Mission # 154

MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Date	8 July 1944
Eighth Air Force Operations	Show Operations > Mission 460: 1,029 bombers and 714 fighters, in four forces, are dispatched to hit bridges, tunnels, rail targets and NOBALL (V-weapon) sites in France; only 462 aircraft bomb due to bad weather; 9 bombers and 1 fighter are lost: >> Air Task Force 1. Of 331 B-24s, 14 hit Schore Bridge, 9 hit Welle Bridge, 1 hits Orsel Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 20 B-24s are damaged; escort is provided by 266 P-38s and P-51s; they claim 20-0-19 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA). >> Air Task Force 2. Of 304 B-17s, 61 hit Poix Airfield, 49 hit V-1 sites, 37 hit Etaples Bridge, 13 hit a road junction, 12 hit Abbeville Airfield and 11 hit Etaples choke point; 4 B-17s are lost, 2 are damaged beyond repair and 90 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 32 MIA. Escort is provided by 36 of 39 P-47s. >> Air Task Force 3. Of 130 B-24s, 71 hit V-1 sites, 13 hit St Vallery en Caux Airfield and 11 hit Abbeville railroad junction; 3 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 27 are damaged. >> Air Task Force 4. Of 264 B-17s, 21 hit Jaigle, 20 hit Barenton and 10 hit Chandai rail junctions, 11 hit Nantes/Gassicourt Bridge, 11 hit Nantes railroad bridge, 9 hit railroad tracks at Yvetot, 11 hit Nogent and 6 hit Rouen marshalling yards, 24 hit Conches and 11 hit St Andre de l'Eure Airfields and 25 hit targets of opportunity; 5 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 98 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 16 WIA and 51 MIA. >> Forces 3 and 4 are escorted by 286 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. > 86 of 91 P-47s bomb St Andre de l'Eure Airfield without loss. > Mission 461: 4 of 5 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night. > 17 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions. Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University, used with permission. Hide Operations
384^th Bomb Group Mission	384th BG Mission Number 154, Eighth AF Force Mission Number 460 Weather Hides Primary Target Next Mission Previous Mission The 384th Bombardment Group (H) provided all three group formations of the 41st A Combat Bombardment Wing. Weather concealed the primary target, and with limited visibility of the ground, the lead group was unable to find an authorized target of opportunity to attack: the high and low groups independently dropped their bombs on a Luftwaffe airfield just north of Poix.
Primary Target	Target: NOBALL (V-1 Launch Site) Type: CROSSBOW (V-Weapons) Location: Renescure, France
Target Attacked (Mode)	TOO (Visual) Target: Poix Airfield Type: German Air Force (Luftwaffe) Location: Poix-de-Picardie, France
Sortie/Aircraft Summary	Completed Mission, not including spares - 36 Flying Spare, Completed Mission - 3 Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused - 4
Mission Personnel	Mission Personnel Roster⇗ or Mission Loading Lists⇗
Mission Documents	Combat Mission Records and Plans obtained from the National Archives⇗
Other Mission Documents	1944-07-08, Wing Lead, M. Wortman, R. Koch⇗

43 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
42‑31484⇗	Cranstoun, Richard Leroy⇗	Completed Mission	High section lead, low group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑32106⇗	Young, Daniel Monroe⇗	Completed Mission	High section deputy, lead group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37788⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑37974⇗	Murchan, Lawrence Aloysius⇗	Spare, Completed Mission	Low group flying spare; joined formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37982⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑38014⇗	Carey, Gates Chapman⇗	Completed Mission	High group deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97072⇗	Combs, William Felix⇗	Completed Mission	Low group. Did not attack target due to mechanical failure and brought bombs back to base SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97142⇗	Jennings, William Cornelius⇗	Spare, Completed Mission	High group flying spare; joined formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97150⇗	Neville, Harry Walter⇗	Completed Mission	Lead group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97201⇗	Coleman, Lee Browning⇗	Completed Mission	Lead group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97237⇗	Pring, Robert Bradford⇗	Completed Mission	Lead group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97251⇗	Rosborough, James Edward⇗	Completed Mission	High group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97309⇗	Pluhar, Emil Edward⇗	Completed Mission	High group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97367⇗	Bahten, John Irwin⇗	Spare, Completed Mission	Lead group flying spare; joined formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97449⇗	Sweeney, Ned Hardy⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron deputy, lead group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97510⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑97521⇗	Herzog, John Henry⇗	Completed Mission	High section deputy, high group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97824⇗	Fairfield, William Adelbert⇗	Completed Mission	Low group lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97960⇗	Koch, Robert Bruce⇗	Completed Mission	Wing lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102430⇗	Seitz, Harold Meade⇗	Completed Mission	Low group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102459⇗	Durdin, Larkin Clayton⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron deputy, low group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102500⇗	Pranger, Nicholas Vincent⇗	Completed Mission	High group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102501⇗	Endelicato, Marion (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	High group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102518⇗	Spiers, Paul Robert⇗	Completed Mission	High section lead, lead group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102566⇗	Minor, Henry W⇗	Completed Mission	High section deputy, low group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102617⇗	Rimbold, Arthur Arimese⇗	Completed Mission	Low group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102620⇗	Gibson, James Allen⇗	Completed Mission	High group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102661⇗	Strong, Bert Franklin⇗	Completed Mission	Low group deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102933⇗	Meland, Ralph Wendell⇗	Completed Mission	High group lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102959⇗	Thompson, Paul Waldron⇗	Completed Mission	Low group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107058⇗	Myrick, Kenneth Delay⇗	Completed Mission	High group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107064⇗	Carter, Jack Nifong⇗	Completed Mission	Lead group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107121⇗	Stills, James Vernon⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron lead, high group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107148⇗	[N/A]	Lead Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑107224⇗	Melzar, Raymond Augustus⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron lead, low group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37703⇗	Allred, Frank Lavon⇗	Completed Mission	Low group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37713⇗	Sullivan, James Dominic⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron deputy, high group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37717⇗	Olson, Norman (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	Lead group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6080⇗	Hale, Charles Eugene⇗	Completed Mission	Wing deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6105⇗	Dudock, Edward Peter⇗	Completed Mission	Lead group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6109⇗	Adams, William Lowell⇗	Completed Mission	High section lead, high group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6141⇗	Norton, Paul E⇗	Completed Mission	Low group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6149⇗	Rooker, Billy Roy⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron lead, lead group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