SSGT Alphonse J. Terwey

S/Sgt. Alphonse J. Terwey KIA Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota Squadron 68th Bomb Sq 44th Bomb Gp Service # 37281321 Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart Pilot Parke H. Jones Jr.

Target: Bremen, Germany Missing Air Crew Report Details USAAF MACR#: Date Lost: 16-Dec-43 Serial Number: 41-23788 Aircraft Model B-24D Aircraft Letter: Aircraft Name: AVENGER Location: Near Bremen Germany/England Cause: 6 KIA, 4POW

B24 AVENGER with a different crew was a veteran of "Operation Tidal Wave" the low level mission to destroy Romanian oil fields August 1 1943.

Parke H. Jones was the pilot of AVENGER, and his co-pilot, Lt. Griffin said, “This plane was severely damaged by a direct burst of flak which knocked out our #4 engine, and damaged parts of the bomb bay while we were en route to the target. After the pilot and I both tried to regain control without success, Jones gave the order to bail out. Four of us left the ship, but the pilot and five other crew members did not follow. Why the pilot tried to take the plane home after ordering us out is unknown. Perhaps he regained some control is just a guess. The bomb bay was badly hit and it was impossible to contact the boys in the rear of the ship either by radio or to get back to see if they were injured when we were hit. According to hearsay, the plane crashed on he English coast and burned. Two bodies remained unidentified after the plane crashed. The four men who bailed out were taken prisoner within a few hours – these four being the navigator, engineer, radioman, and myself.” Capt. Charles Kuch, a 68th Squadron lead pilot, stated that observers in other planes said that this aircraft had #4 engine blown completely off and the #3 propeller was gone, so Lt. Jones had power on only the left side. The aircraft disappeared into a cloudbank with the front half of the catwalk hanging down out of the bomb bay! All were amazed that he was able to coax this plane all the way back to England. He then chose to “belly-in” on the first open area he saw – the beach near Hull. Unfortunately, he set her down in a minefield and the resulting explosions and fire burned and killed all six men remaining aboard. The site of the crash-landing was near Skeffling, on an estuary southeast of Hull.

AVENGER Crew

Parke H. Jones Jr.  Pilot  John W. Griffin Co Pilot  POW

Anthony J. Piccolo  Navigator

John J. Buckholts  Bombardier 

T/Sgt. Chester A. Martin Radio Op.  POW

T/Sgt. Patrick J. Fries Engineer POW

Michael P. Zdonick  Gunner

S/Sgt. Alphonse J. Terwey  Gunner

S/Sgt. Wilson P. Besse  Gunner

S/Sgt. Rhodes C. Gordon  Gunner* Reference: [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56294886/alphonse-j-terwey Find A Grave Memorial] - [https://www.geni.com/projects/SmartCopy/18783 SmartCopy]: ''Dec 9 2020, 4:16:36 UTC''