 Included in the kits are a Tornequet, Sulfanilamide Crystals ( Still Sealed ), Gentian Violet Jelly ( Half Squeezed Tube ), Small First Aid Dressing US Army Carlise Model Sterilized ( Still Sealed ), First Aid Packet US Govt Carlise Model Sterilized with Sulfanilmide, Plain Gauze Bandage Compressed 3 inches-6 Yards, and a Kit Contents/Instruction List. One Kit is more complete than the other.
Along with them, someone had made a small card giving details of a B-17 which broke up and crashed, giving the Group and Squadron the Fortress belonged to, a nearby village where the wreckage fell, and the crew positions of the two survivors, and that a local farmer had recovered the First Aid Kits from a hedge by the crash site. The previous owner hadn't known where to start looking to try and trace their history, so never knew any more about them.
Armed with this, I started a search that has resulted in me finding the story of the last mission of the aircraft they belonged to.
This is the story of their last short flight.
303rd Bombardment Group ( Heavy )
Mission No.272
Date: 11 November 1944
Target: Buer Synthetic Oil Plant at Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Bomb Load: 18 x 250 lb H.E. M57 bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 27,600, 26,800 & 28,900
Ammo Fired: 8,260 rounds
 B-17 Fortress #44-8422 "Duffy's Tavern", a 358th Bomb Squadron aircraft, piloted by 2Lt. Paul C. Stephan pf the 360th BS, broke up while gaining altitude over England, crashing on the road between Bourton and Much Wenlock. The B-17 was flown on instruments through the overcast, expecting to hit clear air at around 18,000 feet. At about 14,000 feet, the pilot told Sgt. Robert J. Sorensen, the Right Waist Gunner, to go to the bomb bay and remove the bomb fuse safety pins. Once this was confirmed complete, the order was given to go on oxygen.
Around 10 minutes later, at 17,000 feet, flames were seen from the No. 1 engine. The B-17 flipped over, entered a spin and then exploded. Sgt. Sorensen was blown head first out of the aircraft before he could reach his parachute. Certain death was avoided by a freak chance of fate. While falling without his parachute, a chest chute also falling from the wreckage, fell within his grasp. He was able to grab it and snap it onto the risers of his chute harness. Nothing happened at first when he pulled the 'D' Ring, so he clawed at the flaps containing the silk, finally getting it to partially open. He landed in a large tree, and was badly injured.
 Sgt. Dwight A. Phillips, Jr, the Flight Engineer, managed to escape the falling wreckage and parachute free, landing with a broken back. He reported the crash being caused by the B-17 getting caught in the slipstream of another climbing B-17, that flipped their aircraft over, sending it into a spin. The Fortress crashed on a road between the villages of Much Wenlock and Bourton, with wreckage strewn over a four-mile area. It is unclear whether the flames seen from the number one engine caused the explosion which broke the plane apart causing the spin, or whether the turbulance and resulting spin caused structural failure which then detonated the bomb load, and/or the fire ignited the fuel load.
The remaining crew:-
Lt. Stephan,
2Lt. John R. Clinger,
F/O Harold G. Lewis,
Sgt. Thomas W. Tapley,
T/Sgt. Raymond R. Ladurini,
T/Sgt. Stanton W. Keyes,
S/Sgt. Edgar P. Harris Jr.
were all killed in the crash.
Four years later, on November 11th, a memorial clock was installed on the wall of the town guildhall at Much Wenlock. It carries the RAF and USAAF wings with the following inscription:
"In honor of the sacrifices in the cause of freedom made by those members of the Allied Air forces who lost their lives in the Borough of Wenlock. 1939-1945."
The seven Sorensen crew members who died, three other American airmen and six British airmen who lost their lives in that area are also listed under the inscription.
Credits - Information regarding the crash and crew courtesy of the 303rd Bomb Group Website - www.303rdbg.com
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