The hearts of fourteen American families sank on December 14, 1943, when they received letters from the United States Air Force. World War II was in full swing and the letters informed the families that their loved ones fighting overseas for their country were missing in action. Three weeks later, the Air Force told the families that the fourteen young men had perished in the crash and were buried in a mass grave.

Two-and-a-half months later, however, a photograph published in the Baltimore Mirror gave three of the families a ray of hope that a miracle had occurred. The photos showed four American officers appearing to be held prisoners by the Germans. The families of airmen Carl Cobb, Sylvan Lazarus, and Bernard Brady believed their loved ones were three of the men in the photo and surmised they had survived the plane crash and been taken as prisoners of war. The hope, however, was ultimately dashed as it was determined the men could not have survived.

Air Force officers Carl Cobb, Sylvan Lazarus, and Bernard Brady died as heroes in fighting for their country.

                                      Carl Cobb       Sylvan Lazarus    Bernard Brady

Government records state the B-24 Liberator bomber carrying the fourteen Air Force officers had departed Dakar, Senegal, for Casablanca, Morocco, 1,800 miles away on December 8, 1943.

The plane is said to have crashed in the Atlas Mountains near Taradount, three-hundred miles southwest of Casablanca in southern Morocco. The reports make no mention of the cause of the plane crash.

Departure Point and Crash Site of the Plane

Two-and-and-a-half months after the families were told their loved ones had been killed in the plane crash, Samuel and Anna Lazarus of Baltimore saw a photograph published in the Baltimore Mirror of four unidentified American prisoners of war (POWs) being interrogated by a German officer.

Baltimore Mirror Photograph

The Lazaruses believed one of the men was their twenty-two-year-old son Sylvan. They sent the photograph to the families of the other thirteen airmen who were said to have perished aboard the B-24 bomber.

A Resemblance to Sylvan

After viewing the photo, the parents of twenty-two-year-old Carl Cobb of Cynthiana, Kentucky, and twenty-four-year-old Bernard Brady of New York City, also believed their sons were shown in the photograph.

The families contacted the government and the Red Cross. They were originally told the remains of the men killed in the crash were buried in a Casablanca cemetery, but the government later said the remains had been reburied in Algeria.

Photo Purported To Be of (From Left to Right):

Carl Cobb, Sylvan Lazarus, and Bernard Brady

Something was askew if the men in the photograph were the Air Force B-24 Liberator crew being interrogated by the Nazis in North Africa. The photo was published in the Baltimore Mirror on March 17, 1944. The nearly three-year long North African Campaign had resulted in an Allied victory and the surrender of all Axis forces in the region seven months earlier in May 1943.

The Lazarus, Cobb, and Brady families instead came to believe that the B-24 plane was shot down during a secret mission over Europe, not Africa. They believed their sons managed to parachute out, only to be taken prisoner by the Nazis.

The families believed the published photograph was of their captured sons being interrogated in Europe, which had not yet been liberated from Nazi control. Samuel and Anna Lazarus feared Sylvan had been placed in a concentration camp because he was Jewish.

Were the Airmen Prisoners of War (POW’s)?

Using the Freedom of Information Act, Sylvan’s brother Arnold obtained a copy of the B-24’s crew list from the National Archives in 1990. He was struck by the numbers “1, 2, and 3” written, respectively, next to the names of Bernard Brady, Carl Cobb, and Sylvan Lazarus.

Arnold believed the numbers may have been an indication that the three men survived the crash.

Document Obtained From the National Archives

The case of the World War II B-25 Liberator bombers was broadcast on Unsolved Mysteries in January 1995. Following the broadcast, a rescue worker confirmed a B-24 had crashed in the Atlas Mountains near Taradount, Morocco, on December 8, 1943. He said the plane had hit the mountain with such force that no one could have survived the impact of the crash.

According to Unsolved Mysteries, after speaking to the rescue worker, Arnold Lazarus concluded his brother Sylvan was not pictured in the photograph.

Arnold Lazarus

Carl Cobb, Sylvan Lazarus, and Bernard Brady are all on the “Find a Grave” site with markers in their respective home towns listing their date of deaths as December 8, 1943. I could not find anything, however, stating if the location of their remains was determined or if their remains had been exhumed and returned for burial in their respective hometowns.

The Air Force officers are among those who lost their lives in serving America and their remains appear to be lost forever. As with all who have fought in war and who never returned home, their sacrifices must never be forgotten.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34368037

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44961763/sylvan-jonas-lazarus#

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44849827/bernard-j-brady

 

 

Lost but Never Forgotten

I also could not find anything stating if the men believed to be prisoners of war in the photograph published in the Baltimore Mirror on March 17, 1944, have been positively identified.

Identities Still Unknown

Below is a marker engraved with the names of the fourteen American Air Force Officers who were killed in the plane crash in Morocco on December 8, 1943.

A Tribute to the Officers

SOURCES:

• Baltimore Mirror
• Baltimore Sun
• New York Times
• Unsolved Mysteries