Crash B26 on 11.April 1945 near Cologne

[RSwank]

Another resource for some of these investigations is the collection of recon photos at NCAP.

NCAP aerial recon photos. https://ncap.org.uk/

I took a look at what is available and there are about 7 photos of the Lulsdorf area, all taken before 1945. You mention you have already seen such photos, so this may not be of much help.


There are two July 1943 photos which show the town pretty well. I have not seen the full size pictures but these are the links to the “thumbnails”. I don’t know what the cost is for the full size image or whether the cost is worth it. What I think you get even from these thumbnails (which you can "snip" and enlarge a little on your computer) is a better idea of the size of the town in the 1940s. First click the "download" option to get the thumbnail by itself, then enlarge the resulting thumbnail a little on the screen and then "snip" it to a PNG image file which you can save and enlarge a little more.

https://ncap.org.uk/frame/6-1-6-1-35?pos=3
https://ncap.org.uk/frame/6-1-6-1-34?pos=2


The BG flew two missions on April 11. These reports can be ordered from AFHRA.

http://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/083/031.xml

http://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/083/030.xml

I think both of these may be the on same CD (with lots of other things so you are "hopefully" only ordering one CD).

[RSwank]

I have made contact with a daughter of the bombardier, Donald M Wolberg. She said she knew her father had been wounded in the war (broken elbow and burned) but did not know much else. As was typical at the time the war was just not discussed.

[manniw]

I have looked at the page https://ncap.org.uk/....einige of the pictures I already knew, but some others I did not. And on the pictures you can see very well, that where the plane crashed, there was only field at that time.
And I will order the CD soon at AHFRA.

A little astonished I am about the statement of the daughter of Donals Wolberg, that he didn't tell much about the war. I was always of the opinion that this would only have happened in German families. My father never talked about it, only in the last weeks of his life he told about the war again and again.
Do you still try to get in contact with other relatives of the crew?

Thank you until then for your nice cooperation, best regards
Manni

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[manniw]

Hello Leendert,
I sent you a PM yesterday
Greeting
Manni

[RSwank]

Manni,
I will try to contact some other families, but it is always a slow process. I will post any new developments.

I have researched many other crashes and located veterans’ families. In a majority of cases, the war was not discussed. Most of the people I have contacted had only a vague idea of their father’s or grandfather’s war experiences. Details of a crash, escape or evasion or time in a POW camps was rarely, if ever, discussed. Some families would say “Dad sometimes talked with Mom about some of it but never with the rest of us”. Some of the veterans were suffering from what is now called PTSD. (Other European researchers I have worked with have also expressed surprise that the war was not discussed in veterans' families so your reaction is not unique.)

[manniw]

Hallo RSwank,


I found an entry in the guestbook at b26.com today. There the stepson of Donald Wolberg is looking for information about his stepfather. The request is already from 20. March 2004, maybe he is still alive. Can you make a contact there ?

Greeting Manni

[RSwank]

Manni,

Yes, I have seen the step-son's post and I am in the process of trying to make contact.

In regards to contacting other crew relatives, generally the e-mail addresses you can find are usually out of date. I have already had two bounce on this Cologne project, so I have found the next best thing is sending a short letter. Telephoning generally does not work. So many people here in the US get constant spam phone calls they just don't answer or they hang up. (And once they hang up on you, you have lost them forever.) A first contact by letter works better. It gives them a chance to think about it before responding, ask questions of other family members, etc. Also, if the address is wrong, the US postal service will generally return a 1st class US letter to the sender or even forward it to the correct address. They don't always do that for foreign mail.

[manniw]

I prefer to write to contemporary witnesses or their relatives, by mail or letter. One can explain oneself better and people don't feel as surprised as they do with a phone call.....thanks for your effort

[manniw]

the last crew member I haven't identified yet is Sgt. A. Samer.

I have now found by fold3 / ancestry the registration card of an Ernest Anthony Samar, born 23 October 1919 Serial No. 81 / Order Number S 2423.

It's the only Samar that could match in age. But I can't find any other military records on him......Do you have any idea __
Greeting
Manni

[RSwank]

Samar is a bit of a mystery.

I have found an Andrew Samar, born 1922 and died in 1997. ASN: 12156601

He is listed as a TSgt US Air Force WWII in one place and he is listed as a S/Sgt on a (rather incomplete) POW record. He is buried in Mt Hope Cemetery, Hastings on Hudson, NY. He had two brothers and a sister, all now deceased. I have not found much else yet about him.

What we need is more info from AFHRA, e.g. a loading list or a 322nd BG roster to confirm the crew names.

https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-...g=1&rid=587014

https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-...g=1&rid=110705


https://www.fold3.com/record/83619920-andrew-samar


UPDATE: Andrew may have married a widow sometime in the late 70s or 80s. She died in 2007 but her obit does not mention any of her husbands. She did have a son born in the late 30s or early 40s who I believe is still alive. Once we are reasonably sure this Andrew Samar was on the plane, I will try to contact the step-son.