Info on Crash Site Dec 11, 1944 Mannheim
 

My Uncle Ross Perrin and his B-17 Crew piloted by Leo Belskis were shot down over Mannheim on December 12, 1944. He and 6 others of the crew of 9 were KIA. I have the co-ordinates and address of the crash site in Mannheim. There must be a record of this site and crash in the German collection of documents somewhere. I am seeking information and photos connected with this crash. Could someone please help me in this search? Thanks in advance.

Re: Info on Crash Site Dec 11, 1944 Mannheim
 

It is important to remember that thousands of German documents were either destroyed by Allied bombings or by the Germans themselves to prevent them falling into the hands of the enemy. Send me the info you have and I will see what i can find out. It is important to establish if the plane crashed in the city of Mannheim, or in the vicinity of Mannheim. Danny
P.S. E-mail me at aviation.archaeologist@gmail.com as I rarely check my PMs.

Re: Info on Crash Site Dec 11, 1944 Mannheim
 

There is a crash site investigation report for just about every Allied aircraft that came down on Reich territory. They were preserved by the Germans, found and captured by the Allies in a cellar at Dulag Luft Oberusel, and are often referred to as the Luftgau crash reports. There is a large amount of information on them scattered about in dozens and dozens of threads right here on this site. They are all in the U.S. National Archives as:

RG 242.9.4 Luftgaukommando Reports Pertaining to Downed Allied Aircraft 1939-45. There is an index on 17 microfiche to the collection, which comprises 20,000+ reports in 600 linear feet.

The reports vary from a page or two all the way up to a fat folder containing 30 to 40 pages of reports, investigatory findings, eyewitness statements, Flak battery statements and claims, fighter pilot statements and claims, personal possessions found on the recovered bodies, etc., etc.

The German effort to investigate these crashes slacked off in 1945, but a crash incident from 11 December 1944 should have been handled thoroughly.

May I ask where in or around Mannheim the crash occurred? I was stationed in Mannheim-Feudenheim during 1958 and 1959.

L.

Re: Info on Crash Site Dec 11, 1944 Mannheim
 

I was in Darmstadt from 2002-05. Danny

Re: Info on Crash Site Dec 11, 1944 Mannheim
 

Oh, do you believe the Archive in Freiburg might have copies of the above mentioned records? I have a friend who studies iN Freiburg and has access to the archives. Danny (again :)

Re: Info on Crash Site Dec 11, 1944 Mannheim
 

MACR states crash site is here:

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=49.4473141...5&z=17&l=0&m=s

Mannheim-Neckarau, grounds of soccer club VFL, Neckarauer Waldweg

Re: Info on Crash Site Dec 11, 1944 Mannheim
 

No on Freiburg. This is the one collection that by mutual agreement between Washington and the BRD was allowed to remain in possession of the U.S. after the war. The rationale was that the reports pertain to Allied aircraft and air crew, therefore U.S. interest in them trumped any right the BRD might have to them. However, it has been 23 or 24 years since I last worked with the collection and in the intervening period it is possible that a microfilm copy might have been made and that sent to Freiburg. But I don't think so, otherwise I would have heard something about it.

Fifty years ago, Darmstadt was home to a big USAFSS station. IIRC, there wasn't much of a U.S. Army presence in the city.

L.

Re: Info on Crash Site Dec 11, 1944 Mannheim
 

Mannheim-Neckarau

5 km SW of Feudenheim and very close to the old city airfield:

Mannheim-Stadt (GER) (49 28 30 N – 08 31 00 E)
General: Einsatzhafen in Baden-Württemberg 4 km S of Mannheim city center. 1927 Flughafen. 1932 Flughafen I with customs office. 1939 in Luftwaffe service. Grass surface with paved hangar apron. Also an Industriehafen for Flumann (Flugzeugwerke Mannheim) Messerschmitt repair workshops?
School Units: Arbeitsplatz for Schule/FAR 43, FFS A/B 43 then FFS A 43 (Crailsheim); Arbeitsplatz for FFS A/B 121 then FFS A 121 (Straubing) (1940-45);
Station Units:

I wonder if the raid was aimed at the Messerschmitt repair workshops there? It would have been a logical target.

L.

Target was bridge over Rhine at Mannheim
 

11. DECEMBER 1944 Nine ships from this squadron bombed the bridge over the Rhine at Mannheim, by GH equipment, with results unobserved due to 10/10th cumulus cloud over the target. Flak was moderate to intense and accurate tracking fire with some predicted concentration in the target area. Participating pilots were Lts Mousseau and Seeley in the led ship of the high squadron "C" Group, with: Lts Tauro, Taylor, Godwin, Copeland, Smith, Hughes and Belskis, the latter missing in action.
MIA crew: 1st Lt Leo Belskis, 2nd Lt Glenn C. Vaughn, 1st Lt James V. Collett, 2nd Lt Ross W. Perrin; T/Sgt Elvis A. McCoy, T/Sgt Walter R. Newman, S/Sgt Lynn J. Laurett Jr, S/Sgt Durward V. Suggs, S/Sgt Robert P. Rogers.

Re: Info on Crash Site Dec 11, 1944 Mannheim
 

So it looks like they were hit over the target area and came down about 4.5 kilometers SSE of the main bridge over the Rhein.