In the Footsteps of S/Sgt Francis 'Bud' Owens: October 2015

S:Sgt Francis 'Bud' Owens was a waist gunner on B-17F 42-29928 when it was shot down over the Norman countryside in 1943.
The aircraft was part of 533rd Bomb Squadron, 381st Bomb Group(H), and was taking part in a raid on the Gnome-Rhone plant in le Mans on July 4th when it was attacked by Messerschmitt Bf-109s and finally crashed near the small village of la Coulonche.
Three of the crew of ten perished when the 'plane hit the ground, two of those who baled out were quickly captured. With local help, the remaining five attempted to make their way down to neutral Spain with a view to re-joining the fight against Nazism.
Four of them made it to Spain but 'Bud' Owens, a man who on many occasions had put others before himself, was to die of exposure in the Pyrenees, aged just 21. He now rests in the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium.
Please follow our project to honour and remember 'Bud' Owens and support it if you can. Thank you.

Sunday, 18 October 2015

Keith Murray

It is with great sadness that we were recently informed of the passing of Keith Murray on 28 September 2015 at the age of 96.

On September 6, 1943, 1/Lt. Keith Murray’s ship, the Bomboogie, went down returning from a raid on Stuttgart. He and four others of his crew successfully evaded capture assisted by the French.

Mr. Murray was the last survivor of the group of evaders, which included our documentary's main protagonist Bud Owens, that made the fateful Pyrenees crossing on 25 October 1943. He suffered several strokes over the years and his health unfortunatley made it impossible for him to be interviewed for the documentary. His recollections did however help us piece together the final moments of Bud Owens and two of his fellow evaders at Port d'Arinsal. Our sincerest sympathies to the Murray family and friends.