Wednesday In England, the Eighth Air Force dispatched 1,278 bombers and 804 fighters to hit oil, rail and industrial targets in Germany; they claim 17 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed. The Eighth Air Force loses three B-17s and two fighters.1 Verne and the other members of Combat Crew 87 of the 571st Bombardment Squadron (H) were part of a mission to bomb the Seelze marshalling yard near Hanover. This was the 274th combat mission of the 390th Bombardment Group (H). The objective of the mission was . . . .
To hit oil tankers seen parked on the sidings at Seelze marshaling yard, near Hanover, only planes of 390th “A” Squadron bombed on 14 March. “B” and “C” Squadrons had poor visibility, plus equipment malfunctions, and did not bomb. “A” Squadron was troubled by haze, and overshot the target. The operation was marred by the loss of 2 planes which collided when one was caught in prop wash and forced into the other. 2
Verne’s B-17 Boston Blackie/Heavenly Cent, was hit by another B-17, the Lady Velma. The only survivor of the collision was the ball turret gunner on the Lady Velma, Sgt. Francis Joseph Nix of Chickasha, Oklahoma. Sgt. Nix later provided an account of the collision:
We were briefed to bomb the marshaling yards at Seelze, near Hannover, Germany. As we were approaching the I.P., I thought to myself how lucky I was to be able to finish my tour with a “Milk Run”. The plan was to go towards one target and confuse the Germans as once they thought they knew your target they would set up 88 mm antiaircraft batteries in line with your target in order to put as much ordinance in the air as possible. Then, at the last minute, the plan was to turn the aircraft towards the real target and deliver the bombs. At the moment when the aircraft was turning towards the real target, our plane caught prop wash (propeller turbulence) from the aircraft in front of us. The pilot fought the invasive turbulence and, although I was not in the cockpit, it seemed like the plane pulled up and stalled out. We came down on top of our element leader “Boston Blackie”.
The first thing I heard was the screeching of the propellers hitting metal. My first reaction was to push my turret controls forward as to align my hatch with the opening into the plane. My twin .50 caliber machine guns had to be pointing straight down before I could get up into the airplane fuselage. I could not wear a parachute while inside the turret as I was rather large to be a ball turret gunner. My parachute was stored outside of the turret. The collision was followed by a series of deafening explosions. Our left wing had hit “Boston Blackie” toward the rear of their airplane and then it broke off. With two engines still running on our right wing the plane rotated counterclockwise and then it hit “Boston Blackie” again. (My turret was pointing straight up at this time.) I believe the other aircraft exploded upon impact. Eye witnesses to this accident stated that they saw bodies flying out of the explosion. What was left of our plane started to flip flop and spin out of control and the G forces were very strong. I said to myself, “This is it!” Since I could not see any part of our airplane, I thought that maybe my turret had torn apart from the plane and was free-falling on its own. (The Ball Turret system is only held into the airplane with four bolts.) My ears felt like they were exploding as we were falling fast from our initial altitude of over 20,000 feet. I found that I was still holding onto the turret controls very tightly.
About this time, the airplane lurched and then straightened out into a nose dive. I think the other wing, or what was left of it, must have broken off from the fuselage. I reached over and turned off the power switch on my turret, as if this was needed. As I released the latches on the turret door, I realized that I was still with the aircraft. With the guns in the proper position, I was able to climb out of the turret leaving my oxygen mask and microphone behind. I found my parachute under some loose ammo and picked it up. I climbed up the fuselage, since the airplane was headed downward at a steep angle, and snapped the chest pack onto my parachute harness. When I finally made it to the waist door of the aircraft, I opened the door and released it as the wind resistance was not too great. As I started to go out the door, the plane lurched and I fell backwards. About this time, I noticed Waist Gunner Shipman approaching the door from below. He paused at the door opening and I patted him on the back as he left the aircraft. I then crawled out immediately.
I counted to six quickly before pulling the parachute release ring and was falling face down. The parachute opened very close to the ground. (I estimated that we were less than 500 feet above the ground when we bailed out.) I hit the ground HARD, very HARD, and thought that I had broken every bone in my body. My guess is that Waist Gunner Shipman had counted to ten when he jumped because his parachute never opened and he laid about 50 feet from where I landed. The airplane’s fuselage with no wings crashed about 100 feet away. There were burning parts of the airplane scattered all over the area, and I saw no sign of any other parachutes.3
An additional account of the collision between Boston Blackie/Heavenly Cent and Lady Velma is available in a 390th Bombardment Group anthology.4
In January 1944, a distant cousin of Verne’s also died in a mid-air collision over Germany.5 Verne and his cousin, 2nd Lt. John R. Gray5, are listed in The Roll of Honor6 which is maintained in the American Memorial Chapel7 at the east end of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
Notes & Commentary
1 “Mission Details, March 14, 1945.”Eighth Air Force Historical Society. (http://www.8thafhs.com/old/missions_by_date.php : accessed 6 February 2015).
