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David Franklin Albrecht
David Franklink Albrecht was born March 1, 1922 in Litchfield, Sherman County, Nebraska. His parents were Louis Michael Albrecht (1896 – 1969) and Minnie Jane Corder Albrecht (1895 – 1983). Louis’s heritage was German, Russian, and Polish. Louis’s father immigrated to America in 1873 as a child. Minnie’s family immigrated at some point prior to that as her parents were both born in the United States. Louis and Minnie were both born in Iowa.
According to the 1930 Federal census, Louis and Minnie Albrecht and their children lived in Newark Township, Kearney County, Nebraska. Louis, at 33 years old, was a high school teacher. Minnie, at 34, did not work outside the home. Their children were listed as son David F. (born in 1922, 8 years old), son Louis J. (born in 1924, 5 years old), and daughter Minnie M. (born in 1928, 2 years old). All of the children were born in Nebraska.
According to the 1940 Federal census, the Albrecht family lived in Hackberry Precinct, Polk County, Nebraska. The family’s last name was transcribed from the census record as Albracht rather than Albrecht, but the family members were the same, with everyone reported ten years older, but with the addition of another daughter, Lillian Lavon (5 years old and perhaps known as Bunny according to a newspaper article), also born in Nebraska. A middle name of Marie was recorded for daughter Minnie. Louis Sr. was a public school teacher. The 1940 census also noted that the family lived in the same home in 1935.
Although David’s father, Louis Albrecht, was listed in census records as a school teacher, he was identified as Reverend Louis M. Albrecht in the crew’s next-of-kin list and as Pastor of the Congregational Church of Scribner, Nebraska in the letterhead of the letter he sent to my grandmother in June 1945.
David Albrecht enlisted in the Army Air Corps on June 22, 1942. His Army serial number was initially assigned as 15125471, but once he completed pilot training and became an officer, his number changed to O-767423. His enlistment record also noted that his residence county/state was Gage County, Nebraska and he enlisted in Columbus, Ohio.
Although he enlisted on June 22, 1942, he received a deferred date of June 1943, one year from his enlistment. His nativity (the state in which he was born) was noted as Nebraska and the year of his birth as 1922. He had had three years of college as of his enlistment date.
On June 30, 1942, David registered for the draft in Marion, Marion County, Ohio. He listed his place of residence as Courtland, Gage County, Nebraska. He noted he was born on March 1, 1922 in Litchfield, Nebraska. The person he listed as the “person who will always know your address” was Rev. Louis M. Albrecht, Courtland, Nebraska. He listed his employer’s name as F. & Y. Construction Co. at RFD, Marion, Marion County, Ohio.
He listed his height as 5′ 8 1/2″, weight as 146 pounds, with blue eyes, blonde hair, and a light complexion.
David Franklin Albrecht married Patricia Hendrix of Chico, California on December 24, 1943 in Stockton, San Joaquin County, California at the First Congregational Church. She was born on September 20, 1926.
David Albrecht was assigned to the John Oliver Buslee crew of the 544th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) of the 384th Bombardment Group stationed in Grafton Underwood, England, per Army Air Forces Station 106 Special Orders #144 dated 22 July 1944. He flew his first of eighteen missions on August 4, 1944.
On September 28, 1944, David Franklin Albrecht was co-pilot aboard 43-37822 with the Buslee crew when it was involved in a mid-air collision coming off the target at Magdeburg. He was killed in the collision and is buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial at Margraten in the Netherlands in Plot C, Row 2, Grave 11.
On December 8, 1944, Patricia Albrecht gave birth to her and David’s baby girl, still not knowing if her husband was dead or alive. She would not learn of his death until after the first of the next year.
Patricia remarried on April 7, 1947 to Albert Louis Ross in Chico, California and divorced him in March 1968. She died on December 10, 1991 at the age of 65 and is buried in Chico Cemetery, Chico, Butte County, California.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2020
Next of Kin List Released
The day after Christmas 1944, at ninety days missing in action, the US Army Air Forces wrote to the Buslee crew’s next of kin and enclosed a list of the names of the crew members on the Lead Banana on September 28 and also included the names and addresses of next of kin in case the families wanted to communicate with each other.
