Two pilots strafed a B-17

[RSwank]

This was B-17 43-37801, MACR 9372, from the 95th Bomb Group, 336th Squadron, tail symbol
is Square B.
The pilot was Hemphill Heath. The target was Merseburg. The plane was
hit by flak over the target on 28 Sep 44. The plane fell back from the formation and
Heath radioed that he was going to try and make France. Although he said
the crew would bail out if they could not make it, it is not clear that
they did bail out. A German document in the MACR speaks of an Emergency
Landing 9 km east of Herbstein in Fulda District. Other parts of the MACR
seem to refer to a crash. Some pages seem to have, (in the section concerning
the "Cause") Em Landing underlined, then crossed out and an underline under Crash.
Very confusing.

Another page in the MACR has a location as Heinsel near Lauterbach east of Giessen.
The entire crew was captured, apparently together, on 30 Sep 1944 and survived
the war.

There is no mention of the plane being shot up on the ground in the MACR, HOWEVER, there is
a description of the crash landing written by Carl W Remy who was the Bombardier on the flight.
His description appears in the book "Prisoners of the Nazis, accounts by American POWs in World War II", by Harry Spiller. There is an extract in Google Books on-line which includes Remy's description. Search for: Carl W Remy POW

He describes how they crash-landed, all got out of the plane and watched the P-51s overhead. At first
they thought the P-51 were going to provide them some air-cover, but when the first plane came in
and strafed the plane they took off and hid in a nearby woods. The crew kept together and walked for three days until they were captured.