Mission # 139

MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Date	19 June 1944
Eighth Air Force Operations	Show Operations Morning and afternoon missions are made against targets in France. > Mission 423: >> In the morning, 464 B-17s are dispatched against airfields in the Bordeaux area: 92 hit Cormes Ecluse, 84 hit Bordeaux/Merignac, 39 hit Cazaux, 34 hit Landes-de-Bussac, 12 hit Cabanac and 3 hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 11 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 59 MIA. >> Escort is provided by 88 P-38s and 261 P-51s; 4 P-38s and 6 P-51s are lost (all pilots MIA). > Mission 424: >> In both morning and afternoon missions, 216 of 391 B-17s and 294 of 312 B-24s hit 35 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area; 1 B-24 is lost, 1 B-24 damaged beyond repair and 65 B-17s and 22 B-24s damaged; 2 airmen are WIA and 10 MIA. >> Escort is provided by 196 P-38s, 122 P-47s and 48 P-51s; 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair; 1 P-38 group, after completing escort duty, dive-bombs and strafes transportation targets in NE France, destroying a locomotive and 3 barges. > 858th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), VIII Air Force Composite Command, moves from North Pickenham to Cheddington, England with B-24s (the squadron begins flying leaflet missions). Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University, used with permission. Hide Operations
384^th Bomb Group Mission	384th BG Mission Number 139, Eighth AF Force Mission Number 424 Weather Limits Bombing Next Mission Previous Mission The 384th Bombardment Group (H) put up two group formations for this morning's mission to knock out V-Weapon launch sites. There was no wing or division assembly, each group flying independently to its target and back. The first group (41A Group) was dispatched to Fleury, France, where, even though the cloud cover was solid, the Gee-H bombing system allowed them to drop their bombs. The second group (41B Group) was dispatched to Crépy, France. En route to the target area, the Gee-H equipment became inoperative and efforts by the navigator to repair it were unsuccessful. Therefore, bombs were not dropped by this formation due to the policy that restricts bombing in occupied areas to identifiable military targets.
Primary Target	Target: NOBALL (V-1 Launch Site) Type: CROSSBOW (V-Weapons) Location: Fleury & Crépy, France
Target Attacked (Mode)	Primary (Gee-H)
Sortie/Aircraft Summary	Completed Mission, not including spares - 35 Flying Spare, Completed Mission - 4 Flight Completed - 1 Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused - 2 Scrubbed - 1 Aborted - 1
Mission Personnel	Mission Personnel Roster⇗ or Mission Loading Lists⇗
Mission Documents	Combat Mission Records and Plans obtained from the National Archives⇗
Other Mission Documents	1944-06-19, 41A Group Lead, T. Beckett, E. Lane⇗

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
42‑3441⇗	Brown, Donald Harold⇗	Flight Completed	Weather aircraft; remainder of crew (CP, N, RO, Eng) not identified SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31435⇗	[N/A]	Scrubbed: Did Not Take Off	Replaced by Ground Spare Aircraft 44‑6147. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑32106⇗	Birckhead, Robert Bruce⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37982⇗	Melzar, Raymond Augustus⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑38013⇗	Brown, Billie Barnard⇗	Spare, Completed Mission	41B Group, Flying Spare. Joined formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑38208⇗	Kelly, John Thomas⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group, High Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑39888⇗	Gottfried, Raymond Nathan⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97150⇗	Bahten, John Irwin⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97178⇗	Peterson, Walter Thomas⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97251⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑97273⇗	Thoma, Edward Paul⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group, High Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97320⇗	Fairfield, William Adelbert⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97367⇗	MacFarlane, Menzies James⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97521⇗	Anderson, Earl Overlade⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97824⇗	Lane, Edward William⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97948⇗	Fitzgerald, Thomas Howard⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102430⇗	Keate, Richard Clifford⇗	Spare, Completed Mission	41B Group, Flying Spare. Joined formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102442⇗	Peterson, Harold William⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102449⇗	Morris, Gordon (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102500⇗	Gowder, Charles Fred⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102501⇗	Rucker, David Leroy⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102518⇗	Olson, Norman (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102601⇗	Gibson, James Allen⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group, High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102617⇗	Murchan, Lawrence Aloysius⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group. Tail gunner, Sgt Erling Nielsen, suffered from the bends, forcing the crew to turn back. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102620⇗	Shearer, Wilbur Lee⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102661⇗	Finch, Francis Nelson⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102933⇗	Stills, James Vernon⇗	Spare, Completed Mission	41A Group, Flying Spare. Joined formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102959⇗	Eakins, Robert Nathanial⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107057⇗	Malone, John James⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107064⇗	Stevens, Raymond Robert⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group, High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107083⇗	Rosborough, James Edward⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107148⇗	Dean, Ralph Merrick⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107221⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑107224⇗	Maggart, Richard Lee⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37703⇗	Druckenmiller, Leon Charles⇗	Spare, Completed Mission	41A Group, Flying Spare. Joined formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37713⇗	Sullivan, James Dominic⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group, Low Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37717⇗	Kirkpatrick, William Hugh⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6080⇗	Shelley, John Keith⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6105⇗	Wortman, Marshall (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6109⇗	Adams, William Lowell⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6128⇗	Roth, Verle Leroy⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group, Low Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6135⇗	Wright, James Wiley⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6147⇗	Wilson, Quentin (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group, Ground Spare aircraft. Replaced 42‑31435. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6149⇗	Koch, Robert Bruce⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