The Knipp Family Story

Chapter 2

1st Lt. Adam J. Pyzyna

B-17 Bombardier, 20th Bomb Squadron, 2nd Bomb Group, Fifteenth Air Force

Portrait of Adam Pyzyna in an Army Air Forces cap and sheepskin flying jacket, signed “Lt. Adam”
Adam Joseph Pyzyna, signed “Lt. Adam.”

Adam Joseph Pyzyna of Chicago was LaVerne Pyzyna’s brother. He entered the service in the fall of 1941, trained as a bombardier, and in late 1943 went overseas to fly B-17 Flying Fortresses from southern Italy. He married Elaine, a Chicago girl, before he left.

A present by parachute

On December 4, 1943, bound overseas, Adam’s bomber passed over Chicago. He had made a small parachute out of a handkerchief, fastened his silver bombardier’s wings to it with a note giving directions for delivery, and dropped it over the city.

It landed in some bushes, where it lay until a party of hunters found it and followed the note’s directions. Just before Christmas the little parachute and the wings reached Elaine, then 19. The Acme Newspictures wire service photographed her holding it, and the story ran in newspapers across the country under the headline “Present by Parachute.” Elaine, the caption said, thought she was “the only girl in the world who got her Christmas present by parachute.”

Twenty-six missions

Adam joined the 20th Bomb Squadron of the 2nd Bomb Group, based at Amendola, a wartime airfield about 12 miles northeast of Foggia, Italy. He flew as bombardier on the crew of 1st Lt. Williard O. Butler Jr., in B-17G serial 42-31749.

Their missions ranged from targets in Italy to deep raids into Austria and Germany. On February 24, 1944, the crew flew in the group’s first wave to the aircraft parts factory at Steyr, Austria. Fighters attacked the formation for an hour, and the 2nd Bomb Group lost 14 bombers, its worst day of the war. Butler’s crew came home. Missions like Steyr counted double toward a combat tour.

March 18, 1944

The target was the German airfield at Villaorba, near Udine in northern Italy. The P-47 fighters assigned to escort the group never arrived. German fighters attacked the formation for more than half an hour before the target and again after the bombs were dropped. Twin-engine Ju 88s stood off behind the bombers, out of range of their guns, and fired rockets into the formation.

“I believe the third or fourth rocket sustained a direct hit on the tail section of plane #749 and exploded on contact. The explosion destroyed the left horizontal stabilizer and most of the vertical stabilizer. Plane #749 immediately made a violent nose-up that resembled a chandelle. It then went into a falling leaf spin.”
— T/Sgt. Raymond L. Terrell, 20th Bomb Squadron, an eyewitness in the formation

At about 10:15 in the morning, at 24,000 feet, the tail of Adam’s bomber was blown completely off. The plane fell in a tight spin. Adam fought his way out of the escape hatch, and his parachute opened only about a minute before he came down in a tree. He was the only survivor. The tail landed about a half hour’s walk to the south, and the rest of the plane crashed near the village of Gerovo, in the mountains of what is now Croatia. The people of Gerovo buried the crew in a funeral at the village church, brought flowers, and marked each grave.

The crew of B-17G 42-31749

Forty-five days with the partisans

Adam had left his escape kit, with its food, in the plane. He still had his map, compass and escape purse, and the Air Forces later credited them with his safe return. For two days he walked south-southwest through snow about five feet deep, sleeping in the open and eating only a few dextrose tablets.

At a peasant house he found an old man and a young girl, who sent him to the partisan village of Podkilavac. There, in house No. 80, his clothes were cleaned and he was fed and allowed to rest. The house belonged to Šimun Maganja, a partisan organizer of the Grobnik uprising. Partisans then took him to a camp about 4 kilometers away and, that night, on a twelve-hour march to Gerovo, where his crew lay buried. There he joined twelve other American airmen in the care of an English-speaking partisan the Americans knew as “Turk.”

