American Airmen Killed in Czechoslovakia

75 years ago today, several American airmen were murdered in a Bohemian field in Czechoslovakia. These fighter pilots fighting against Nazis had safely crash landed and were sitting on the wing of their plane handing out food and cigarettes when they were picked up. Today you will learn the unknown story of these American airmen killed in Czechoslovakia on December 9, 1944.

The story of the crew of the US B-17G Flying Fortress, serial number 42-97739 began on December 9, 1944 at the air base of the 2nd Bomber Group 15th Air Force USASF in southern Amandola, Italy, shortly after seven in the morning.

On that day, the 15th Air Force’s operational staff planned an offensive mission against strategic targets located in the territory of occupied Czechoslovakia and in the territory of Nazi Germany and Austria.

Leading an impressive group of air forces was entrusted with the 5th bomber wing with its six groups, which was to attack the modern refinery Sudetenländische Treibstoffwerke AG, located near the North Bohemian Bridge – today Chemopetrol Litvínov in Záluží near Most.

In the morning, 216 US B-17G Flying Fortress bombers took off from southern Italian bases. In the area of ​​the city of Sansego grouped into flight formations and flight over the Adriatic Sea, the territory of the former Yugoslavia and Austria reached the starting point, which was the village of Hroznětín in western Bohemia. Here the individual formations regrouped and gradually flew to the target.

Due to the weather and despite the use of radar, a part of the 5th bomber wing was the second bomber group of 36 aircraft, which flew in the second wave of the second position.

The group was led by its commander Colonel Coulen, flying the head of nine aircraft of the 96th Squadron. Ten of the 49th Squadron aircraft were led by Lieutenant Rigby, who, however, due to mechanical problems had to return prematurely. Lieutenant Buhler then took his place. Another ten bombers of the 429th Squadron was led by Lieutenant Falkenstern. The final group which had eight aircraft was the 20th Bomber Squadron in the 2nd Bomb Group.

The squadron was led by Lieutenant WOODRUFF J WARREN in the aircraft B-17G Flying Fortress serial number 42-97739. On board this machine, licensed in the thirtieth production block of the airline Lockheed Vega Aircraft Corporation in Burbank, California, were the following pilots:

• co-pilot l / Lt. DONALD I HART from Belmont, Massachussets
• navigator l / Lt. Burke W. Jay of Palmyra, New Jersey
• Bombardier 2 / Lt. William Jolly of Houghton, Michigan
• onboard radar operator 2 / Lt. GEORGE D MAYETT of Dunkirk, New York
• deck mechanic and gunner T / Sgt. FRANKLIN PINTO of Texas
• radio operator and gunner T / Sgt. Warren Anderson from Florida
• operating side guns S / Sgt. JOSEPF A COX and S / Sgt. Ralph E. Henry, both of Alabama, S / Sgt. Benjamin J. Sheppard of Bridgeton, New Jersey.

(*The bold names are the ones listed on the monument below.)

They were to attack the modern refinery Sudetenländische Treibstoffwerke AG, located near North Bohemia (later Chemopetrol Litvínov in Záluží near Most). After a previous unsuccessful attempt to find a refinery near Most, the 2nd Bomber Group appeared over Regensburg in Bavaria. Only seventeen aircraft group managed to identify the target and topple their bomb loads. The remaining aircraft were unable to identify their target and flew over another substitute target, which was the arms factory and the station in Pilsen. United States sources said that Pilsen was found and bombed, but we now know that it was not bombed and that a completely different target was bombed, probably one still in Bavaria or Austria.

Above one of the closures of anti-aircraft artillery were the fragments of exploding grenades which hit one of the four aircraft engines piloted by Lieutenant Warren Woodruff. The airplane fell out of formation and began to fall behind with loss of altitude.

Crash Landing

Woodruff was serving as First Lieutenant and the pilot of the B-17G (#42-97739), 20th Bomber Squadron, 2nd Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Before enlisting, he resided in Prince George’s County, Maryland prior to the war.

The B-17G that he was piloting crash landed due to the loss of an engine and fuel leakage after a bombing mission over southern Germany. It crashed near the Czech/Austrian border after attempting to traverse the Alps. It was the airplane’s 42nd war mission.

