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Posted by Alan Morton
on 6/7/2008, 4:42 pm, in reply to "42-102464 - Edward Nabozny"
75.83.113.51
Hi Staslu ...
As you may or may not already know ...
The craft piloted by Lt. Charles R. Blackwell, on his 29th mission, was hit by a burst of flak,
which knocked out three engines, caused the ship to drop out of formation and the crew to
parachute from the craft.
Plane s/n 42-102464, piloted by Lt Charles R. Blackwell was hit by flak just after dropping their bombs.
The first burst of flak blew off the plexiglass nose. The next couple bursts knocked out two engines
and left the third with a runaway prop. They turned and made it halfway back to the coast when the
runaway prop fell off. The cockpit area was awash in gasoline and the order was give to abandon ship.
The crew all bailed out at 1500 feet altitude. (See Charles Blackwell's account of this incident in
"Black Puff Polly" by Roland Byers)
The crew was as follows:
Plane s/n 42-102464
Pilot Lt Charles R. Blackwell EVD
Copilot Lt Theodore R. Baskett POW
Navigator Lt Irving H. Meyers POW
Bombardier Lt Verne M. Boon POW
A/C Engineer Sgt Thomas W. Howard POW
Radio Operator Sgt Edward Nabozny POW
Waist Gunner Sgt Francis W. McCall POW
Ball Turret Gunner Sgt Thomas G. Leahy POW
Tail Gunner Sgt Sylvester C Kuraszkiewicz POW
Notice above that the Pilot Lt Charles R. Blackwell Evaded Capture.
Now for the Good News ... After the end of WWII, Charles Blackwell did join the 457th BG Association.
I'm trying to locate Blackwell at another address than the one listed in the Association's Roster!
Best regards ...
Alan Morton
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