SOME CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT THE IDENTITY OF THE WRECK OF B-24 OFF THE
COAST OF GRADO AND LIGNANO
As can be found in a report, dated Feb 28, 1946, of the Regia Marina Italiana (Royal Italian Navy)
and, later, in a document, dated 1953, of the new formed Marina Militare Italiana (Italian Military
Navy ), both listing the wrecks lying between the mouth of the Isonzo river and Venice and not yet
recovered, the existence of the wreckage of a WWII bomber was already known and its coordinates
exactly specified. What remains of that plane, the front part of the fuselage and the wings with their
four engines, lies on the sandy seabed of the Adriatic Sea at a depth of about 40 feet and almost at the
same distance, 8-8.5 Nm from Grado and Lignano Sabbiadoro. Although it might seem strange, it is
the only wreck of an aircraft listed and then officially known, in the sea area north of Venice. (Even
if today we know that at least 30 or may be 35 other planes had been yet found at that time) The
rights for the recovery of the wreck appear to have been ceded to CO.RI.MA. (a company of marine
recoveries of Grado), precisely in 1953. This company, despite having acquired the rights, for
unknown reasons never recovered the entire wreckage but, probably, only the rear part of the
fuselage with the tail. These parts, in fact, appear to be completely missing, perhaps recovered at that
time, (as we shall see later, things went in a different way). To tell the truth, there were rumors,
unfortunately never confirmed about the possible presence of part of the empennage, now submerged
under the sand, at a distance of a few hundred meters from the rest of the plane.
Today there is little left of that wreck, only the central structure of the fuselage, the wings and four
engines. Armament, propellers, instruments and, in short, everything that was, more or less, easy to
remove has been removed cut or broken starting from the 70s until the early years of this century.
This spoliation, although less frequently, continues despite the fact that, in the meantime, the wreck
has become property of Italian Republic. In fact, as more than fifty years has passed after its sinking,
just like any other ship, artifact or ancient monument, is now protected by the laws enacted for the
protection of historical and cultural heritage.
The wreck, for many years, is well known and visited by Italian and foreign divers, so that it has
become almost a tourist attraction but, strangely, only in recent times a few researchers have tried to
discover its identity, to reconstruct its history and to know the names and stories of the men of its
crew.
Unfortunately, the lack of plates with the serial numbers of the engines or of the radio call code on
the instrument panel, probably removed as a souvenir by some particularly idiot diver or irremediably
corroded by sea water have made it particularly difficult to identify the aircraft. They are also
missing, duly dismantled and stolen, the weapons through the serial numbers of which it would have
been possible to trace the identity of the plane on which they were originally installed.
The various hypotheses about a possible identification.
Many voices, mostly fanciful , have been circulating about that plane. It was said, among other
things, that it was a damaged British bomber, whose pilot, after having salvaged his bombs near the
mouth of the river Tagliamento, had thrown himself into the sea to avoid crashing over the houses of
Lignano and make a carnage.
This story had originated from something that really happened on March 16, 1945 when a B-24 of 37
Squadron RAF, the well-known V-Victor, after being hit in the engine no. 2 by one of the bombs
(which fortunately did not explode) dropped by another bomber flying above, was forced to return to
base flying at very low altitude. In fact, the plane had already dropped their bombs but the crew, just
near Lignano, had thrown overboard all the unnecessary weight to lighten the plane. The fact has had
many witnesses and from it was born the legend that, for many years, had then circulated among the
people.
Various other identifying assumptions had been formulated and among them, the one that identified
the aircraft as the "Vivacious Lady", a plane of the 484th Bomb Group shot down by German fighters
near Caorle on June 13, 1944, seemed to be the most likely.
An historical inquiry, based on those few documents available at the time (2004) but also on the
correspondence with some U.S historians and researchers, was cured by Giuseppe Versolato, a
famous and respected aviation historian whose publications, such as "Bombardamenti aerei degli
Alleati nel Vicentino 1943-1945" or "Ali su Vicenza – Cronistoria dell’Aviazione nel Vicentino dalle
origini al 1994" (Allied bombardments in the Vicenza area 1943-1945 " or "Wings over Vicenza History of Aviation in the Vicenza area from its origins to 1994 ", are very important and well known
in Italy and abroad.
Versolato came to the conclusion that the only American bomber to have been shot down in the
immediate vicinity of Lignano, during the Second World War, was the " Vivacious Lady" even though,
according to the official documentation, the aircraft appeared to be exploded in flight over the sea a few
miles south west of Caorle, a little seaside resort between Lignano and Venice. Knowing that, quite
often, in MACRs and other documents the geographic coordinates appear to be inaccurate or even
completely wrong and since there wasn't, apparently, another alternative, the author had decided to
consider only this hypothesis of identification.
Versolato's thesis had been accepted by the Municipality of Lignano so that the War Memorial, erected
near the docks at Marina Uno, on which stands a propeller of the bomber, reports, such as date of crash,
June 13, 1944.
As mentioned earlier, there were, however, in the story of Vivacious Lady, some elements that
seemed not to match with the conditions of the wreck.
1) From official documents we know that the "Lady", after having been abandoned by her crew between
the villages of Gorgo and Caorle, had continued to fly for a few minutes, heading East- South-East and
then had exploded in mid air and crashed in the sea a few miles off Caorle. Two of the survivors had
reported to have seen the plane exploding near the water and still burning pieces scattered all around.
The wreck of Lignano, instead, is almost full and the lack of the tail indicates that it had been ditched.
The B-24 was, in fact, sadly famous for its particular tendency to break in two during water landings so
that its operating manual gave specific instructions to be followed in case of ditching.
2) We know, from the MACR ( Missing Air Crew Report ), that the Vivacious Lady had still on board
its load of 500 lb bombs, and also that their fuses had not been activated because the plane was shot
down many miles before reaching the target. The bombs with fuses still locked couldn't explode but
would have remained close to the point where the plane had crashed.
No bombs had ever been found near the wreck of Lignano but two bombs of the same type as those on
board the Vivacious Lady were instead recovered along with an aircraft engine, a few years ago at a
short distance from Caorle beach. In the headquarters of the Italian Sailors Association of Caorle there is
a photo showing those bombs after recovery. The aircraft engine, instead, has disappeared and no one
knows where it is now.
3) A final element that suggests excluding the Vivacious Lady is the position of the crash point shown
on a map attached to the MACR. The map was drawn by one of the survivors and clearly indicates an
area southeast of Caorle and not far away from the coast. The same indication can be found even in a
very accurate German report, according to which the point of impact of the Vivacious Lady was over 20
miles south of the wreck of Lignano. This distance is certainly excessive even if we consider the
possibility of an error in the documents.
But then, if the wreck is not that of the Vivacious Lady as it would seem, of what other aircraft it
could be?
This was the problem I set myself when Pietro Spirito, author of the book "L'antenato in fondo al mare"
("The ancestor in the sea bottom") that tells the story of many shipwrecks that lie in the Gulf of Trieste
and also the one of that B -24, had asked me detailed information on that wreckage. At the time I had
only a few information on that plane so had decided to begin with a new research to find out, if
possible, the identity and history of that mysterious plane.
Not convinced by the conclusions of Versolato, I had started to seek the truth among the dozens of
documents about those many B-24 that, during the Second World War had badly ended their missions in
the waters of the Gulf of Trieste.
Almost all of the aircraft damaged and in trouble after having been hit in the skies of north east Italy, had
tried to reach the Yugoslavian coast. Their crews were aware that Istria was almost completely in the
hands of Tito's army and that, reaching those lands, the chances of being captured by Germans would
have been considerably less. Many of those planes had managed to reach those territories but many
others had crashed or were ditched in the Adriatic Sea while trying to do the same and, among them,
there was probably also the one whose story ended into the waters between Lignano and Grado.
