UBB Store

USAAF B-24 Liberator war relic with full history 449 Bomb Group H Pratt-Whitney
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
USAAF B-24 Liberator war relic with full history 449 Bomb Group H Pratt-Whitney
Price: HU $48.00

RELISTED DUE TO NON-PAYING buyer - please only offer if you are serious.

Gentlemen, I’m proud to offer today a genuinepiece of military aviation history.

What we are looking at now is not just an oldaircraft part, but an actual and tangible piece of World War II.

This air war relic is with its bitter storywould be well suitable for display in any of the World’s finest militaryhistory museums.

Now you have a chance to add it to your private collection ofUSAAF relics.

If you feel that these are too big words,please read the whole listing.

About the part itself:

This magnesium alloy rotor is an internalblower or internal supercharger originating from a Pratt-Whitney Twin WaspR-1830 engine.

This part is marked number 3 in the uploadedschematic chart of the General Electric B-3 Turbo-supercharger system used inall B-24 aircraft.

(Not to be confused with the turbo compressorimpeller in the wing, part number 13)

This part is easy to spot in the center of the sectionedmuseum photos of a R-1830 engine I also uploaded.

This part had been recovered from the Hungarianvillage of Acsteszer. Only one B-24 Liberator had crashed in the vicinity ofAcsteszer and the old man who sold me this part told me that this part iscoming from the American bomber which crashed near the village in 1945.

Based on this information it is fair to saythat this part is originating from the following aircraft:

Aircraft Information

Serial Number: 44-41218

Squadron: 716

Date of Loss: 3/1/1945

MACR: 12745

Squadron 716 history:

Deployed to Mediterranean Theater of Operations(MTO) in December 1943, squadron taking the South Atlantic Transport Routethough the Caribbean and South America; transiting the Atlantic Ocean viaBrazil and Dakar, French West Africa, being assigned to Fifteenth Air Force inJanuary 1944 at Grottaglie Airfield in Southern Italy.

Engaged in long-range strategic bombardment ofenemy military, industrial and transport targets, including oil refineries andproduction oilfields in Italy; France; Southern Germany; Austria and theBalkans. Continued strategic bombardment until German capitulation in May 1945.

Now on to the sad story of 44-41218:

On the 1st of March 1945. USAAF Squadron 716Squadron of the 449 Bomb Group (H) stationed in Italy flew out to raid Moosbierbaumoil refinery near the Austrian capital of Vienna.

The squadron departed Grottaglie AAB on March1, 1945.

According to the MCAR # 12745, the crew ofWilliam R. Farrington, 44-41218 reported mechanical failure to one engine butwas staying in the box on the bombing run. However several minutes after theypulled away from the formation and encountered heavy flack resulting in twomore engines lost and one member killed. They reported that they would bail out\"south of Lake Balaton\".

That latter statement appears to be incorrect,as the B-24 Liberator crashed near Acsteszer (more precisely Ácsteszér), Komarom-Esztergomcounty at around 14.00. north of Lake Balaton.

This B-24 was one of the last Liberators lostover Hungary if not the very last one. War officially ended just a month lateron the 4th of April 1945.

Official reports disclose that included in thecrew of a plane that crashed near Acsteszer, Hungary were the following:

1st Lieutenant Farrington

1st Lieutenant Floyd Bremermann

2nd Lieutenant Ames

2nd Lieutenant Knox

T/Sgt Donald P. Brown, 12080949, NY

S/Sgt Hubert R. Burnette, 15066343, KY

S/Sgt Preston J. Hill, 33249495, PA

T/Sgt Felix Kozekowski, 32916625, NJ

James Bradley

KennethRost
Fate of the airmen:

Nine men parachuted out of the crippled B-24and one was found dead in the crashed plane.

1st Lieutenant Floyd Bremermann landed somedistance away from the others.

The rest of the 8 men landed approximately 4.5kilometers from the village of Sur were the Hungarian volunteer SS-regiment Neywas stationed.

Much to their misfortune the US airmen werecaptured by the SS soldiers.

The three Americans officers were shortly handedover to German forces at Kisber but the remaining five enlisted men wereexecuted near Sur.

Five enlisted men were retained by theHungarian SS troops in an attempt to save them from execution by the Germans.

However, after repeated direct orders arrivedfrom the German company headquarters the POWs were executed by the Hungarian SStroops.

