Frequently asked questions

Question about a crashed C47 airplane at Savy

When I was visiting Bastogne together with Don Burgett and Mark Bando, Mark showed us the crash site of the C47 airplane 'Ain't Missbehavin' at Savy along the road from Hemroulle towards the Heintz Barracks (HQ General McAuliffe). My thoughts were immediately with the crew, what happened to them ? I found this picture on the internet (click on it to go to the site where we found it...).

At left one can notice the road coming from General McAuliffe's HQ (left) towards Hemroulle (right)

Thanks to Tony Coulter from Philly and Randy Hills (www.440thtroopcarriergroup.org) I got in contact with Mr. Charles Young and could ask him about the crew.
Mr. Young also gave his permission to add his answer and the picture to our site. Thank you for that.

Charles's answer :

Filip,
You can see this photo on my Website at www.usaaftroopcarrier.com/862-Bastogne.htm. It has some information about the aircraft, which belonged to the 94th TC Sqdn of the 439th Group. My father, Col. Charles H. Young, was the wartime commander of this group, and in fact, this was the very aircraft he flew overseas, from the States to England.

Ain't Missbehavin' was the aircraft of flown by Capt. Ernest Turner, and he flew it on this mission when he was shot down. We published a close-up photo of three crew members standing on the other side of this aircraft on page 363 of the book my father and I did, Into The Valley. We published the photo you sent a link to on the following page. Both photos were originally in my father's collection. Crew: Capt. Ernie Turner, pilot; Lt. Keistutis J. (Casey) Narbutas, co-pilot; S/Sgt. Richard G. Whitehurst, radio operator (in the photo) and S/Sgt. John E. Douglas, crew chief. They had some bumps and bruises, and Sgt. Douglas was shot in the leg, but all survived.

The Website URL is www.usaaftroopcarrier.com.
Hope this helps,
Charles D. Young

Before that I asked Ken Hesler (D/463) about this too :

Filip,

I can confirm the photograph, the best one I have seen. Your are correct on the road and ditch (note: positions of Baker Btry I visited with Ken. Filip). One can read the name, "Ain't Missbehavin" clearly. The trailer and tarp covered ammo boxes to the right are those of D Btry. If you back off from the photo at about a 30-degree angle for a short distance, you would be at the D Btry gun positions.

Good going!
Ken

Question about the 101st Airborne Aid Station at Bastogne

To Doug Bailey :

When you were hurt on Christmas day, after being in the chapel at Hemroulle, were you transferred to an Aid Station in Bastogne, or moved out directly out of town on the 26th when general Patton's 4th Armored Division broke through at Assenois ?

I heard the 10th Armoured Aid Station in the centre of Bastogne (in a Sarma food store, in the Rue de Neufchateau) got a hit on Christmas Night with fire bombs, and half of the wounded in there were burned alive. Also the Belgian nurse Renée Lemaire got killed in that German attack. Since the Germans captured the Airborne Hospital between Champs and Sprimont a week earlier, I wondered if the 101st managed to have some Aid Station in town just as the 10th Armored did ?

Doug's answer :

Filip,
Zafke, Farmer and myself were all wounded on the the 24th of December and were taken to the Aid Station in the church at Hemroulle. I think it was on the 26th that we were taken to the Aid Station in Bastogne. I always assumed that it was the 101st Aid Station, and did not know or hear any mention of the 10th Armored Aid Station.

After the 4th Armored got to us we went by Ambulance to the 106th Evacuation Hospital in Thionville, France. Then to Paris on a Hospital Train and then by C-47 to the 106th General Hospital close to the city of Bourmouth in Southern England.

Regards,
Doug-

Additional information from local Bastogne guide Henri Mignon :

The 101st had an Aid Station in a school with the name "Le Petit Séminaire", situated in front of the Bastogne Church in the town centre. The 501st Parachute Infantry had its HQ in the same school. The Aid Station was in a little church inside of the school.
 

Le Petit Séminaire, behind the school you see the bell tower from the church which was the 101st Airborne Aid Station.

Memorial for the 30 victims of the 20th Infantry Battalion of the 10th Armored Division and the Belgian nurse Renée Lemaire, killed in the Christmas Eve bombings.

 

The wounded were also taken care of at the 101st Airborne (General McAuliffe) HQ,
the Heintz Barracks, in a covered shelter, previously used by the Army for shooting exercises.

Here are some pictures of this shelter :

The entrance

Inside the shelter