Christine Gasvoda

13th April 1945. A flying nurse and her flight crew crash in bad weather near Hildesheim, Germany.   

Source: Ancestry.com / US School Yearbooks / Source Loyola University Chicago 1938 class book).

Christine Gasvoda was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1915. In Chicago, Illinois, she worked as a nurse in a hospital. When war broke out, she enlisted in the United States Army Nurse Corps. In the above photograph Christine is in the rear row, first from right.

Source: Ancestry.com / US School Yearbooks / Source Loyola University Chicago 1938 class book).

The 817th Medical Air Evacuation Squadron (MAES) was activated on November 12, 1943 at Bowman Field, Kentucky.

Christine Annette Gasvoda was one of twenty-five "Flight Nurses" who attended a four-week training course at Bowman Field, Kentucky. The purpose of her training: to stabilize injured patients so they could be airlifted to a hospital where further treatment would follow. 

The above photograph shows a group of Flight Nurses, photographed after their graduation at Bowman Field, Kentucky. 

Source: WW2 Flight Nurses Association.

On March 14, 1944, 817 MAES departed from Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, by ship for Scotland. Prior to D-Day, the Flight Nurses accompanied patients who were transported by air within the United Kingdom or brought back to the United States via the transatlantic route for further specialist treatment.

Members of the 9th Troop Carrier Command await orders to transfer wounded soldiers from ambulances to the waiting Douglas C-47's at an airstrip somewhere in Germany. 21 April 1945. Source: USAAF 82502AC. 

France. Evacuation of wounded-just before take-off time, litter patients are strapped in. The ambulatory cases wait patiently.

Source: USAAF 53960AC.

"Somewhere in France" a medical corps soldier about to load his war casualties aboard a Douglas C-47 air evacuation plane, gets last-minute instructions from the pilot and flight nurse. Source: USAAF 52032AC.

This photograph was taken Christmas 1944. Christine is standing 1st from right.

On 13 April 1945, fourteen C-47A transport aircraft took off from 'Advanced Landing Ground' A-41 / Dreux-Chartres in France.

Destination: airfield R-16 near Hildesheim in Germany. These aircraft were to carry supplies and bring back wounded to be delivered to a well-equipped hospital as quickly as possible.

One of the aircraft was #43-15086 nicknamed 'Hi'. The crew of this unit consisted of five men; Christine Gasvoda was added to accompany the wounded as 'Air Evacuation Nurse'. The cargo consisted of a large number of jerrycans filled with fuel.

Prior to this flight, Christine was awarded an 'Air Medal'.

This indicates that she made at least five operational flights to pick up wounded behind the front.

During the flight the weather conditions became worse and the formation was informed by radio to divert to an airfield near Paderborn. Apparently, this radio message did not reach the plane. Why, we do not know. Was it a result of a temporary glitch that interfered with the reception of the message? Did the radio operator not have his headphones on at that moment? We will never know. Thirteen of the fourteen aircraft made a 180-degree turn and landed at Paderborn airport shortly thereafter. Christine's plane did not arrive. A subsequent report indicated that the C-47 was last seen 12 miles northeast of Paderborn in the vicinity of Nieheim. Shortly thereafter, information was received that the aircraft had flown into a hill near Altenbeken in bad weather. All six occupants were killed in the crash. 

The illustration above showing the exact crash location was made using Google Satellite. 

The following photographs of the crash site and the remembrance memorial are courtesy of the Heimat- und Geschichtverein Altenbeken e.V. 

The upper left photographs shows a tree which had been cut by the aircraft crash. Two new branches have grown out of the damaged tree. The upper right photograph shows one of the fuel Jerrycans found at the crash site. 

The crew of C-47A #43-15086 consisted of the following persons:

Pilot: 1Lt Randolph D. Burchfiel. He is buried in Oklahoma, USA.

Co-Pilot: 1Lt Homer T. Hornberger, buried at Margraten Cemetery E-9-24.

Navigator: Flight Officer John E. Henwood, buried at Margraten Cemetery N-13-17.

Aerial engineer / Crew Chief: T/Sergeant Ernest A. Burke, buried in Maine, USA.

Air Evacuation Nurse: 1Lt Christine Gasvoda, buried at Margraten Cemetery F-19-4.

The Radio Operator Staff Sergeant Joseph Lionel Boucher was badly wounded but survived. He passed away in 1980 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.