William Aunspaugh, Navigator, B-17 "My Day", 560th BS, 388th BG, 8th AF, USAAF

Biography of William Aunspaugh

Navigator, B-17 "My Day", 560th BS, 388th BG, 8th AF, USAAF

William Aunspaugh was my uncle. He was KIA December 30, 1943 returning from a mission to bomb the IG Farben Chemical Works at Ludwigshaven Germany. They ditched in the English Channel 3 miles off the Isle of Wight when the third engine on the plane quit. They had flown over the island searching for a landing strip but were told none would handle a plane the size of a B-17. A propeller from the plane was caught in a fishing net in 2001 and is now displayed on the isle at a military museum. The attachment is a scan of the Isle of Wight newspaper article about the crew and retrieved propeller. The retrieved propeller shaft had a barrage balloon cable wrapped around it when it was pulled from the sea.

From accounts from a letter to my Mother from Joe Payne (Right Waist Gunner) and from John Mont's (Ball Turret Gunner) accounts: they lost the number 3 engine over the target to a direct flack hit that caught on fire. The pilot put the plane into a dive to extinguish the fire and propeller windmilled and broke off damaging the nose of the plane, they were then deep over enemy territory and set upon by enemy fighters losing another engine... I'll also attach a transcribed copy of Payne's letter for you to read.

November 24, 1944

Dear Ruth,

I arrived in the States a few days ago so I will try to explain to you what happened on our mission on December 30th. We got one engine knocked out over the target, Ludwigshaven, in southwest Germany. We had to leave our formation and come back alone. On the way back we were hit by about six fighters, twice. They knocked another engine out. We still had two good engines when we started across the channel a coast gun hit one of our engines that we still had left. We couldn't turn back into the guns, one gunner had his parachute shot open so we couldn't bail out, we were to low anyway so the pilot and copilot decided to make it as far as possible then hit the water before our third engine went out. The channel is about 100 miles across where we started across. We were about 20 miles from England when we went down. We had a hole in the bottom of the plane when we hit the water it broke our floor in and water came in and we lost everything we had in the plane. Only one life raft inflated and the water was so rough only four of us could catch it, we tried to pull it back to the plane but the water was so rough we couldn't do much. We were getting farther away, one of the gunners said he saw a man by the tail he thought was your brother, I am sure he got out of the plane. No one was hurt unless they were hurt getting out of the plane..

We were picked up in 1 1/2 hrs. Two rescue boats came out. One picked us up and the other stayed out trying to find the other boys, we were drifting back to the French Coast which was about 80 mi. I am very sorry to say that I don't have any hope for any of the six men.

Would you please let Emeline Cooper know that you have heard from me and what I have told you. I would have answered her letter but I got hit by flack in July and was in the hospital for awhile, I got part of my thumb on my right hand taken off so I am not very good with a pencil.

I am home on furlough now, I only got nineteen missions in.

I will close hoping I have explained everything clear enough that you can see just what happened. I will say again I am sorry it all happened.

Yours truly,

S/Sgt. Joe Payne

----- Wesley Wahlgren

Email: wes.wahlgren AT gmail.com

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Isle of Wight newspaper article about the crew and retrieved propeller. Noting Crew of B17 "My Day" Back row, Left to right, Frank Zagrovitch, Joe Payne, Walter Steele, Frank Pilato, John Mont, Patsy Sacco Front row, Left to right, William Anspaugh, Guy Claypool, Philip Comella, Curtis Bellfry

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