherwise, the plane was largely intact. The crew had no serious injuries, although everyone was badly bruised by the landing and several faces were bloody from being thrown around the plane. S/Sgt Lingle had the worst injury, a badly sprained ankle.

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Web Address for Related Web Sites: [Web Link] Date of Crash: 02/26/1942 Aircraft Model: B-24H Liberator Military or Civilian: Military Tail Number: 241 Cause of Crash: Elmer Duerr remembers encountering "much more flak than expected" and leaving the target "a burning inferno." As they neared the Dutch coast, an engine suddenly quit. Pilot Walker told engineer Hicks to see how much gas was left; Hicks reported they were almost out of gas. (Navigator 1/Lt Donohue later wrote, "We thought it possible that the heavy flak may have hit the gas tanks; additionally, we had climbed to high altitude to cross the coast eastbound and after dropping to the low level bomb run we had to raise up again to go out," a likely reason for a higher-than-usual fuel consumption.) The crew began to throw everything they could out of the plane (guns, ammunition boxes, flak vests, etc.) to try and lighten it. Navigator Donohue worked feverishly to plot a course to Antwerp which was in Allied hands. Then another engine quit. By this time, they were over the North Sea so Walker turned south. Donohue remembered, "We were hugging the coast southbound but again the decision, based on fuel, was made to turn in and have some power left for a landing or bailing out over land." Walker put the wheels down as a sign of surrender and instructed radio operator Nagle to shoot flares to signal that they were going to land. The Germans then "threw up everything but the kitchen sink." Impact was at 3:15 in the afternoon near Zoeterwoude, Holland.

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