BROWN COUNTY FALLEN: Brown County airman died in aircraft accident in European skies

By JIM WATKINS, guest columnist

By early 1944, some two plus years after Pearl Harbor, the “Arsenal of Democracy” that was the United States was exhibiting its full force on the Axis powers. Defense plants were pumping out weapons and munitions that would in the end overwhelm Germany and Japan.

This was no more apparent than in the manufacture of large four engine bombers, principally the B-24 Liberator, the B-17 Flying Fortress, and later the B-29 Super Fortress.

To furnish the necessary personnel for all this equipment the burgeoning bureaucracy in the nation’s capital was doing its part. In the case of the United States Army Air Corps that meant recruiting into the system 193,000 American pilots, 100,000 bombardiers and navigators, 300,000 radio specialists, and 670,000 aircraft maintenance specialists by the time the war was over.

A number of Brown County boys were among those thousands. Two in particular would become navigators: Jimmy Bond and Charles G. Noblitt.

Charles Noblitt

Charles at the time of enlistment was living in Indianapolis with his wife of less than a year, Mary. He had been employed at the time at Allison Division of General Motors. Charles was a graduate of Van Buren High School and had attended Columbus Business College in neighboring Bartholomew, County. Charles’ parents were still residents of Brown County living near Story.

With Churchill’s and F.D.R’s strategy of “Germany first” a great majority of these aircraft and their personnel would descend on East Anglia in eastern England as part of the U.S. 8th Air Force. Britain had allocated in its budget the construction of 67 bases for these U.S. bombers and fighter aircraft. Most of these would be in East Anglia. East Anglia is about the size of New Jersey.

The perfectly flat farms and lowlands were ideal launch points for bombing raids into occupied Europe. These bases would become home to nearly a half-million airmen and ground crew.

If you were to ask, “Were the skies crowded?” Well imagine in the current United States having O’Hare, Hartsfield-Jackson and LAX in the same county! Even that would not compare.

May of 1944 would have been one of the busiest periods of the air war in Europe. The many bases in East Anglia were sending out flights on a daily basis mainly to France in preparation for the following month’s Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy.

Bases were home to either Liberators, Flying Fortresses or fighter aircraft. The routines of the bomber crews at the various bases were similar.

It started of course with being awakened in the middle of the night, followed by the officers briefing and breakfast, often little touched. These various activities all took place in large Quonset huts, the quickly assembled corrugated steel structures first manufactured in 1941.

The airmen would then climb into the trucks to be hauled out to the revetment where the bomber awaited having been fully serviced and patched up since the last mission which might very well have been the previous day. Each crew member took care of their inspection duties and then the pilot fired up the four engines and it was time to get in line for the take off.

The first plane off would be an older plane no longer used on combat missions. It was termed an “Assembly Ship.” Its role was to establish a point over the base where the groups, usually 18 to 20 bombers each formed a flight, which was made up of three groups.

Once formed they would head out across the English Channel towards their objective. These Assembly planes would have very identifiable paint jobs and often like the one leading Charles’ 458th Bombardment Group would be painted white with large colored polka dots.

The plane no doubt reminded some of the airmen of a loaf of Wonder Bread. That would probably have been true of fellow Hoosiers Charles and Jimmy for sure. Wonder Bread was an Indiana staple on many Indiana kitchen tables having originated in Indianapolis at the Taggart Baking Company.

Hazy morning skies greeted the fliers as the sun rose over the continent on May 23, 1944. Charles must have felt a certain amount of pride having just been promoted to 1st Lieutenant for having proved his navigational skills in previous missions.

As Charles’ 458th Bomb Group of B-24s were forming over their base at Eye, Suffolk a flight of B-17s of the 351st Bomb Group were also forming 30 miles away over their base. Both formations would attain an altitude of 13,000 feet before heading across the Channel.

At 6:53 a.m. the two formations crossed paths. Evidently the sun was at the back of the B-24s and those planes leading the B-17s did not see them in time. These bombers are very heavy at takeoff loaded down with bombs and fuel. They do not turn quickly.

Practically all the planes however did avoid each other except for one B-17 and one B-24. The B-24 was Charles’. After the mission those airmen of the two bomb groups that had witnessed the collision gave their reports.

Charles’ plane was hit in the bomb bay area breaking it in half with the tail tumbling through the air and the fore-section flipped upside down. The observer saw no fire or anyone leave the ship. The B-17 likewise plummeted to earth in similar fashion. Crews of both planes perished.

War planes featured nose art and nicknames. The nickname of the B-17 was “Lucky Penny.”

It is a sobering fact that in 1944 there were 20,883 U. S. aircraft accidents resulting in 5,616 fatalities.

In addition to his wife Mary (Wood) Charles was survived by his parents Horace and Mary (Schultz) Noblitt, his brother Carl of Mooresville, and a sister, Mrs. Lois Elkins of Indianapolis.

Charles is buried in Garland Brook Cemetery, Columbus, Ind.

Jim Watkins is a Brown County Historical Society member who wrote “The Fallen,” a memorial document about young men from Brown County who never returned home from World War II. Watkins was a public school teacher for 42 years and has always been interested in learning about WWII. He can be reached at [email protected].