2 United States and Albert E. Milliken. The story of the 390th Bombardment Group (H). [New York]: Priv. Print., 1947. p. 124.
3 Ronald J. Reid. “A Tribute to Sgt. Boyce Lester Pruitt”. (unpublished manuscript, 2007). pp. 7-8. In the preface to his manuscript, Ronald Reid wrote the following:
The information contained herein is from my family’s oral history handed down from Boyce’s parents (my grandparents) to my mother, family documents, my mother and father’s photo album, original military records, he 1947 edition of “The Story of the 390th Bombardment Group (H)”, the nephew of pilot Roy R. Creasman, Pat Hefner, and information compiled by the only survivor of the two aircraft that collided, Francis Joe Nix. A special thank you must be given Francis J. Nix who has documented his first-hand account of the accident and to his son, Louis, for freely sharing that documentation with our family. A simple thank you, however, is inadequate to express the appreciation of the Pruitt family for the consideration and willingness shown by 19 year old Sgt. Francis Nix to meet in person with Boyce’s parents, Walter and Jennie Pruitt, after his liberation as a POW.
In 1946, Boyce’s parents and an aunt drove down to Chickasha from Enid, Oklahoma to learn firsthand from Francis Nix the circumstances of Boyce’s death.
4 Richard H. Perry, Wibert H. Richarz and William J. Robinson, comp. “Sole Survivor — Mid-Air Collision”, The 390th Bomb Group Anthology, v. 2. Tucson, AZ: 390th Memorial Museum Foundation, 1985. Pp. 157-159.
5 At 1023 on January 4, 1944, Verne’s distant cousin, John Robert Gray of Bloomington, Illinois was killed when his aircraft, B-17F #42-30518, Short Stride IV, collided with B-17F #42-5923, Skin and Bones. The collision occurred at 52⁰20’N 07⁰10’E at 25,000’. Both aircraft were from the 96th Bombardment Group (H), 413th Bombardment Squadron (H). B-17 #42-30518 crashed near Lingen, Germany and B-17 #42-5923 crashed near Gronau, Germany. The radio operator, T/Sgt. Lyall W. Taubert; right waist gunner, S/Sgt Gerald R. Waldron, Jr.; and tail gunner, S/Sgt. John Y. Young on B-17F #42-30518, Short Stride IV, survived the collision and became prisoners of war. The pilot, 1st Lt. James E. McLean; the copilot, 2nd Lt. Harold Ziotnick; the navigator, 2nd Lt. John R. Gray; the bombardier, 2nd Lt. John E. McGee; the top turret gunner, T/Sgt. Richard R. Winn; the ball turret gunner, S/Sgt. Thomas J. Keefe, Jr; and the left waist gunner, S/Sgt. David Miller, Jr. were all killed in action. All ten crewmembers of B-17F #42-5953, Skin and Bones, were killed.
Missing Air Crew Reports (MACRs) of the U.S. Army Air Forces, 1942-1947, digital image, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com/image/28708673/ : accessed 28 January 2015), B-17F, Aircraft Serial Number 42-30518, “Missing Air Crew Report 2016”. See also Missing Air Crew Reports (MACRs) of the U.S. Army Air Forces, 1942-1947, digital image, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com/image/28708700/ : accessed 28 January 2015), B-17F, Aircraft Serial Number 42-5953, “Missing Air Crew Report 2017”.
John Robert Gray was the son of William Allen Gray, born 1886, and Marvel Sindlinger Gray of Bloomington, Illinois.
6 For the listing in The Roll of Honor, see page 158 (http://www.stpauls-roh.org.uk/cgi-local/asdsrch.pl?asdsrch=GRAY&ptv=158#images : accessed 25 January 2015).
7 See http://www.stpaulsusa.org/Pages/AmericanConnection.aspx : accessed 25 January 2015.
Wayne's Journal 
Reblogged this on Aviation Trails and commented:
An amazing account of a ball gunners escape.
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A fascinating and probably quite rare, account, one lucky young man. Have reblogged this with my readers.
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Really brings it home to you. Ever thought of publishing them in a book?
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This tribute, A. Gray, is one other reason why I want to send you a memento from Mr. Corbeil. 100 people around the world will receive it. One of these is Aviation Trails.
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Oh….I not sure why this hit me so hard. I thought Verne survived the war. As “historical” as this is I am saddened to read this.
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What can I say! Such a long war and so close to the end!
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Very sad to read this. I hope I correctly understood Verne Gray to be your Dad. What a brave young man he was to have served his country as he did. Your project is a beautiful tribute to him. Regards, Scott.