Donald P. Brown, Hubert R. Burnette , FelixKozekowski, Preston J. Hill and “an unknown member of the United States Army”were executed.

Four dog tags were recovered from the executedmen. The two unidentified were Rost and Bradley. It is unclearwhich was executed and which was found dead in the plane.
After the war six members of Kampfgruppe Neywere tried for this crime in Salzburg, Austria, in 1946 in case 5-100.

Commander Karoly Ney (sentenced to death,commuted to life imprisonment in September 1946 after a review)

Ferenc Karolyi (sentenced to death, commuted tolife imprisonment in September 1946 after a review)

Istvan Eros (life imprisonment)

Istvan Lengyel (life imprisonment)

Miklos Bakos (executed)

Istvan Csihas (executed)

The entire Case No. 5-100 (US vs. Karoly New etal) Tried 7 June 46 will e-mailed to the winning buyer consisting of the full21 pages of the original document scanned and converted in PDF format.

It is difficult but possible to read.

Nazi Crimes on Trial - \'Dachau Trials\'

Trials by U.S. Army Courts in Europe 1945 -1948

File number: US006

Case Nr.: 5-100 (US vs. Karoly New [KarolyiNey] et al) 460607

Crime Category: War Crimes

Bakos, Miklos - Death Sentence

Csihas, Istvan - Death Sentence

Eros, Istvan - Life Sentence

Karolyi, Ferenc - Death Sentence; (R&R:Life Sentence)

Lengyel, Istvan - Life Sentence

Ney, Karolyi - Death Sentence; (R&R: LifeSentence)

Court: Military Commission at Salzburg, Austria460522-460607

Country where the crime had been committed:Hungary

Crime Location: Sur

Crime Date: 450305

Victim(s): POW’s

Agency: SS; Hungarian SS; SS Kampfgruppe Ney

Subject of the proceeding: The accusedparticipated in the shooting of five American airmen, who had bailed out oftheir airplanes and parachuted over the village of Sur, Hungary.

My research indicates that Ney, a P.h.D of Law,was in fact trying to save the U.S. POW’s from the Germans. He procrastinatedcarrying out the HQ orders as long as he could. At the time of the executions hewas uncurious and could not communicate as he was down with high fever.Theoretically Karolyi was in command at the time of the incident but he was notpresent. Bakos received repeated and direct orders from the German HQ toexecute the prisoners.

Having no option, Bakos gave Csihas order toexecute the POWs. Csihas commanded the execution platoon consisting of Eros,Lengyel and himfelf.

One small correction I also have to make: All officialU.S. documents consistently call the town of Ajka “Aka” which is obviously a mistype.Ajka is the only city in the area and that is where the German companyheadquarters were set up.

More on Ney

From November 1944 to February 1945 22nd SSVolunteer cavalry Division Maria Theresia and the 8th SS Division Florian Geyerbattled in the garrison of Budapest, where they had heavy street fights withthe Red Army. Both divisions were destroyed in the battle. Out of the fewHungarians who survived and other unit\'s remains a new SS Brigade by the nameof Ney was formed and named after its leader SS-Obersturmbannführer Dr. KarolyNey. The brigade retreated in May 1945 to Austria, where they continuedfighting until the end of the war.

The navigator, Lt Warren F. Ames and the pilot,Lt Farrington are listed on the tablets of the missing at the US cemetery inFlorence Italy. The ABMC database it shows that Sgts Kenneth Rost and FelixKozekowski are buried in the Loraine American cemetery in France. Perhaps someof the other bodies were repatriated.

1st Lieutenant Floyd (Bix) Bremermann

The bombardier Floyd Bremermann was the solesurvivor. He had a faulty parachute andhe landed away from the others. Thinking he landed south of Lake Balaton heattempted to walk south and tried to make it through to the friendly Yugoslavia.Three days later he was taken prisoner by freshly drafted young soldier boys.He too was handed over to the Hungarian SS, but was treated fairly. He wastaken to a POW camp where he was retained until the war ended. He subsequentlyreturned to the U.S. to become an Air Traffic Controller for the FAA until hisretirement in 1976.

After 53 years Bremermann returned to Hungary inOctober 1998. He went back to the village of Sur to pay tribute to the fallenfiends and to seek closure on behalf of the 9 crew members.

