Hailey - #79

Hailey - #79

MACR #10650

Courtesy of Jan Mahr

Standing (L-R): 2^nd Lt. Hendrix (CP); 2^nd Lt. Hailey (P); 2^nd Lt. Sugg (N); 2^nd Lt. Killian (B)

Middle row (L-R): Sgt. Spencer; Sgt. Brown; Sgt. Fajkus

Bottom row (L-R): Sgt. Arrotta; Sgt. Ekquist; Sgt. Arrowood

Hailey, Max H., Pilot

Hendrix, James G., Co-pilot

Sugg, Harbord P., Jr., Navigator

Killian, Ivyl L., Bombardier

Spencer, Harry D., Left Waist Gunner

Fajkus, Julius G., Top Turret Gunner

Arrowood, Palmer, Tail Gunner

Arrotta, Albert T., Ball Turret Gunner

Herman, Jacob, Nose Turret Gunner

Dixon, Lawrence V., Jr., Right Waist Gunner

AAF#	Type	Group	Sq	Sq#	Nickname
44-41158	B-24J	461	767	77	Unknown

PILOT: 2^nd Lt. Max M. Hailey, KIA, Walnut Grove, MO. Married

MISSIONS: Unknown. S/Sgt. Jacob Herman III had 49 missions in.

LAST SIGHTED: 1200, Muglitz 49-17'N 56-16'E

DOWN: ?

WHERE: Pressnitz near Bruenn?

#77 was flying number 3 position in first attack unit. S/Sgt. Robert F. Miller, tail gunner, lead ship in formation, "#77 was way out in back... 1,000 yards behind. Fighters made repeated attacks on both planes, #66 and #77, until #77 was hit, peeled off and headed down." "Hailey downed by an FW-190," Arthur G. Hermansen Jr., left waist, on lead ship. Sgt. Albert Thomas Arrotta, ball gunner on #77, "Fighters knocked out 3 engines." Bomber fell through undercast in flames. A crew yelled at Hailey to "Feather the prop!" There was no answer from Hailey. 6 KIA.

Courtesy of Jan Mahr

2^nd Lt. Max M. Hailey

The Hailey crew #79 was lost on 17 December 1944 on the mission to Blechhammer, Germany. Jirka Černošek recently visited the crash site and sent in the following:

"My name is Jirka Černošek and I am an aviation history enthusiast from the Czech Republic.

About 20 kilometers to the east from my town of Olomouc crashed an American B-24 Liberator on 17 December 1944.

The bomber fell several hundred meters from the village of Kozlov in a forest.

I found out about the B-24J Liberator serial number 44-41158 from the 767^th Bomb Squadrom, 461^st Bomb Group #77 and visited the crash site.

At the present there isn't much of the plane left. After a few weeks I managed to find some very interesting relics using a metal detector.

About 5 meters from the middle of the crash site, I found gold braid 2^nd Lt. stripe, silver pilot wings, collar distinction and a silver bracelet with the inscription 2^nd Lt. Max M. Hailey on the obverse and Love Ginny on the reverse. I suppose that these things belonged to the pilot, 2^nd Lt. Max M. Hailey, who died during the crash with six members of his crew. All things were at a depth about 10 centimeters and were badly burned, the needle of the wings is still closed and the bracelet is broken. I also found the remains of the flak suit near this place, parachute buckles and hooks and mae west buckles.

The GPS coordinates of the crashsite are: 49°36'48.756"N, 17°32'56.657"E."