Mission # 137

MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Date	16 June 1944
Eighth Air Force Operations	Show Operations > Mission 416: 370 bombers, including 22 Pathfinders are dispatched to 4 airfields and 4 CROSSBOW (V- weapon) supply sites in France; 1 B-17 is lost: >> Air Task Force #1. Of 146 B-17s, 38 bomb Laon/Athies Airfield, 38 hit Juvincourt Airfield, 18 hit railroad targets of opportunity and 17 hit Laon/Couvron Airfield; 1 B-17 is lost and 58 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 9 MIA. >> Air Task Force #2. 224 B-24s are dispatched to bomb airfields and CROSSBOW sites; B-24s attacking V-weapon supply sites are: 48 hit Renescure, 44 hit Sautricourt, 43 hit Domléger and 21 hit Beauvoir; airfields attacked are: 17 hit Beauvais/Tillé, 17 hit Authe and 12 hit Saint-André-de-L'Eure; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 13 damaged; 5 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA. > VIII Fighter Command missions for the day are: >> Fighter Task Force #1. 165 P-38s, 88 P-47s and 172 P-51s escort the bombers above, they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; no losses. >> Fighter Task Force #2. 70 P-51s perform a sweep against stalled trains between Angoulême and Poitiers, dropping external fuel tanks on them and firing the tanks by strafing; the same tactics are used on trains in the marshalling yard at Saint-Pierre-d'Exideuil; heavy damage is inflicted on both targets, including heavy troop casualties. >> Fighter Task Force #3. 50 P-38s and 75 P-47s make fighter-bomber attacks on troops in the Arras-St Pol area; at St-Pol-sur-Ternoise a large number of railroad cars are burned by oil and phosphorus bombs and strafing attacks; other marshalling yards, a power station, railroad station, trains, barges, tanks, trucks, gun emplacements, AA tower and an armored vehicle are attacked; A total of about 400 railroad cars are attacked and about half of them set on fire. In general the fighter attacks are highly effective; 3 P-38s are lost (pilots are MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. > Mission 417: 10 of 10 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the evening. Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University, used with permission. Hide Operations
384^th Bomb Group Mission	384th BG Mission Number 137, Eighth AF Force Mission Number 416 Enemy Airfield Damaged Next Mission Previous Mission The 384th Bombardment Group (H) formed the entire 41st C Combat Bombardment Wing, the third of three Wings of Air Task Force #1, for today's mission. Bomb pattern centered on the main runway. [Note: Athies-sous-Laon is east of Laon, and the airfield, northeast of Athies, can still be clearly seen on Google Maps.]
Primary Target	Target: Athies Airfield Type: German Air Force (Luftwaffe) Location: Laon, France
Target Attacked (Mode)	Primary (Gee-H)
Sortie/Aircraft Summary	Completed Mission, not including spares - 40 Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused - 3 Scrubbed - 1 Aborted - 8
Mission Personnel	Mission Personnel Roster⇗ or Mission Loading Lists⇗
Mission Documents	Combat Mission Records and Plans obtained from the National Archives⇗
Other Mission Documents	1944-06-16, Lead Group, Wing Lead, Beckett, D. Brown⇗

52 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
42‑3441⇗	Melzar, Raymond Augustus⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	High Group. Turned back over England with a mechanical failure. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31222⇗	Carey, Gates Chapman⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31435⇗	Eakins, Robert Nathanial⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31484⇗	Ungerman, Kenneth Armistead⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, High Squadron Lead. Ground Spare Aircraft, replaced 42‑97139. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31574⇗	Koehne, George Henry⇗	Completed Mission	High Group Lead. PFF ship and non-384 crew members provided by the 303rd BG, Molesworth, AAF Station 107. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37785⇗	Finch, Francis Nelson⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	High Group, Low Squadron Deputy. Turned back over England due to mechanical failures. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37792⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑38013⇗	Shelley, John Keith⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑38208⇗	Humbles, Alfred Thomas⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑39888⇗	Gottfried, Raymond Nathan⇗	Completed Mission	High Group. Jettisoned bombs after target. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97139⇗	[N/A]	Scrubbed: Did Not Take Off	Aircraft was damaged in takeoff accident. Ungerman Crew moved to Ground Spare Aircraft 42‑31484. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97142⇗	Rosborough, James Edward⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97150⇗	Halasz, John Julius⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, Low Squadron Deputy. Assumed Lead after designated lead aborted. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97178⇗	Peterson, Walter Thomas⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Low Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97204⇗	Bahten, John Irwin⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97237⇗	Rooker, Billy Roy⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Low Group, Low Squadron Deputy. Turned back due to mechanical failure over enemy territory; bombs jettisoned. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97251⇗	Gibson, James Allen⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Low Group. Turned back over England because they could not find the formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97263⇗	Pryor, Oliver McCoy⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	High Group. Turned back over England with a mechanical failure. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97271⇗	Birckhead, Robert Bruce⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97273⇗	Malone, John James⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97282⇗	Druckenmiller, Leon Charles⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97309⇗	Bagby, Donald Woods⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97320⇗	Fairfield, William Adelbert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97367⇗	Maggart, Richard Lee⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97449⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑97510⇗	Peck, Harland Kenneth⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97521⇗	Shearer, Wilbur Lee⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97824⇗	Bennett, Dewayne (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Wing Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97948⇗	Fitzgerald, Thomas Howard⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97960⇗	[N/A]	Lead Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑102430⇗	Spiers, Paul Robert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102442⇗	Peterson, Harold William⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102449⇗	Brown, Donald Harold⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102500⇗	Gowder, Charles Fred⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, High Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102518⇗	Keate, Richard Clifford⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102617⇗	Rimbold, Arthur Arimese⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102933⇗	Stills, James Vernon⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Low Group, High Squadron Deputy. Turned back over England because they could not find the formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107064⇗	Stevens, Raymond Robert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107121⇗	Rucker, David Leroy⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Low Group. Turned back over England because they could not find the formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107148⇗	Dean, Ralph Merrick⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Wing Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107221⇗	Kelley, Robert Encil⇗	Completed Mission	High Group Deputy. Jettisoned bombs after target. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37703⇗	Murchan, Lawrence Aloysius⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	High Group. Turned back over England due to personnel failure. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37713⇗	Sullivan, James Dominic⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, High Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37717⇗	Liebert, Jack Louis⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6080⇗	Menke, Robert Arthur⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, High Squadron Deputy. Moved from #5 position in Low Squadron to #2 (Deputy) position in High Squadron after designated Deputy could not locate formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6105⇗	Wortman, Marshall (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6109⇗	Adams, William Lowell⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6128⇗	Koch, Robert Bruce⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6135⇗	Wright, James Wiley⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6141⇗	James, Robert Huey⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, Low Squadron lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6147⇗	Burkhard, James Albert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6149⇗	Lynch, Edward Thomas⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