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.

Saturday, 14 November 2015

Normandy Guides

We have made tremendous progress in our fundraising efforts to bring the "In The Footsteps of Bud Owens" project to a successfull ending and will be able to start post production early next year. We would like to sincerely thank ALL our donors again with a special thank you to the Normandy WWII battlefield guide community which has offered such great support to the project from the start. 

Thank you:
- Andy Sutherland (Bayeux Shuttle)
- Paul Woodadge (D-Day Historian)
- Vanessa Letourneur (Normandy Panorama)
- Dale Booth (Dale Booth NormandyTours)
- Sylvain Kast (D-Day Experience Tours)
- Adrienne O'Donnoghue Sion (Normandy Onsite)
- René Van Oirschot (Bayeux Sightseeing Tours)
- Christophe Rault (Christophe Rault Private Tours)



 
 Andy Sutherland, CEO of Bayeux Shuttle at the memorial to Bud Owens and three of the crew members of his B-17 at La Coulonche. Thank you for your support Andy!!

 
 Paul Woodadge aka D-Day Historan with Waren Carah's book about the crash of Bud Owens' B-17 and his escape and evasion story. Thank you Paul!!

 
 Vanessa Letourneur, CEO of Normandy Panorama with documentary protagonist Louis Hatet, great grandson of resistant André Rougeyron. Thank you Vanessa!!

We still have some funds to raise so please don't hesitate to donate to this worthwile project.
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