Mission # 133

MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Date	12 June 1944
Eighth Air Force Operations	Show Operations > Mission 407: With bad weather over top priority targets in Germany, 1,442 bombers are dispatched against airfields and landing grounds in NE France and rail and road bridges on the Brest Peninsula; 691 of 769 B-17s and 586 of 673 B-24s hit 16 airfields and 6 railroad bridges in the Rennes and St Nazaire area; they claim 1-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 B-17s and 2 B-24s are lost; 1 B-17 and 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair; and 188 B-17s and 52 B-24s are damaged; 7 airmen are KIA, 14 WIA and 58 MIA. > 988 fighter sorties are flown with the loss of 16 aircraft; 15 pilots are MIA: >> 1. 234 P-38s, 80 P-47s and 201 P-51s fly escort, sweeps and patrols over the Channel NW of Paris and in the Rennes area; they claim 20-0-8 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; 3 P-38s, 1 P-47 and 3 P-51s are lost; 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair. >> 2. 93 P-38s and 183 P-47s fly fighter-bomber missions against 5 railroad bridges in the Tours-Paris area; they claim 5-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; 1 P-38 and 8 P-47s are lost; 1 each is damaged beyond repair. 3. 45 P-38s and 152 P-51s fly escort for Ninth Air Force A-20s and B-26s. > Mission 408: >> 7 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets on France and Belgium during the night without loss. >> 16 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions. Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University, used with permission. Hide Operations
384^th Bomb Group Mission	384th BG Mission Number 133, Eighth AF Force Mission Number 407 A Different Bridge Destroyed Next Mission Previous Mission The 384th supplied all three groups of the 41st C Wing, with Col Robert E Travis aboard the Wing Lead aircraft as Air Commander. Clouds obscured the primary target, so the wing attacked a target of opportunity (TOO). Strike photos reveal that the wing bombed a highway bridge across the River Rance, just west of La Ville-ès-Nonais. Target locations taken from Google Maps, with reference to strike photo in mission folder.
Primary Target	Target: Railroad Bridge 48°29'N,2°0'W Type: Transportation Location: La Vicomté-sur-Rance, France
Target Attacked (Mode)	TOO (Visual) Target: Highway Bridge at 48°32'N,1°58'W Type: Transportation Location: La Ville-ès-Nonais, France
Sortie/Aircraft Summary	Completed Mission, not including spares - 37 Flying Spare, Completed Mission - 2 Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused - 3 Scrubbed - 2
Mission Personnel	Mission Personnel Roster⇗ or Mission Loading Lists⇗
Mission Documents	Combat Mission Records and Plans obtained from the National Archives⇗

44 AIRCRAFT ASSIGNED TO THIS MISSION
Table is sorted by Pilot, and may be sorted by any column: click the column head.
Aircraft	Pilot	Results	Mission/Sortie Information
42‑37758⇗	Bagby, Donald Woods⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37792⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑37982⇗	Melzar, Raymond Augustus⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑38013⇗	Shelley, John Keith⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑38208⇗	Humbles, Alfred Thomas⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Wing Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97139⇗	[N/A]	Scrubbed: Did Not Take Off	Replaced by Ground Spare Aircraft 42‑97251. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97142⇗	Peck, Harland Kenneth⇗	Completed Mission	Flying Spare Aircraft. Joined formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97150⇗	Hannaford, Vernon Lloyal⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97178⇗	Peterson, Walter Thomas⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, High Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97188⇗	Summerville, Robert Dana⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97201⇗	Roth, Verle Leroy⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97237⇗	Brown, Billie Barnard⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Low Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97251⇗	Meland, Ralph Wendell⇗	Completed Mission	High Group Deputy. Ground Spare Aircraft. Replaced 42‑97139. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97271⇗	Birckhead, Robert Bruce⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97273⇗	Gowder, Charles Fred⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97282⇗	Murchan, Lawrence Aloysius⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, Low Squadron Deputy. Ground Spare Aircraft. Replaced 42‑102617, which was transferred to Carey in the lead group. Returned one 2000-pound bomb due to a malfunction in bomb racks. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97309⇗	Burkhard, James Albert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97320⇗	James, Robert Huey⇗	Spare, Completed Mission	Flying Spare Aircraft. Joined formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97367⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑97824⇗	Lane, Edward William⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97941⇗	Keate, Richard Clifford⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102430⇗	Van Every, Russell Meredith⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102442⇗	Peterson, Harold William⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, High Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102449⇗	Brown, Donald Harold⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Wing Lead. Col. William L Travis aboard as Combat Wing Air Commander. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102459⇗	Fairfield, William Adelbert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102500⇗	Rosborough, James Edward⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102501⇗	Rucker, David Leroy⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102518⇗	Dean, Ralph Merrick⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, High Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102601⇗	[N/A]	Scrubbed: Did Not Take Off	Replaced by 42‑102617, from Murchan in High Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102617⇗	Carey, Gates Chapman⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, Low Squadron Deputy. This aircraft originally assigned to Murchan, high group; replaced 42‑102601. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102620⇗	Shearer, Wilbur Lee⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102661⇗	Kelley, Robert Encil⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102933⇗	Stills, James Vernon⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102959⇗	Halasz, John Julius⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107057⇗	Ungerman, Kenneth Armistead⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107064⇗	Stevens, Raymond Robert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107125⇗	June, Glenn Joseph⇗	Completed Mission	High Group Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107148⇗	[N/A]	Lead Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑107224⇗	Maggart, Richard Lee⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37703⇗	Strong, Bert Franklin⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6080⇗	Menke, Robert Arthur⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6105⇗	Wortman, Marshall (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6109⇗	Adams, William Lowell⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6128⇗	Hale, Charles Eugene⇗	Spare, Completed Mission	Flying Spare Aircraft. Joined formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