In the area of ​​Český les, the pilot, Lieutenant Warren contacted Sidney P. Upsher, a pilot of a neighboring aircraft, by radio and told him that his plane was badly damaged, that he had turned off an engine and had a damaged oil system. The last message was the fear that the plane would not go through the Alps.

At that time, Lieutenant Upsher wished “Good luck – a happy journey” and eventually broke off contact with B-17. 739. The plane subsequently crash landed in a field near the Czech/Austrian border after attempting to traverse the Alps.

Because the airline failed to maintain altitude, so the commander instructed his crew “Let’s get out of this damned ship!”.

After several crew members got on their parachutes, the first to jump was navigator Jay W. Burke, who suffered most from lack of oxygen. He was followed by Ralph Henry and then by Warren Anderson, Benjamin Sheppard and William Jolly, the bombardier.

The damaged aircraft came below the critical height for further parachute jumps so the pilot had no choice but to make an emergency landing with the landing gear retracted.

The pilot spotted the forested Bušteler-Tobau hill near Wullowitz, then the plane leaped through a tree-lined alley and then spotted a snowy meadow. All of the remaining crew members, Frank Pinto, George Mayott, Joseph Cox, co-pilot Donald Hart and Woodruff Warren, came out of the wreck announcing a good emergency landing with, “Everything went well!”

Josef Pusch’s truck arrived on the road from Horní Dvořiště to Dolní Dvořiště. Pusch stopped, and with other people, including farmers and German soldiers, went to the airplane. The five remaining Americans were seated on the right flank of the plane. They were waving a white flag and handing out cigarettes and food.

Half the Crew Parachuted Off the Plane

In the afternoon in the nearby village of Tichá (south of Kaplice) which was home to a community of approx. 100 houses, the inhabitants heard the hums of a low flying plane and shortly afterwards saw the parachutist-swooping towards the ground. A few minutes later, William Jolly of Houghton, Michigan landed in the soft snow. When he freed himself from the parachute, he saw a group of people coming to him.

The group was headed by the Mayor of Tichá at the time, Josef Witzany. Witzany was a fanatical Nazi. With his firearm exposed and ready, he went straight towards the American. Jolly raised his hands above his head. Just a few seconds later, the firearm sounded, and its bullet broke through the aviator’s leather jacket. The blow to his chest was fatal. William Jolly dropped to the ground with his hands still raised.

At the same time, Benjamin Sheppard landed in another place, not far from the settlement of Štědrkov. Like Jolly, he also landed into soft snow. He dropped his parachute and went through the snow across fields and meadows until he came to Štědrkov.

The settlement consisted of three farmhouses owned by Jodl, Qatember and Hansbauer. He knocked at the door of the house belonging to Hansbauer. Several pairs of astonished eyes stared at him as the door opened. Nobody had expected such a visit, from an American. They invited him in and let him sit at a large table. Just ten hours after Shepperd had left southern Italy, he was here, sitting back in the heated tea and snack room in Bohemia. This was just about at the same time that the rest of the squadron was landing back at the field airport in Amandola.

Near the area, the Wullowitz customs office had been closed since 1938. After the annexation of Austria to the Great German, the historical borders with Czechoslovakia had lost their validity and were moved far into the heart of Bohemia. German soldiers had settled in the customs office/house and happened to have an observation point on the hill above Leopoldschlag. And just a few meters northwest of that was an airfield and enemy flying fortress.

Dolní Dvořiště

Mr. Josef Pusch’s truck arrived on the road from Horní Dvořiště to Dolní Dvořiště. When he saw a huge bird (the airplane) sitting in a field near the road, he stopped his wood-gas truck and went to take a closer look.

While there he witnessed the following events: Local people, farmers and German soldiers gathered to the plane. When Mr. Pusch and the others arrived at the plane, the five remaining Americans were sitting on the right flank of the plane handing out American goodies.

Shortly afterwards, the district headquarters in Kaplice received a report that a four-engine aircraft had landed in Dolní Dvůriště. Two cars immediately drove from Kaplice to Dolní Dvořiště.

In one vehicle sat the district commander Franz Strasser, and in the other was commander of the Gestapo, Walter Wolf. Wolf was a German from Bad Schandau, currently serving in Kaplice. With them was the chief of police from Kaplice, Captain Karl Lindemeyer.