From a close examination of the many photos of the wreck that, from various sources, I was able to find
out, it was easy to understand how, at the time of ditching, the aircraft had at least one engine out of use,
the number three, that is the inside right. Its propeller had been "feathered", which means that the blades
were rotated 90° to reduce drag. The landing gear was retracted, the flaps had been lowered by only a
few degrees and this indicated that the pilot, during the descent, had maintained the speed high enough
to allow the aircraft touch the water in level flight, and without dangerous yaws.
At the moment of impact, the tail had been torn away while the nose, due to the shallow depth of the
water, had violently hit the sea bottom losing the turret that, perhaps, could still be a few dozen meters
from the wreck, buried under the sand of the sea bed.
The outcome of the first research was daunting.
From official documents seemed that none of the B-24 ditched in that area of the Adriatic had the
number three engine out of use but finally, in the fall of 2009, there was a breakthrough in the
investigation.
By another researcher, Gianni Criscuoli an officer of the Frecce Tricolori, the Italian Aerobatic Team
based at the Rivolto Air Base (Villaorba airport during the war), I was informed of the recovery,
occurred some years ago, of a Browning M3 machine gun which had been entangled in the nets of a
fishing boat somewhere between the mouth of the river Tagliamento and the area where lies the
wreckage. From the serial number of the weapon, 1033487, Criscuoli had discovered, through a specific
research in the National Archives, the identity of the aircraft on which that gun had been installed.
It was the Consolidated B -24 J-10 FO, serial number 42-51642, plane n° 78 of the 716th Bomb
Squadron, 449th Bomb Group and the machine gun was the right waist one.
Unlike the Vivacious Lady, this bomber had not an own particular nickname or a nose art, but there was
another thing that was very strange and this was that the aircraft appeared to be still missing and lost
somewhere in the mountains of South Tyrol after a bombing mission on a railway bridge near Albes a
few kilometers from Brixen (Bressanone).
In that mission, which took place February 28, 1945, in addition to the 449th Bombardment Group had
participated eight other Bomer Groups escorted by sixty P-51 Mustang fighters of the 25th and 31st
Fighter Groups and twenty-four P-38 Lightnings of the 14th F.G.
Eight bombers were shot down over the target area or along the return route. This route passed over the
valley of the Gail, then Tarvisio and finally Yugoslavia. Two other bombers had been forced to an
emergency landing on an airport in Croatia and finally a tenth aircraft had been destroyed, near Rimini,
while attempting an emergency landing in the fields.
A fighter of the escort was forced to crash-land in enemy territory due to enginel problems and another
was shot down by flak in Passau, Austria, while strafing of a train.
So it seemed absurd that the machine gun of one of these planes could be in the sea near Lignano. To try
to solve the mystery had been consulted the IDPF of the pilot, 1st Lt. Howard Hanson. The IDPF or
Individual Deceased Personnel File is a document that U.S. military officials filled out after the known
or suspected death of a member of the U.S. Army and contained information about the physical
characteristics of the person, such as dental records, distinguishing marks or other useful items for the
positive identification of the body at the time of exhumation. This issue, however, contained also a
number of other documents bearing the circumstances of the death, the point of discovery of the
remains, the first burial place and the current location of the remains.
The Hanson' IDPF, however, contained some indications that seemed illogical. In the document, there
was a note that described the identity, date and place of discovery of the remains of four crew members
of Hanson's plane found at sea in the summer of 1945.
The body of Adolph Turpin, the engineer assistant was recovered in the days following the crash, on a
beach a few miles northeast of Grado. At first he was buried in Grado but after a few days he had been
transferred to a temporary military cemetery for Allied soldiers in Cormons, near Gorizia.
The body of the bombardier, Jarrell German, in an advanced state of decomposition had been netted off
Chioggia by a fishing boat on July 3, 1945about four months after his death.
What remained of the body of the co-pilot, Edward Betz had been found, at about the same time, on a
beach near Cavanella d'Adige, south of Chioggia.
Finally, the skeletal remains of the gunner James Cox had been recovered by fishermen on July 26,
1945, some miles off the same area.
Recently, I was informed that the remains of a fifth crew man had been found at sea 20 miles off Venice
on December 1, 1950. (More details in "Correspondence with Mark Coffee" at the end of this report.)
The different geographic locations in which the remains of these crew members were found provide us
with another clue to confirm the hypothesis that the wreck of Grado-Lignano might be just what the B 24 S/N 42-51642. To understand why such considerable distances from the crash point, we have to
consider that in the Gulf of Trieste, at various times of the day, there are tidal currents that create a kind
of circular motion counterclockwise. Because of this any floating object tends, at constant time
intervals, to move towards the Istrian coast and then to come back, later, towards Grado. This current is
strongly influenced by the flow of water coming out from the mouth of the Isonzo River and the speed
of this flow is lower in the early stages of the rising tide and higher in that of the falling tide.
As we have seen, the body of Turpin was found on the beach of Grado so we can suppose that have
been captured by the active current during the rising tide and then, after a long tour, he returned to the
main stream in an area south of the mouth of Isonzo River and continued up to run aground on the beach
south of Grado Pineta.
The other three (or may be four), however, had been conveyed by the mainstream toward Venice. Today
we do not know what was the stage of the tide at the time of the ditching, i.e. mid-afternoon of February
28, 1945, so it is not possible to formulate hypotheses on when the bodies of the crew members came
out of the wreckage, whether Turpin was the first or the other three, but it is certain that this happened at
different times and with an interval of at least six hours. The other six men, including Hanson, were
never found and are still listed as MIA, Missing in Action.
This gave confirmation that, despite what was written in the Missing Air Crew Report, in fact the pilot
was really able to get to the sea even if the plane was seriously damaged but then, because of a too low
altitude, had failed to reach the Istrian peninsula. It is also very probable that, in an attempt to lighten as
much as possible the aircraft, the crew had thrown overboard everything that was heavy and easily
removable, including that machine gun.
In the IDPF has been suggested, as a possible point of crash, the marine area off the coast of Venice
and, with regard to the discovery of the bodies it says:
"Grado, Cavanella and Chioggia, the places where the bodies of three victims of this mission from
subject plane were found, are on the north and west shores of the Gulf of Venice, an arm of the
Adriatic Sea. In view of the above, it is reasonable to conclude that the plane plunged into the Gulf of
Venice and all on board perished. This conclusion is strengthened by the fact that no trace has been
found of any one of subject persons during the more than four years which have elapsed since this
incident."
During the days and months that followed, the currents had brought the remains of those five men much
more to the west or east of the ditching point, but the other six, the Pilot Howard Hanson, the Navigator
Clarence L. Dragoo, the radar operator Richard M. Horwitz, the Radio Operator Lawrence F. Nally, his
assistant Thomas M. McGraw, and the Engineer Lawrence W. Brady, have never been found.
At this point, it was reasonable to think that that the B-24 off Lignano was the Hanson's plane but
there was still an element to be verified, the one relating to the damage sustained by the aircraft and
reported by eyewitnesses on board of the other aircraft of the formation.
From their statements we know that the plane, when it was seen for the last time, had the number
three engine out of use and with its propeller "feathered", and that the engine number four on fire but
seemed being extinguished.
At the moment when the bomber had left the formation, approximately in the area of San Candido Inniken, both engines of the right wing were stopped and unusable.
As stated by some crews during the debriefing the pilot had declared its intention to go back heading
towards the airport of Falconara and to do this, since there was a slow but steady loss of altitude, he
had decided to follow the valley of the Piave River.
