Belgian detective makes 1945 crash of B-17 from 95th Bomb Group a lifelong passion

Jacques De Ceuninck, a retired police officer living in Tournai, Belgium, was just a boy in January 1945 when an American flyer parachuted into the street in front of his home. All but two of that crew survived, and were landing in neighborhoods across the city. That started a lifelong passion to know all about the airman’s stricken B-17, which crashed in the village of Kain, killing the pilot, Lt. Robert V. Mercer. Jacques has collected a vast amount of knowledge about the incident, and has published his findings in a French-language book, “Bob, Chuck et les autres”.

Jacques and the witnesses he interviewed say Mercer’s last act before dying in the flaming wreckage was to maneuver his doomed plane to avoid hitting the village church and a row of homes. Jacques is working with the town council to have a memorial installed at the church to this brave pilot. Jacques can be reached at this e-mail address: j_de_ceuninck@hotmail.com

Brother of flyer learns about 95th BG

Joe Beam lived a half-mile from my father for three decades. They worked on lawn mowers together, and they were friends. But the most compelling link between them was never discussed. Only after Tom died in 2004, and my book was published in 2007, did Joe learn Tom had served in the same Army Air Forces unit, the 95th Bomb Group (H), as did Joe’s brother, James Beam. Joe was just seven years old in 1944; James was 15 years older, and he was Joe’s hero.

Second Lieutenant James Francis Beam was navigator on Alva Powell’s crew. On April 11, 1944, Powell’s crew was on a mission to bomb Poznan, Poland, where Focke-Wolf 190 fighter planes were built. They were diverted to a secondary target at Rostock, Germany. A German Me-410 firing 37mm cannon knocked off the B-17's right wing tip, and disabled the two outboard engines. The plane was doomed. Ten crewmen donned parachutes and jumped. But they were 35 miles from land, over the frigid Baltic Sea. None survived the cold water. Adelia Beam, James’ and Joe’s mother, was so informed by letter from the Adjutant General of the Army.

James Beam was on his second combat mission when he died. Because it never came up, Joe never had the opportunity to question Tom about the 95th. But through "Tom's War," Joe learned more about the unit in which his brother served for a few short weeks.

Old warriors reunite...

William Guenther was a navigator in the 95th Bomb Group based at Horham, England, in 1944-45. He had a friend named Roger Rand, a pilot. The last William knew about Roger was that one day over Germany, he saw Roger's plane, in flames, spinning out of control toward the earth.

William, a retired university statistics professor, ordered my book, read it, and began e-mailing his memories from the war to me. On Friday, he told me about Roger, wondered in the e-mail what had become of him, and asked if I could find him. POWs are pretty well documented. I quickly found Roger's information, and also, through the wonders of the internet, found a current address and phone number for him. I sent the information to William.

On Saturday, I had an e-mail from William saying he had just talked with Roger for the first time in 63 years.