Mission # 65

MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Date	22 February 1944
Eighth Air Force Operations	Show Operations Eighth Air Force Operations HQ VIII Bomber Command is redesignated as HQ, Eighth Air Force. Mission 230: "Big Week" continues with 799 aircraft dispatched against German aviation and Luftwaffe airfields; 41 bombers and 11 fighters are lost. Task Force 1. 289 B-17s are dispatched against aviation industry targets at Aschersleben (34 bomb), Bernburg (47 bomb) and Halberstadt (18 bomb) in conjunction with a Fifteenth Air Force raid on Regensburg, Germany; 32 hit Bunde, 19 hit Wernegerode, 15 hit Magdeburg, 9 hit Marburg and 7 hit other targets of opportunity; they claim 32-18-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; 38 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 141 damaged; casualties are 35 KIA, 30 WIA and 367 MIA. Task Force 2. 333 B-17s are dispatched to Schweinfurt but severe weather prevents aircraft from forming properly and they are forced to abandon the mission prior to crossing the enemy coast; 2 B-17s are damaged. Task Force 3. 177 B-24s are dispatched but they are recalled when 100 miles (160 km) inland; since they were over Germany, they sought targets of opportunity but strong winds drove the bombers over The Netherlands and their bombs hit Enschede, Arnhem, Nijmegen and Deventer; they claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-24s are lost and 3 damaged; casualties are 30 MIA. These missions are escorted by 67 P-38s, 535 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s, and 57 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the P-38s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair and 6 are damaged; the P-47s claim 39-6-15 Luftwaffe aircraft, 8 P-47s are lost and 12 damaged, 8 pilots are MIA; the P-51s claim 19-1-10 Luftwaffe aircraft, 3 P-51s are lost and 3 damaged, 3 pilot are MIA. Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University, used with permission. Hide Operations
384^th Bomb Group Mission	384th BG Mission Number 65, Eighth AF Force Mission Number 230 Big Week, Day Three Next Mission Previous Mission The 384th Bombardment Group (H) provided two group formations for today's missions. One formed the high group of the 41st A Combat Bombardment Wing (41A Group), and the other formed the high group of the 41st B Combat Bombardment Wing (41B Group).The 41A Group lost its formation when forced to fly into clouds during assembly: the entire group aborted, and all bombs were returned to base rather than being dropped at Halberstadt. The 41B Group attacked their primary target at Aschersleben, but while bombs appeared to strike in the target area, heavy smoke from prior groups made assessment difficult.
Primary Target	Target: Aircraft Factory Type: Aircraft Industry Location: Halberstadt & Aschersleben, Germany
Target Attacked (Mode)	Primary (Visual)
Sortie/Aircraft Summary	Completed Mission, not including spares - 7 Crashed - 1 Aborted - 21 Failed To Return - 4
Mission Personnel	Mission Personnel Roster⇗ or Mission Loading Lists⇗
Mission Documents	Combat Mission Records and Plans obtained from the National Archives⇗
Other Mission Documents	1944-02-22,Group Lead, E. Ulrey, G. Harris⇗

33 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
41‑24578⇗	Outen, Charles Levi⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. Landed away at Kimbolton, AAF Station 117, on return due to low fuel. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3087⇗	Kew, William Joseph⇗	Failed To Return	41B Group. Shot down in vigorous attacks by 10-15 Me-109s or a heavy flak barrage between 1230 and 1300 hrs near Münster, Germany; crashed near Wesel, Germany. MACR 2466 SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3440⇗	Allison, Earl Thomas⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29632⇗	Hines, James Wesley⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29717⇗	Larsen, Jack Kirby⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group. Took off late (0922 instead of 0845) due to mechanical trouble but succeeded in joining formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29809⇗	Heffley, Farris Ormond⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group, High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29828⇗	Decker, Charles Edgar⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29927⇗	Smith, Roger Clement⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41B Group. Turned back due to oil leak in #4 at 1155 hrs; landed away at RAF Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30026⇗	MacPhail, Philip Ray⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31166⇗	Yelvington, Melton Albert⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31235⇗	Herbert, Joseph Robert⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31346⇗	Robinson, Robert Lawrence⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31364⇗	Jacobs, Randolph George Edward⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31375⇗	Rinne, Austin Dean⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. Landed away at RAF Gosfield, Essex, on return. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31433⇗	Booska, Maurice Arthur⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31495⇗	Carpenter, Walter Richard⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31516⇗	Jeter, Sydney Ryland⇗	Crashed In Allied Territory	41B Group. Collided with 42‑38041 from 303rd BG, Molesworth, while forming up at 0956; crashed near Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire; only survivors were bombardier and navigator who parachuted to safety. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31926⇗	Lovell, James MacNaughton⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group, Low Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37788⇗	Smith, Harry Bailey⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41B Group. Turned back at 1053 hrs as #2 supercharger ran away. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37792⇗	Cosentino, George (NMI)⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37801⇗	Urton, Raymond Lee⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41B Group, High Squadron Lead; landed away at RAF Eastchurch, Essex, due to severe snow storm. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37848⇗	Ulrey, Edgar Ellsworth⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37885⇗	Goller, Theodore (NMI)⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37974⇗	Poole, George Irvin⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑38112⇗	Jones, William Arch⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group, High Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑39809⇗	McDonald, Raymond Leroy⇗	Failed To Return	41B Group. Shot down in vigorous attacks by 10-15 Me-109s or a heavy flak barrage between 1230 and 1300 hrs near Münster, Germany; crashed near Oostrum (just east of Venray), The Netherlands. MACR 2467 SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑39888⇗	Foster, James Everett⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑39991⇗	Corcoran, John Joseph⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41B Group. Turned back because oxygen leak in navigator's station caused all oxygen in aircraft to leak out. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97449⇗	Daskey, Kendall (NMI)⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41B Group. Turned back over Kettering as #3 engine had to be feathered when hit by the horizontal stabilizer of the aircraft in the formation which had collided with a 303rd BG aircraft in mid-air. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97450⇗	Markow, Henry Victor⇗	Failed To Return	41B Group. Shot down in vigorous attacks by 15 Me-109s, between 1230 and 1300 hrs, near Münster, Germany; 10 chutes emerged; crashed near Wesel, Germany. MACR 2464 SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97477⇗	Bedsole, Joseph Linyer⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41A Group, Low Squadron Lead. 'Turned back because he could not catch our group and too close to Enemy Territory to keep trying.' SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97488⇗	DeFrees, Norman Francis⇗	Failed To Return	41B Group. Shot down in vigorous attacks by 10-15 Me-109s, between 1230 and 1300 hrs near Münster, Germany; crashed near Dortmund or Wesel, Germany. MACR 2465. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97510⇗	Stier, George Withers⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. Landed away at RAF Rivenhall, Essex, on return, due to battle damage from flak and enemy aircraft. SORTIE REPORT ⇗