Cliff Buchan
News Editor

There is little doubt that Ed Hinrichs did his duty as a World War II flyer based in England in 1944. He flew 32 bombing missions over Germany in the waning months of the war — seven more than the Army would mandate.

There is satisfaction for sure in the heart of the Forest Lake man, now 85 and living in retirement on his lake home here since 1969.

But for Hinrichs there is an equal if not greater sense of satisfaction in the peace and closure he has brought to the families and friends of some of the Army Air Corps flyers who were shot down over Germany.

In August of 2004, after several years of research and pouring through documents in the National Archives, Hinrichs, with the help of Trafford Publishing, released “Missing Planes of the 452nd Bomb Group.”

Although three years old and in limited supply today, Hinrichs says he will still on occasion open a letter and read the heartfelt thank you of a family who finally learned what really happened to a family member who died in the war. Others are thankful to learn more about those who flew with the bomb group and survived the war.

“The appreciation letters you get....” Hinrichs said, breaking off in mid-sentence, his voice crackling with emotion as this war veteran fought to control his words.

Why the book?

It was in 1980 after Hinrichs retired from McGough Construction that he began digging for details for the book. With time on his hands, he began to comprehend the blanks that so many families had on their relatives.

It was in stark contrast to Hinrichs. He was the flight engineer and top turret gunner on a B-17 that made 32 bomb runs over Germany, including three missions to Berlin. He flew missions from England starting in the fall of 1944 until Germany’s surrender in May of 1945.

“I came through the war without a scratch,” Hinrichs said.

The questions about those who went down were always vivid in his mind.

During the war, he would marvel at his bullet-riddled B-17 after it managed to return home safely to England, escaping German fighter planes and ground artillery.

Hinrichs knew others were not so lucky.

In his retirement years and while attending Army reunions, he heard the same from others.

In 1980 the exhaustive research began and it took more than two decades for Hinrichs to compile the information he needed for the statistical book.

The result was a 250-page book packed with details about missions of the Army’s Eighth Air Force 452nd Bomb Group. The book lists every crew member who served and those who were lost and includes an itemized account for each mission logged by the bomb group.

The book also details historical accounts of the April 7, 1945 bombing mission that encountered German suicide attacks that used Messerschmitt fighters to ram and down American bombers, Hinrichs said.

For the 452nd Bomb Group, a total of 165 planes were knocked out of the skies over Germany. Hinrichs documented that 265 flyers were killed in the incidents.

In all, he says, nearly 1100 flyers were crew members on the planes that went down. “The majority ended up being prisoners of war,” Hinrichs said.

He also documented that roughly a dozen flyers evaded capture and managed to escape to friendly land and return to England.

After its release in 2004, the limited supply was quickly gobbled up by family members eager to learn more about those who flew with the 452nd. A limited number of books remain available for purchase through www.amazon.com.

Hinrich’s history

Edward Hinrichs is a St. Paul native and Northender who grew up just west of Rice Street. He never graduated high school, but later earned a college degree.

He was 14 when he left regular school to enroll in St. Paul Vocational Technical where he studied three years. “I wanted to work,” he said.

In 1939, the 17-year-old found work with the Civilian Conservation Corps in northern Minnesota.

His thoughts turned to the military after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He had a brother serving on the Oklahoma and the attack became personal.

“I wanted to be a pilot,” Hinrichs said, thinking back on his enlistment in 1942. Although he made it to the turret gun of a B-17 and a 50 caliber machine gun, he fell short of his goal of being a fighter pilot.

“I got washed out,” he said. He was training in Mesa, AZ, in an AT-6 when he fell in disfavor after several pilots practiced dog fighting which was prohibited.

“I wanted to stay with flying,” he recalled. “I even thought about going with a parachute group.”

But when he was offered a chance to train in Amarillo, TX, as a B-17 crewmember, Hinrichs took the slot.

By October of 1944, he was in England and starting his duty of flying missions over Germany. He was a tech sergeant during his days in England.

April 7, 1945

Hinrichs will never forget April 7, 1945, his 30th combat flight.

It was billed by his superiors as a “milk run,” but the attack of a German airfield at Kaltenkirchen was far from routine. Thirty-seven bombers were dispatched to attack the airfield the Germans were using to launch a new form of jet planes that posed a threat to England.

Hinrichs was a witness to what became known as the German suicide attacks on the American bombers. He was in the second bomb group when he witnessed a B-17 in the first bomb group rammed and downed by a Me-109.

Although the suicide aspect was downplayed by Allied leaders at the time, Hinrichs said his research years later reinforced his belief the attacks were coordinated by a desperate German Luftwaffe that recruited 300 inexperienced pilots for the defensive effort on April 7, 1945.

Hinrichs saw three U.S. planes go down that day, one hit head-on by a German plane.

For the day, some 1260 Allied planes made bombing runs to a host of German targets. The German losses were staggering with more than 700 German flyers killed in action.

As a civilian

Ed Hinrichs came home from the war with a host of medals. For his work on April 7, 1945, he and other members of the 452nd Bomb Group received the Presidential Citation.

He also received three battle stars, the Air Medal and four Oak Leaf Clusters.

He returned to St. Paul after his discharge and ran a cabinet shop for a time before moving to California. He returned to Minnesota in 1954 and started his career in commercial construction. He had 25 years as a superintendent with McGough when he retired in 1981.

He married Yvonne Ranstedt in 1946 and they were together 51 years until her death in 2001. She was his typist for work on the book.

The family moved to Forest Lake in 1969. Four daughters were born to the union. Daughters Patty, Donna and Kathleen were all helpful in the completion of the book and continue to look after their father today. A sister, Linda, passed away several years ago.

Hinrichs says he enjoyed the June 9 dedication of the World War II Memorial in St. Paul.

He will also keep his eyes to the sky on July 4th when vintage war birds will fly over the lake and the annual parade route. The planes will bring back memories, he says.

“They still get to me,” he said, thinking back on the days when he flew planes and manned the top gun turret in a B-17 bomber.

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