On the crash memorial.

A large memorial where the mass grave of the crew of B-24  (44-41046) was located; a highly polished marble with pictures of the indivisdual crew members.

S/SGT Thomas Deibert was the top Top Turret Gunner from Illinois;  SGT Joseph Mergo  was the Tail Gunner from Pennsylvania;  SGT Fred Gaul was the Flight Engineer from Pennsylvania on the the B-24 (44-41046) of the 765th Bomber Squadron, 461st Bomber Group (Heavy).  They were shot down after a mission to Odertal Oil Rifinery in Germany on Dec 17, 1944. Six of the crew were killed in the plane crash; 4 survived.  The grave site remembers the six who perished in the crash. The grave originally included the bodies of the crew members, but three were repatriated in the early 1950s. Three Isolated Burials remain: West; Yesia and Doe.

SGT Fred Gaul's brother, SSgt Gerald Franklin Gaul, was also KIA during the war flying on a B-24 in the Pacific with the 5th US Air Force and is listed as Missing in Action. He flew on  B-24D "Lady Lucy" #41-11901, 321st Bomber Squadron, 90th Bomber Group on February 19, 1943.

For more on this crew, plane and mission, see this site Memorial: B-24 (44-41046) Crash Memorial -461st Bomber Group.

Other sites associated with this mission and other crash memorials on December 17, 1944:

Site Olomouc-Neredin, Memorial: B-24 (42-52025) 'Arsenic and Lace Crash Memorial -461th Bomber Group

Site Palacov Memorial: B-24 (42-50953) "The Flying Finger" Crash Memorial -461st Bomber Group.

The text on the grave is written in Czech and English.  The text in English reads:  

Here repose American heroes after their last start 
Wanderer read and announce to all 
We gladly died for that you live and are free 
Dont forget us.

SGT Fred H. Gaul

SGT Joseph G. Mergo

S/SGT Thomas E. Deibert