SORTIE REPORT #11613
MISSION DATA:
DATE 384th BG Mission # 8th AF Mission # 384th PRIMARY TARGET
1943‑08‑17 17 84 Target: Ball-Bearing Plant
Type: Bearings Industry
Location: Schweinfurt, Germany
First Schweinfurt: The 384th Bombardment Group (H) flew as the low group of the 202nd Provisional Combat Bomb Wing on today's mission. The mission was planned as a 'Double Strike' against Schweinfurt-Regensburg industrial plants. [Note: contrary to the implication in naming the raid, Schweinfurt and Regensburg are not neighboring cities; they are, in fact, over 100 miles apart.] The first air strike task force was supplied by the 4th Bomb Wing, which took off late due to heavy fog: they could still reach Africa by dark, but just barely. The second task force - the 1st Bomb Wing, including the 384th BG - was scheduled to take off 90-minutes after the 4th BW, to ensure the enemy fighters had exhausted their fuel and would be limited in their ability to mount a defense. In the event, the 1st BW was repeatedly delayed, also by weather, for almost four hours, allowing the enemy pilots ample time to refuel, rearm (and have a meal, if they wished!). As a consequence, losses were heavy. Both forces, however, inflicted enormous damage on their assigned targets, but the cost was immense.
SORTIE DATA:
COMBAT CREDIT STATUS TARGET ATTACKED (MODE)
Yes Completed Mission
Comments: Aircraft loaned by 303rd BG for today's mission.
Primary (Visual)
SORTIE AIRCRAFT DATA:
TYPE SERIAL NUMBER SQUADRON SQ CODE NAME
B-17F 41‑24416 359th (303rd BG) BN*V BLACK DIAMOND EXPRESS
SORTIE CREW DATA:
POSITION CREWMEMBER UNIT STATUS
Pilot Ogilvie, Donald Potter 547 Completed, Uninjured
Co-pilot Kilmer, Robert Bruce, Jr 544 Completed, Uninjured
Navigator Barkley, John William, Jr 547 Completed, Uninjured
Bombardier Wilson, William Hollis 547 Completed, Uninjured
Radio Operator Murray, James Raymond 547 Completed, Uninjured
Engineer/Top Turret Hood, Emmett Alexander 547 Completed, Uninjured
Ball Turret McKeon, James William 547 Completed, Uninjured
Tail Gunner Ratkiewicz, Louis Lawrence 547 Completed, Uninjured
Waist (Flexible) Gunner Martin, William Enoch 547 Completed, Uninjured
Waist (Flexible) Gunner Sylvia, Francis Robert 547 Completed, Uninjured
Sortie Report 11613 provided by 384thBombGroup.com
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