Introduction: On 10 December, 1944, the 310th BG sent a 22 plane mission to bomb a railroad fill at Dolce, Italy. Two of our airplanes were hit by flak and crashed in German held territory. All but two of the 12 crew were able to parachute out of their aircraft and they were either captured by the Germans or rescued by the Partisans.

They landed in different areas and were separated, with each having individual experiences, apart from each other. Some would later be POWs in the same Stalag. the war would end in May, 1945, with the 310th becoming more of a transient group with the loss of most of the original men and the influx of new ones who did not stay long.

The fate of the downed airmen was no longer high on the priority list and got lost in the shuffle of getting ready to return to the United States or head for the Pacific and Japan.

Almost 55 years after Lt. McAllister’s B-25, DONNA MARIE II was shot down over Dolce an Italian man living in the area requested help from Dominique Taddei and I, in solving the mystery of the missing pilot and his B-25.

I realize the story is long but it had too many heroic characters for me to dismiss it out of hand. Here it is.

After WW II I would research and write a short narrative of the 310th Bomb Group’s seven hundred and sixteenth combat mission to bomb a railroad fill at Dolce, Italy on December 10, 19444, and of the loss of two B-25s to flak over the target. The formation would be preceded by four anti-flak planes carrying 100 pound (WP) white phosphorous bombs.

I would write; On 10 December, 1944, the 310th flew six missions against Italian targets, but only one to bomb a railroad fill at Dolce brought flak and fatalities. The take off from Ghisnaccia was routine with twenty two B-25s 'up and away.' The formation returned with only twenty aircraft. Lt. Berry’s, 380th Squadron, and Lt. McAllister’s 428th Squadron, B-25s were missing.

The 428th Mission Report stated: "Excellent concentration of RR tracks just north of target. Direct hits reported on fill. Other bombs cut tracks just south of target. Anti-flak ships reported effective hits in the area of gun battery. Moderate, heavy, accurate flak from target. Two aircraft lost. Four others holed and one man wounded." McAllister led anti-flak element (4 B-25’s) preceding the regular formation attacking a fill target north of Verona. The aircraft was hit by flak before ’bombs away’ but continued on its run. It then lost an engine and a few minutes later crashed into the hills, one chute seen. (Observations were confused by the loss of two airplanes being hit over the same target at about the same time when departing the target area. Four parachutes were reported, with ‘one on fire’.)"

By and large, this was about all that we in the 310th would know about the fate of the two crews downed on the 10th of December,1944.

In early 1999, Dominique Taddei, our associate member from Corsica, and I were contacted by Giuseppe Versolato, from Vicenza, Italy, who had become interested in the Allied bombing of targets in his area and who had done extensive research of Italian records and conducted personal interviews on the Dolce raid of 10 December, 1944. Versolato requested additional information and provided us with information on the fate of Lt. McAllister and his crew.

All six men had parachuted free, within a half mile radius of the crash site of #44-28937, DONNA MARIE II, near Campanella, Italy. Answers to a questionnaire by captured Lt. McMorris, the co-pilot said: "We left formation at the IP to hit the target singly at 1100, 10,000 feet. Our aircraft was hit prior to bomb drop. The cockpit was full of smoke from burning phosphorus. The tail gunner bailed out of the rear hatch. Turret gunner, bombardier, and Co-Pilot bailed out of the front hatch. (McMorris) I flew as co-pilot. The interphone was out and smoke from the burning phosphorus bombs kept me from seeing the pilot or crew members so I did not know when they left the plane. Upon removal of the top hatch the smoke cleared and McAllister gave the signal to leave with his hands." (Question) "Was the pilot injured?" (Answer) "Burns on his face." "I was in the plane about 4-5 minutes after we were hit. I did not see the plane explode nor did I see it hit the ground.

Lt. McAllister landed near the village ofCrespardora, three miles west of Altissimo, and was saved by Italian partisans who put McAllister on a sleigh and pulled him to the village of Molino while the Germans were searching the area of the crash site approximately one half mile from Campanella. Lt. McAllister was not in good condition because of inhaling phosphorus fumes. He was sick and it was difficult for him to speak. His leg had also been injured during the bail out or during the crash landing. He was taken to a house in the Village of Molino, very near Altissiomo where a partisan: "Ameleto" (Giuseppe Cavaliere) hid him in a hold excavated in the wine cellar of his house. The next day, McAllister was examined by a local doctor and transferred to one of "Ameleto’s" bed rooms. He was able to eat a little soft cheese and drink milk or water. He holed up in "Ameleto’s" bedroom from the 10th to the 28th of December, 1944, as he somewhat recovered.

At McAllister’s insistence he left his hiding place with "Ameleto" and another partisan "Catone" for the location of the British Special Forces #1 known by the partisans as "Mission Freccia" or "Arror Mission" which was working with the partisans from a position in the hills near Schio. After walking several hours during the night the three men stayed at another Italian village on the 29th December 1944.

Around 9 O’Clock a.m. on January 1, 1945 they were crossing the road between Valdagno and Recoaro when they were spotted by three officers in a German vehicle. The two Italians and McAllister, wearing a civilian overcoat over his uniform, began to run in separate directions. The Germans fired at the running men. The two partisans got away but McAllister, with his breathing problem and bad leg was unable to escape and was captured near the village of Facchini, a suburb of Recoaro. he was taken to the prison at Valdagno.

About 3:30, 9 January, 1945, two German Military Police arrived in the town hall of Recoaro to declare that they had killed a "bandit" (a partisan) caught trying to escape. Within an hour, the town clerk, with a doctor and two police agents went to the place indicated by the German and found a dead body, lying in a gravel bed in the Agno River, dressed in military pants and shoes. The victim was male, estimated to be around 25 years of age, who had been killed by two shots to the nape of the neck (Gestapo style) about three hours earlier in the day. The body was transferred to the room of a local church.

During the night someone placed a small spray of 'Snow Drops', a winter flower that grows in the mountains around Recoraro, upon the window sill of the room as a tribute to 1st Lt. Lee A. McAllister, Jr. It was an honorable action of an unknown hand in a village that was headquarters of Army Group C, under formal command of General Kesselring.

There were other brave individuals, like "Ameleto" and "Catone" who did not fly but risked death to aid the downed Allied flyers and even pick winter flowers to honor an "unknown friend".

The rest of the crew were captured and sent to German Prisoner of War camps. S/Sgt. Leonard G. Rapel tail gunner-captured at the crash site near Boscochiesanuova. and. Lt. Derrill C. McMorris, Co-Pilot, captured the next day near the village of Selva di Progno. Captain Jerry M. Baraniuk, Bombardier, who had been injured, was captured January 12 and taken to a local German field hospital in Mantua. On 25 February he was transferred to Nuerberg-Langwasswer POW camp. T/Sgt. Robert E. Baccus, radio gunner and S/Sgt. Everett C. Thompson, turret gunner, were also captured-dates at sites unknown. They were sent along with S/Sgt. Rapel to the prisoner of war transit center in Verona and taken by train to one of the Dulag Luft interrogation centers and then to one of the Stalags for the rest of the war.

This would account for the last member of the crew that rode a B-25J named DONNA MARIE II, on a cold December day to a target called "DOLCE". They never made it back to Corsica for Christmas.

(Giuseppe Versolato is interested in obtaining a photo of 'Donna Marie II and a photo of Lt. McAllister for a book he is writing concerning downed American aircraft in the vicinity of Vicenza, Italy. Please send to information to Frank B. Dean, 102 Pine Valley Drive, Warner Robin, GA 31028 - email to fbd310@worldnet.att.net or email Giuseppe Versolato at gversola@tin.it )