According to the instructions given via radio by the formation leader, some fighters would have to
escort and defend the damaged B-24 along the route back and to call for a rescue plane in the case
that the bomber had to make an emergency landing or ditching but, for some reason this did not
happen and the plane was left alone and helpless.
May be, if a fighter escort had been present, it would be possible to request the intervention of a
seaplane of the rescue squadrons and some of the unfortunate crew could be saved, but as it appears,
no one had witnessed the ditching either from the sky or from earth.
It is difficult to understand why no fighter had followed the B-24, probably the escort had not heard
the radio call because, as well as stated in the Report, both frequencies were constantly occupied by a
useless chatter between the various planes of the formation.
Such behavior, caused by the loosening of the tension accumulated at the moment of the bombs
release under a heavy anti-aircraft fire, had, however, created serious problems because the positions
of some other aircraft damaged by flak and needing help couldn't give their position or, if they could,
their transmission had not been heard.
In the mission report, there had been many pilots who had complained about such reckless behavior
by other crews. A strong wind from the north- north-west, at 35 knots (about 40 mph), blowing that
day was of a little help to the bomber on the way back but, of course, resulted in a serious danger at
the moment of the ditching. This situation could explain why the pilot decided to use only a few
degrees of flap during the descent in order to maintain a speed high enough to grant him a minimum
of maneuverability. This speed, however, was too high when the plane touched the surface of the sea
and a crash was inevitable. The direction of the wind could also explain why Hanson, in the last
moments of the fly, made a 360° turn toward the inland trying to put the nose of the aircraft upwind.
It's very likely that his decisions had been determined by the presence, even over the sea, of that
north wind and, consequently, of a heavy swell. In such conditions, the ditching maneuver became
considerably risky and difficult to perform so that the outcome, as we have seen, was not happy.
After this hypothetical reconstruction of the events of the events in which was involved the B -24 of
Howard Hanson, everything seemed to coincide and the hypothesis that this aircraft and the one that
lies in the bottom of the sea, were the same seemed to be the most plausible although there was no
evidence or even specific clues that could somehow confirm it.
Fortunately, although only recently, I managed to find out new information useful, even if not to
prove but at least to comfort my hypothesis of identification.
1) An important clue comes from a data plate found on an engine oil tank that is still in place on the
wreck. The text is:
TANK – LUBRIFICATING OIL – SELF SEALING
DRAWING NO. 2FI-6-2340-E
G.T. & R. ASSEMBY NO. 2FI-6-5182
CONSOLIDATED NO. 32-0-2015-6
CONTRACT NO. W535AC-21216
CAPACITY – U.S. GALLONS 32
ALUMINUM GOODS MFG CO.
The contract W535AC - 21216 is a general contract for miscellaneous supplies entered into with the
Ford Motor Company, related to the B-24 produced at Willow Run and dated September 1941. From
this we can deduce that the aircraft had been produced by Ford after September 1941.
This does not help us very much because both aircraft, this one and the "Vivacious Lady", were
produced by Ford's Willow Run Plant, but allows us to rule out other airplanes, still missing in the
Adriatic, of the same type but produced by different Companies.
2) The testimony, referred to me by his son Nevio, of Mr. Ilario Casagrande who, at the time lived, in
Vittorio Veneto. Mr. Casagrande reports that on February 28, 1944, he had miraculously escaped death
during the fall of the pieces of another B -24 (41-28854 of the 450th BG) that had exploded in the sky
above him. The eyewitness also remembers that, about ten minutes before that fact, he had seen a lowflying aircraft, of the same type, that was in evident troubles and that was heading, with difficulty,
towards Jesolo and the sea. The witness does not remember the exact time of the sighting, but indicates
approximately one o'clock PM.
3) The acquisition of a few photographs taken on the wreck by Dino Pagano, a diver of Cavarzere. A
couple of those pictures show one of the glass bulbs of the E.C.M. (Radar Electronic Countermeasures)
equipment. These bulbs, on the B-24, are placed in the lower part of the nose. This particular instrument
was present only in the last series of the bomber and could not be installed on the Vivacious Lady while,
instead, we know that it was present on the Hanson's plane as it was a "Pathfinder". The presence, on
board, of a radar operator, Lt. Richard M. Horwitz, would confirm this. In the picture of Dino Pagano,
who had covered again with sand the part to avoid being removed from the usual idiot divers, it is
possible to recognize, through the perfectly transparent glass, the coil of one of the antennas with its
electric cables. The presence on board of 11 crew members instead of the usual 10, gives us the
confirmation that one of them was the radar operator, clearly stated in the MACR as 2nd Lt Richard M.
Horwitz. The Vivacious Lady on the other hand was not equipped with radar and its crew was, as a rule,
of 10 men.
In conclusion, after having checked all the reported elements, I think it could be argued,
though not with absolute certainty, that the airplane submerged off the coast of Lignano is the
B -24 J- 10- FO Liberator, serial number 42-51642 , 716th Bomb Squadron of the 449th Bomb
Group. Instead, what is established beyond reasonable doubt is that it is not the Vivacious
Lady.
NOTE:
This is the text of a report I had given during a conference I held in Grado at the beginning of
August 2013 and this was the state of knowledge at that date.
Just a few days later, during an inspection carried out on the wreck by the divers of the Civil
Protection on Grado, as a result of my report, were finally found evidences that confirm the real
identity of the aircraft.
The following are the messages occurred between me and the Defense Prisoners of War/Missing in
Action Office (D.P.M.O.), the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (J.P.A.C.) and the
Historian of the 449th Bomb Group Association, Mark Coffee, regarding the case of plane of
Hanson. In correspondence there are also references to the case of another B-24, the one of
Kendall, for which recovery operations were planned several years ago but that have not yet
carried out because of lack of funds. (This is a very complex and expensive operation due to the
nature of the terrain that is swampy and covered by water)
UPDATES - SETTEMBER 2013
CORRESPONDENCE WITH D.P.M.O. & J.P.A.C.
Freddy Furlan <freddy.furlan@gmail.com> 18 Aug to: Russell, Mark C., Dr., CIV, OSD-DPMO
Cc: Johnson, Stephen P Dr., OSD DPMO
I write, after so long, to inform you that yesterday, in the wreck of the B-24 that is in the sea off the
coast of Grado, was found part of the skull of one of the crew members.
Despite having never had the opportunity to ascertain the exact identity of the aircraft, however I
believe, for a variety of clues, that it is the B-24J-10-FO S/N 42-51642 of 449th BG 716th BS.
MACR # 12511
The crew consisted of 11 men
Pilot
1st Lt Howard T. Hanson - service number: O-825850 Status: MIA
Copilot
2nd Lt. Edward H. Betz
- service number: O-2001248 Status: KIA
Navigator
2nd Lt Clarence L. Dragoo - service number: O-2063382 Status: MIA
Radar Nav. 2nd Lt Richard M. Horwitz - service number: O-2064188 Status: MIA
Bombardier 2nd Lt E. Jarrell German
- service number: O-2001247 Status: KIA
Engineer
T/Sgt Lawrence W. Brady - service number: 18097798 Status: MIA
Asst Eng
S/Sgt Adolph Turpin
- service number: 35898272 Status: KIA
Radio Op
T/Sgt Lawrence F. Nally
- service number: 13170107 Status: MIA
Ass Radio Op S/Sgt Thomas M. McGraw - service number: 35917489 Status: MIA
Tail Gunner S/Sgt Albert Acampora
- service number: 31330533
Status: KIA (recovered 1957)
Ass A.G.
S/Sgt James S. Cox
- service number: 11139161 Status: KIA
Adolph Turpin had been found on a beach near Grado a few days after the crash, Edward H. Betz, Lt E.