When the vehicles arrived at the aircraft, its members inspected both the pilots and the aircraft and removed their weapons. They had voluntarily surrendered. Then Lindemeyer ordered Josef Pusch to make room on the platform for a truck to transport the Americans. Pusch overheard a conversation between Strasser and Lindemeyer saying (literally), “The pilots were sent to us from the heavens themselves, and we will return them to the heavens!”

The vehicles then started in the direction of Kaplice. When they reached the village of Nažidla, they turned off the main road. About 100 meters east of Mrs. Neuwirt’s inn and the Lausecker Court, the road led slightly uphill.

Here, Pusch had to step on the gas pedal a bit more to try to climb the hill, but due to freezing weather conditions, his truck hesitated on the climb. Seeing the struggle, he was signaled to stop.

Immediately after stopping, Lindemayer called out “Everybody get off!” This command was directed to the five Americans. Pusch heard them jump off the truck.

Shots Fired on the Side of the Road

In the following seconds, the crackle of machinegun fire ripped through the winter silence.

One of the Americans was not yet dead, trying to crawl to cover. The new batch of gunfire, however, skewed him. Only a few seconds had passed since the vehicles stopped, and now there were five Americans laying dead. They were:

• Woodruff J. Warren of Maryland
• Donald L. Hart of Massachussets
• Frank Pinto Jr. of Texas
• George D. Mayett of New York
• Josepf Cox of Alabama

The victims’ blood was running out from their mouths and ears, and the snow around them quickly became red, contrasting against the white snow. Karl Lindemeyer shot three of them and Franz Strasser had shot two of the Americans. This was not an occurrence of being caught in enemy fire or being shot in combat. These Americans were shot and murdered in cold blood.

According to another account, the airmen first helped push the truck up the hill and then they were shot. This was shared by František Novotný of Kaplice who also remembered that day. “At that time I worked as an assistant in the post office and on foot I carried a telegram to Nažidel. When I came to that place, I saw bloody clumps of snow on the road,” he told the newspaper, Deníku in Kaplice.

Before they left, the two murderers pulled off the Americans’ clothes, shoes, and other valuable items in looting fashion. They left the corpses of the dead servicemen dressed in only their underwear.

The Lone Witness

Pusch, who had witnessed everything, stood there, pale and frightened. He was ordered by the men to shove the soldiers into the ditch and cover them with the snow. Then they ordered him to drive away if he didn’t want to end up like them. Their bodies were thus “buried” in the shallow snowy ditch along the road where they were murdered.

Before the murderers drove away, Pusch could see that parts of their bodies, their faces, hands and feet began to emerge from the snow which was already melting over their still-warm bodies.

Nazi officials from Kaplice then sent a message for broadcast to the radio to announce, “a happy landing of a damaged American plane in a field in Dolní Dvůriště”.

The following day, on December 10, 1944, all of the Americans killed were seen in the roadside ditch. They were then “really” buried at the place of their execution.

A year later, in June, July, and November of 1945, the bodies of the five Americans and the body of their friend William Jolly were exhumed and transported to the military cemetery for fallen American soldiers in France.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Sheppard was taken from the peasant’s cottage to the barracks in Kaplice. Three days later, Sheppard was transported to Wels. While passing through Dolní Dvořiště, the guards allowed him to see the perfect landing of his plane.

Benjamin Sheppard and his three friends who left the plane in front of him returned to their homeland after the war in less than five months. Two completely different fates for those who jumped and those who landed.

After the War – The Fate of the Murderers

Karl Lindemeyer committed suicide on May 8, 1945 and was buried on May 10 in grave No. VIII / 14. This was recorded in the local gravedigger’s book.

In the summer of 1945, a senior US officer visited the Municipal Office in Kaplice for official information on Lindemeyer’s suicide. The gravedigger had to swear that he had actually buried him.

Franz Strasser was arrested by the Americans in Frymburk in June of 1945. He was then transferred as a war criminal to Dachau, where he was sentenced to death.

Video Footage of the War Crimes Trial of Franz Strasser

In the following video, we see excerpts from the August 24, 1945 military commission tribunal in Dachau. Swearing in of translator and charges read against Franz Strasser for: “Violation of the Laws and Usages of War. In that on or about 9 December 1944, FRANZ STRASSER, Kreisleiter of Kreis Kaplitz, an Austrian National, did at or near Kaplitz, Czechoslovakia, wrongfully and unlawfully kill an American airman, whose name, rank and serial number are unknown, by shooting him with a Thompson submachine gun. Strasser replies with a plea of not guilty.

