Battery Corporal
                     Willis S. Cole
                 Military Museum
                                         A Non-Profit Corporation
                                      Kirkland, Washington U.S.A.

                Researched Bomber's Information!

                            
                            'Lady Jeannette'
                         B-17G-35VE, Serial Number:  42-97904
               Just Seconds Before Crash On 9 November, 1944.
                  Bomber Model - Based Upon Descriptions
                 Given By Survivors And Ground Eye-Witnesses.
            Four Men Were Killed In The Crash Of The Bomber!
      Dual Congressional Medal Of Honor Bomber
                      (Click On Picture And Go!)

                                  
                                           'Where's It At?'
          B-26-1-MA, Serial Number 43-34210
            Just Seconds Before Crash On 22 January, 1945.
                 Drawing Based Upon Descriptions Given
                    Survivors And Ground Eye Witnesses.
           Two Men Were Killed In The Crash Of The Bomber!
                      Dual Soldiers Medal Bomber
                           (Click On Picture And Go!)

                            
                                             "Un-Named"
              B-24J-1, Serial Number: 42-51226
                              The Picture above is that of the Bomber
                         That Replaced  SN: 42-51226 After Its Crash
                                                  On 10 November, 1944.
        (The picture has been modified to show the 42-51226 SN)

             Three Men Were Killed In The Crash Of The Bomber!
          The Only Known, Witnessed And Documented Case Of
           Americans Recovering American War Dead And
                Hiding The Remains They Recovered,
       Resulting In A Fourth And Common Grave In France!
                               (Click On Picture And Go!)

                           
                                               "Lucky Lady"
                        B-17G, Serial Number: 42-39941
         Piloted By 1st Lt. Richard F. Noble, Crashed ON
        12 May, 1944.  Lt. Noble Evaded Capture Until Early
        August, 1944, When He Was Captured By The Germans
       With R.C.A.F. Pilot Officer, WAG, Henri E. DUBE And
       Mr. Roger Mathieu. a French Resistance Member Who was
     Taking The Two Men From His Home To The Neat Safe House. 

      Put On A German To Take Them To A German POW Camp
         They Managed To Escape Again.   And 8 August, 1944,
        They Were Captured Again.   Late That Afternoon They
      Were Executed By The Germans, At Olizy, Primate, France!

    On The 29th Of August, 1944, Mr. Mathieu, Along With Twelve
        Other Resistance Members,  Were Taken To A Small Woods
               And Executed As A Group, By The Germans!

   
                              (Click On Picture And Go!)

                
                                               'Un-Named"
                Halifax, Serial Number: LW591
           Lost To Mechanical Failure On 24 April, 1944.
          Pilot Officer/Wireless And Gunner Henri E. DUBE
        Evaded Until Early August, 1944, When He And 1st Lt.
          Noble Decided Their Duty Required Them To Leave
           Their Safe Resistance Camp And Attempt To Reach
      The On-Coming Allied Armies, As You Have Read Above.
 
        Captured For The Second Time On 8 August, 1944, PO DUBE
           And Lt. Noble Were Executed At Olizy-Primate, France.
             His Grave Remains In The Village Cemetery Today.
                              (Click On Picture And Go!)

        One must remember that the museum's staff started out to identify
a grave in a small cemetery in northern France.  During the past twelve years,
one month, we have deeply investigated the crashes of the five bombers
and the fate of each crewmember.  Each bomber is tied to the others through
our research crash sites, or organizations.

        When you go the bomber's individual page, you will find pictures of the
bomber if available, or in the case of the "Lady Jeannette."  You will find pictures
of a model of the "Lady Jeannette" showing the bomber just as the last man bailed
out, the bomber flew onward toward Hattonville, made a 180 degree turn to the
right over the village, continued back to the east toward Germany and past the
three men still floating to earth. 

        As the bomber flew east and passed the first man to bail out, it attempted
to turn back into the large farm field the three men were going to| land.  The
Flight Engineer had lost conscious when the parachute jerked his broken leg
and he woke up just in time to see the bomber flying away from and him, attempt
a right turn and crash into the woods.

    2nd Lt. Harms, the Navigator, the first of the last three to bail out, saw the
bomber fly away and come back again, as he hung under his parachute, before
he reached the ground in the farm field he was falling toward.  As he fell, he
watched the bomber attempt to turn around him to reach the farm field.  And,
he watched as it began to break its way into the forest, travel some distance in
the tree tops, and than he saw a small explosion as the bomber completed its
crash into the woods only a short distance from where he landed.

 American and French eyewitnesses, plus debris recovery at the crash site,
show that the bomber was still under control and had just ran out of altitude
about 600 feet from the edge of the woods, when in crashed.  Flying into the
trees, breaking apart, striking the earth and coming to a stop in the Bois de Hattonville.

    The final crash of the "Lady Jeannette' is totally different than it was described in
the Medal Of Honor citations of 1st Lt. Gott and 2nd Lt. Metzger.  The description
in the medal citations does exactly match the crash of the B-24J-1-D, SN: 42-51226,
at Tincourt-Boucly, 150 miles away, as described by numerous French eye witnesses.                                      

Date Page Was Last Updated:  Friday, March 05, 2004 22:27

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