Jarrell German and James S. Cox had been recovered, in July 1945, in the sea Southwest of Venice. All
the other seven are still missing.
The fragment of skull was found, in the sand near the wreckage, by one of the divers of the Civil
Protection of Grado. The team was engaged in one of the periodic trainings. It is not to be excluded that
other human remains may still be inside of the fuselage, in the part that is submerged in the sand.
The tail was fully recovered after the war and there were no human remains inside.
It's also possible that the nose turret is still buried in the sand because it had never been found.
The fragment has been handed over to the police as required by Italian laws. I have recommended that it
is not absolutely tampered, washed with detergents or other so that, if a fragment of the DNA is
preserved, it can be analyzed by the DPMO.
I enclose photos of the fragment. Let me know how we should behave, and possibly how it might be
possible to let you have the fragment.
From: Russell, Mark C., Dr., CIV, OSD-DPMO <mark.russell@osd.mil> 19 Aug
Hello Freddy,
Good to hear from you - and excellent news! Thanks for sending this information - I have the IDPFs
for the entire crew for MACR 12511 already, as part of our larger research into cases in Friuli-Venezia.
I am sending this information to our forensic team, I should have good instructions on what to do
with the remains tomorrow.
Best regards,
Mark
From: Russell, Mark C., Dr., CIV, OSD-DPMO <mark.russell@osd.mil> 20Aug
Hello Freddy,
I contacted the forensic laboratory at JPAC, and have not yet heard back from them. I also contacted the
JPAC operations division, because they currently have two teams digging in western Germany, and one
team doing investigations in Austria. This team in Austria also has a couple of my good colleagues on
the trip, historians Mr. Josh Frank, Ms. Nicole Eilers, and anthropologist Dr. Paul Emanovsky. I am
hoping one of these teams currently in Europe will be able to change their plan a bit and travel to Grado
to accept the remains. I will keep checking to see what date they will be able to visit, and will let you
know.
All best,
Mark
From Freddy Furlan <freddy.furlan@gmail.com>
24 Sep
to Mark
Hello Mark,
I send you an update about the state of research on the B-24 that is in the sea off the coast of Grado.
Sunday, September 22, some members of the Tursub Scuba Team of Grado have carried out another
inspection on the wreck.
The research has involved a wide enough area around the wreckage and also, in some places, has been
used, a Sorbone (suction dredge ) to suck up the sand without harming any other human remains that
could still be in the area where it was found that part of skullcap. The aspiration has affected only the
surface layer of the sea bed but was not undertaken in depth in order not to remove other bones that
apparently exist in other points.
During the inspection has been identified the position of the Ball Turret and part of the tail (which was
never found before). These parts seem to be buried under the sand almost exactly under the wreckage.
Apparently, during the impact, the plane has stuck in the bottom and the nose turret along with the rear
part of the fuselage and the tail were probably remained in the wake created on the bottom during the first
impact while the wings and the forward part of the fuselage had gone up to the surface. It seems that,
when these parts sank again, they rested just above the rear of the fuselage thus covering also the
members of the crew who, presumably, were inside it.
A proof of this is the recovery, from under the sand, of a sheet on which appears clearly the serial number
of the aircraft, 251642 and that was part of one of the vertical rudders.
This also confirms my previous hypothesis about the identity of the plane and that my identification was
correct, namely it is precisely the plane of Howard Hanson.
Since my last message, sent on August 20, I have had no further information about your decisions on the
recovery of that part of the skull. The piece is in custody at the Police Station of Grado and ubjected to
precautionary seizure by the Procura della Repubblica of Gorizia.
I spoke with both the Police Station commander of Grado, Marshal Somma and Dr. Michele Martorelli
the magistrate of Gorizia who has in charge the case.
They told me that, for the restitution and delivery of the bone, it is necessary that the U.S. Embassy in
Rome or other U.S. official authorities send a formal request to the Procura della Repubblica di Gorizia
also indicating the identity of the persons entrusted for withdrawal.
Because of the special situation that has arisen during recent research, I mean the high probability that, in
addition to the already identified remains that are still to be recovered, still others of other members of the
crew could be in close proximity, I think the best solution would be that you send to Grado at least a pair
of divers of your teams for inspection and recovery of the remaining bones.
This should be done in a short time because of the high risk of raids by souvenir hunters who in the past
have plundered all that was possible to snatch from the part of fuselage and wings emerging from the
sand. The personnel and equipment, including the boat, of the Tursub scuba team would be available to
you for technical support.
I can understand the considerable difficulties that such an intervention could create for your organization
but perhaps it would be enough to use military divers of one of the U.S. Navy bases in Italy. For this team
the transfer to Grado would be easier and less expensive.
I would like to know what are your plans in this regard in order to inform the Italian authorities of this
area.
Thanks and best regards.
Freddy
From Russell, Mark C., Dr., CIV, OSD-DPMO <mark.russell@osd.mil> 24 Sep
Hello Freddy,
Thanks for the update. I should give you an update of my own:
After you first wrote and sent the photos of the skullcap I contacted historians and anthropologists at
JPAC and passed along the photos and all information about the B-24 site.
After trying to coordinate the handover of remains to the JPAC team in Austria, I learned that no one
from the Austria team was able to change their plan and travel south to Grado to collect the skull
fragment, and the Austria team has now returned to the US.
I have since learned that JPAC intends to contact the US Embassy, Rome, and have someone there
make contact with the Grado police to coordinate transfer of the remains. I have also spoken to the
analyst/historian at JPAC who will likely be taking over the case, Dr. Matt Cheser. I plan to work
with him to answer all questions he may have about the B-24 site. At this point I do not have any
information about a diving team.
JPAC may attempt to put a team together, or they may just add this to their list of things to
investigate while they are digging the B-24 on the Isle of Morgo (MACR 2711), which I learned they
are planning to do in 2014.
Of course, I will let you know when I learn anything more.
Warm regards,
Mark
Russell, Mark C., Dr., CIV, OSD-DPMO <mark.russell@osd.mil> 22 Oct to Sidney, Robyn,
Freddy
Hello Freddy,
Another month has passed and I owe you an update. I do not know if the US Embassy has contacted
anyone in Grado - our office slowed down significantly during the US Government shut-down, and
we are all trying to catch up now.
The JPAC folks have asked if we have photographs of the aircraft part that contains the serial
number. Earlier you wrote that divers found "...sheet on which appears clearly the serial number of
the aircraft, 251642 and that was part of one of the vertical rudders."
Can you send us a photo of this, or other photos of the wreckage that can confirm the identity of the
aircraft?
Also, I used Google to find a website for the Tursub divers
http://www.caorlevacanze.it/eng/tursub_project.html).
Is this the correct diving group that's involved? If not, can you send me a direct way of contacting
the divers, name, email, phone?
I have copied some colleagues at JPAC on this note, they may have additional things to ask about.
Hopefully together we can start some activity to recover the skull fragment and protect the site from
further souvenir hunting.
Thanks again for all your help with this case!
Best regards,
Mark
From Freddy Furlan <freddy.furlan@gmail.com> 23 Oct to Mark
Hi, Mark
Many things have happened in the last month, but I was waiting, first, to have some other news to send
you and then, also to receive any request for information from your Embassy in Rome or from the
JPAC.
At the moment, as far as I know, no authority of the United States, apart from the DPMO, seems to
be further interested in the matter.
There is only one letter, sent by the Embassy of Rome to the city hall of Grado, two months ago, with a
request for clarification on the discovery of the skull fragment but in that message, as I said to you in one
of my emails, there was an apparent mismatch between this plane and the one of Morgo.
