B-24 Accident at Vis Island January 20,1945-465 BG
 

On January 20,1945, a B-24 of the 783 BS, 465 BG crashed while landing at Vis Island. The plane was commanded by Capt. Arthur Tennille, with a crew of 9. All were KIA. Does anyone know the serial number?

Re: B-24 Accident at Vis Island January 20,1945-465 BG
 

Mission 131 - Linz.
No MACR.
Crew all Kia were -
Capt. TENNILLE Jr, Arthur C."Bud" - O-680541.
Pilot: 1Lt. SHOENER, Harold N.
CoPilot: 2Lt. EBERHART, Raymond W.
Nav: 2Lt. AURENTZ, Russell J.
Bomb: 2Lt.BOERIS, John N.
Eng: S/Sgt. PUCKETT, Theodore S.
Radio: S/Sgt.MULROONEY, Francis T.
Gun: Sgt. BARTLETT, John W.
Gun: S/Sgt. RUTGERS, Richard K.

Re: B-24 Accident at Vis Island January 20,1945-465 BG
 

There is no MACR nor is there an accident report on this crash. It's frustrating.

Re: B-24 Accident at Vis Island January 20,1945-465 BG
 

Kaki. The only B-24 from the 783BS lost on Vis on the 20 Jan. was a B-24L (PFF) 44-49564 flown by Capt. A. C. Tennille. The 465BG inventory says "Ditched" but this one seems most likely.


Regards
Nick

Re: B-24 Accident at Vis Island January 20,1945-465 BG
 

Thank you very much.

Re: B-24 Accident at Vis Island January 20,1945-465 BG
 

Hi all
Royal air force station Vis reported on 20.01.1945 that 1 B 24 crashed in flames near landing strip. Only one survivor who bailed out form 150 ft.
sources;
http://465th.org/History/PDFs/783rd%20History.pdf (page 96)

https://www.451st.org/Stories/Pdfs/A...%201943-45.pdf (page 26)
"in updated version of Allied presence on Vis Niall Brannigan mention the name of lone survivor Sgt. Arnold Robert F. (not published yet)"

I was not able to confirm the serial number due to lack of MACR or accident report...
b.r.
Antun

Re: B-24 Accident at Vis Island January 20,1945-465 BG
 

The only information I can find is from the 465th BG Website that has a list of all the losses. This site (http://465th.org/Aircraft/PDFs/465th%20Aircraft.pdf) shows TWO B-24s lost on this January 20,1945,s/n 44-49564 and s/n 44-48777. The 781st Squadron PDF says the following: Two ditchings. One crewman survived in one ditching and the entire crew survived in the other." It would seem to suggest that Capt. Tennille's B-24 did not ditch, but instead crashed in flames while the other B-24 ditched with the crew surviving,

Re: B-24 Accident at Vis Island January 20,1945-465 BG
 

Not sure about "Bob" Arnold.
Could not find him in the National Archive POW lists.

However in the 464 BG database (link above post) there is reference to a Robert F, Arnold who was a tail Gunner in replacement crew captained by FISHBACK..
The Fishback crew ( 41-28977, MACR 8728)went down over Poland on the 13th September 1944,
Following which Sgt. Robert F, Arnold , 17136359 - RMC .
Seems that he did not become a POW .
So just when and how did he return to Military Control ?

Re: B-24 Accident at Vis Island January 20,1945-465 BG
 

The plane went down over Yugoslavia, with six of the crew being captured by the Germans. Three of the crew returned to Allied lines with Partisan help.

Re: B-24 Accident at Vis Island January 20,1945-465 BG
 

From the information, I have been able to determine the B-24 that crashed on Vis Isle was B-24L, s/n 44-49564, 783rd BS. There was one survivor, probably Sgt. Robert F. Arnold. If we look at the crew list, there are only two gunners listed as KIA. All of the other B-24 casualties have three gunners or more, two waist gunners and a tail gunner. Therefore, it makes sense that a gunner was the sole survivor.