Hi
from google search :- (loads more to much to post)
351st B-17 flown by Col. Hatcher and Major Blaylock was shot down near Cognac on December 31, 1943, killing Blaylock and resulting in Hatcher's capture
Two 401st aircraft were lost in an attack on Cognac Airdrome, Lt. Colonel I. W. Eveland, commander of the 614th Squadron, parachuted safely and subsequently escaped from France by walking over the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain.
photo at:-
http://www.footnote.com/document/38859884/
12/31/43
Eighth AF
Almost 500 HBs attack tgts in France and off French coast. Tgts include a blockade runner, industries at Paris, and A/Fs at Bordeaux, Cognac, Saint-Jean-d' Angely, La Rochelle, and Landes de Bussac. 25 airplanes are lost to AA fire and ftrs. Total bomb tonnage dropped by the Eighth in Dec, 13,142 tons, for the first time exceeds that dropped by RAF BC.
http://www.merkki.com/guestbook2002page1.htm
Name: Glenn Bickley
POW Camp: Stalag Luft 1
Sent: 8.07 PM - 1/14 2002
Mr. Woods:
Very nice site and informative. Hope to share info with you regarding my uncle's final flight over Cognac on 31 December 1943. Two crewmembers who survived were 2nd Lt's Norbert Lorentz (Navigator) and Stanley Wainwright (Pilot) both interred at Stalag Luft 1 one in the North camp and one in the South. Both are still alive. Members of 94th Bomb Group, 331st Squadron.
cheers
Jerry