Well, we recovered the sheet I told you about. Actually it is the top part of the right vertical stabilizer
on which is clearly legible the number 25164 painted in black and there are also traces of yellow
paint. Lacks, the rudder and the complete leading along with the rubber of the deicing system and its
support on which there had to be the missing # 2.
As I had already assumed a few years ago, now we have confirmation that it was definitely the
Hanson's B-24, however I am attaching some photos of the recovery.
As I already mentioned in my previous email, the remains of a second man have been found at short
distance from the other and covered by a few inches of sand. Even one of the turrets, buried in the
sand, was located a few dozen meters from the wreckage. We have not yet figured out whether it is
the ball turret or the nose turret since it is completely buried by sand.
Both points in which lie the human remains were covered again with sand waiting for instructions
from DPMO or JPAC. Also for the turret, we agreed to leave it in place, well hidden, until the
moment of the recovery of the human remains. For now it was not possible to determine whether
there may be still human remains inside. It's very likely that it is empty and that the gunner had left it
just before ditching but if the man was already dead when the plane was hit by anti-aircraft, then it
might be possible that it had been left inside.
The President of the Tursub and also team leader of the Civil Protection of Grado is Mr. Giuliano
Felluga the diver who found the skull fragment and the other remains.
I was with him and his team when the stabilizer was recovered and in that occasion we decided to
wait until next when your team will come to Italy for an inspection to the island of Morgo.
At least so I think to have understood from your previous email.
At that time it will be possible, weather conditions permitting, at least to try a recovery of those
human remains yet localized. It's very likely that among the bones there are still the dog tags and this
would avoid any DNA tests.
For the moment, even because of the winter season is coming and with it the bad weather too, the
search for other remains have been suspended but has been programmed a thorough inspection of the
part of the fuselage that is buried halfway in the sand and also of the compartment of the nose wheel
where there was one of the escape hatches.
The strange thing is that this whole series of discoveries began after I held a conference in Grado, on
the story of that wrecked plane. In the PowerPoint presentation I put also a movie that I had done
with a flight simulator reproducing hypothetically the phases of the ditching.
Of course it was only a simulation, but those of Tursub had thought it was realistic enough to try to
search in never previously examined areas near the wreckage. In that movie, the parts of the tail, after
the break, are thrown beyond the wing, a few tens of meters to the right side.
I do not know by what strange reason, but really both the rudder and the human remains were later
found in those positions.
I have also to tell you that there is a real risk that other divers go to the wreckage site on their behalf
to search for other material that is under the sand and take away everything, even the bones, dog tags
etc.. This could happen also because the news of the recovery of the tail and of the fragment of skull
have appeared on local newspapers and even in the TV news.
Because of the distance from the coast is impossible to continuously survey the area but, however,
Police and Coast Guard have included the area of the wreck in their daily patrol routes and this is
surely a good thing.
The site of the Tursub is: http://www.tursub.it
To send messages to the site just click "Contatti" at the top right of the Home Page.
The email address for Giuliano Felluga is g.felluga@libero.it
Best regards
Freddy
From Russell, Mark C., Dr., CIV, OSD-DPMO <mark.russell@osd.mil> 23 Oct to me
Hi Freddy,
Thank you for the excellent photos. Those clearly prove this is Hanson's B-24. I do hope the site is
not picked by other divers too badly before JPAC can send their team.
Great story about the PowerPoint movie you made - such good luck in reconstructing the ditching
that way. I wonder too if the turret contains any human remains, it will be an interesting conclusion
to the story.
I learned yesterday from a JPAC colleague that JPAC is making plans to send a team to the Isle of
Morgo, MACR 2711 in March of 2014. They should begin coordinating the visit with the landowner
and the Grado authorities very soon.
The idea now is that during this visit to Grado, members of the team can receive the skull fragment
from the Grado officials (for MACR 12511). I hope the team can also accompany the Tursub to the
site and investigate the other remains that were uncovered. That would be the most efficient way to
handle both cases at once.
This information about the March plan, like most of the information I receive from JPAC, is not
official and the plan may still be disrupted between now and March. For this reason I have not told
Harvey Gann yet, I don't want to raise his hopes if the plan fails to get started.
I hear that he is in contact with Mr. Johnny Webb at JPAC, and that Mr. Webb is pushing to get
MACR 2711 excavated - this is positive news, and hopefully it will speed the recovery planning and
keep the March mission on schedule.
I am forwarding the photos you sent to my colleagues at JPAC, thanks again!
Mark
From Rodriguez, Robyn L CIV PACOM JPAC R-A (US) 24 Oct to Freddy, Mark
Robyn.l.rodriguez.civ@mail.mil>
Hello Mr. Furlan,
I am a historian at JPAC. Dr. Russell has been sharing information about the wreckage found near
Grado from Hanson's aircraft. I am interested in this case and have many questions.
Do you have coordinates of the location where the wreckage was found? How far from the coast is
the wreckage located and how deep is the water there?
I heard that a second set of remains was found. Do you know what these remains consisted of? A
whole body, another skull fragment, fragments of other bones, etc? Were these remains left
underwater with the wreckage?
We appreciate the pictures that you sent to Mark of the wreckage with the partial serial number.
Where is that piece of wreckage now?
We hope to send a team to Europe next year but our travel schedule is very uncertain right now as a
result of the U.S. government shutdown and the resulting fiscal uncertainty.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Cheers,
Robyn
Robyn L. Rodriguez, Ph.D Historian World War II - Research and Analysis Joint POW/MIA
Accounting Command 310 Worchester Avenue Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickman, Hawaii 96853
Freddy Furlan <freddy.furlan@gmail.com> 24 Oct to Robyn, Mark
Hello Robin ,
I'll try to reply to your questions even if, unfortunately, I cannot be more specific because I couldn't
personally dive on the wreckage but the details were reported to me by Giuliano Felluga, the diver
who found the human remains.
1) The coordinates are: 45 ° 34'22 .74 " N 13 ° 15'47 .05" E
2) The distance from the coast is 7.80 Nm from Grado and en route to 205.5 ° or 8,55 Nm from
Lignano Sabbiadoro and en route to 146 °
3) The depth is 12/10 meters (30 to 40 feet depending on the tide) and the bottom is sandy, uniform
and free of marine vegetation. The sea current is weak or absent, average visibility 20 meters (60 ft)
but depends on the period of the year, best in winter but very low (sometimes less than 10 feet in the
summer or after a storm)
4) Today the wreck is oriented with its nose pointing toward north at 5°, anyway it is possible (but it's
just a guess without any evidence) that, originally, it could be oriented in a different way and might
be moved to the east of about 50 meters (about 165 ft).
We know that in 1953 the Italian Navy granted a concession for the recovery of the aircraft to the
CO.RI.MA. a company of maritime recoveries based in Grado. Some problems, probably financial,
had then forced the company to stop the dismantling work but maybe there had been an attempt to
raise the wreck to bring it into shallower water and closer to the shore. This had already been done
for other B- 24s as, for example, with part of the fuselage of the "Mohawk Chief" (S/N 42-51415
MACR 14627). It is likely that the lifting operation was not successful and that the wreckage had
been moved only about fifty meters since parts of the tail and one of the turrets (it's still uncertain if
the nose or the ball one), as well as the human remains are currently buried under the sand but as I
said, at a distance of a few tens of meters to the east.