Adam Pyzyna’s evasion route, March 18 to May 2, 1944 Schematic map of northwestern Yugoslavia showing Adam Pyzyna’s route with the partisans from the crash site near Gerovo through Podkilavac, Delnice, Mrkopalj, Drežnica, Brod Moravice, Metlika, around Karlovac, Slunj, Mazin, Martin Brod and Drvar to Petrovac, where he was flown out by C-47. Adriatic Sea ITALY SLOVENIA CROATIA BOSNIA Villaorba airfield (target) Ljubljana Zagreb Rijeka Karlovac Shot down, Mar 18 Podkilavac (Maganja house) Gerovo Delnice Mrkopalj Drežnica Brod Moravice Metlika Slunj Mazin Martin Brod Drvar Petrovacflown out May 2 50 km
Adam’s route from the crash site to Petrovac, March 18 to May 2, 1944, drawn from his Escape Statement. Positions are approximate; the dashed line shows the order of places, not the exact trail.
  1. Mar 23–26By truck and wagon to Delnice, where the party stays three days.
  2. Mar 26 – Apr 2By wagon and on foot to Mrkopalj, then on to Drežnica. Unable to get across an enemy-held railroad and road, the party is forced back to Mrkopalj.
  3. Apr 6–9German aircraft bomb and strafe Mrkopalj. The party moves to Delnice, then Brod Moravice, now with 50 to 55 Americans, and by a roundabout route to Metlika, where more Americans join.
  4. Apr 11–15Around the north and east of Karlovac, within sight of Zagreb, then south between Karlovac and Sisak to Slunj.
  5. Apr 17By truck to Mazin. When the Germans attack the village, the party escapes into the mountains, where they meet Allied officers Major Jones and Lt. Col. Moore.
  6. Apr 21–22Through Martin Brod to Drvar and on to Petrovac.
  7. May 2, 1944Flown out by C-47 to Italy, 45 days after he was shot down.
A two-story stone house on a village street in Podkilavac, Croatia
The Maganja house in Podkilavac, where Adam was taken in, as the family found it in August 2025.
Stone plaque on the Maganja house in Croatian
The plaque on the house honors Šimun Maganja (1898–1945), a pre-war party member and an organizer of the uprising in Grobnik.

Šimun Maganja did not live to see the end of the war. In April 1945 he was among 37 anti-fascist prisoners executed and thrown into a pit near Opatija. His name is on the memorial there.

Stone memorial with a bronze sculpture beside a cave entrance near Opatija
The memorial near Opatija to the 37 prisoners killed in April 1945, including Šimun Maganja.

Back to the squadron

Two days after he was flown out, on May 4, 1944, Adam was questioned at Fifteenth Air Force headquarters. The interrogating officer, Maj. John W. Richardson, wrote that Adam had “evidently received excellent escape briefings” and closed his report: “Good straight-forward story.” On May 6 Adam was back with the 20th Squadron, whose war diary recorded his return, his account of the crash, and the funeral the villagers of Gerovo had given his crew.

The Escape Statement

Typed Escape Statement for 2nd Lt. Adam Joseph Pyzyna, Headquarters Fifteenth Air Force, 4 May 1944, page 1
Escape Statement, page 1. HQ Fifteenth Air Force, May 4, 1944. Declassified.
Appendix A to the Escape Statement, describing the evasion route
Appendix A: the evasion route. Tap either page to enlarge.

A transcription follows. Spellings of place names are as typed in 1944.