He did not know what kind of a reception toexpect in Sur. Much to his surprise he was treated very warmly and was receivedas a true war hero. What he found was forgiveness and shame. The Hungariansforgave him for participating in the bombing raids. They also felt shame forthe execution of unnamed POWs. Bremermann was taken to the remnants of the Surcastle where the five men were held before the execution.

Hearing that Bremermann was at the mayor’soffice in Sur, a resident retrieved a copy of a letter sent to a localnewspaper at the 40th anniversary of the end of the war. The letterreferred to the death of each of the nine Americans as “A heroic death for theliberation of our homeland.” The letter also red “Only one thing must nothappen: that the people forget the awful past the ominous times we shared. Maythe heroes who stood up for the inhumanity and fought for our freedom beremembered.”

Bremermann left Hungary knowing that he and hiscrew are considered heroes in Sur too.

1st Lieutenant Floyd (Bix) Bremermann passedaway on Dec. 21, 2009.

If you have any questions or comments pleasefeel free to contact me.

About this sale again:

You are offerding on the supercharger impeller aspictured in the first 5 photos.

This is the only surviving part of the 44-41218Liberator that I’m aware of.

(Apart fromthose small bits I\'ve already given to an interested relative of one of the deceasedairmen)


Sectioned engine photos are uploaded to easepart identification.


Further reading material:

About me:

I put great effort and energy in finding myrelics and in researching the history behind them.

I am always prepared to testify that what I writeis all true to the best of my knowledge.

Both my grandfathers were military officers inWWII. One was an air force captain and the other was a tank commander.

offer with confidence. As a fellow collector I’dnever mislead anyone about any of the relics I offer.

I never make up any stories and I never offerfake relics.

I have beenan member for 12 years now and strive for excellent customer satisfaction.

I am in the quest for further U.S. aircraftwreckages, although nearly everything is either gone already or are kept isprivate collections or museums.

Please add me to your list of favorite sellersas I will be listing some interesting USAAF and Luftwaffe relics during the next few days and weeks.

***PLEASEREAD ALL TERMS AND CONDITIONS BELOW***

Payment:

The paymentshould be completed within 7 days after the sale ends.

If you are unableto pay within the time frame for any reasons, please notify me as soon aspossible to make arrangements.

In general:

PLEASEE-MAIL me with any questions BEFORE the sale is over and not AFTER you havewon the offer.

PLEASE offerEARLY TO AVOID ANY LAST MINUTE COMPUTER OR E-BAY TECHNICAL PROBLEMS

If an itemis not in a new condition signs of wear and age may be present.

Please readthe entire listing before offerding!

Refer topictures please, for real condition.

Send e-mailwith any question.

If you haveany doubt or need more information, please, e-mail me before offerding.

If ansale has less than 12 hours before closing, I may not be able to respond to youremail.
Shipping:

Orderusually ships out within a working day or next after the payment is received.However, please allow 3 days for dispatch. Shipping discount will apply forcombined shipments; please make sure you pay all items in one payment.

Importduties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost.These charges are the buyer\'s responsibility.

Pleasecheck with your country\'s customs office to determine what these additionalcosts will be prior to offerding or buying.

I ship allitems well protected. I make every effort to ship the item quickly &securely.

I willcombine shipping, please ask for invoice prior to payment.

Pleaseemail if you have any questions concerning shipping and coverage.

If youdesire a specific mode of shipping or insurance, please ask for quote prior topaying.

Insurance:

TheStandard Economy option I offer as default does not include insurance.

Insuranceis an optional extra. It is calculated based on the insured value as follows:

2 dollarsof insurance is charged on each 23 dollars of declared value.

Just a fewrough examples:

$ 100insured value – 7 dollars

$ 200insured value – 15 dollars

$ 500insured value – 37 dollars

You may ormay not request insurance. Either way, I cannot be responsible for anymishandling by the Postal Service.

Courier shippingby TNT includes insurance coverage up to the insured value of about 4500dollars. It is expensive, but I can get you a TNT shipping quote.

Couriershipping to EU counties is much more affordable.

Under theinsured value of 500 Euros DPD shipping is cheap and is insured. Write for aquote.

Returns:

We dispatchall items in excellent working condition unless explicitly advertisedotherwise.

We acceptreturns for refund of the purchase price if you are not satisfied with yourpurchase.

Allshipping and related costs are to be paid by the buyer.

Any requestfor returns MUST be made within 24 Hrs. of receipt of item.



Buy Now

Related Items