Crew 55 was a part of the 754th Squadron and trained in Tonopah with the rest of the group.  They made their way to England in January 1944.

Their first mission was on March 6, 1944 to Berlin.  The 458th lost 5 aircraft and crews on this mission.  Back at debriefing, Goldsmith’s crew describes one of these losses, (most likely another crew from the 754th Squadron, Crew 46): “B-24 first sighted at 15,000 feet in vertical dive, then gentle pull out, wings sheared off and plane disintegrated, falling into lake in Berlin area.  Two chutes opened.”  The pilot and co-pilot were the only survivors.

The crew followed this up with another trip to Berlin two days later.  In March they flew five missions, four to Germany and one to France.  April saw the crew take off on twelve missions but complete only ten due to mechanical difficulties causing them to abort twice. The crew also flew only one aircraft for the remainder of their time in the 458th.  A B-24H model, someone had given it the odd name of Meat Around The Corner.  Odder still was the artwork which depicted a shotgun-wielding Elmer Fudd holding the freshly severed head of Adolf Hitler.  Authorities feared that should the crew be shot down, especially over Germany, the nose art would not be viewed favorably by the Germans.  At some point it was modified and Elmer was left holding a skunk by the tail.  All in all, Goldsmith’s crew took off 19 times in Meat around The Corner and completed 15 missions in this aircraft.

On May 11, 1944, the crew took off on their 18th mission, to bomb the marshalling yards in Epinal, France.  Just after bombs away, several crews spotted Goldsmith turning away with some sort of trouble and head for Switzerland. 

According to 1Lt Charles Stilson, flying on Goldsmith’s right wing:

“Goldsmith had one engine feathered, dropped his bombs, fired green-green flares and failed to turn with the formation.  Had very good fighter cover.  Believed he was headed for Switzerland.”

2Lt James Simes, co-pilot and Sgt Kenneth Katten, tail gunner, were not flying with Goldsmith on this mission.  On April 29, 1944, Simes flew his first mission as pilot of Crew 51.  He had taken over this crew as first pilot when 2Lt Robert “Jake” Couch had been killed on the April 22nd Hamm mission.  Couch’s crew had not been scheduled for this mission, so he volunteered to fly with the Harris Crew, with whom he had been co-pilot prior to becoming a first pilot.

James Simes went on to complete his combat tour in June 1944.  On October 31, 1944, Captain Simes was appointed as Assistant Operations Officer for the 754th Squadron.  In addition to his missions as co-pilot on Goldsmith’s crew, and as first pilot of Crew 51, he flew 15 additional missions as command pilot between November 5, 1944 and April 6, 1945.  He was awarded the DFC in May 1945.

Sgt Katten was also a substitute gunner on the April 22nd mission.  He had the unfortunate luck to be flying with the Stilson Crew when they, like the Harris crew, were shot down over Norwich by German Intruders.  Three of Stilson’s crew were killed when their aircraft crash landed near Horsham St Faith.  It is believed that Sgt Katten bailed out at a low altitude.  He spent the next few weeks in the hospital and received the Purple Heart in May 1944.It is not known if Sgt Katten was able to complete his combat tour.

2Lt Andrew P. Cote and Sgt Robert N.J. Morin flew as co-pilot and tail gunner respectively.  Unfortunately there is nothing in the 458th records to show where either of these men came from or when they joined the group.  As they do not show up on any of the original crew rosters, it is most likely that they were newly arrived replacements.

The Missing Air Crew Report on Goldsmith’s crew contains no details on why they diverted to Switzerland that day.  Likewise, nothing is in the group records stating if they were ever returned to the 458th.  Since none of the crew appear on any casualty lists, it is assumed that they all survived the war.

[Crew info updated below]

                                                                                             Mission data compiled from 458th records

Original artwork deemed too "hazardous to the crew's health" should they be shot down in Germany.

Unidentified 458th officers pose in front of the more "suitable" artwork of Elmer Fudd holding a skunk.

(Photos: George Reynolds & Tony North)

The following is an excerpt from Strangers In A Strange Land  Vol II Escape to Neutrality, a Squadron/Signal Publication by Hans-Heiri Stapfer/Gino Kunzle

My crew and I picked up the aircraft [MEAT AROUND THE CORNER] when it was brand new and actually took possession of it in San Francisco.  We flew it almost exclusively from the time it was manufactured to when it was destroyed on 11 May 1944.  We had completed sixteen missions, including the first raid on Berlin and three very memorable raids on Brunswick.  On 11 May, we started on an ill-fated mission that would result in the loss of the Liberator.  The mission was to Epinal and about twenty minutes before we reached our target, my number three engine oil pressure gauge indicated a dropping pressure.  This normally indicated an oil leak requiring the feathering of the propeller.  We were able to maintain flight and our position in the formation by simply increasing power to the remaining three engines.

After seven or eight minutes, the oil pressure on number two engine began to drop.  We had a wind-milling propeller which we could no longer feather because all the oil had been lost.  We were able to maintain altitude on the remaining two engines; however, the extreme drag of the number two engine meant we would be unable to make it back to our own base in England.

The navigator 2Lt William C. Etheredge recalls:

Our engine problems were obviously due to age and overwork.  1Lt Stuart Goldsmith asked me how far we could fly over occupied France toward England and as an alternative, to Switzerland.  The crew voted to try for the latter rather than become prisoners of the Germans.  About the time we crossed into Switzerland, our angle of descent due to the loss of engine power was such that we had to abandon ship.  Our plane glided by itself to a crash near a Swiss hospital.

The Liberator crashed into a wooded area near Jegenstorf, while the crew was picked up by Swiss soldiers near Sumiswald.

Stuart Goldsmith told of his stay at Davos:

I became very friendly with a young Swiss Army officer who was in Davos for treatment of tuberculosis of the eye.  He would give me French lessons every day and I would teach him English.  The officer arranged for me to attend many parties, wearing civilian clothes, at which various Nazi dignitaries were attending.  The Germans would come and go, of course not in uniform, living in Switzerland as tourists.  It was fascinating talking with and exchanging thoughts with the enemy.  My Swiss friend would introduce me as a Swiss from Lausanne and since my French was always better than any of the German’s attending the party, they had no reason to question the authority of the claim.

Stuart Goldsmith in his "escape gear"

2Lt Ralph T. Ritter and I became ever more restless and decided we really wanted to get back to our base in England and finish out the twenty-five missions required for a proper discharge.  We decided that we could escape past the Swiss guards in Davos dressed as a peasant man and a peasant woman.  I tied up my guard in Davos and walked by the very guards and other Swiss people that I had gotten to know during my period of internment, but no one recognized me.  Ritter and I made our escape and traveled to Geneva, where we crossed the border.  We were met by the French underground in a little town called Mouthe.

Article & photo from: Strangers In A Strange Land Vol. II, pg 28-29