Engine Consolidated B-24 Liberator

At the Nieuwland Heritage Center is an engine of a B-24 Liberator. This engine comes from a wreck that was salvaged from the Oostvaardersplassen in 1975.

On its way back from a bombing raid on the German city of Münster on 22 December 1943, the American bomber (Type H, reg. no. 42-7638, 8th Airforce Division) was hit by German anti-aircraft fire. The crew tried to make an emergency landing in the IJsselmeer, but the landing was too hard. The wings broke off and the plane disappeared into the cold waves. Of the ten crew members, only co-pilot Charles Taylor survived the crash. He was made a prisoner of war. Taylor was there when the wreck was lifted in 1975, which then still contained the remains of 5 of his comrades.

The men who did not survive the crash:
T/Sgt. Edward Elmer Birge, service number: 14080954, flight engineer.
He was born on October 12, 1922 in Brewster, Polk, Florida USA. In June 1944 his body was recovered from the sea and initially buried at the Oud-Leusden cemetery in Amersfoort.
After the war he was reburied at the Dutch American cemetery in Margraten and finally in 1949 in Homeland at the Homeland cemetery in Polk County, Florida, USA.
He is not mentioned on the Wall of the Missing in Margraten, Netherlands.

T/Sgt. James Clarence Childers, service number 19087860, Radio Operator.
He was born on 6 Nov 1922 in Casper, Natrona County, Wyoming, USA.
He is commemorated on the Wall of the Missing in Margraten, Netherlands.

S/Sgt. John Harold Larson, service number: 19108009, (Right Waist) air gunner.
He was born on March 26, 1923 in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona. He was initially buried in December 1943 at the cemetery "Zandberg" in Kampen-IJsselmuiden.
After the war he was reburied in Belgium, at Neuville-en-Condroz cemetery, now called Ardennes cemetery. In 1949 he was finally buried in the Tombstone cemetery in Cochise County, Arizona, USA. He is not mentioned on the Wall of the missing in Margraten, Netherlands.

S/Sgt. Gerald Douglas McCord, service number: 39084175, (Left Waist) air gunner.
He was born on December 30, 1916 in Toronto, Canada. He is buried in the Dutch American War Cemetery, Section H, Rij 16, grave 11 in Margraten.

F/O. Kent Francis Miller, service number: T-060679, pilot.
He was born on 17 Oct 1922 in Wetzel County, West Virginia, USA. He is buried in Greenlawn Memorial Park Cemetery, New Martinsville, Wetzel County, West Virginia, USA.
He is commemorated on the Wall of the Missing in Margraten, Netherlands.

2/Lt. Frank August Passavant, service number: O-678758, navigator.
He was born on May 16, 1918, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA.
He is commemorated on the Wall of the Missing in Margraten, Netherlands.

S/Sgt. Stanley Ronczka Pilch Jr, service number: 35316138, turret gunner.
He was born on 26 Nov 1920 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA.
He is commemorated on the Wall of the Missing in Margraten, Netherlands.

2/Lt. Donald Eugene Schaffer, service number O-678477, bombsight. He was buried
at the Los Angeles National Cemetery, Section 404, Row C, Grave 42, Los Angeles, California, USA.
He is commemorated on the Wall of the Missing in Margraten, Netherlands.

S/Sgt. William Joseph Sheehan Jr., service number: 12124435, rear gunner.
He was born on April 15, 1923 in Queens County, New York, USA. He is buried in the American War Cemetery Ardennes, Section C, Rij 10, grave 42, Belgium.

Text partly based on a publication of the Nieuwland Erfgoed Centrum, Lelystad

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Source

• Text: Corin Gelderblom & Michel Canninga
• Photos: Michel Canninga