MIA: B-24D Liberator Shot Down

PERU | According to military records, S/SGT (Staff Sergeant) Benjamin Barnard Bromley was born on Dec. 8, 1911. He had enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. With a military specialty as Engineer, he was attached to the 479th Antisubmarine Group, 19th Squadron based at St. Eval, in Cornwall, England. Bromley was first listed MIA, later as killed in action. Records show that engagement with a U-Boat likely brought the plane down. He served on the crew of the B-24D Liberator, the Sea Hawk, which military accounts say "failed to return from a 'Musketry' patrol over the Bay of Biscay." The records show that an SOS was received from the aircraft on July 20, 1943, but searchers could not find the crew or the plane. Ten men were declared MIA, including Bromley. U-BOAT BATTLE The B-24 Sea Hawk was a heavy bomber tasked with searching for Nazi German U-Boats off the coast of Spain and France. On July 20, 1943, the crew spotted U-558, a notorious submarine that had been part of nine German Nazi Wolf Pack missions. Its captain was Gunther Krech. The Sea Hawk fired on the U-Boat and dropped depth charges near the its port side. The Sea Hawk was hit by flak in return fire. Details of the engagement are told in chilling detail in the formal interrogation report of Nazi U-Boat sailors who survived the fire fight that ultimately sank their boat. LAST SIGHTING OF THE SEA HAWK U-Boat Captain Krech told Allied interrogators that: "At noon on 20th July, 1943, U-558 was proceeding on the surface. "Visibility was poor," he said. "She was surprised by an aircraft, which immediately attacked in the port bow." U-558 sailors had just finished their lunch before the attack began.&emsp;&emsp; "The Officer of the Watch, on sighting the aircraft, ordered 'hard a-starboard, utmost speed! . . . instead of obeying the order, (sailors) stopped both engines completely." Bromley's B-24 Liberator attacked from dead ahead, the report said. "(U-Boat) prisoners thought four depth-charges had been dropped, which all fell just ahead and very close to U-558 . . . Sailors on the U-Boat took to the 20 mm. gun on the bandstand and one or two hits are believed to have been made, for flames were seen coming from the aircraft." U.S. Military reports clocked the engagement at 12:13 p.m. July 20, 1943. "Intense and accurate light 'flak' was encountered from at least two guns abaft the conning tower. The (Sea Hawk) navigator opened fire with the front gun, scoring some hits on the U-Boat." Survivors of the encounter said the aircraft was hit in several places, "particularly in the port inner engine, and the left waist-gunner was wounded." U.S. Military reports say that at 12:18 p.m., the Sea Hawk released a stick of seven Mark XI depth-charges. The tail-gunner opened fire and hit the U-Boat's hull. "The pilot intended to make a second attack, but at this point the (Sea Hawk's) port inner engine cut out and could not be feathered. Just at this moment, too, a Halifax (RAF bomber) was seen approaching." Allied military reports said that the Sea Hawk attack left the U-Boat "rolling heavily, bow and conning tower visible, apparently down by the stern." Despite being hit, the Sea Hawk and its crew fired again. "Fire at the U-Boat was again opened and at 12:35 p.m. But the Liberator pilot, having been relieved by the Halifax, set course for base" to St. Eval. The Halifax aircraft waited until the submarine's ammunition ran out. Meantime, water had entered the U-Boat's batteries and released lethal chlorine gas. "U-558 was now crippled beyond saving; she was down by the stern, unable to submerge and without ammunition on deck, nor could any more be brought up from below on account of the chlorine." The U-558 went down at 45032'N., 009026'W. in the Bay of Biscay, northwest of Cabo Ortegal, Spain. Five surviving Nazi U-Boat sailors, including the captain, were picked up adrift on July 24 at 7:30 p.m. by the HMCS Athabaskan.&emsp;&emsp; The last sighting of the B-24 Liberator with 10 U.S. Army Airmen on board is mentioned in the Halifax "E" report, which indicates it "spotted a Liberator at 1-1/2 miles distant on the port quarter at 12:25 p.m. on 20th July." That is all that is known of the Sea Hawk's return trip to St. Eval. The U.S. military listed the 10 men on board as Missing in Action, later presumed Killed in Action. Subsequent search missions for survivors were not successful. They were: Benjamin B. Bromley, Engineer; Harold E. Dyment, Pilot; Claude M. Ferrini, Navigator; Dale C. Hubbard, Radio Operator; Patrick F. Kerns Jr., Radio Operator; Laurence McCormick, Co-Pilot; James A. Miller, Bombardier; Clarence H. Olsen, Gunner; Carl E. Owen, Top Turret Gunner; and Theron L. Rose, Gunner.

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MIA: B-24D Liberator Shot Down

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