William Robert Freund

10/19/10

 

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William Robert Freund
Services In Ithaca

 

Born: October 4, 1919 Syracuse, NY

Died: August 11, 2010 Holiday, FL

 
 
 

Dad Military Years

 

The following information is from the 100th Bomb Group Website

http://www.100thbg.com/mainpages/crews/crews4/turner.htm
DadDad Dad

Original 100th Sam R. Turner Crew photographed in the states before assignment to the ETO.
This crew ditched in Lake Constance September 6, 1943. They were all interned
with the exception of Joseph F. Maloney who was KIA. The crew were on their 16 mission...pw
100th Photo Archives

The Sam Turner Crew  stateside, planning a flight.  Crew flew aircraft named "RAUNCHY".    

Photo provided by Vance R. "Mark" Boswell

The Sam Turner Crew after landing with major battle damage on the August 12, 1943 mission to Bonn.
 

1ST LT SAM R. TURNER P Interned 6-Sep-43 Stuttgart
2ND LT WILLIAM R. FREUND CP Interned 6-Sep-43 Stuttgart
2ND LT MORRIS WEINBERG NAV Interned 6-Sep-43 Stuttgart
2ND LT VANCE R. BOSWELL BOM Interned 6-Sep-43 Stuttgart
T/SGT HAROLD W. SMITH TTE Interned 6-Sep-43 Stuttgart
T/SGT CARMINE A. GALLO ROG Interned 6-Sep-43 Stuttgart
S/SGT JOSEPH F. MALONEY WG KIA 6-Sep-43 Stuttgart
S/SGT CARTER F. THORNTON WG Interned 6-Sep-43 Stuttgart
S/SGT DEWITT J. WEIR WG Interned 6-Sep-43 Stuttgart
S/SGT NORMAN F. BRETT TG RFS -- --


351ST SQDN.. AN ORIGINAL 100TH CREW.

NORMAN F BRETT TAIL GUNNER ON ORIGINAL CREW GROUNDED AFTER 7 MISSIONS REPLACED ON THIS MISSION BY JAMES SPEAKMAN

STATEMENT BY SAM TURNER: "I crashed - landed on Lake Constance on 06 Sep 1943 at 1030 hours approximately one and one fourth miles from land The plane remained afloat for about four minutes The life rafts failed to work properly The plane was completely demolished After the plane crashed I saw the ball turret gunner who had been killed by a 20mm shell He was left in the plane On 05 Oct 1943 the plane was raised by the Swiss and the ball turret gunner was removed and buried "

Turner was slightly wounded in the chest by a 20mm fragment He was interned until March 1944 at which time he returned to the U S A

According to Morris Weinberg Joseph Maloney was hit by two 20mm's between the shoulder blades He was buried at Bad Ragaz and later moved to American Cemetery at Musterlingen Switzerland

On this sixteenth mission for the crew Vance Boswell was wounded and his chute torn to pieces

Mission log courtesy of William Freund in 1995 Paul west

Sam Turner Crew

#

MISSION

DATE

COMMENT

01

Bremen Germany

June 25 1943

--

02

LeMans France

June 26 1943

--

03

St Nazaire France

June 28 1943

--

04

LeMans France

June 29 1943

--

05

La Pallice France

July 4 1943

--

06

Hamburg Germany

July 17 1943

(Aborted -- engine failure)

07

Trondheim Norway

July 24 1943

--

08

Warnemunde Germany

July 25 1943

--

09

Oschersleben Germany

July 28 1943

--

10

Bonn Germany

August 12 1943

(major damage to "Raunchy")

11

Woensdrecht Belgium

August 19 1943

(not flown in "Raunchy")

12

Evreux-Fauville France

August 24 1943

--

13

Watten France

August 27 1943

V-1 Rocket No Ball

14

Meulan les Merueaux France

August 31 1943

--

15

Paris France

September 3 1943

(Difficult mission for the crew)

16

Stuttgart Germany

September 6 1943

(Interned in Switzerland)

Special Orders March 2 1944

The Special Orders cut in Switzerland on 2 March 1944 designating seven U S Army officers to be exchanged against seven German aviators also interned in Switzerland

1st Lt William Cantwell was a B-17 pilot of the 99th Bomb Group based in Tunisia. His plane was shot down on 1 October 1943 while on a mission to Regensburg, Germany. Only five of his plane’s ten-man crew parachuted out and landed safely in the Alps where they were picked up by Swiss soldiers.

1st Lt Donald Oakes piloted a B-17 of the 100th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force. He landed at Dubendorf near Zurich on 17 August 1943 while on a mission to Regensburq, Germany.  His was the first B-17 -- though not the first plane -- to land in Switzerland.

1st Lt Martin Andrews piloted a B-17 of the 306th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force.  He made a forced landing at Magadino, Switzerland while on a mission to Stuttgart on September 6 1943.

1st Lt Alva Geron, piloting a B-24 flying out of Tunisia, was on a mission to Wiener Neustadt, Austria when he was forced to make a landing in a farmer's field at Thurnau, Switzerland on 13 August 1943. His was the first American plane to land in Switzerland.

1st Lt Sam Turner, piloting a B-17 of the 100th Bomb Group of the 8th AF, was on the same mission to Stuttgart as Andrews.  He was forced to ditch in the Lake of Constance where his dead ball turret gunner went down with the plane.