5) The first human remains were found, about 15/20 meters behind the tip of the right wing following
a parachute lanyard protruding from the sand. The diver, has stirred a bit of sand with his hands and
found the fragment of skull. He told me that as he continued to remove more sand with his hands, had
felt that, more in depth, there were other bones and something like the parachute harness. The second
discovery was made a few meters away from the first, a few days later. Even in this case it was
verified that there are other bones about 1 foot below the sand. Obviously, at the moment, it is not
possible to determine whether these are two different skeletons or parts of the same. In both cases, it
was decided not to proceed with the recovery of the bones but to wait for instructions from the
DPMO or JPAC on if or how to plan operations. After having pointed out the exact positions,
everything was again covered with sand, and the cord of the parachute was cut to prevent that some
other divers could find the remains and upset or remove the bones maybe just to search for the Dog
Tags. The wreck is in fact very well known and frequented by diving schools that bring students to
practice and also by tourists and fishermen.
6) The piece of the tail was washed with fresh water to remove the mud and sand still inside and to
try to stop the corrosion. It is now preserved, protected from atmospheric agents, in warehouses of
the Civil Protection Section of Grado, (something like your F.E.M.A.) a department that depends on
the municipality of Grado.
The skull fragment is instead kept at the police station of the Carabinieri in Grado.
If you need more clarification and details I think the best thing is to get directly in contact with
Giuliano Felluga, chief of the Civil Protection of Grado and also president of the Tursub the divers
association who made the recovery of the tail stabilizer.
Email address g.felluga@libero.it and, for Tursub Association http://www.tursub.it
Let's hope that the economic situation in the United States will be resolved and that the infamous
"shutdown" will end as soon as possible so that you can have the funds even for the recoveries of
Grado.
Best regards.
Freddy
CORRESPONDENCE WITH MARK COFFEE
Mark Coffee <mecoffee1@gmail.com> 30 Sep to me
Freddy,
I received the link below to the news story confirming the identity of 42-51642. The story mentions
the recovery of a skull. Is JPAC involved with this recovery? Thanks for your work on this case.
JPAC is still dragging their feet on 41-29217 and it looks like it may be 2015 before anything is
done. Very frustrating.
Regards
Mark Coffee
Begin forwarded message:
From: Crowley <tcrow16@aol.com> Date: September 29, 2013, 7:59:31 PM EDT
To: Mark Coffee 449th <mecoffee1@gmail.com>, Richard Lapham <richardl@sd-print.com>, Floyd
Trogdon <ftrogdon24@aol.com>
Subject: Fwd: Found a B24 in the Adriatic Sea near Grado
Begin forwarded message:
From: Stefano Vidonis <stevid@me.com>
Date: September 29, 2013, 9:17:00 PM GMT+01:00
To: "TCrow16@aol.com" <TCrow16@aol.com>
Subject: Found a B24 in the Adriatic Sea near Grado
I'd like to inform that a B24 allegedly a member og the bomb group named on your web site has been
found and the news is reported here (in italian)
http://ilpiccolo.gelocal.it/cronaca/2013/09/27/news/recuperata-la-coda-del-bombardiere-usa-b-24-allargo-di-grado-1.7820173
Best regards
Stefano Vidonis +47 91557555
Freddy Furlan freddy.furlan@gmail.com 1 Oct to Mark
Hello Mark,
You're right, I would have already sent you a report of the operation but I wanted to wait a few days
to get another confirmation about the finding of the remains of a second crewman. The dive was
scheduled for last Sunday, but was postponed due to bad weather conditions.
Anyway we now have evidence that the B-24 at sea off the coast of Lignano - Grado is just the s/n
42-51642 reported missing in the Alps, near Isarco-Albes on 28 February 1945.
As you can read in the MACR, none of the crew had survived but four of them had been recovered,
in the months following the crash, in the sea off Venice where the bodies had been moved by sea
currents. Some years ago, in the IDPF of the pilot, Howard Hanson, I found the details of the
recovery of those four bodies, so I had assumed that the plane had actually managed to get to the sea
in an attempt to reach the Yugoslav coast that had already been liberated by Tito's army.
I also knew that, in the 80s, a machine-gun had been netted at sea, between the coast and the point
where the wreck lies today and the subsequent verification via the serial number, had confirmed that
it was the right waist of the same plane. Other elements, in support of my thesis, came from both the
story of an eyewitness who, that day, had seen the plane flying low over Vittorio Veneto and heading
towards the sea and also by the details that I could find in the relations of the individual crews
contained in the mission report of 28 February 1945 that you had sent me a few months ago.
Based on these data I had supposed that the B -24 at sea was the Howard Hanson's one but I never
succeeded in finding out, for this case, other elements for a positive identification.
The rear part of the fuselage along with the tail had never been found and it was thought that this part
had been recovered after the war.
Now we are quite sure that things had gone differently.
It seems likely that during the ditching, attempted with 35 knots of wind from the northwest and with
N. 3 and 4 engines out of use (both of the right wing), something went wrong and the plane, in
addition to breaking up into two parts as usually happened, had also struck violently against the
bottom of the sea.
The depth is not too much, about 30-35 feet and the bottom is composed of sand soft enough.
We think that the nose turret became detached first remaining buried in the sand.
The central part of the plane, with the wings, went to the surface for a few seconds and then sinking
again leaned over the tail crushing and pushing it into the sand.
After the wreckage had been found, at the beginning of the 60s, soon became a point well-known and
visited by many divers and some of them, between then and now, had removed from the plane
everything that was easily removable and also the three propellers still attached to the engines (it is
likely that the propeller of #4 had been lost in flight or may be is still under the sand near the aircraft)
Sometime in the 90s, the wreck had been engaged by the nets of one or more fishing boats, had been
rotated about 30 degrees (now pointing north) and moved about 30 meters or more.
On that occasion had been torn and removed the plates of the upper front part of the fuselage
uncovering the cockpit too.
Although it may seem strange, may be even because of the water, that is clear only for short periods
of the year, no thorough search was made in the surrounding area over a distance of 20-30 meters,
and none of the hundreds of divers who, over the years, had visited the wreck had thought to
thoroughly examine the seabed searching for possible the remains of the crew or for other elements
useful in the identification of the aircraft.
Recently, however, an instructor of the diver association Tursub of Grado, about 20 meters away
from the right wing noticed a parachute chord protruding from the sand and, following it, he found a
fragment of skull under a few inches of sand. Further below, other bones and part of the harness of
the parachute. Not knowing how to behave in this particular occasion and waiting for instructions on
how to operate the recovery of the remains, he covered the bones again with sand and led to land
only a fragment of skull which was then handed over to the authorities of Grado.
As soon as I was informed about the discovery of the bone, I immediately sent an email to Mark Russell
and Stephen Johnson of DPMO whom I personally know because they had come to Italy a few years
ago for the case of 41-29217. Mark replied me that they would try to send to Grado a team of JPAC who
was performing a recovery in Austria and that was the closest to Italy. After a few weeks, since no
responsible of the JPAC had come to pick up the piece of bone, I again wrote to Mark.
Meanwhile, the team of Tursub had continued to look in the same area and had identified the remains
of a second crew member and also of this I informed the DPMO.
During a recent dive, to avoid the risk of upsetting the bottom, the divers had anchored about 50
meters from the wreck but the anchor had remained entangled in a part of the plane that had never
been seen before because it was covered by sand. The anchor had partially lifted the piece from the
bottom and so had appeared a few numbers in black and traces of yellow paint.
The same evening they phoned me the numbers, 25164 and even if the final 2 was missing I realized
that it was one of the two tail vertical rudders.
As the big part now protruded from the bottom, to avoid being hooked by the nets of fishing boats or
removed by souvenir hunters, it was decided to recover it urgently and before the arrival of the bad
weather that was scheduled for this week.
Now, the piece is deposited at a warehouse of the Civil Protection of Grado where it was washed
with fresh water and is waiting to be descaled and restored as far as possible.