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Allen, like another poster already said, it is still very sad to read of someone’s death, even if it was 70 years ago. It was like he just died yesterday and I want to say “I’m so sorry for your loss.” I am so glad Verne’s commanders thought to mail home to your mother the diary you’ve been providing the entries from; it would have been so easy for them to just toss it aside. Reading your snippets from your dad made him very alive to us, as I hope he still is for you. To have it end so close to the end of the conflict in Europe has it seem all the more tragic. I will have such an anniversary later this year, in November, when it will be 70 years since my dad’s oldest brother died here in the States in a crash on a cross-country flight of a B-25 in the mountains on the Kentucky/Tennessee border; that too was a senseless, unexpected loss to the family, as he was due to get discharged soon and even sooner was coming home on a furlough. Such losses; you wonder how all our relatives and neighbors coped back then with the loss. At least we preserved many of these memories for this long.
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Wow. It’s sad that only one person survived that collision. Definitely didn’t expect Verne’s story to end so suddenly. Glad he was able to get that thank you letter off to his wife the day before though. Thank you for sharing his story with us.
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I too am saddened to hear of his death, with a young wife and family to go home to. So sad.
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What a lucky, lucky young man, and what an unlucky Waist Gunner Shipman. And yes, it is sad to read of as young man’s death, even if it was so long ago.
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My father and one of his cousins are listed on the Roll of Honor in the American Memorial Chapel at St. Pauls in London. My father was killed while on his 18th bombing mission on 14 March 1945. His body, in 1948, was brought back from The Netherlands to the States for reinterment. I had visited his grave many times, but I had never experienced the emotions felt in the American Chapel at St. Pauls in November 2005. I am not sure why that was, but it may be that I was accompanied to the Chapel by two Englishmen, St. Pauls’ volunteers, who had been boys during the war.
As I stood there looking at the Roll of Honor, one said quietly to me, “We are so glad they came to help.” Dust gets in your eyes on occasions like that.
“We are so glad they came to help.” That meant so much.
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I had not realised until your final post that Verne Gray was your father.
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Yes, Verne Gray, was my father. I am not, though, the Alan mentioned in the final post of Wayne’s Journal. That Alan lost his father, a Marine, on an invasion beach in the Pacific. I don’t remember which one. It was a long, long time ago when Gary, Alan, Judy and Becky and I were schoolmates. I am sure there were others at my school, but it was not something that anyone talked about. We were just part of the anonymous and often forgotten 183,000 American children who were left fatherless as the result of WWII. In that, I rather imagine that we were no different than those children in other countries.
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I knew of course that Wayne was your uncle, but something got lost along the way in reading your blog. Incredible tribute to your father and his brother. I will update my blog directing my readers to yours.
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Reblogged this on Souvenirs de guerre and commented:
Je reviendrai sur cette histoire la prochaine fois.
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Waist gunner Shipman was my uncle. My Dad would like to know if Francis Nix is still alive. We had just found a letter that he had written to my Grandmother in Aug 1945.
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According to the article “Joe Nix – The Only One” which appeared in the Spring 2013 issue of J Bulletin (http://www.390th.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Spring-2013.pdf), Francis Joseph Nix passed away on 04 March 2012 in Oklahoma at age 86. He is buried at Saint Josephs Cemetery, Union City, Canadian County, Oklahoma. See Find A Grave Memorial #86432814.
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Hello Sharon,
I am Louis Nix son of Francis J Nix. I am sorry to say that he passed away in 2012 at the age of 87. I wrote in the account of what he told me, but the blame for the incident cannot be put upon anybody. My father was in the ball turret unable to see the action above from the enemy. Undoubtedly the pilot did his best to avoid the accident and acted in the most heroic and professional manner. Prayers and blessings for the soldiers who lost their lives and for their families.
Louis Nix
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My father in Law is James R Higgins. Served 13 air force 42 bomber group. Still alive and well living on long island ny with his wife Marie.
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I wonder what he thought of the Wayne’s Journal entry for 08 April 1945 (https://waynes-journal.com/2015/04/08/april-8-1945/)?
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God bless all those guys who gave their lives for their country. My father Francis Nix , my wife, our English friend Pete, and I went to see their graves in Holland in 1997. There were no dry eyes that day. My dad was deeply moved and asked why he was the only one who survived.
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After reading this story of the tragic accident between the Blackie/Heavenly Cent, which was hit by another B-17, the Lady Velmade with the sole survivor of the two planes that collided, Francis Joseph Nix.
A special word of thanks must be given to Francis Joe. Nix, who documented his firsthand account of the accident. Later, after his liberation as a prisoner of war, he personally went to the family of Paul Michael Akosevich to tell how this tragic accident happened, and his comrades died.
