MISSION DATA: | |||
DATE | 384th BG Mission # | 8th AF Mission # | 384th PRIMARY TARGET |
1944‑03‑18 | 76 | 264 | Target: Aircraft Assembly & Repair Works Type: Aircraft Industry Location: Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany |
Two Targets Attacked: The 384th Bombardment Group (H) provided two formations for today's mission. A group size formation led the 41st Combat Bombardment Wing, while a squadron size formation led the high composite group of the same wing. All targets were attacked by visual means.
Five aircraft of High Composite Group, led by Capt J M Merritt, bombed an airfield in the vicinity of Memmingen, Germany as a Last Resort Target: they were unable to drop on the primary target because another formation was below them. |
SORTIE DATA: | ||
COMBAT CREDIT | STATUS | TARGET ATTACKED (MODE) |
Yes |
Completed Mission Comments: Lead Squadron. Nathan (Nataan) Asch, 41-year old writer from Saratoga Springs, N. Y., and son of Sholem Asch, the well-known author, completed the mission with this crew. Asch, an Air Force sergeant, was stationed in London with the Eighth Air Force Public Relations Headquarters, with duty as a war correspondent. He went to sleep while the formation was over Germany. 'I was terrified' he confessed. 'There had been a rending noise in the nose and I guess my going to sleep was just a mental escape to disabuse my mind. Flak was bursting all around. When I woke up there was a hole just below me. I grabbed a flak suit and crushed it to me like a baby.' He expressed surprise when combat men described the mission as quiet compared to most of them. From Henry L Davis papers, AFHRA, Maxwell AFB. |
Primary (Visual) |
SORTIE AIRCRAFT DATA: | ||||
TYPE | SERIAL NUMBER | SQUADRON | SQ CODE | NAME |
B-17G | 42‑97124 ⇗ | 545th | JD*M | THE JOKER |
SORTIE CREW DATA: | |||
POSITION | CREWMEMBER | UNIT | STATUS |
Pilot | Hines, James Wesley⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
Co-pilot | Burch, Hugh Ralph⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
Navigator | Kantor, Morris (NMI)⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
Bombardier | Bachicha, Martin Paul⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
Radio Operator | Dahms, Rex John⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
Engineer/Top Turret | Jarvis, Francis Harrison⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
Ball Turret | Douglas, James Clifton⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
Tail Gunner | Cahill, William Lawrence, Jr⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
Waist (Flexible) Gunner | Emmons, James Vincent⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
Waist (Flexible) Gunner | Woodard, Everett Durwood⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |