Nelson E Brott
MilitaryFront row, from left to right : Bernard J. Komasinski, pilot; Winfield Scott Gippert, Co-Pilot; Edgar W. Michaels, Navigator; Charles H. Lain, Bombardier.
Back row, from left to right : Stanley J. Hulewicz Jr, Tail Gunner; Frank LaFazia, Ball Turret Gunner and Assistant Engineer; John H. McKee, Radio Operator/Gunner; Nelson E. Brott, Right Waist Gunner and Assistant Radio Operator; Walter E. Bohenko, Left Waist Gunner and Frank N. Schaeffer, Engineer. (Photo courtesy of Frank N. Schaeffer.)
► Note : Ball Turret Gunner LaFazia was replaced by S/Sgt Coley W. Richardson (not in the photo) for the 8 August 1944 mission when the Komasinski crew was shot down in B-24 "My Peach" Serial 42-100415.
Added photo of the Komasinski crew
On his 6th mission, Nelson Brott was Top Turret Gunner on B-24 #42-100415 when it ran into mechanical trouble on return in the afternoon from the 8 August 1944 mission to bomb the airfield at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. He and seven other crew members managed to evade with the help of French patriots. Brott, his Co-Pilot Winfield Gippert and his Pilot Bernard Komasinski were taken in charge by Eugène Pommier of Montmirail, chief of the local underground and his wife Marcelle. As the Gestapo was on Pommier’s track, the men were handed over to underground fighters of the FFI (Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur.) The three men and other Allied airmen were hidden in woods in the Epernay area with Maquis fighters. When they heard that US troops had liberated the nearby village of Montfort, they drove there on 27 August 1944 and met the liberators. Sent back to US 3rd Army HQ via Reims, Brott, Gippert, Komasinski and their fellow crew members Navigator Edgar Michaels, Bombardier Charles Lain and Tail Gunner Stanley Hulewicz left Laval, France, by air in a C-47, landing in Grove, England on 31 August 1944. Escape & Evasion Report E&E 1301. Nelson worked for more than 20 years as a clerk for the United States Postal Service and later served as a bank security guard in Troy, New York. He also volunteered for many years at the Samaritan Hospital in Troy.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 506th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13108425
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner/Armorer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 506th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16104111 and O-696765
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 506th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35914236
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 506th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 15108013 and O-700477
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 506th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 15108057 and O-717078
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: My Peach
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 506th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 8 August 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Pathway
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Troy, New York State, United States | 26 May 1922 | the son of Earl W. and Elizabeth (Lutz) Brott; stepson of Joseph W. and Elizabeth Wiesenforth |
Enlisted |
Albany, New York State, United States | 7 April 1943 | |
Other Evaded (EVD) |
Marne, France | 8 August 1944 - 27 August 1944 | After landing in the Montmirail area, France, he managed to evade with the help of French patriots. Back in England on 31 August 1944. Escape & Evasion Report E&E 1301. |
Died |
Albany, New York State, United States | 23 May 2013 | |
Born |
North Greenbush, Rensselaer County, New York State, United States | ||
Buried |
Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, Schuylerville, New York, United States |
Revisions
NARA file verified Air Medal. He earned at least one bronze service star on the EAME Campaign Medal and more than likely the Army Good Conduct Medal.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/113691462/nelson-e-brott
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 8080 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database