We have deep respect for him and all those who died, after all, they fought for our freedom. We are the adopters of the grave of Sgt. Paul Michael Akosevich who is buried in the American cemetery in Margraten – The Netherlands
Sgt Paul Michael Akosevich (1923-1945) – Find a Grave-gedenkplek
Francis Joseph “Joe” Nix Sr. (1925-2012) – Find a Grave-gedenkplek
Peggy Kuijpers & Maurice Claessen
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Na dit verhaal te hebben gelezen van het tragische ongeluk tussen de Blackie/Heavenly Cent, die werd geraakt door een andere B-17, de Lady Velmade met als enige overlevende van de twee vliegtuigen die in botsing kwamen, Francis Joseph Nix.
Een speciaal woord van dank moet worden betuigd aan Francis Joe. Nix, die zijn verslag uit de eerste hand van het ongeval heeft gedocumenteerd.
Later is hij persoonlijk na zijn bevrijding als krijgsgevangenen naar de familie van Paul Michael Akosevich gegaan om te vertellen hoe dit tragische ongeluk is gebeurd, en zijn kameraden zijn verongelukt.
We hebben diep respect voor hem en alle overledenen, ze vochten immers voor onze vrijheid.
Wij zijn de adoptanten van het graf van Sgt. Paul Michael Akosevich welke ligt begraven op het Amerikaanse kerkhof in Margraten – Nederland
Sgt Paul Michael Akosevich (1923-1945) – Find a Grave-gedenkplek
Francis Joseph “Joe” Nix Sr. (1925-2012) – Find a Grave-gedenkplek
Peggy Kuijpers & Maurice Claessen
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Today it’s 80 years ago (March 14, 1945 – March 14, 2025) that the tragic accident occurred with two B-17 planes named the Lady Velma and the Boston Blackie/Heavenly Cent.
Sgt. Paul M. Akosevich was a B-17G Flying Fortress Engineer/Top Turrett Gunner assigned to the 571st Bombardment Squadron of the 390th Bombardment Group (Heavy), Eighth Air Force stationed near Framlingham, England. On March 14th, 1945, he was on a mission to destroy the marshalling yards in Seelze, near Hanover, Germany when his plane (B-17 tail #43-37831, nicknamed “Lady Velma”; Missing Air Crew Report 13024) collided with another B-17G (tail #42-102972; “Heavenly Cent” aka “Boston Blackie”) and both planes crashed. There was only one survivor of both bombers, Francis Joseph “Joe” Nix Sr., from the “Lady Velma”.
A special word of thanks must be given to Francis Joe. Nix, who has documented his first-hand account of the accident.
Later, after his liberation, he personally went to the family of Paul Michael Akosevich as prisoners of war to tell how this tragic accident happened, and his comrades died in an accident.
We have deep respect for him and all the heroes, after all, they fought for our freedom.
Sgt Paul Michael Akosevich (1923-1945) – Find a Grave-gedenkplek
Paul M Akosevich Fold3 https://www.fold3.com/memorial/639639038
Paul M Akosevich : Sergeant from California, World War II Casualty
Francis Joseph “Joe” Nix Sr. (1925-2012) – Find a Grave-gedenkplek
History of B-17 43-37831 / Lady Velma
Missing in action Hannover 14/3/45 with Willard Kast, John Romkema, Bob Peterson, Dan McKinney, Paul Akosevich, John Popesen, Dorsett Shipman, Clyde Belveal, Julian Budziak (9 killed); Francis Nix (prisoner of war); mid air coll with 42-102972 (390BG), crashed Wulften, near Göttingen, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 13024. DAME VELMA.
History of B-17 43-38521 / Boston Blackie
Missing in action Hannover 14/3/45 with Roy Creaseman, Joe McAllister, Mike Bursin, Boyce Pruitt, George Gouldthrite, Alvin Goldberg, Bob Powers, Verne Gray, Carlton Fisher (9 killed); mid air coll with 43-37831 (390BG), crashed Bilhausen, near Göttingen, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 11137 (?13025). BOSTON BLACKIE.
Joseph M Mc Allister https://nl.findagrave.com/memorial/67351176/joseph_m-mcallister
2nd Lt Joseph M Mc Allister (1916-1945) – Joseph M Mc Allister – Fold3
Joseph M Mc Allister https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=441681
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Thanks for posting this memorial to the men that died that tragic day.
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Thank you for sharing such a powerful and respectfully detailed account of the March 14, 1945 mission and the tragic loss of Verne and his crew. Your writing not only preserves an important piece of history but honours the bravery and sacrifice of those who served with the 390th Bombardment Group. Sgt. Nix’s firsthand recollection brings a deeply human perspective to the chaos of that day, and we’re especially grateful that Verne and his cousin, 2nd Lt. John R. Gray, are remembered with such dignity through your work and their inclusion in the Roll of Honor at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Your effort to keep their legacy alive means more than words can express—thank you.
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