Memorial

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2nd Lt John W. Carothers attended college.

The B17 Flak Wolf, on its mission to Oschersleben flown by Lt John W. Carothers, became severly damaged by the heavy fighter attacks. Only three crewmen managed to bail out the crippled plane.

The airplane was attacked by enemy fighters.

S/Sgt Harvey E. Scott, Engineer and surviving crew member stated after the war:
"our plane went down soon after crossing the Dutch/German border on way in. When we left formation, our plane was in a flat spin and not noticeably on fire. Via hectic intercom conversation I learned that both waist gunners and our tail gunner were injured but extend was not known. When I jumped out of the nose escape hatch, our navigator and bombardier also bailed out via the nose hatch, I saw our pilots slumped over the controls. Our plane did not explode until it hit the ground. The explosion was a tremendous one with so much noise that I think that the bombs exploded. I landed very close to the crash site of our plane and saw two bodies in the nearby trees."

Three crew members survived, seven were killed.

Right after the crash, Lt Carothers was buried at the Achmer Airdrome Militairy Cemetery where his remains were recovered in April 1947 and initially marked as Unknown X-2145B. They were evacuated to Margraten where they could be identified by comparison of fingerprints.

He was initially buried in a temporary grave at Margraten on 26 May 1945. After being disinterred and after the cemetery was given a permanent status, he was given his final resting place on 18 January 1951.