Episode 5 - Dry Gulcher Down

Welcome to the Air War Trail’s Episode Five!

Hey everyone, welcome back to the channel! If you’re passionate about military history and want to know more of the untold stories from the front lines of the air war, in the air and on the home front, you’re in the right place.

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Episode 5 - Dry Gulcher Down

In the first two episodes, you met 452nd Bomb Group who served at Deopham Green and a number of British family members who lived in villages around the 452nd airfield. In this third episode , continue to follow me as I discover what is left at the airfields along the Air War Trail and the archival work that I did on maps and construction blueprints during those years. I discovered a treasure trove of original airfield drawings in England and using modern digital tools, I have developed new print quality versions of many of the airfield maps that I have used in the documentary films that I have produced and in the first books that I am writing on the Air War Trail.

Included in Episode 5 are four interviews that brought new light on the crash of the Dry Gulcher. The interviews include Peter Morgan who lived Shalford Village in County Essex who watched as the Dry Gulcher came overhead on fire and also an interview with Peter’s mother, Sybil Morgan, who ran into the burning wreckage of the Dry Gulcher, hoping to rescue someone. Also included is an interview with Jim Grey who witnessed the fire breaking out on the Dry Gulcher below his plane in the formation. He watched the B-17 on fire leave their formation with parachutes beginning to appear from the doomed aircraft. The interviews conclude with an interview of Francis Hawkins, the 381st Bomb Group’s photographic officer who boarded the Dry Gulcher to take target photographs . Hawkins ended up coming down by parachute in a farmer’s field at Shalford Village. Their stories contain the answers to many questions that had remained unanswered for over three-quarters of a century.

Historian’s Video Journal - The Search for Dry Gulcher Down

Dry Gulcher Down

Dry Gulcher Down follows the story of ten men who grew up in Depression America and found themselves aboard the ill-fated B-17, bound for the Luftwaffe research facilities at Peenemunde. They never made it. The documentary traces the life stories of the crew of aircraft number 42-97594 of the 381st Bomber Group (H) flying out of Ridgewell, England.

On August 4, 1944 the aircraft caught fire after takeoff and plunged to a fiery end not far away. At the controls was famed television director Irving Moore, who remained in the cockpit until it was almost too late. Nine crew bailed out to safety. Only the tail gunner, S/Sgt Harold Norris went down with the plane.

A unique look at the men who spearheaded the air war against Germany and the price they had to pay. At the heart of this documentary are the events over Shalford Village that day, and the people who watched the tragedy unfold–a British mother and son who saw the Dry Gulcher approch their home on fire, Captain Frederick Hawkins who was aboard the aircraft, and 1st Lieutenant James Grey who watched the fire break out on the Dry Gulcher, from his vantage point in another B-17 above the crippled flying fortress. For the first time, we know what happened to the Dry Gulcher, and the events that led up to that fateful day.

Some of the themes in the film include:

Individual air crew training and how an air crew is organized and assembled during the early years as they prepare for combat in Europe
Ten men, from different parts of the nation arrive in England and begin life during combat
Who were these men of the Cupernaull crew, where did they come from, and how did they settle into life at Ridgewell?
Memories of the crew on the day the Dry Gulcher went down over Shalford Village

British families remember the day that the B-17 came over Shalford Village on fire
An extraordinary human story of the Dry Gulcher, the men who flew her, and the drama that played out over a pleasant English village
“So, as I put my chest chute on and turned around and looked, I saw that the cables were sagging over the door there, about six inches or more, I lifted them out of the way and I left the ship.”

Peter Morgan - Eyewitness at Shalford

Ethel Lincoln Collins was born on June 14, 1927 at her home on Bush Green Farm in Great Ellingham. Ethel was twelve years old when the British declared war on German and sixteen years old when the Americans came to Deopham Green airfield. Part of the airfield was built on a part of her father’s land that was requisitioned by the Air Ministry so some of the wartime operations were close to her home and became a part of her growing up years. I interviewed Ethel twice, one on my first interview trip to the Deopham Green area in 2003 and again, in 2005.

Sybil Morgan - Memories on the ground at Shalford

At the first opportunity after graduation, William Roche enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became a B-17 Flying Fortress waist gunner. During WWII he was stationed at Deopham Green, England flying missions with the 452nd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. On two occasions he was shot down, once crash landing in France, and then later behind Russian lines in Poland where he was interred by the Russians and eventually repatriated to his unit three months later. His interview covers his training and combat operations, going into detail about the two missions where he was shot down. After the war, he attended college and spent thirty-three years in the Air Force as a Russian linguist and intelligence officer. In 1998, Bill returned to Assigny, France, the site of his first crash landing, where the grateful townspeople surprised him with a formal welcome, displaying pieces of his B-17. I recorded this video interview at the 452nd Reunion in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on October 4, 2003.

Jim Grey - Witness in the Air

Warner Brothers Studios produced Winning Your Wings, starring Jimmy Stewart, a promotional film aimed at recruiting young men for the Army Air Force. The 18-minute film included vignettes directed at high school and college students and men in a variety of jobs and civilian careers. The film was shown in movie theaters “nationwide beginning in late May 1942 and was very successful, resulting in 150,000 new recruits” for the Army Air Force.

Francis Hawkins - On Board the Dry Gulcher Over Shalford Village

Bonus Content

Every episode on the premium channel contains bonus material drawn from the Air War Archives. In Episode 5, the bonus material includes a dozen, high resolution photographs for download or for viewing.

The photographs are part of the more than 50,000 images that have been added to the East Anglia Air War Archives. Add these special images to your collection and use these images for personal use. If you are not currently subscribed to our Premium Plan, please subscribe now for access to the bonus material for Episode 5.

For the complete documentaries, never-before-seen interviews, and exclusive photos and other bonus materials, visit airwartrail.com. Your support as a member means we can keep bringing these powerful stories to light and safeguard history for all.

See you in Episode 6!