42-94938
Courtesy of Charles Morgan
Courtesy of Monte Maxwell
Statement by locals concerning the crash
Per the MACR (#11703), on August 27, 1944 the 455th BG departed for a bombing mission to Blechhammer, Germany. H.G. Brown is listed as being the AG Gunner. Aerial Gunner? On the way home it appears they had #3 engine trouble. Eyewitness statement by 2nd Lt. Robert A. Asa states that ship #42-94938 was attempting to feather #3 engine when it veered from the formation. Ship was under control at that time but never returned and was last seen over Yugoslavia. A few years later, investigators were able to find the crash site. They were able to get witness statements from a couple of shepherds that saw the plane flying in slow. It appears that they were attempting to land in a field however the field turned out to be full of stones and the plane crash landed, all crew members were thrown from the wreckage. Crash site location is located in southern Croatia today. All died and the townspeople buried the airmen the next day in three graves near the crash site. After the bodies were recovered and identified they were taken to a temporary US Memorial Cemetery in Belgrade, Hungary. Harold’s body was taken home in 1949 to be buried in Lubbock, Texas. It appears all other crewmembers were taken home as well with the exception of two that are buried at the US Memorial Cemetery in Florence, Italy.
Harold departed Topeka, Kansas, I assume with his crew, on July 24, 1944. So, barely over a month from leaving the states he perished. The pilot of the crew was Harold Zabawa, and this was their first mission. Zabawa appears to have been a veteran pilot who was taking up a new crew per a diary entry from one of his friends. I also found a person on Facebook asking about A/C #42-94938 because their uncle had flown on that plane. He had a picture of the plane with his uncle’s crew.
Courtesy of Monte Maxwell
Harold Glenn Brown (AG)