2nd Lt Robert Titus was a navigator of the 95th Bomb Group of the 8th AF.  When his plane went down over France on the 6 September 1943 mission to Stuttgart, he parachuted safely down, evaded capture, and crossed the French-Swiss border.  Because he had walked into Switzerland he was considered an "Evadee " not an "Internee " and could move freely around Switzerland.

2nd Lt Stephen Rapport piloted a B-17 of the 390th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force. He was on the same mission to Regensburg as Lt Oakes when battle damage forced him to make a crash landing in a farmer's field near Utzendorf, Switzerland.

S/SGT JOSEPH F. MALONEY IS BURIED IN THE EPINAL AMERICAN CEMETERY. PLOT B, ROW 2, GRAVE 13

 

 

Codes and Abbreviations
Scroll down for complete list
 
Crew Position    
AE Aerial Engineer
BOM (B) Bombardier
BTG (BT) Ball Turret Gunner
COM (COM/P) Command Pilot Position
CP Copilot
LWG (LW) Left Waist Gunner
MIC (MO) (RAD) Radar Nav (Mickey Operator)
MO (MIC) (RAD) Radar Nav (Mickey Operator)
NAV (N) Navigator
NG Nose Gunner / Togglier
P Pilot
RAD (MIC) (MO) Radar Nav (Mickey Operator)
ROG (R) Radio Operator / Gunner
RWG (RW) Right Waist Gunner
TTE (E) Top Turret Gunner / Engineer
TG (T) Tail Gunner
TOGG (TOG) Togglier / Nose Gunner
WG (W) Waist Gunner
 
Crew/Aircraft Status    
CL Crash landing
CPT (CT) Completed tour
DUR On base for duration of War
EVA (EVAD) (EVADEE) Evader / Evaded
ESC Escaped
FEH Flying at end of hostilities
GND Ground personnel
IIC Injured in crash
INT Interned in neutral country
KIA Killed in action
KIC Killed in crash
FTR Failed to return
LWA Lightly wounded in action
MIA Missing in action
NOC (NC) No other category or status
POW Prisoner of war
REC Rescued
RFS Removed from flight status
RZI (RZOI) Returned to zone of interior
SAL Salvaged
SWA (SWIA) Severely wounded in action
UNK Unknown
WIA Wounded in action
XTF Transferred out of unit
XFER Transferred out of group
 
Target    
AC Aircraft
AF Airfield
CLS Claims of enemy destroyed
LR Last resort target
MT Motor transport
MY Marshalling yard
NOBALL V1 buzz / V2 rocket site
ST Secondary target
TA Target area
TO Target of opportunity
 
Aircraft Database    
BOMB Aircraft struck by bomb
DOW DOW Field, Bangor, Maine
E&E Escape and evasion report number
EVD Evaded capture - Escaped
FTO Failed to take off
FTR Failed to return
FTR LOC Failed to return - landed on continent
FTR MID Failed to return - mid-air collision
FTR OW Failed to return - last seen over water
INT Interned in neutral country
KIA Killed in action
KIS Killed in service - non combat
LAG Luftwaffe aerial activity
MACR Missing Air Crew Report number
MID Mid-air collision
NCS Non-combat sortie
POW Prisoner of war
RE? Returned early - reason unknown
REM Returned early - mechanical
REO Returned early - not mechanical
REP Repatriated
RES Returned early - scheduled spare
RFO Returned from sortie
RMC Returned to military control
STA 139 Thorpe Abbotts Airfield, UK
TOA Takeoff or assembly incident
WIA Wounded in action
WIS Wounded in service - non combat

 

351st aircraft "RAUNCHY" 230057 EP-D on a bomb run with the Sam R. Turner crew..  Photo provided by Mark Boswell, son of Vance R. Boswell, BOM.  (100th Photo Archives)

 

 

 

"RAUNCHY"   (100th Photo Archives)

 

 

 

 

 

Crew members of the Sam R. Barr crew carrying S/Sgt Joseph F. Moloney (100th Bomb Gp) from the church at Bad Ragaz, Switzerland on October 5, 1943. The permanent US Internment site located at Adelboden, was named "Camp Joseph F. Moloney" in his honor. The Pallbearers: Front Position left to right: Lt. Sam R. Turner and T/Sgt Harold W. Smith: Rear Position left to right: Lt. Morris Weinberg and T/Sgt Carmine A. Gallo.(100th Photo Archives)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Services for US Airmen KIA over Germany - Oct 5, 1944. Bad Ragaz, Switzerland.   (100th Photo Archives)

 

 

 

 

 

Services for US Airmen KIA over Germany - Oct 5, 1944. Bad Ragaz, Switzerland.   (100th Photo Archives)

 

 

 

 

 

230057 EP-D being pulled out of Lake Constance by the Swiss after the Sep 6, 1943 ditching. Sam R. Turner, Pilot. (100th Photo Archives)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video clip from 1943 showing B17 crew of Raunchy, courtesy of the 100th Bomb Group organization

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzhl_at4J5M

I'm not sure which plane taking off is dad's, but the one landing near the end is his.  It was after a mission to Bonn, Germany in August of 43 where they got pretty shot up and barely made it back to England.  Interestingly, it forced them to miss the next mission - one where 60 planes were shot down.  Chris

This is also the same mission that the minister talked about at Dad's funeral.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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