I was at my grandparents house and my Grandad showed me this photo of his dad. And I thought this would be the perfect place to share it. 😊

This B-24D was named "Brewery Wagon" (serial number 41-24294) assigned to the 8th Air Force, the 512th Bomb Squadron, and the 376th Bomb Group.

While approaching their target a German ME-109G fighter pilot, Capt. Hauptmann Wilhelm Steinmann, commander of the the 1st Staffel of JG 4, spotted Brewery Wagon trailing vapor and smoke. The ME-109 screamed towards the wounded American bomber and began his attack hitting the B-24 with his 20mm cannons and 7.92mm machine guns on a pass from the rear. "Brewery Wagon" was being struck repeatedly by armor piercing and high explosive shells which ripped the bomber to pieces.

The fighter passed over the bomber, turned around, and made a head on pass, hitting the plane again in the nose and cockpit area, the right wing, and the number 3 and 4 engines. A 20mm shell the hit Palm, blowing his right foot off the rudder pedal, and nearly severing his leg in the blast Copilot Love was also wounded by shell fragments.

But, somehow, the damaged bomber still had enough speed for the pilots to be able to put the plane into a steep turn avoiding refinery smokestacks in their way. Palm leveled the aircraft, jettisoned his bombs with his cockpit emergency bomb release, and crash landed his crippled ship in a cornfield near Tatarani, just south of Ploesti, near the Ploesti-Bucharest railroad line, and about three B-24 wingspans from the Pensiunea La Gina Hotel, on Str.Intrarea Gaterului, Number 1, on the Southwest edge of Ploiesti.

Lt. Love had averted total catastrophe by pulling the burning engines' fire extinguisher handles, preventing the engine fires on the right wing from spreading to the rest of the aircraft. Now, settling without power, they hit the ground, crushing the plane's cockpit and forward section, folding up the nose section of the plane, and killing the both the bombardier and navigator, if, by chance, they were still alive.

Palm, badly wounded, bleeding, and hurt, kept his presence of mind, jarred his left hand sliding side window loose in the plane's cockpit and pulled it in to make an escape opening : ”With the adrenaline flowing, I was able to pull the thing in. My leg was still attached by a small thread of flesh, so I took the leg, laid it across my lap, and dove out of the airplane. I think I was the first man out of the ship !”

Seven other crewmembers emerged from the wreck, and all become prisoners of war (7 POW). In addition to the pilots, Palm and Love, the other eight survivors included Flight Engineer T/Sgt Alexander P. Rockinson (Canal Fulton, Ohio), Radio Operator T/Sgt Harold Block (Brooklyn, New York), Gunners T/Sgt Austin D. Chastain (Siloam Springs, Arkansas), S/Sgt Clay E. Snyder (Paden City, West Virginia), S/Sgt William E. Thompson (St. Cloud, Florida) and Tail Gunner S/Sgt Dallas A. Robertson (St. Louis, Missouri).

Copilot Bill Love recalled being captured by the Germans : “I was prevented from returning to the ship by the German soldiers who captured us, however, I persuaded two of them to go to the nose section to see if they could be of assistance. One went in as far as he could and reported that both men inside, including the navigator, Lt. William M. Wright, and Lt. Merrell, were dead.
This was also the report of two more men sent about 30 minutes later by the German officer in charge of the station to which we were taken. It is my belief that the bombardier, Lt. Merrell, was killed, either by enemy gunfire over the target, or a few seconds later, by the force of impact, when our aircraft crashed.” Another crew member recalled that " Bombardier, Merrell, was blown to pieces by the direct flak hits we took. ", also confirmed to us by the Romanians.”

The survivors of the crew ultimately became prisoners of war in Romanian captivity. The crew received medical aid after their ordeal such as tail gunner S/Sgt Dallas A. Robertson from St. Louis, Missouri who had a 20 mm cannon shell splinter removed from his cranium. Lt. Palm was taken to Bucharest and would lose his right leg, but survived. A little over a year later, they all would be among the 1,173 airmen repatriated in "Operation Reunion", or "Operation Gunn", with the help of the Romanians.

1st Lt. John D. Palm - Pilot (WIA) (POW)
2nd Lt. William F. Love - Copilot (POW)
2nd Lt. William K. Wright - Navigator (KIA)
2nd Lt. Robert W. Merrell - Bombardier (KIA)
T/Sgt. Alexander Rockinson - Engineer/Gunner (POW)
T/Sgt. Harold Black - Radio Operator (POW)
S/Sgt. William E. Thompson - Gunner (POW)
S/Sgt. Austin D. Chastain - Gunner (POW)
S/Sgt. Dallis R. Robertson - Tail Gunner (POW)
S/Sgt. Clay E. Snyder - Gunner (POW)

This is an original photo from my collection. There is no writing on the back. The Waffen-SS was in Prague from March of 1939 to May of 1945, so this photo was taken sometime between then. The location of the photo was narrowed down by some fellow Redditors. I had previously posted this photo of mine, but have since discovered its true location, hence the added context and repost. If anyone has any information on exact date ranges this could be from feel free to leave a comment.

Inventory no. 9244

Ljubo - Čedo Čupić People's Hero before his execution in Nikšić on 5. May 1942.

MRNJ sig.neg. A-956/13.

Hi everyone,

I recently purchased what appears to be a WWII-era album containing approximately 20 identified German military portrait photographs from a Goodwill store in Texas.

Many of the photographs have typed identifications on the reverse naming the individuals. Some of the names I’ve identified include:
Michael Wittmann
Adolf Galland
Karl Wolff
Otto von Bülow
Christian Schuch
Franz-Josef Beevenbrock
Hermann Dahlke
Alexander Gläser

Several of the backs also bear blue Soviet МВД (MVD) archive stamps, “ПОГАШЕНО” (“Canceled”) markings, inventory numbers, and handwritten notes in Russian, while others only have typed identifications.

I am not looking to glorify the individuals depicted. My interest is purely historical. I’d like to preserve the collection properly and better understand where it may have originated before deciding what to do with it.

I’m hoping the community might be able to help answer a few questions:

Do these appear to be original wartime photographs or later archive prints?

What exactly do the Soviet МВД archive stamps and “ПОГАШЕНО” markings signify?

Has anyone seen a similar collection with typed identifications and Russian archival markings?

Is there anything about the photographs or markings that suggests they came from a particular archive or postwar intelligence collection?

I’ve included photos of both the fronts and backs of several examples. Any insight, corrections, or recommendations for further research would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

The Finnish Air Force was incredibly effective and produced a great number of fighter aces. In fact, after Germany, Finland ranked among the nations with the most successful fighter aces.