About the Airplane

The Missing Air Crew Reports No.
6174
The type of the plane.
B-24H
The plane ID.
42-52538
The name of the plane.
The squadron the bomber belongs to.
760th Bomb Squadron
The date of the bomber's crash.
1944-06-26
The reason for the bomber's crash.
Flak
The place the bomber targeted.
Floridsdorf
The place where the bomber crashed.
Bockfließ
Coordinates of the site the bomber was last seen at.
The city or village the bomber was last seen at.
Raum Wien
The country or county the bomber was last seen at.
Time of the day the bomber was last seen at.
10:15
Time of the crash.
10:15
Comments.
Die Maschine bekam - vermutlich wegen eines Flaktreffers - Probleme mit dem dritten Triebwerk und fiel hinter die Formation zurück. Dort wurde sie von weiteren Flakgeschossen aber auch von Jägern getroffen und zerfiel in der Luft. Mehrere Besatzungsmitglieder fielen dabei aus den Trümmern und konnten sich per Fallschirm zu Boden retten. Die Maschine brannte am Boden aus.

Map of related places

The Crew

Name Rank Function Destiny
Blocker, Billie B. 2nd Lt Co-Pilot EUS
Geist, Richard A. S/Sgt Gunner 6 KIA
Haas, Frederick J. S/Sgt Gunner 4 KIA
Holland, William S. 2nd Lt Navigator EUS
Knotowicz, Stanley J. S/Sgt Gunner 2 EUS
Nauer, Claude L. S/Sgt Gunner 5 EUS
Prosser, Joseph D. T/Sgt Gunner 1 Rtd
Smith, Jack W. 1st Lt Pilot KIA
Swafford, Jack L. T/Sgt Gunner 3 EUS
Whatley, Charles L. 2nd Lt Bombardier EUS

How to cite

DAACDA – Downed Allied Air Crew Database Austria, edited by Nicole-Melanie Goll, Georg Hoffmann and Peter Andorfer, Vienna 2025 (https://daacda.acdh.oeaw.ac.at/a-00275.html)