December 26, 1944
Headquarters, Army Air Forces
WashingtonAttention: AFPPA-8
(9753) Farrar, George E.
14119873Mrs. Raleigh Mae Farrar,
79 EastLake Terrace Northeast,
Atlanta, Georgia.Dear Mrs. Farrar:
For reasons of military security it has been necessary to withhold the names of the air crew members who were serving with your son at the time he was reported missing.
Since it is now permissible to release this information, we are inclosing a complete list of names of the crew members.
The names and addresses of the next of kin of the men are also given in the belief that you may desire to correspond with them.
Sincerely,
Clyde V. Finter
Colonel, Air Corps
Chief, Personal Affairs Division
Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Personnel1 Incl
List of crew members & names
& addresses of next of kin
5-2032, AF
1st. Lt. John O. Buslee
Mr. John Buslee, (Father)
411 North Wisner Avenue,
Park Ridge, Illinois.
1st. Lt. William A. Henson, II
Mrs. Harriet W. Henson, (Wife)
Summerville, Georgia.
1st. Lt. Robert S. Stearns
Mr. Carey S. Stearns, (Father)
Post Office Box 113,
Lapine, Oregon.
2nd. Lt. David F. Albrecht
Reverand Louis M. Albrecht, (Father)
Scribner, Nebraska.
S/Sgt. Sebastiano J. Peluso
Mrs. Antonetta Peluso, (Mother)
2963 West 24th Street,
Brooklyn, New York.
S/Sgt. Lenard L. Bryant
Mrs. Ruby M. Bryant, (Wife)
Route Number Two,
Littlefield, Texas.
S/Sgt. Gerald L. Andersen
Mrs. Esther E. Coolen Andersen, (Wife)
Box Number 282,
Stromburg, Nebraska.
S/Sgt. George E. Farrar
Mrs. Raleigh Mae Farrar, (Mother)
79 East Lake Terrace Northeast,
Atlanta, Georgia.
Sgt. George F. McMann
Mr. George F. McMann, (Father)
354 West Avenue,
Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The above list is also a part of MACR (Missing Air Crew Report) 9753. For a diagram and list of each man’s position on the Lead Banana on September 28, 1944, click here.
The Brodie crew’s next of kin must have gotten the same letter and a list of those on the Lazy Daisy. The following list is attached to MACR9366. For a diagram and list of each man’s position on the Lazy Daisy on September 28, 1944, click here.
1st Lt. James J. Brodie
Mrs. Mary E. Brodie, (Wife)
4436 North Kostner Avenue
Chicago, Illinois.
2nd Lt. Lloyd O. Vevle
Mr. Oliver E. Vevle, (Father)
240 Sixth Avenue, North
Fort Dodge, Iowa.
2nd Lt. George M. Hawkins, Jr.
Mr. George M. Hawkins, Sr., (Father)
52 Marchard Street
Fords, New Jersey
T/Sgt. Donald W. Dooley
Mr. Guy T. Dooley, (Father)
711 South Rogers Street
Bloomington, Indiana.
S/Sgt. Byron L. Atkins
Mr. Verne Atkins, (Father)
Route Number Two
Lebanon, Indiana.
Sgt. Robert D. Crumpton
Mrs. Stella M. Parks, (Mother)
Route Number One
Ennis, Texas
Sgt. Gordon E. Hetu
Mr. Raymond J. Hetu, (Father)
3821 Webb Street
Detroit, Michigan.
S/Sgt. Wilfred F. Miller
Mrs. Mary Miller, (Mother)
Rural Free Delivery Number One
Newton, Wisconsin.
S/Sgt. Harry A. Liniger
Mrs. Estelle P. Liniger, (Mother)
Box Number 251
Gatesville, North Carolina
If the US Army Air Forces had told the families of the two crews what actually happened to their sons’ aircraft and provided the lists of both crews to the families, the families of the two pilots, Buslee and Brodie, would have discovered that they lived only seven and a half miles apart in Chicago, Illinois. These families would most likely have been very interested in communicating if they had been made aware of each other.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2014
October 21, 1944 Telegram Form
Twenty-three days after the mid-air collision between the Lazy Daisy and Lead Banana, a Telegram Form dated October 21, 1944 reported the fate of one more of the crew from the two planes, and provided the identification of four of the previously unidentified. It reported “one more dead has been found: Byron L. Atkins.” The newly identified men were identified as:
- John Buslee (identified on the form as Jon Busslee)
- David F. Albrecht
- Lloyd Vevle (identified on the form as LLoyd Ovevle)
- Lenard Bryant (identified on the form as Lenhard J. Eyret)
Atkins and Vevle were from the Brodie crew aboard Lazy Daisy. Buslee, Albrecht, and Bryant were from the Buslee crew aboard Lead Banana. Atkins was probably located away from both crash sites as he was carried away with the nose of the Lazy Daisy during the initial impact of the collision.
