Memorial

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1st Lt Berthel Swensson graduated from Belmont High School in 1938 in Los Angeles. He was employed as a clerk at Holmes Supply Company.

He volunteered for the Army Air Corps on 31 March 1942 in Los Angeles, California.

Eyewitness account:
"On the day of the Wiener Neustadt mission, at approximately 1130 hours, we were heading over the target with the bomb bay doors open, ready to drop our bombs, when we were struck from 12 o'clock, a little high, by what seemed to be 40 to 50 or even 70 fighter planes. They flew through our formation and shot down and/or crippled a large number from our bomber force. The heavy concentration of enemy planes was a bit more than our gunners could handle. The flak was also very heavy going in toward the target.

"I noticed that we had two engines on fire from my position in the top turret, and soon a third engine fire erupted about that time. The bailout bell rang, and John Irwin poked me in the leg to call my attention to my chest pack that he was trying to hand me. You couldn't wear one in the turret. So I climbed down out of the top turret and took the chest pack that Irwin handed me. At that moment, the plane was in a shallow dive. While I was on the flight deck putting on my parachute, Irwin stepped down onto the catwalk in the bomb bay to get ready to jump. When I got to the catwalk, John Irwin was lying face down on the catwalk next to the burning bomb bay gasoline (auxiliary) tanks with his parachute inflated out of the bomb bay and the shroud lines between the catwalk and bomb bay tank. The open chute was pulling him tightly against the catwalk and the burning tanks. I tried to pull on him to free him and drop him out of the plane, but the pressure of the inflated chute made it impossible. I was running out of oxygen and jumped, pulling my ripcord as soon as I got out of the plane.

"Lt Berthel Swensson, bombardier, had obtained a very small dog someplace and took him on this mission. I believe that Berthel was hit by a 20-mm and probably killed, not leaving the ship. I managed to jump out, opened my chute and then felt the explosion as the ship blew to pieces. Many parts fell around me as I went down. All in the rear of the ship were dead."

Co-pilot Carroll Pratt wrote that,´Lt Berthel is believed to have been seriously wounded because the navigator, Charles Selaski had blood over his flight jacket when he landed - and never saw Lt Berthel get out. He could have ´frozen´ and could not jump, but more probably was dead or dying at that time.'