btm2222
John William Little. 1917-1944
Cap. Little, Capt. Haines, Capt Sheinger, Lt. Murphy. (No Relation to our Murphy's)
On 19 July 1944 the Liberator of pilot Donald H. Dematio, which was dubbed “Hell’s Belle”, was hit by the Saarbrücken flak over the Sulzbachtal Valley, after which an explosion occured on board the ship which wounded the pilot seriously. The Liberator immediately went up, possibly because the pilot had lost control, and collided with another B-24, that of pilot John W. Little, in which also an explosion took place. The two aircraft jettisoned their bombs while going down, which killed 7 people in Friedrichsthal. However, this was of no help for the crewmembers because both bombers crashed between Friedrichsthal-Bildstock and Neunkirchen. Only 2 of the 21 crewmembers survived, only because they were thrown out of the bombers.
Ref: www.flugzeugabstuerze-saarland.de/html/neunkirchen.html
The article is about halfway down the page.
From My Cousin John W. Little:
Mid-Air Collision July 19 1944 My uncle, 1st Lt. John William Little, U.S.A.A.F., whom I am named after, flew in the 3rd. Air Division, 34th Bomb Group, 18th Squadron. His Serial # was O-700406 and entered the service from Indiana. He was flying a B-24 Liberator, serial # 42-51190 out of Mendelsham, England. The name of his plane was "Ann". On July 19, 1944 he was involved in a mid-air collision over Friedrichsthal, Sarrland, Germany with another B-24, "Hells Belle", 42-94893, piloted by 2nd Lt. Donald H. DeMatio, O-700439 from Michigan. All ten of the DaMatio crew were listed KIA. It was reported that two chutes were seen from my uncles plane and Hart, William M. Jr. (CP) 2nd Lt. O-813327, and Blevins Merrill M. (Intel Off) 1st Lt O-569812 were listed as possible POWS. Up to this point I have only found one other reference to this in a newsletter from the 381st Bomb Group (H) Memorial Association, dated August 1999. It was included in an article titled "Air War Events of WWII In The Neunkirchen Area, Part II: Crash 1944, After the Bombs the Bombers,...3. "Mid-Air Collision" - Two LIBERATORS collide over Friedrichsthal by Werner Weider and Dr Horst Wilhelm with reports about the crash of two B-24 on July 19th, 1944 between Friedrichsthal and Landsweiler-Reden by the Co-Pilot and only survivor William Hart and other squadron members.
John William Little. 1917-1944
Cap. Little, Capt. Haines, Capt Sheinger, Lt. Murphy. (No Relation to our Murphy's)
On 19 July 1944 the Liberator of pilot Donald H. Dematio, which was dubbed “Hell’s Belle”, was hit by the Saarbrücken flak over the Sulzbachtal Valley, after which an explosion occured on board the ship which wounded the pilot seriously. The Liberator immediately went up, possibly because the pilot had lost control, and collided with another B-24, that of pilot John W. Little, in which also an explosion took place. The two aircraft jettisoned their bombs while going down, which killed 7 people in Friedrichsthal. However, this was of no help for the crewmembers because both bombers crashed between Friedrichsthal-Bildstock and Neunkirchen. Only 2 of the 21 crewmembers survived, only because they were thrown out of the bombers.
Ref: www.flugzeugabstuerze-saarland.de/html/neunkirchen.html
The article is about halfway down the page.
From My Cousin John W. Little:
Mid-Air Collision July 19 1944 My uncle, 1st Lt. John William Little, U.S.A.A.F., whom I am named after, flew in the 3rd. Air Division, 34th Bomb Group, 18th Squadron. His Serial # was O-700406 and entered the service from Indiana. He was flying a B-24 Liberator, serial # 42-51190 out of Mendelsham, England. The name of his plane was "Ann". On July 19, 1944 he was involved in a mid-air collision over Friedrichsthal, Sarrland, Germany with another B-24, "Hells Belle", 42-94893, piloted by 2nd Lt. Donald H. DeMatio, O-700439 from Michigan. All ten of the DaMatio crew were listed KIA. It was reported that two chutes were seen from my uncles plane and Hart, William M. Jr. (CP) 2nd Lt. O-813327, and Blevins Merrill M. (Intel Off) 1st Lt O-569812 were listed as possible POWS. Up to this point I have only found one other reference to this in a newsletter from the 381st Bomb Group (H) Memorial Association, dated August 1999. It was included in an article titled "Air War Events of WWII In The Neunkirchen Area, Part II: Crash 1944, After the Bombs the Bombers,...3. "Mid-Air Collision" - Two LIBERATORS collide over Friedrichsthal by Werner Weider and Dr Horst Wilhelm with reports about the crash of two B-24 on July 19th, 1944 between Friedrichsthal and Landsweiler-Reden by the Co-Pilot and only survivor William Hart and other squadron members.