In determination of the fate of the two crews, eighteen total men, this report updates the count to fourteen (14) recovered dead, with twelve (12) identified, and four (4) P.O.W.s.
MACR9753 does not include any more Telegram Forms or Reports of Captured Aircraft and does not provide any information on the identifications of Sebastiano Joseph Peluso aboard Lead Banana or James Joseph Brodie aboard Lazy Daisy.
Buslee Crew List:
- Pilot – John Oliver Buslee Reported dead on October 21, 1944 Telegram Form
- Co-Pilot – David Franklin Albrecht Reported dead on October 21, 1944 Telegram Form
- Navigator – William Alvin Henson II Reported dead on September 30, 1944 Telegram Form
- Bombardier – Robert Sumner Stearns Reported dead on September 30, 1944 Telegram Form
- Radio Operator/Gunner – Sebastiano Joseph Peluso
- Engineer/Top Turret Gunner – Lenard Leroy Bryant Reported dead on October 21, 1944 Telegram Form
- Ball Turret Gunner – George Francis McMann, Jr. Reported dead on October 1, 1944 Telegram Form
- Tail Gunner – Gerald Lee Andersen Reported dead on October 1, 1944 Telegram Form
- Waist Gunner – George Edwin Farrar (my dad) Reported P.O.W. on October 1, 1944 Telegram Form
Brodie Crew List:
- Pilot – James Joseph Brodie
- Co-Pilot – Lloyd Oliver Vevle Reported dead on October 21, 1944 Telegram Form
- Navigator – George Marshall Hawkins, Jr. Reported P.O.W. on October 6, 1944 Report on Captured Aircraft
- Togglier – Byron Laverne Atkins Reported dead on October 21, 1944 Telegram Form
- Radio Operator/Gunner – Donald William Dooley Reported dead on October 1, 1944 Telegram Form
- Engineer/Top Turret Gunner – Robert Doyle Crumpton Reported dead on September 30, 1944 Telegram Form
- Ball Turret Gunner – Gordon Eugene Hetu Reported dead on September 30, 1944 Telegram Form
- Tail Gunner – Wilfred Frank Miller Reported P.O.W. on October 4, 1944 Telegram Form
- Waist Gunner – Harry Allen Liniger Reported P.O.W. on October 4, 1944 Telegram Form
The October 21 Telegram Form notes also:
- Time: 0925
- From: L L E N
- Remarks: SSD L B K M 157 19 Oct.44 -1740-
This information can be found on pages 18 of MACR9753. MACR stands for Missing Air Crew Report.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2014
Buslee Crew in Position on September 28, 1944
The diagram shows the combat position of each Buslee crewmember on Mission 201 on September 28, 1944. Only one crewmember manned both waist gunner positions on this mission. If they were all still in position after coming off the target at Magdeburg, the diagram shows where each man would have been at the time of the mid-air collision with the Lazy Daisy.
Buslee Crew List:
- Pilot – John Oliver Buslee
- Co-Pilot – David Franklin Albrecht
- Navigator – William Alvin Henson II
- Bombardier – Robert Sumner Stearns
- Radio Operator/Gunner – Sebastiano Joseph Peluso
- Engineer/Top Turret Gunner – Lenard Leroy Bryant
- Ball Turret Gunner – George Francis McMann, Jr.
- Tail Gunner – Gerald Lee Andersen
- Waist Gunner – George Edwin Farrar (my dad)
The only survivor of the mid-air collision this day with the Lazy Daisy was the waist gunner, George Edwin Farrar.
Thank you to the 91st Bomb Group for granting me permission to use and modify their B-17 diagram for use on The Arrowhead Club site.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2013