The true story of B-17 Pilot John Seddon.
Author André Vandenameele.

It was around 21.15 hours on 22 April 1944 when B-17 42-39807, nicknamed Nero, crashed near a small town called Ingelmunster in the fields of Flandern. On the fuselage of this B-17 was the ID VK-Y and it had belonged to the 303rd Bomb Group, 358th Bomb Squadron of the USAAF since November 19,1943.The B-17 had left its home base Molesworth for an air raid on the German city of Hamm but Nero was a borrowed aircraft because the crew’s own bomber had been very damaged in an air raid on the city of Marienburg in Germany. When they flew into Germany there was no problem but on the way back Nero was hit by flak from AA guns  which caused a whole lot of mechanical problems. Engine #1 lost a lot of oil and after a while it fell off the aircraft. With this major mechanical problem the crew fell behind the rest of the formation and were obliged to try on their own to reach there home base at Molesworth. A while later, engine #3 also stopped running and fell off  too but from this point Nero was escorted by two USAF P-47 fighters, giving the crippeled aircraft some protection. However, once above Belgium they were attacked by German ME-109 fighters and by this time the B-17 was so heavely damaged that it could fly no further. Its Captain, 2nd LT. John Seddon, gave his crew the order to bail out of the crippeled aircraft. The first crewmember to bail out from  Nero was the tailgunner Sgt. William Mummery, followed by the other crewmembers: waistgunner Sgt. E. Holcomb and Sgt. John Nemchick; top turret gunner S/Sgt.Edward Rogers; ball turret gunner Sgt. Donald Maloney; navigator 2nd Lt. George Fitzpatrick; Bombadier 2nd. Lt. Walter Meldrich; 2nd. Lt.Co Pilot Charles Burks, and finally pilot 2nd Lt. John Seddon himself. The radio operator, S/Sgt. John Hess, was initially unable to bail out because the aircraft was by then in a flat spin and he could not get to the escape hatch. After a while the airraft stabilized itself and he managed to make his escape from this heavy bomber. From the small town of Ingelmunster below, the local people could see how the B-17 was loosing height and had heavy fire over both wings. It made a big sweeping circle to the left over the small towns of Izegem and Lendelede then made a short turn back towards Ingelmunster on the border of Emelgem. The B-17 finally crashed and exploded near the farm house of the family Remi Craeynest, and destroyed it. Remi was wounded by a piece of a propeller and his wife and daughter were also wounded. Farmer Alfons Duyvejonck, who was working in his field,  saw the heavy bomber coming in his direction and began to run. Unfortunately, Alfons ran in the direction the B-17 was coming from, and ran under it, sustaining heavy burns to his body from which he was hospitalized for over a year. Of the ten crewmembers who bailed out of Nero, eight were captured and imprissoned after a short time. Near the town Ardooie S/Sgt. Hess and S/Sgt. Rogers were arrested by the German feldpolizei (MP). Co pilot 2nd Lt. Burks and 2nd. Lt. Fitzpatrick, who came down in the town of Izegem, suffered a very unpleasant experience on their way down: they were shot at by the local police while they hanging in their parachutes. Others were also arrested between the towns of Ardooie and Izegem: the crewmembers Sgt. Holcomb; Sgt. Maloney; Sgt.Nemchick and Sgt.Mummery. The two others, 2nd. Lt. Meldrich and the captain John Seddon, managed to stay out of the hands of the Germans. Before the pilot, 2nd Lt. John Seddon, abandoned and bailed out of his stricken B-17, he did something very special; something I would dare call an HEROIC DEED. He steered his B-17 away from the village of Lendelede and succeed in this unselfish deed, otherwise many civillians would have been killed. When John Seddon bailed out he came down on his back so had to look over his shoulders to see how far he was from the Belgian soil to open his parachute. When he opened his ‘chute he made just two swings and hit the ground safely between  Ingelmunster and the National highway of Kortryk. That night he crossed the highway and arrived before noon at Lendelede. A factory gaurd who decided to arrest 2nd Lt. John Seddon had to concede that John was a very good boxer with a couple of hard hard fists. To the great joy of the spectators, Seddon escaped into a cornfield. Cyriel Dujardin saw everything and informed the friendly Mayor Vanwildemeersch of the village Heule near Kortryk who decide to take care of Seddon. While Seddon stayed at the home of this Mayor, John learned to ride a bicycle. When he could ride the bicycle, he cycled together with Andre Picquart to the small village of Kuurne where he was taken in by the Family of Richard Manheave Geldhof where he stayed from May 1 till August 8. Manheave was a member of a underground group called “The Young Belgian Boys” (TYBB), a group founded in 1942 by Andre Noreille together with the Father Eligius (Vandenbossche); Jacqueline Verthé; André Salens; Jacque Lesage; and the Family Cottenie. Jacqueline Verthé provided civilian clothes for Seddon, and she also brought other things like cigarettes and necessary requisites.
When the Mayor from Huele was ready with the false papers and a sum of 1180 Franks (Belgian and French money), Jacqueline Verthé took 2nd. Lt. Seddon to Menen near the railway station to be photographed by a photographer called Paul Billé. Paul Billé helped many airmen into the escape route “Comete” but most of all he first made some pictures that were neccesary for the trip. 2nd.Lt. Seddon had a hiding place in the cellar of Paul’s photo shop and while the SS head office was just a few houses further on, they never found Seddon the whole time when he was in the cellar. Paul eventually brought him to Halluin, France, just over the Belgian border then by a man called Joe de Bock and he stayed there fore one week. From there he was taken in for two weeks by the Family Camille Vancoillie at Tourcoing, and after those two weeks he made the trip to Spain and safely onward to England, arriving there on May 9, 1944.
2nd. Lt.John Seddon survived the war. 

For the 22 year old 2nd. Lt. Meldrich this was his first jump to freedom after 16 months of duty. After a long period of  hiding he made contact with the Belgian escape line and arrived in Spain on May 15, 1944. On June 12, 1944 he arrived in Gibraltar and the following day, by courtesy of the B.I.S. (British Intelligence Service), was back in Bristol, England on June 15, 1944.