Blythe Spirit

Naming of the plane, 1944

After the Neal crew finished their 35 missions, the Blythe Spirit was taken over by their sister crew of pilot Harluff Jessen. The aircraft receieved a direct hit in the bomb bay at the IP of the March 1945 raid to Oranienburg, north of Berlin. The unforgettable words in the chalk, on the board, in the Briefing hall stated: Flak at the I.P. -#338731 - - Lost. Two crewmembers, Walter Hoffman and Robert Dwight were thrown out of the nose and survived. The bombardier, Harry Pfautz, was thrown out of the nose without his parachute and was killed. None of the rest of the crew was able to leave the spinning airplane and all were killed in the crash. They were buried at the American cemetery in the Ardennes, Belgium.

Blythe Spirit over Target