Memorial

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1st Lt Perry E. Powell graduated from Grand Island High School in 1938 and was a construction and maintenance painter.

He joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Omaha, Nebraska on 6 October 1942.

Statement by S/Sgt Donald D. Dunn, tail gunner of plane 42-97317:
"1st Lt Powell's plane had gone over to the right to avoid propwash. Evidently he caught propwash from another element and went into a dive. He pulled out abruptly and his plane broke in half between the radio room and ball turret. The front half of the plane turned a loop and cut part of the nose of Lt McCormick's plane off. The tail half of Lt Powell's plane hit the tail section of the other plane, tearing part of the horizontal stabilizer off and about all of the vertical stabilizer off. About that time an orange parachute went out and a second later a white one went out. I believe it to be the waist gunner on Lt Powell's crew. Both planes dropped off into a spin and I followed them down to the cloud layer. Nothing else was seen."

Of the nine men crew of A/C 43-38697 eight were killed. Only the tail gunner survived. Powell, Walker, Luckie, Phelps, L’Estrange, Harper, Colgan and Aleskyn were killed. According to the MACR all of them, except for Powell, were buried by the Germans in the cemetery of Lehmke, a small village not so far from the place their plane crashed.

Of the nine members on board of Lt McCormick's ship, seven were killed.