Mission # 162

MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Date	20 July 1944
Eighth Air Force Operations	Show Operations > Mission 484: 1,172 bombers and 542 fighters are dispatched to hit oil and industrial targets in C Germany; 19 bombers and 8 fighters are lost: >> Air Task Force #1. Of 417 B-17s, 107 hit Dessau, 69 hit Köthen, 56 hit Leipzig/Mockau, 45 hit the Leipzig bearing industry, 36 hit Nordhuasen Airfield, 23 hit Kölleda Airfield, 20 hit targets of opportunity, 12 hit Bitterfeld, 12 hit Giessen Airfield, and 12 hit Rudolstadt; they claim 11-9-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 15 B-17s are lost and 188 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 10 WIA and 129 MIA. Escort is provided by 253 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 5-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-0-0 on the ground; 2 P-47s and 4 P-51s are lost, 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair; 1 airman is WIA and 3 MIA. >> Air Task Force #2. Of 295 B-17s, 155 hit Merseburg, 53 hit Lützkendorf, 47 hit Wetzlar and 7 hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost and 153 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA and 21 MIA. Escort is provided by 178 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-4 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. >> Air Task Force #3. Of 460 B-24s, 123 hit Erfurt Nord and 11 hit Erfurt/Bindersleben Airfields; 80 hit Schmalkalden; 72 hit Gotha; 24 hit Freiburg, 18 hit Fulda, 12 hit Idstein, 10 hit Bad Salzungen, 10 hit Wernshausen and 9 hit Homburg marshalling yards; 21 hit Berka, 12 hit Bad Nauheim, 7 hit Koblenz, 6 hit Boppard and 6 hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 31 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA and 9 MIA. Escort is provided by 45 of 47 P-47s; they claim 6-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 1 P-47s is lost (pilot is MIA). > Mission 485: 6 of 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night. > 12 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions. Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University, used with permission. Hide Operations
384^th Bomb Group Mission	384th BG Mission Number 162, Eighth AF Force Mission Number 484 Airfield Attacked Next Mission Previous Mission The 384th Bombardment Group (H) provided all three groups of the 41st C Combat Bombardment Wing on today's mission. Weather in the target area was partly cloudy, and, although the lead aircraft was equipped for radar bombing (PFF), the air commander determined that the primary target would not be attacked. Instead, he led the wing to attack a fighter airfield by visual means. Bombing results were mixed; some low group B-17s dropped their loads early when their group lead jettisoned his load due to flak damage to his #1 engine.
Primary Target	Target: Aircraft Plants Type: Aircraft Industry Location: Dessau, Germany
Target Attacked (Mode)	Secondary (Visual) Target: Fighter Airfield Type: German Air Force (Luftwaffe) Location: Nordhausen, Germany
Sortie/Aircraft Summary	Completed Mission, not including spares - 34 Flight Completed - 1 Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused - 3 Scrubbed - 1 Aborted - 1 Failed To Return - 1
Mission Personnel	Mission Personnel Roster⇗ or Mission Loading Lists⇗
Mission Documents	Combat Mission Records and Plans obtained from the National Archives⇗
Other Mission Documents	1944-07-20, High Group Lead, M. Booska, R. Koch⇗

41 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⇗	Keate, Richard Clifford⇗	Flight Completed	Assembly Ship; remainder of crew not listed on mission documents. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31222⇗	Young, Daniel Monroe⇗	Completed Mission	Landed away at RAF Wratting Common, Cambridgeshire, on return for unknown reasons. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31484⇗	Spiers, Paul Robert⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, High Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37788⇗	Bahten, John Irwin⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37822⇗	MacFarlane, Menzies James⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, Low Squadron Lead. Ground Spare Aircraft; replaced 42‑97263. Hot camera ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37974⇗	Grant, Walter Edward⇗	Failed To Return	High Group. At 1115 hrs aircraft dropped back and released bombs, apparently unable to keep up with formation; it was under attack by four ME109s and two FW190s; four chutes seen; the aircraft went down in a glide, apparently under control; crashed near Zetteritz, Germany. MACR 727. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37982⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑38014⇗	Shearer, Wilbur Lee⇗	Completed Mission	Wing Deputy, Hot Camera Ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑38208⇗	Stevens, Raymond Robert⇗	Completed Mission	High Group Deputy, Hot Camera Ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑39888⇗	Patella, Joseph David⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97072⇗	Cole, Alfred H⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, Low Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97142⇗	Pranger, Nicholas Vincent⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Turned back with a sick crew member. Hot camera ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97150⇗	Hannaford, Vernon Lloyal⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, Low Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97201⇗	Lynch, Edward Thomas⇗	Completed Mission	High Group Hot Camera Ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97263⇗	[N/A]	Scrubbed: Did Not Take Off	Replaced by Ground Spare Aircraft 42‑37822. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97282⇗	Norton, Paul E⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97320⇗	Melzar, Raymond Augustus⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97510⇗	Jennings, William Cornelius⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Low Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97574⇗	Kelsay, Omar Frank⇗	Completed Mission	Wing Lead. PFF ship and unidentified crew members provided by the 305th BG, Chelveston, AAF Station 105. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97941⇗	[N/A]	Lead Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑97960⇗	Koch, Robert Bruce⇗	Completed Mission	High Group Lead. This was the first mission of Booska's second tour. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑98000⇗	Fairfield, William Adelbert⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group Lead. On the bomb run, hit by flak in #4 engine; had to jettison bomb load to stay in formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102459⇗	Thompson, Paul W⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102500⇗	Gibson, James Allen⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102501⇗	Clements, Ben Hill⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102566⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑102601⇗	Strand, Robert Earl⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102620⇗	Davis, L K (IO)⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102959⇗	Halasz, John Julius⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107058⇗	Donohue, William Robert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107083⇗	Minor, Henry W⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107224⇗	Kelley, Robert Encil⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group Deputy, Hot Camera Ship. Led the Low Group after Lead ship was damaged and couldn't keep up. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37713⇗	Myrick, Kenneth Delay⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37717⇗	Liebert, Jack Louis⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, High Squadron Lead. Warren May (N) killed instantly by flak - see 'Jesse's Story' on the Stories page. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37822⇗	Allred, Frank Lavon⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group Hot Camera Ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37870⇗	Dudock, Edward Peter⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37917⇗	Cranstoun, Richard Leroy⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, High Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6109⇗	Farra, Robert Leslie⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6135⇗	Bagby, Donald Woods⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6141⇗	Combs, William Felix⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6149⇗	Bennett, John R⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