SECRET HEADQUARTERS FIFTEENTH AIR FORCE APO 520, U. S. Army 4 May, 1944. ESCAPE STATEMENT 2nd Lt. Adam Joseph Pyzyna, O-682590, 2nd Bomb Group, 20th Bomb Sq. 1. Personal history. Duty - Bombardier Age - 25 Missions - 26 Returned to duty - 2 May, 1944. 2. On 18 March, 1944 mission to Villaorba A/D (near Udine, Italy) A/C 749 (B-17G) had its tail completely blasted off, evidently by rocket projectile, about 1015 hours and 24000 feet, in Ljubljana area. Noise was terrific and ship was in tight spin. Lt. Pyzyna, with difficulty, got out of escape hatch, opened his chute and promptly landed in a tree in Ljubljana area about 1020 hours. Tail of A/C landed ½ hour walk south of where Lt. Pyzyna landed; rest of ship crashed near Gerovo. Tail gunner was not located; other eight members of crew were killed and were buried by peasants in Gerovo. 3. Never in enemy hands - no interrogation by enemy. 4. Lt. Pyzyna had evidently received excellent escape briefings. Unfortunately, he left escape kit in A/C; food would have been very handy during journey before reaching Partisans. Map, compass and purse came in very handy and were responsible for safe return of this officer. 5. Good straight-forward story. JOHN W. RICHARDSON, Major, Air Corps, Asst. A-2. Interrogator. APPENDIX A Evader believes he landed south of Ljubljana and after walking for two days in south-southwest direction came upon a peasant's house. As it seemed that the only inhabitants were an old man and a young girl, subject approached them. They directed him to a Partisan village Podkilovac. When he arrived he was taken to house No. 80 where his clothes were cleaned and he was rested and fed. He was then taken to a Partisan camp (4 km. away) where he was rested and advised that he would be marching that night. They moved to Gerovo, which was a twelve hour march. Here was where subject's crew was buried as included in escape statement. There were twelve other American airmen there who were in the hands of an American speaking Yugoslav Partisan by the name of Turk. On 23rd March, the entire party was taken to Delnice by truck and wagon, where they stayed for three days without incident. On the 26th, party set out by wagon and on foot for Mrkopal, arriving late that evening. From there party went to Dreznice. After unsuccessful efforts to cross enemy held railroad and road, party was forced to retrace to Mrkopal on 2 April. Stayed at Mrkopal until 6 April when the Hun came over bombing and strafing. Moved then to Delnice. Moved on April 7th to Brod-Moravice. By this time American element of this party was about 50-55. Moved via roundabout route to Metlika arriving on the 9th; picked up more Americans, left there 11th and headed on around north and east of Karlovac, passed to the west of Zagreb within sight of the city and then south between Karlovac and Sisak around to Slunj arriving on 15 April. Traveled from Slunj via truck south to Mazin arriving on the 17th at Mazin. When the Germans attacked Mazin, subject went into the mountains finally running into Major Jones and Lt. Colonel Moore. Subject believes they went through Martin Brod arriving at Drvar on the 21st - on to Petrovac on the 22nd and was evacuated by C-47 on 2 May.

Kissimmee, Florida

By early 1945 Adam had been promoted to first lieutenant and was back in the United States, flying in B-26 Marauders. On March 5, 1945, at Kissimmee, Florida, the B-26 he was aboard collided on landing with a P-38 that had been cleared to take off on a crossing runway. Adam was killed. He had survived 26 combat missions, the destruction of his bomber and 45 days behind enemy lines, only to die at home, two months before the war in Europe ended.

Adam has no grave. In 1975 his sister Phyllis arranged for a government memorial marker for him at St. Adalbert Cemetery in Niles, Illinois. It reads simply “Adam J. Pyzyna” beneath a cross.

After Adam’s death, LaVerne moved with his widow, Elaine, from Chicago to Los Angeles, where LaVerne went to work at Northrop. That is where she met Howard Knipp, on a blind date, in June 1945.

The wreckage today

Parts of 42-31749, including the tail section that was blown off by the rocket, have been recovered from the mountains near Gerovo by a local researcher in Croatia. In August 2025 the family traveled to Croatia, saw the wreckage, and found the Maganja house in Podkilavac where Adam was taken in.

A hand resting on a large, torn section of B-17 aluminum skin among recovered wreckage
A section of the recovered wreckage of B-17G 42-31749, August 2025.

This chapter is a work in progress. We are still gathering photographs of Adam and Elaine, the official report of the Kissimmee accident, and more of Adam’s story.

Sources