D-Day (part 2) - Čačak

On June 6th, six American bombers crashed in Serbia. Almost all the crew members were rescued by Chetniks. We will follow their path as the damaged aircraft made their way back to their bases in Italy. Another two aircraft crashed in the vicinity of Čačak. They were fortunate as they landed in the vicinity of the airfield near Pranjani.

Liberator No 42-7757  was damaged by flak over Ploesti and then attacked by enemy fighters. Two of its engines were disabled, but the 4-engine bomber continued. Unfortunately, another engine stopped working near Čačak, and the crew had to bail out. William Harris

Donald Smith

Floyd Pedersen

Alex Chesbowitz

Richard Gilson

Clell Card

Willie Gant

Frederick Koffel

Robert Knowlton

Denzil Radabaugh

They landed between Čačak and Požega where Chetniks immediately took them to their Hq. Soon they traveled to the vicinity of Preljina, where they waited for evacuation on August 10.

Another B-24, No 44-40494, was badly damaged over its target, and immediately fell out of formation. It started to lose altitude until it crash-landed on a field near Topola. The entire crew of 11 was uninjured and immediately ran away from the aircraft.

David Osborne

Merrill Walker

Thomas Richards

Hal Souter

Lester Smith

Douglas Fairbanks

Loren Harvey

Orville Nouska

Russell Wiese

John Cribari

Abner Saucer Soon they contacted Chetniks, who took them to the vicinity of Preljina. They remained there until evacuation on August 10.

Images: Liberator 42-7757 going on a mission Crew of plane 44-40494 during their training in the USA