SORTIE REPORT #399
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 suffered battle damage; crash landed at base.
Primary (Visual)
SORTIE AIRCRAFT DATA:
TYPE SERIAL NUMBER SQUADRON SQ CODE NAME
B-17F 42‑29728 544th SU*J EL RAUNCHO
SORTIE CREW DATA:
POSITION CREWMEMBER UNIT STATUS
Pilot Jacobs, Randolph George Edward 544 Completed, Uninjured
Co-pilot Boger, Eugene Arthur 544 Completed, Uninjured
Navigator Curtin, John Quinn 544 Completed, Uninjured
Bombardier Seibel, James Edward 544 Completed, Uninjured
Radio Operator Cloud, Doy Jennings 544 Completed, Uninjured
Engineer/Top Turret Gregori, Aldo Joseph 544 Completed, Uninjured
Ball Turret Vezina, Thomas Joseph 545 Completed, Uninjured
Tail Gunner Compton, Robert Lewis 544 Completed, Uninjured
Waist (Flexible) Gunner Goetz, Jack Keith 544 Completed, Uninjured
Waist (Flexible) Gunner Wager, Lawrence Holmes 544 Completed, Uninjured
Sortie Report 399 provided by 384thBombGroup.com
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