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"Red Hot Riding Hood"
On October 9, Dunlop,
Schlentz and the crew of #44-40780, Red Hot Riding Hood with two other
LAB’s from the 374th flew separate courses to mine the Yangtze River south of
Hankow. Lifting off from Chengkung between 1512 and 1522 the flight rose
through turbulence, solid overcast and heavy rain all the way to the target
before breaking through the under cast at 11,000 feet, one hour from their
objective. Plane #832, piloted by Lt. Rinker, laid eight mines at intervals of
1,000 feet at 1925 hours flying down river near the Great Golden Hills.
Aircraft #482 with Lt. Hersey at the controls dropped eight mines at 1954 hours
heading downstream north of the Hills. Placed completely with radar, the mines
were designed to float downstream and explode on contact with enemy ships. Both
LABs encountered no anti-aircraft fire or interceptor fighters and returned to
home base an hour after midnight.[1] Red Hot Riding Hood, flying a similar course nearby did not return and was reported MIA.[2] Col. Howard Powell, C.O. of the 374th squadron attached a hand-written report to the MACR. “Left here the night of October 9 to participate in a combat mission over a section of Central China. No message or word was received from the plane since leaving the base and since they were flying alone there was no one to observe what happened to the airplane.”[3]
“Weather overcast, 200 foot ceiling-turbulence. Damage unknown-believed to be a total loss,” read the Report of Aircraft Accident dated October 21, 1944.[4] While no American flyer witnessed the destruction of RHRH, at least one local Chinese civilian from the village of Hsia-k’eng observed a B-24 explode above the river. Fearing reprisal from nearby Japanese soldiers, villagers kept their knowledge secret until several years after the war, when one approached the U.S. Consulate in Hankow with a set of dog tags and information on the wartime burials of eight aviators along the shores of the Yangtze River.[5] The final moments of Red Hot Riding Hood and the location of her crewmen’s remains finally came to light.
Residents watched the aircraft flying low over the water, no higher than 400 feet, when a violent explosion ripped it apart, probably caused by a faulty mine fuse, malfunctioning bay doors, or bomb shackle. The initial explosion ignited the wing tanks that also blew, obliterating the plane and instantly killing her crew. Shattered wreckage of the B-24 and the crewmembers’ remains fell scattered along the north bank of the Yangtze.[6] Several villagers joined to construct rough bamboo boxes to bury the remains of eight men, the pilot and co-pilot not accounted for. The explosion in the bomb bay and fuel tanks probably snapped the airframe in half, throwing the flight deck forward and down, plunging it into the fast moving river with the two men still strapped to their seats.[7]
An AGRS unit travelled to the crash site to locate and inter the bodies for shipment home and identification. In January of 1948, Wayne Schlentz’ widow Mary, and the families of most of the crew received a telegram from the war department informing them their loved one’s remains were found in China and were on their way to Schoefield Barracks in Hawaii.[8] Only one flier, S/Sgt. Walter E. Wilson, was positively identified and buried at the request of his family in the National Memorial Cemetery at Honolulu.[9]
The seven other crewmen were interred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri in a group burial and memorial service held September 29, 1949. A simple gray granite gravestone marks the final resting place of seven valiant men. 2nd. Lt. Wayne S. Schlentz, 2nd. Lt. George A Lescher, T/Sgt. William S. Clarke, T/Sgt. James W. Brown, T/Sgt. Thaddeus S. Nocek, S/Sgt. Harold R. Dawson, and S/Sgt. Ira J. Ingle rest together forever beneath the flat stone, their names engraved upon its polished surface.[10] Pilot 1st. Lt. James W. Dunlop, and co-pilot 2nd. Lt. Theodore N. Dickson remain un-recovered,[11] somewhere near the Yangtze River where they paid the ultimate price defending the freedom of China and America, along with many other courageous fliers entombed beneath far-off Chinese soil.
[1] Official records 308th Bomb Group microfilm reel # pp. 1037-1038
[2] Fisher, Col. William F. MACR #9089 10-11-1944
[3] ibid.
