Floyd, Herb, Garland, and Harry Nincehelser – 1942
We recently received a note from Lynette Wolff, great-niece of Garland Francis Nincehelser, the gunner who died in the crash of the B-17 near Palmersville.
Based on an old newspaper article, we had incorrectly listed his name, and Lynette was kind enough to correct us. We asked if she would provide any other information, and she sent the following about the young man who perished in the crash:
Garland was born November 5, 1916 in Peru, Nebraska to Harry and Nettie Nincehelser. He was the 2nd oldest of 6 children. He and his 3 brothers all fought in WW2. One of his brothers was injured in Italy and received the purple heart.
Garland left behind a wife, Anna, and a 1 year old daughter, Janice. He was 26 when he was killed. He is buried in Auburn, Nebraska at the Sheridan Cemetery.
Lynette also graciously provided the pictures for this article.
Garland (back row, 2nd from L) with his parents, siblings, and a niece and nephew. – 1942
We were recently contacted by Stephen C. Mullins, son of the radio operator, Sgt. Clyde Mullins, who was on the B-17 that crashed near P’ville. You can read more about the crash here and here. And here is a local TV report on the dedication of the monument to the airmen.
Scroll down to read how Stephen’s father remembered that day.
Stephen provided a the above high-quality photo of the crew with notes his father made about the disposition of each man:
Front Row – L to R:
Lt. Leonard J. Morence – Co-Pilot – survived – injured
Lt. Harry N. Anderson – Pilot – killed
Lt. John A. Stinson Jr. – Navigator – killed
Lt. Andrew G. Kohlhof – Bombadier – survived – injured
Back Row L to R
S/Sgt. Milton Gersfeld – Engineer – killed
Sgt. Clyde Mullins – Radio Operator – survived – uninjured
Sgt. Clement J. Funai – 2nd Armorer – killed
Sgt. Donald A. Goodner – Assist.-Engineer – killed
Sgt. Garland F Nincehelser – Gunner – killed
not shown:
Stg. O. R. French – 1st Armorer – killed
Here is what Stephen wrote:
Dad’s account of what happened went like this: The B-17 was in a bad storm. The pilot told the aircrew to get in their egress positions throughout the aircraft, in case they needed to bailout.
The pilot gave-up on trying to fly through the storm, and began circling and trying to climb above the storm. Dad (the radio operator) and the bombadier’s egress position was to lay in the bomb bay. In the event they needed to evacuate the plane, the copilot would open the bomb bay doors, and those two would fall out.
Also in the bomb bay were crates of ammunition and other supplies. As they tried to climb out of the storm, the plane suddenly went into a steep dive. Although the crates in the bomb bay were strapped down, they began to shift and were crushing against dad so hard, he could feel himself starting to pass-out. The sensation of blacking-out seemed so strange to him, he began trying to clinch his fists shut, but couldn’t do so before he went unconscious.
He regained consciousness in midair, and had enough wits about him to pull his ripcord. He remembered floating overtop of a farmhouse, where a lady, with a baby on her hip, was gathering laundry off the clothesline, before the impending storm.
In hearings about the crash, the copilot testified he never opened the bomb bay doors, suggesting the plane may have broken in half near the bomb bay—the likely reason dad and the bombadier got out of the plane.
On Sunday, September the 5th of 1943, during WWII an Army B-17 Bomber crashed between Palmersville and Latham, Tennessee, resulting in the loss of nine airman’s lives. Seventy three years ago today, the crew, consisting of ten Army airmen, who where flying out of the Dyersburg Army Air Base, close to Halls Tennessee, in route to Gulfport Mississippi, became lost just after takeoff. Fifty miles off course, in the opposite direction that it was first charted. While flying over the northern part of Weakley county, local witnesses stated the plane suddenly exploded midair over the Palmersville and Latham, Obion River bottoms.
Mr. Hugh Brann of Palmersville, who was only twelve years old at the time, said he witnessed the plane explode and fall, while riding his bicycle with friends,west of Palmersville. He said “the plane just seemed to come apart as it flew over them ” and said he could hear it as it fell from the sky, in what he describes, to have been approximately five miles northwest of Palmersville.
According to the Dresden Enterprise, others in the Latham and Palmersville area had also witnessed the plane catch fire and explode and that it had been scattered over a large area between the two towns. And stated some of the wreckage came to rest on, at the time, the Wilkinson, Stowe and Bondurant farms. Also that two men had parachuted from the plane and had survived, but later reports, other than the newspaper, said that one of the two had passed away shortly after being transported back to the air base by Army personnel during the night. [actually, three survived the crash – ed.]
Palmersville Historical Society 