This is the top part of the right vertical stabilizer. Lacks, the rudder and the complete leading edge
with the rubber of the deicing system and its support on which there had to be the missing n. 2.
During a recent inspection was also localized, always under the sand, one of the turrets.
It seems to be the lower ball turret but we are not sure about this. It too has been left in place pending
the decision of the DPMO since it is not excluded that it can also contain other human remains. From
what has been possible to detect , it would seem that the wreck , originally, would cover the rear of
the fuselage and tail and when , in the 90s, had been moved a few meters, the area where the human
remains and the piece of the tail were found, had been cleared.
Now, after the news appeared in newspapers and on television, we are afraid that some particularly
idiot diver can go to look for the bones and maybe subvert them trying to find and take away the dog
tags so preventing a secure recognition of the man to whom those remains belonged .
At the moment we do not know what to do so, because the risk of tampering is very high, I suggested
to the DPMO to send here a couple of military divers of the U.S. Navy base of Naples.
Logistics support, diving equipment, boat and any other help would be provided by Tursub
Association of Grado.
I cannot understand why but it seems that this is impossible. It seems that the DPMO that the JPAC
does not care too much about those poor remains but, if within a few months we do not receive
specific instructions from them we will proceed by ourselves in the recovery of the human remains
and of the turret. All will be at the disposal of the authorities of the United States if or when they
decide to take up the case
To tell the truth, the Embassy of the United States in Rome has sent, to the city hall of Grado, a
request for information about the piece of skull but, in the text, there is an apparent confusion as they
relate to the case of 41-29217, what is on the island of Morgo and not to this Hanson's plane. Please
note that in my first communication I had clearly stated that it was another B-24 and, to avoid
confusion, I also provided the Hanson crew list of names.
This, in brief, is the situation.
I'd like to know your personal opinion or that of other members of the 449th BG Association about
how we should behave on this occasion as those in Washington do not seem to have too much in a
hurry to bring home the remains of the two men already found and also, probably, those of the other
five still missing.
To finish I'll tell you that I had the strange impression, from the tone of the messages received from
the DPMO, that they are a little annoyed by my alerts and updates on the case. I know that you and
the 449th B.G. Association maybe created a hassle urging the recovery of the 41-29217 and maybe
they think I can be, in part, responsible for this. I do not know if it may be so but I hope to be wrong.
Perhaps, if you have the chance, it would be a good idea to inform the families of the missing of 4251642 that there is the possibility that someone of the crew can be recovered in the next few months.
Sincerely
Freddy
Mark Coffee <mecoffee1@gmail.com> 1 Oct to me
Freddy
Thanks for the update. I am going to forward your information to Floyd Trogdon, President of the 449th
Bomb Group Association and other board members for their thoughts on your concerns regarding JPAC.
Floyd has been in contact with Major General Kelly McKeague who has overall command over JPAC
regarding 41-29217. I'm sure he will want to discuss 42-51642 with McKeague also.
Regarding 41-29217, the word from McKeague is that they plan to do an engineering/environmental
assessment in Feb 2014 and the recovery excavation in Feb 2015.
We have been working with Dean Hesse at the Casualty and Mortuary Branch regarding next of kin of
41-29217. I sent him information regarding 42-51642 yesterday, so we are pursuing all avenues.
I will keep you informed with and developments from our end.
Regards
Mark
Freddy Furlan <freddy.furlan@gmail.com> 8 Nov to Mark
Dear Mark,
Just for an update about the situation of the Hanson's and Kendall's aircraft.
On last October 23 I received a message from Mark Russell about the two cases.
I sent Rodriguez and Russell all the information I had and also a couple of videos, one of the wreck
taken some years ago by a diver and the other containing the reconstruction of the ditching made by
me with the help of a flight simulator and presented during a conference I held in Grado in the month
of August, but since then I haven't had any response from them.
As you can see, the hopes of an intervention by them in a short term are not very strong indeed.
I can understand that today there are a lot problems related to the shutdown, and I hope that the
situation will be resolved soon, but I fear that Harvey Gann will not be able to wait much longer.
In addition to this, I would like to ask you to let me know, if possible, the name of the town where
you live, I would like to enter even your name in the list of those who gave me a help in writing the
history of the "Sinner's Dream". After many difficulties and economic problems, finally, by the end
of this month the book should be finished and is expected to present it on January 30, 2014, which is
the seventieth anniversary of the loss of the "Sinner's Dream".
To say the truth it had been a very hard work because I could find a large amount of extremely
important data in the copies of the Mission report of the 449th BG (Pages from REEL_B0568) that I
had been sent by a researcher from Belgium, Philippe Vanderdonckt, but, unfortunately, many pages
were almost unreadable and I had to do a lot of work with my computer to be able to read at least
some parts of the text. For other parts I couldn't obtain any appreciable result and so I hope not to
have written too many wrong things. As soon as the book will be printed I will try to translate it into
English and send a copy to you and all those who, in the United States, gave me a very precious help.
Sincerely
Freddy
Mark Coffee <mecoffee1@gmail.com> 8 Nov to me
Freddy,
Thanks for the update. Floyd Trogdon has been pushing Gen. McKeague as much as he can about
expediting the recovery of these two aircraft’s MIAs. The Association is starting a letter-writing
campaign to the Senators and the members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee
members from the states of the individual MIAs. We are hoping to bring political pressure to
expedite JPAC’s work.
I sent those files of the microfilm reels to Philippe some time back. I also have some newer scans of
some of the mission files that are more legible. I have the file for Jan 30 that contains the
interrogation forms in the newer version. I don’t know if I sent those to Philippe or not. There are
two folders for each mission day – I only have one folder for each mission in the new scans – long
story but a foul-up from AFHRA. I will upload the file for 1/30/44 to rapidshare.com and send you a
link in case you don’t already have it. Let me know any other files you need that I might have.
My address is:
745 Cherokee Point Dr. Canton, Georgia 30114
I live approximately 30 miles north-west of Atlanta.
I’ve attached the Association newsletter that just was mailed. There is an update on the two missing
aircraft and Floyd’s dealings with JPAC in the newsletter.
Regards,
Mark
Freddy Furlan <freddy.furlan@gmail.com> 9 Nov to Mark
Hello Mark,
I thank you for the new information and especially for the last number of Late Pass which I read with
pleasure because it summarizes all the efforts that 449th BG Association has done and is doing to
resolve the problem of the 7 men still missing in Morgo (I was quite surprised that a next of kin of
one of them has refused to provide a sample of his DNA, I honestly cannot understand the reasons
why as this is not a painful or expensive operation ... but so goes the world).
I also noticed with pleasure that there is a note even about the Hanson's plane so I hope this can help
to speed up the procedures for the recovery of the remains of this wreck too.
I hope you agreed if I send a copy of Late Pass also to the Tursub Association of Grado whose
president, Giuliano Felluga, is the man who found the human remains and organized the recovery of
that part of the tail.
With regard to the 449th BG Mission Reports for January 30, 1944 , a couple of years ago I knew,
from a friend I helped in a research (it was to figure out which plane of the 449th BG had mistakenly
bombed the town of Urbania on January 13, 1944, and I found that it had been the Wheeler's B -24,
the same plane shot down later, on Jan. 30, 1944 ) that some of the report pages of the mission of
Perugia, he had had by Philippe. I then wrote to Philippe hoping he had also the reports of 30 January
1944. He had and sent them to me saying that he too had had those documents form a researcher in
the United States. Now I don't remember if he mentioned your name but it could also be that way. Of
course, if things had gone so, then I forgot that particular otherwise I would have asked for your help
with these documents, some years later when you sent me the reports of the mission of 28 February
1945 (for the case of Hanson's B-24).