The next scene shows the entry of German civilian truck driver, Josef Pusch, who is sworn in and provides testimony about the incident. Pusch describes the events of the shooting of the American prisoners by Strasser. United States flag and judges on raised platform. U.S. officials, defendants and civilians in the court room. Shows hearing as it begins. The Nazi commandant seated with other officials. The German civilian is questioned by an interpreter. German civilian Pusch identifies Strasser. Pusch gives his account to the tribunal about the shooting of the American flyers.

Cpl. Henry Halperin is the interpreter for all witnesses; Sgt. Sessler interprets for Franz Strasser. The six-officer Army Military Commission included Capt. Victor Miles, Lt. Harvey Szanger, and Col. Raymond E. Zickel.

Franz Strasser held the rank of Kreisleiter. Kreisleiter (County Leader) was a Nazi Party political rank and title which existed as a political rank between 1930 and 1945 and as a Nazi Party title from as early as 1928. The position of Kreisleiter was first formed to provide German election district coordination and, after the Nazi assumption of power, the position became one of county municipal government, effectively replacing the traditional German government establishment.

Click here to read the court document of United States vs. Franz Stasser, an Austrian National.

We now know that Strasser shot Warren Woodruff and George Damon Mayett. Franz Strasser was executed by hanging on December 10, 1945 by the U.S hangman John Chris Woods, and died instantly. He was 46 years old when he was hanged as a war criminal in Landsberg Prison.

Josef Witzany (the Mayor of Tichá at the time), was the murderer of William Jolly. He was intensively sought after by American, Austrian and Czechoslovak authorities, but he was never discovered.

Josef Pusch was the main witness in the trial and because of his testimony, some justice was served and we are able to understand what happened to the American airmen on that terrible day.

A Proper Burial

In May of 1945, the remains of five unknown U.S. airmen were recovered from the graves by the 26th Infantry Division QM Corps. On May 28, 1945 the bodies were taken to U.S. Military Cemetery No. 1 in Nurnberg, Germany, for burial.

Over the next few weeks, they were the subject of an investigation by authorities. Comparisons were made with dental charts of the crew members of the bomber that landed in the area. Shortly after the initial identification of Lt. Warren, an identification card, which was found in his cap by the witness of the shootings was recovered.

After identification, Lt. Woodruff’s and Lt. Mayott’s families were contacted and granted permission for the remains to be reinterred in the Saint-Avold, Departement de la Moselle, Lorraine, France. Lieutenant. Mayott was reburied with full military honors, per a letter to John Ray and Grace Mayott from Major General. Herman Feldman, dated 24-03-1949.

The four other crewmen who parachuted and landed in the region were detained separately. They were POW’s through the end of the war.

Woodruff, along with the other crew members, were designated as “Killed In Action” during the war. But the airmen from the B-17 bomber did not fall in combat, as soldiers. By that time, the fate of the war had already been decided. They were murdered in cold blood by the Nazi fanatics who lived near Dolní Dvořiště and that cannot be denied.

Woodruff was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with one Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart. 

Learning About The Fate of their Crew

2nd Lt. George D. Mayott was the son of John R. Mayott. He was a bombardier who came from 634 Swan Street, Dunkirk, NY. He was assigned to a Flying Fortress unit of the Air Force in Italy just two months before his flight that day. He received his bombardier’s wings at Albuquerque, NM and left for overseas duty in October. He graduated from the Dunkirk High School in 1938 and before joining the AAF, he was employed by the Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation.

Ever since he parachuted from his flak-riddled B-17 Bomber over Linz, Austria, Dec. 9, 1944, 1st Lt. Burke W. Jay had been trying to learn the fate of five American airmen shot down with him. A few days ago, in a darkened projection room of the March of Time, Jay, 24-year-old navigator from Palmyra, N.J. reached the end of his quest from the documentary film, Justice Comes to Germany, photographed in a courtroom in Dauchau, Germany. Jay learned that his crewmates had been murdered by their Nazi captors.

