Mission # 117

MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Date	28 May 1944
Eighth Air Force Operations	Show Operations > Mission 376: 1,341 bombers and 697 fighters are dispatched to hit oil targets in Germany; 32 bombers and 9 fighters are lost; they claim 64-30-31 Luftwaffe aircraft: >> Air Task Force 1. 610 B-17s are dispatched against an oil target at Ruhland/Schwarz-Heide (38 bomb) and aircraft factory at Dessau (12 bomb); secondary targets are aviation factories at Zwickau (15 bomb) and Leipzig (28 bomb); 14 bombers hit Bohlen, 15 hit Meissen, 19 hit Brandis/Polenz Wusten-Sachsen Airfield, 12 hit Frankfurt marshalling yard, 32 hit Ubigau, 20 hit Dessau, 4 hit Frankfurt, 5 hit Camburg and 22 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 20-21-18 Luftwaffe aircraft; 17 B-17s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 107 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 15 WIA and 155 MIA. >> Air Task Force 2. 255 B-17s are dispatched to an oil dump at Konigsburg/Magdeburg (105 bomb) and oil industry at Magdeburg/Rothensee (55 bomb); 17 hit Dessau and 6 bomb the marshalling yard at Gera; they claim 16-8-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 9 B-17s are lost and 64 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 90 MIA. >> Air Task Force 3. 106 B-24s are dispatched to Lutzkendorf/Halle (66 bomb); 10 hit Wetzlar and 6 hit a target of opportunity; 3 B-24s are lost and 16 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 3 MIA. >> Air Task Force 4. 311 B-24s are dispatched to oil targets at Merseburg/Leuna (63 bomb) and Zeitz-Troglitz (187 bomb); 10 hit Limburg, 8 hit Memmingen, 9 hit Saalfeld and 10 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-24s are lost and 23 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 1 WIA and 26 MIA. >> Air Task Force 5. 58 of 59 B-17s hit Cologne/Eifeltor marshalling yard without loss; glide bombs are used but the weapon proves unsuccessful. >> Escort is provided by 182 P-38s, 208 P-47s and 307 P-51s; no P-38s are lost; P-47s claim 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 0-0-1 on the ground with the loss of 4 P-47s (pilots are MIA), 2 damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged; P-51s claim 25-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft with the loss of 5 (pilots are MIA), 1 damaged beyond repair and 8 damaged. 527 Ninth Air Force fighters also fly escort and claim 33-0-10 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 5-0-7 on the ground for the loss of 5 fighters. > Mission 377: 5 of 5 B-17s drop leaflets in Belgium and Norway. 22 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions; 1 is lost. Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University, used with permission. Hide Operations
384^th Bomb Group Mission	384th BG Mission Number 117, Eighth AF Force Mission Number 376 Equipment and Smokescreen Problems Next Mission Previous Mission For the first mission of the day - identified as 'Regular Mission' in Group records - the 384th Bombardment Group (H) formed the High Group of the 41st Combat Bombardment Wing, the fourth of five wings comprising Air Task Force 1. Equipment problems on the bomb run on the primary target prevented the lead aircraft from releasing its bombs (the signal for the rest of the group to drop its bombs). After turning the lead over to the group deputy, the secondary target was found to be effectively obscured by a smoke screen, so the formation dropped their bombs on a target of opportunity (TOO), a factory complex about 10 miles east of Leipzig, Germany.
Primary Target	Target: Junkers Aircraft Plant Type: Aircraft Industry Location: Dessau, Germany
Target Attacked (Mode)	TOO (Visual) Target: Factory Complex Type: Industry Location: Leipzig, Germany
Sortie/Aircraft Summary	Completed Mission, not including spares - 20 Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused - 2
Mission Personnel	Mission Personnel Roster⇗ or Mission Loading Lists⇗
Mission Documents	Combat Mission Records and Plans obtained from the National Archives⇗
Other Mission Documents	28 May 1944, Group Lead, R. Thacker, P. Bennett⇗

22 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
42‑3440⇗	Ungerman, Kenneth Armistead⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31222⇗	Gibson, James Allen⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37788⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑37792⇗	Hale, Charles Eugene⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑38014⇗	[N/A]	Lead Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑38208⇗	Pring, Robert Bradford⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97072⇗	Bennett, Phillip Nathan⇗	Completed Mission	Group Lead. Aircraft experienced 'rack and AFCE problems' on initial bomb run, and was unable to drop bombs on the primary target. The air commander turned over the lead to his deputy for the (abortive) attack on the secondary target, and the actual attack on the TOO. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97142⇗	Sullivan, James Dominic⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97201⇗	Brown, Billie Barnard⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97204⇗	Wortman, Marshall (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97237⇗	Wright, James Wiley⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97251⇗	Meland, Ralph Wendell⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97263⇗	Kelly, John Thomas⇗	Completed Mission	Group Deputy. Assumed lead after equipment failures on the lead aircraft. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97273⇗	June, Glenn Joseph⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97320⇗	Stevens, Raymond Robert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97367⇗	MacFarlane, Menzies James⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102500⇗	Gowder, Charles Fred⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102501⇗	Rucker, David Leroy⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102566⇗	Fitzgerald, Thomas Howard⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102601⇗	Carey, Gates Chapman⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102620⇗	Malone, John James⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102661⇗	Peck, Harland Kenneth⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