[4] Abbott, Capt. Fred I., Report of Aircraft Accident, 10-21-1944
[5] Rosholt, Malcom, (14th AF Historian) Letter to Mary Schlentz, undated
[6] Rosholt, Malcom, ed. The Diary of Wayne Schlentz. Annual Pictorial Magazine of the Flying Tigers of the 14th Air Force Association 1993-1994, a privately published booklet of the 14th Air Force Association, 1994 .pp.13-14
[7] ibid.
[8] ibid.
[9] ibid.
[10] ibid.
[11] ibid.
“Weather overcast, 200 foot ceiling-turbulence. Damage unknown-believed to be a total loss,” read the Report of Aircraft Accident dated October 21, 1944.[4] While no American flyer witnessed the destruction of RHRH, at least one local Chinese civilian from the village of Hsia-k’eng observed a B-24 explode above the river. Fearing reprisal from nearby Japanese soldiers, villagers kept their knowledge secret until several years after the war, when one approached the U.S. Consulate in Hankow with a set of dog tags and information on the wartime burials of eight aviators along the shores of the Yangtze River.[5] The final moments of Red Hot Riding Hood and the location of her crewmen’s remains finally came to light.
Residents watched the aircraft flying low over the water, no higher than 400 feet, when a violent explosion ripped it apart, probably caused by a faulty mine fuse, malfunctioning bay doors, or bomb shackle. The initial explosion ignited the wing tanks that also blew, obliterating the plane and instantly killing her crew. Shattered wreckage of the B-24 and the crewmembers’ remains fell scattered along the north bank of the Yangtze.[6] Several villagers joined to construct rough bamboo boxes to bury the remains of eight men, the pilot and co-pilot not accounted for. The explosion in the bomb bay and fuel tanks probably snapped the airframe in half, throwing the flight deck forward and down, plunging it into the fast moving river with the two men still strapped to their seats.[7]
An AGRS unit travelled to the crash site to locate and inter the bodies for shipment home and identification. In January of 1948, Wayne Schlentz’ widow Mary, and the families of most of the crew received a telegram from the war department informing them their loved one’s remains were found in China and were on their way to Schoefield Barracks in Hawaii.[8] Only one flier, S/Sgt. Walter E. Wilson, was positively identified and buried at the request of his family in the National Memorial Cemetery at Honolulu.[9]
The seven other crewmen were interred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri in a group burial and memorial service held September 29, 1949. A simple gray granite gravestone marks the final resting place of seven valiant men. 2nd. Lt. Wayne S. Schlentz, 2nd. Lt. George A Lescher, T/Sgt. William S. Clarke, T/Sgt. James W. Brown, T/Sgt. Thaddeus S. Nocek, S/Sgt. Harold R. Dawson, and S/Sgt. Ira J. Ingle rest together forever beneath the flat stone, their names engraved upon its polished surface.[10] Pilot 1st. Lt. James W. Dunlop, and co-pilot 2nd. Lt. Theodore N. Dickson remain un-recovered,[11] somewhere near the Yangtze River where they paid the ultimate price defending the freedom of China and America, along with many other courageous fliers entombed beneath far-off Chinese soil.
[1] Official records 308th Bomb Group microfilm reel # pp. 1037-1038
[2] Fisher, Col. William F. MACR #9089 10-11-1944
[3] ibid.
[4] Abbott, Capt. Fred I., Report of Aircraft Accident, 10-21-1944
[5] Rosholt, Malcom, (14th AF Historian) Letter to Mary Schlentz, undated
[6] Rosholt, Malcom, ed. The Diary of Wayne Schlentz. Annual Pictorial Magazine of the Flying Tigers of the 14th Air Force Association 1993-1994, a privately published booklet of the 14th Air Force Association, 1994 .pp.13-14
[7] ibid.
[8] ibid.
[9] ibid.
[10] ibid.
[11] ibid.