The film Jay saw was made at the trial of Kreisleiter Franz Strasser, citizen of the Reich, district leader of 45,000 Czechoslovakians, ruthless killer of the five American flyers. Strasser was tried specifically for the murder of 1st Lt. Woodruff J. Warren of Hyattsville, Md., pilot of the B-17 and one of Jay’s best friend. The flyers reported slain with Warren were 1st Lt. Donald L. Hart of Belmont, Mass., co-pilot: 2nd Lt. George D. Mayott, of Dunkirk, N.Y., radar man, Staff Sgt. Joseph A. Cox of Opp, Ala., gunner and 2nd Lt. Willian Jolly of Houghton, Mich., the latter still listed by the War Department as “missing in action”. As a prisoner of the Germans in Stalag Luffe #1, Jay had heard rumors that some of his crew were killed “trying to escape”. The film’s sound track brought him the testimony of Strasser’s fellow guards, who testified that the Nazi Kreisleiter had mowed down the American airmen with his machine pistol as they stood helpless and unarmed beside a road near Kaplitz, Czechoslovakia. “It’s good to know my buddies are being avenged and to know they are being avenged in the American way – by a fair trial.” Jay said, “I wouldn’t want it any other way. That’s what we fought for and they dies for.”

The Monument Today

In 2004, a memorial plaque was unveiled on the wall of the church (kostel na Svatém Kameni) in memory of the American airmen executed in the region.

American pilots from the 20th Bomber Squadron of the 15th US Air Force, who with their aircraft Boeing B-17G sera. No. 42-97739 crash landed near the village of Dolní Dvořiště on 9 December 1944

• PILOT 1st Lt. Woodruff J. WARREN / State of Maryland / assassinated December 9, 1944 at the settlement Zdíky
• CO-PILOT 1st Lt. Donald L. HART / State of Massachusetts / assassinated December 9, 1944 near the settlement Zdíky
• BOMBARDIER 1st Lt. Burke W. JAY / State of New Jersey / captured December 9, 1944
• FLIGHT ENGINEER/TOP TURRET GUNNER 2nd Lt William JOLLY / state of Michigan / murdered at the pilgrimage church of Holy Stone December 9, 1944
• RADAR OPERATOR 2nd Lt. George D. MAYOTT / New York State / assassinated December 9, 1944 about the settlements Zdíky
• DECK MECHANIC T / Sgt. Frank PINTO Jr. / State of Texas / assassinated December 9, 1944 near the settlement Zdíky
• TURRET GUNNER T / Sgt. Warren ANDERSON / State of Florida / captured December 9, 1944
• WAIST GUNNER S / Sgt. Joseph A. COX / State of Alabama / assassinated December 9, 1944 at the settlement Zdíky
• WAIT GUNNER S / Sgt. Ralph E. HENRY / State of Alabama / captured December 9, 1944
• TAIL GUNNER S / Sgt. Benjamin J. SHEPPARD / State of New Jersey / captured December 9, 1944

Also, approximately 5 kilometers south of the South Bohemian town of Kaplice, near road E55 is a monument to the five US pilots who landed their damaged bomber on December 9, 1944.

This location is where they were subsequently murdered on the same day. Click here for the Google Maps location.

The Fate of the Plane

The B-17 #42-97739 has the following logged: Delivered Denver 11/2/44; 1SAG Langley 8/4/44; Morrison 26/4/44; Assigned (PFF) 49BS/2BG Amendola 7/5/44; transferred to 20BS; Missing in Action Regensburg 9/12/44 with Woodruff Warren, Co-pilot: Don Hart, Navigator: George Mayott {m/op}, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Bill Jolly, Radio Operator: Frank Pinto, Waist gunner: Joe Cox (6 Killed in Action); Bombardier: Burke Jay, Ball turret gunner: Warren Anderson, Waist gunner: Ralph Henry, Tail gunner: Ben Sheppard (4 Prisoner of War); flak, crashed Alps, near Linz, Austria; Missing Air Crew Report 10131. Source: Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log*

An excellent account of the missing pieces of this story can be found in the book Shot at and Missed: Recollections of a World War II Bombardier by Jack R. Myers. More information about the book on Amazon or on eBay.

Sometimes it is good for us to remember such events from modern history and to reflect on the horrors of war conflicts and manifestations of inhuman behavior. Therefore, it is good that there are memorials that remind us of these events and wartime context. At the same time, these memorials are a tribute to those who have fallen for our freedom.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, *8, 9.

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