As you tell me to have a few copies more readable, I'd like to examine them to compare with what I
wrote in the book and to correct possible errors before it goes to the press.
Unfortunately, yesterday I tried to download the file you sent me with Rapidshare but seems that
something went wrong because when I open the link you sent me, I find that the download folder is
completely empty. I do not know why this happens but, before asking the Rapidshare Support Team,
I wanted to ask you to check if you put in sharing my correct email address freddy.furlan@gmail.com
or if there is some other problem.
Possibly you could try to reload the file or better, as you have a Gmail account too, to use the Google
Drive service (formerly Google Documents) which works the same way as Rapidshare but only
between Gmail users.
I hope we can solve the problem because that report would be extremely valuable for my work.
Thank you in advance and I apologize for wasting your time.
I thank you also for giving me your address so I could update the acknowledgments page.
Sincerely
Freddy,
Mark Coffee <mecoffee1@gmail.com> 10 Nov to me
Let me clarify about the DNA donors. JPAC has a chart of who is eligible within a family to provide
DNA samples – basically they have to be female descendants on the mother’s side of the family. We
could find no living relatives who fit the chart for Herrington. The family members that we found
were willing, but according to the JPAC chart were not eligible donors. Those relatives are in contact
with JPAC and the Past Conflicts Repatriation Branch. Since we have 6 of 7 samples, all remains
should be identifiable by process of elimination. This link explains their DNA identification process:
https://www.hrc.army.mil/TAGD/Mitochondrial%20DNA
Please feel free to pass along the Late Pass. “Late Pass” was the control tower call sign for the
449th’s field at Grottaglie, in case you did not know.
I will upload the file to Google Drive and send another link. I may have done something wrong on
the Rapidshare upload. If it works out, I can upload any other files I have that you might want.
Mark
From Mark Coffee 2 Dec to me.
Freddy,
Albert Acampora, tail gunner of the Hanson crew, is buried in St. Lawrence Cemetery in New
Haven, Connecticut. His remains were discovered in a mass grave near Venice “with other bodies of
prisoners of the Germans” on July 28, 1957. How he got to Venice is a mystery. Did he bail out
over land? Did his body wash ashore near Venice? Was he picked up by a boat and taken there?
Why he was in a mass grave with POWs and not reported is also a mystery. I have requested his
IDPF and have received an acknowledgement to the request with the disclaimer that it may take 48
weeks to arrive. DPMO still lists Acampora as MIA on their website, so there was a failure to update
information. Are there any Italian sources that may provide information about the discovery of this
grave? Attached are newspaper articles provided by Michael Fusco, great nephew of Acampora.
Regards,
Mark
Freddy Furlan <freddy.furlan@gmail.com> 2 Dec to Mark
Thanks Mark,
This is very important news. I have a friend of mine who is a Police Inspector in Venice and is also a
researcher of aeronautical history I will ask him if it is possible to obtain information on that
discovery of 28 July 1957. I am curious to know how those prisoners ended up in the mass grave as,
to my knowledge, in Venice there was no Nazi extermination camp and also there is no evidence of
mass executions made in Italian POW camps.
My friend has access to the archives of the Italian Resistance and I think in those archives there may
be the answers.
I think it can be excluded that Acampora was found dead otherwise he would have been buried in a
single grave, may be not in a cemetery but somewhere near the sea side. It's more likely that he had
been picked up by some fishing boat and taken prisoner. Venice as he was found together with other
prisoners of war.
Now my doubt is this, amidst those remains may have been also those of other airmen who result to
be missing and lost at sea? I'm thinking of Morgan H. Lowry of 325th FG and of Charles L. Spencer
of 82nd FG who are still missing even though they had been seen for the last time safe on their
dinghies.
Venice is about 50 miles from the crash point but in that area the sea currents drive floating objects in
that direction and it is therefore possible that a small boat could have been swept up in that area. Also
to be excluded that he could have bailed out on the mainland because in that case he would have been
captured and transferred to Udine in Friuli or to Treviso but never to Venice. The same goes for the
hypothesis that he had reached the shore in the vicinity of the crash point because the nearest seaside
and islands are also in Friuli.
I'll make you known as soon as I find something new about this strange case.
Freddy
From Mark Coffee 4 Dec to me
Freddy
I received notification that the Acampora IDPF has been placed on a secure server ready for
download. I can only access Gmail from my phone while at work, so I will download the file tonight.
I will pass it to you via Google Drive.
I looked at the Hanson IDPF and three of the four bodies recovered were found past Venice Chioggia and Cavanella areas. Seems reasonable that Acampora's body could have been discovered
there. Still doesn't explain why he was not properly reported. Anxious to see what the IDPF contains.
Mark Coffee, 6 Dec to Mary, Freddy
The newspaper article had the facts incorrect about the discovery of Acampora’s remains. He was
discovered by the German War Graves Commission who was recovering German casualties – not
POWs. He had been buried in the Pellestrina Community Cemetery. The remains were discovered
in April 1957 and I believe the July date was when next of kin was notified.
The body was buried with his flying cloths and parachute. Based on that and the fact that the bodies
of German, Betz and Cox drifted beyond Venice, I believe Acampora’s remains also were discovered
in the Venice area.
Freddy, it should give your contact in Venice a starting point to see if he can find how Acampora
came to be buried near Venice.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8ERMvN9k8zPT1RzVU1hRy1NZzQ/edit?usp=sharing
Freddy Furlan <freddy.furlan@gmail.com> 6 Dec to Mark
Thanks Mark,
I had already found some information about that case and I would send you the information just today
but you have gone before. I am enclosing a short article which had been published in the newspaper "Il
Piccolo di Venezia" of December 1, 1950, and reports the discovery of some human remains. As you
rightly supposed, even the corpse of Acampora had done the same way of German, Betz and Cox and
had been driven by the sea currents to the area of Venice. Probably because the bones were enmeshed in
the parachute they had been preserved and had not been lost at sea. It is almost certain, even if I do not
have the evidence because the archival data are very distant in time and it would be difficult to find the
related papers in who knows which of the archives of the City of Venice, that the remains were buried,
without informing any Allied authority, in Pellestrina cemetery where many other soldiers buried during
the war still lid. Between 1945 and 1947 all the bodies of Allied and Italian soldiers were transferred to
other cemeteries and there were only those of the Germans who were exhumed only many years later
when the German Military Cemetery of Costermano Lake Garda, built between 1956 and 1967 was
ready to receive them. It would seem, therefore, that the remains of Acampora have been recovered
when the first German teams had begun to recover their dead beginning with the locations nearest to the
Cemetery of Costermano.
This is a translation of the article:
From the newspaper "Il Gazzettino" of December 1, 1950.
Entangled in his parachute the remains of an allied airman
The gruesome discovery was made by a fishing trawler of Chioggia off Punta Maestra
Last night, the fishing trawler of Chioggia, "Luigia D", under the command of the skipper Gino
Bullo was engaged in the usual fishing activities at a distance of about twenty nautical miles from
Punta Maestra when the men on board noticed that a strange bundle had been caught in the net.
Hauled the nets, the fishermen could see that it was a parachute with large stains, presumably
traces of blood and opening it they realized with horror that the chords were entangled with some
human bones. Once back at the port, the fishermen handed over the Coastal Guard Command the
poor remains and the parachute for the necessary inquiries.
The parachute is labeled, A.N. 69313 Hansen Glove Corp. Parachute Div. Sept. 1943 H.G. 33, that
suggests it was of an allied airman bailed out over the sea and miserably perished.
Thank you also for the I.D.P.F. of Acampora.
Best regards.
Freddy