James MacSporran Christmas Eve 1944

Mission #178 of the 452nd Bomb Group (BG) was scheduled for a 08h50 take off from RAF Deopham Green in Norfolk on 24th December 1944.

For the sortie 64 B-17s from the Bomb Group departed as part of the US Eighth Air Force (AF) strategy to bring pressure on the Luftwaffe. This was to prevent the Germans from launching air strikes in support of their counter offensive against the Allies, Wacht am Rhein - or as it became known the Battle of the Bulge.

On the 24th December a high pressure front across UK and Europe brought clear weather and the Eighth AF launched a maximum effort against airfields and communications in Western Germany. In total 2,034 bombers and 853 fighters were committed to the mission. 12 bombers and 10 fighters were lost.

Of the 12 bombers lost on the mission 2 were from the 452nd BG, with the mission being recorded in the typically understated fashion of the Mighty 8th as "quite a rough mission". This included very heavy flak, as due to the significant numbers of aircraft the routes included some of the most heavily defended regions of Germany.

B-17G "Fredee" piloted by 1st Lieutenant Jay Kenworthy (aircraft number 44-8249) was lost to a direct flak hit. The BG war diary recorded, in the very phlegmatic nature reminiscent of World War One war diaries, "no chutes seen". Amazingly, 5 crew members survived and were taken as Prisoners of War.

"'Ain't Mis'behavin III" was one of two 452nd BG aircraft severely damaged by flak, after successfully reaching the target at Darmstadt airbase. The pilot 1st Lieutenant James MacSporran was the son of a Presbyterian Minister Dr John and Elisabeth MacSporran living at the time in New Jersey.

John had emigrated from Canada in 1902 and his name had been corrupted from Mc to Mac on arrival in the USA from Ontario where he still has relatives to this day. He had met and married Elisabeth Macfarlane who was from Pennsylvania, whilst they were both working or studying in Frankfurt am Main Germany, before the outbreak of World War 1.

James was a member of the Class of 1935 at Princeton and as a joint citizen had initially volunteered to join the Royal Canadian Air Force along with at least one of his Canadian cousins. As he started training, the United States entered the war and he was moved along with many other Americans to the US Army Air Force. He was joined by his brother Donald who trained as a Bombardier on the B-24, whilst James became a B-17 pilot and was sent straight to 452nd BG at Deopham Green. Pictured above in the centre of the front row with his crew, he was already married to Elizabeth, and had a 3 year old daughter also named Elizabeth.

In a twist of fate that could be from a Holywood movie, but reflects the cruel nature of war plane #42-31368 Ain't Mis'behavin III was only 1.5 miles from Deopham Green when it crashed as a result of the damage suffered from flak, having made the 550 mile return flight from Darmstadt through some of the most heavily contested airspace of WW2. James along with his co-pilot Alexander Marva, navigator Theo Janoski, Front gunner/Toggelier James Kiser, Engineer Willis Trombley and Radioman Vernon Bosselier were all killed as the aircraft impacted the ground. Ball turret gunner Darrell O'Harrow, Tail gunner Leonard Thompson and Waist gunner David Monore all survived.

For the family an already tragic year was made even worse as 10 weeks earlier on 4th October 1944, Donald had been killed when his B-24 suffered a structural failure and crashed near Casper Wyoming on a training flight. The only relief was the immediate enactment of the "Sole Survivor" policy of Saving Private Ryan fame, to bring home their surviving sibling John. He was an Army Officer fighting in the very Battle of the Bulge which had led to the mission on which James had been killed.

There are many thoughts that rattle around in mine, and I am sure many other people's minds, when I consider what happened to this family, as we face perhaps the most volatile period in human history since World War 2. I genuinely believe that we today are immensely fortunate to have been served in such a profound and selfless way by servicemen and women during the dark days of the late 1930's and early 1940's.

We are 80 years on at this point, and hopefully the remembrance on this day of James's sacrifice alongside those of his crew who didn't survive, will help us all to be thankful and appreciate the time that many of us will enjoy with our families during the Christmas holiday and into the New Year.