Mission # 167

MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Date	29 July 1944
Eighth Air Force Operations	Show Operations > Mission 503: 1,228 bombers and 755 fighters are dispatched to hit oil targets in Germany and airfields in France; 17 bombers and 7 fighters are lost: >> Air Task Force 1. Of 657 B-17s, 569 hit the Merseburg/Leuna synthetic oil plant, 13 hit Gottingen, 11 hit Hildesheim marshalling yard, and 10 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 15-8-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 15 B-17s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 349 are damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 17 WIA and 138 MIA. Escort is provided by 429 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 21-2-3 Luftwaffe aircraft (including a jet aircraft) in the air and 3-0-2 on the ground; 7 P-51s are lost (pilots are MIA) and 1 P-47 and 6 P-51s are damaged. >> Air Task Force 2. Of 473 B-24s, 442 hit Bremen/Oslebshausen oil refinery, 2 hit targets of opportunity and 1 hit Cuxhaven; 2 B-24s are lost and 96 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 15 MIA. Escort is provided by 106 of 109 P-51s. >> Air Task Force 3. Of 98 B-24s, 38 hit Juvincourt Airfield and 26 hit Laon/Couvron Airfield in France; 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair; 5 airmen are KIA and 7 WIA. Escort is provided by 142 of 150 P-51s. > Mission 504: 6 of 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night. > 44 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions; 12 abort. Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University, used with permission. Hide Operations
384^th Bomb Group Mission	384th BG Mission Number 167, Eighth AF Force Mission Number 503 Merseburg Slammed Again Next Mission Previous Mission The 384th Bombardment Group (H) put up four group formations for today's mission. Three formed the entire 41st B Combat Bombardment Wing, and the remaining one made up the bulk of the high composite group in the 41st D wing. The weather in Merseburg was clear enough for visual aiming, so the primary target was heavily damaged.
Primary Target	Target: Synthetic Oil & Chemical Plant Type: Oil Industry Location: Merseburg, Germany
Target Attacked (Mode)	Primary (Visual)
Sortie/Aircraft Summary	Completed Mission, not including spares - 41 Returned Early - 1 Returned To Base - 1 Flying Spare, Returned As Briefed - 1 Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused - 2 Scrubbed - 2 Aborted - 2 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⇗

51 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⇗	Ungerman, Kenneth Armistead⇗	Returned To Base	Assembly A/C SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31222⇗	Mead, Frank Willard⇗	Completed Mission	High section deputy, lead group 41st B wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31484⇗	Liebert, Jack Louis⇗	Completed Mission	High group deputy, 41st D wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37788⇗	Majeske, Charles Paul⇗	Completed Mission	High group, 41st B wing. Landed away at RAF Shrivenham, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), on return for unknown reasons. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37822⇗	[N/A]	Scrubbed: Did Not Take Off	Replaced by Ground Spare Aircraft 43‑37703. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37982⇗	Durdin, Larkin Clayton⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑38013⇗	Goodrick, Gene Robert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑38208⇗	Soester, Wilbur Leroy⇗	Completed Mission	High section deputy, high group, 41st B wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑39888⇗	Teehan, John Francis⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97072⇗	Melzar, Raymond Augustus⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97142⇗	Hayes, Edgar Jerome⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Turned back over field because of low oil pressure. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97150⇗	Hannaford, Vernon Lloyal⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97204⇗	Hicks, Ralph Benjamin⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97251⇗	Tracy, Edward Hanks⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97263⇗	Bennett, John R⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97271⇗	Hunt, John Hardy⇗	Completed Mission	Landed away at RAF Beccles, Suffolk, on return due to battle damage. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97282⇗	[N/A]	Scrubbed: Did Not Take Off	Replaced by Ground Spare Aircraft 42‑102620. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97510⇗	Henderson, William Vincent⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97574⇗	Kelsay, Omar Frank⇗	Completed Mission	41st B wing lead. PFF aircraft and unidentified crew members provided by the 305th BG, Chelveston, AAF Station 105. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97699⇗	Wilson, Quentin (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	41st B wing deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97941⇗	Keate, Richard Clifford⇗	Completed Mission	High composite group lead, 41st D wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97960⇗	Wortman, Marshall (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	High group lead, 41st B wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102430⇗	Martin, Donald Francis⇗	Flying Spare, Returned As Briefed	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102459⇗	Thompson, Paul Waldron⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron lead, low group, 41st B wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102500⇗	Vinnedge, Roy Alan⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron lead, lead group, 41st B wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102501⇗	Endelicato, Marion (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102518⇗	Young, Daniel Monroe⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102566⇗	Green, Loren Lester⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron deputy, high group, 41st D wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102601⇗	Strand, Robert Earl⇗	Completed Mission	High section lead, lead group, 41st B wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102617⇗	Patella, Joseph David⇗	Returned Early	Forced to leave formation due to failure of #1 engine; dropped bombs on target of opportunity (TOO) near Minden, Germany. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102620⇗	Norton, Paul E⇗	Completed Mission	High section deputy, low group, 41st B wing. Ground Spare Aircraft; replaced 42‑97282. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102661⇗	Strong, Bert Franklin⇗	Completed Mission	Low group deputy, 41st B wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102933⇗	[N/A]	Lead Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑102959⇗	Seidlein, George Harold⇗	Completed Mission	Landed away at RAF Foulsham, Norfolk, on return for unkown reasons. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107057⇗	LeDonne, Edward George⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107058⇗	Peterson, John Wright⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107121⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑107224⇗	Toler, Harold Morton⇗	Completed Mission	Landed away at Hethel, AAF Station 114, on return due to battle damage. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37703⇗	Dodson, Lee White⇗	Completed Mission	Ground Spare Aircraft; replaced 42-37822. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37713⇗	Myrick, Kenneth Delay⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37822⇗	Fairfield, William Adelbert⇗	Completed Mission	Low group lead, 41st B wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37870⇗	Sweeney, Ned Hardy⇗	Failed To Return	High group deputy, 41st B wing. Knocked down by FLAK. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37917⇗	Maxey, Jesse Edward⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37990⇗	Parker, George Frederick⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6080⇗	Halloran, Kenneth Martin⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron lead, high group, 41st B wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6105⇗	Dudock, Edward Peter⇗	Completed Mission	High section lead, high group, 41st B wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6109⇗	Farra, Robert Leslie⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6135⇗	McDaniel, Clifford Franklin⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Turned back 20 miles on course from Luton; unable to locate formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6141⇗	Combs, William Felix⇗	Completed Mission	High section lead, low group 41st B wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6294⇗	Johnstone, William Andrew⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑8011⇗	Neville, Harry Walter⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron deputy, high group, 41st B wing. SORTIE REPORT ⇗