Mission # 54

MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Date	21 January 1944
Eighth Air Force Operations	Show Operations Eighth Air Force Operations Mission 356: 166 bombers and 104 fighters hit V-weapon sites in France with 1 fighter lost; 38 of 58 B-17s bomb Marquise/Mimoyecques with 5 B-17s damaged; 90 of 108 B-24s bomb Siracourt with 8 B-24s damaged; escort is provided by 104 P-51s with 1 lost (pilot is MIA). Mission 357: 3 of 3 B-17s drop 1.1 million leaflets on 10 towns in Belgium and France; 1 B-17 crash lands on returning to base, 1 airman is KIA, 3 WIA. 5 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER operations. HQ 479th Fighter Group and 434th and 436th Fighter Squadrons arrive at Wattisham, England from the US with P-38Js; first mission is 26 May. Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University, used with permission. Hide Operations
Mission	384th BG Mission Number 54, Eighth AF Force Mission Number 187 Weather Affects Bombing Next Mission Previous Mission The 384th Bombardment Group (H) provided two group formations of two squadrons each for today's mission: one flew as the Lead Group of the 41st A Combat Bombardment Wing (41A Group) and the other flew as the Low Group of the 41st B Combat Bombardment Wing (41B Group). The 384th was alerted for an operational mission just as they were about to take off for a practice mission. In the space of one and one-half hours, these 34 aircraft were reconfigured for combat, and dispatched to attack 'NOBALL' targets in France. The 41A Group of 18 aircraft, led by Major Alfred C Nuttall, attacked the Preuseville target on their fourth bomb run. The 41B Group of 16 aircraft, led by Major George W Harris, were unable to locate the assigned target in the Pommereval area due to cloud obscuration, despite making seven bomb runs, and returned their bomb loads to base.
Primary Target	Target: NOBALL (V-1 Launch Site) Type: CROSSBOW (V-Weapons) Location: Preuseville, France
Target Attacked (Mode)	Primary (Visual)
Sortie/Aircraft Summary	Completed Mission, not including spares - 32 Aborted - 2 Did Not Take Off - 2
Mission Personnel	Mission Personnel Roster⇗ or Mission Loading Lists⇗
Mission Documents	Combat Mission Records and Plans obtained from the National Archives⇗

36 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
41‑24560⇗	Hines, James Wesley⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
41‑24578⇗	Outen, Charles Levi⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3051⇗	Corcoran, John Joseph⇗	Did Not Take Off	This aircraft, prepared for the practice mission, was not dispatched on the operational mission, possibly due to insufficient time available to reconfigure it for combat in the 41B Group. Pilot for the intended practice mission, Corcoran, did not take part in the combat mission. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3087⇗	Kew, William Joseph⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3429⇗	Morrison, Donald Sylvester⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3440⇗	Carpenter, Walter Richard⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3441⇗	Price, William Merriman⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group, Low Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑5404⇗	Ashcraft, Archie Bertis⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29554⇗	Yelvington, Melton Albert⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29636⇗	Writz, Horace Fred⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29651⇗	Allison, Earl Thomas⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29688⇗	Smith, Roger Clement⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41B Group. Turned back over base as prop governor on #4 engine broke and had to be feathered. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29717⇗	Larsen, Jack Kirby⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29723⇗	Reed, Merlin Howard⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	41B Group. Turned back at 1350 hrs over Beachy Head because 'this aircraft took off late and could not find a position open in the formation.' SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29809⇗	Bedsole, Joseph Linyer⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31045⇗	Laboda, Joseph Stanley⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31058⇗	Rinne, Austin Dean⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31211⇗	MacPhail, Philip Ray⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31235⇗	Robinson, Robert Lawrence⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31364⇗	Estes, Thomas Jefferson⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31415⇗	Ross, Burton Raymond⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group, Low Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31433⇗	Carter, T L (IO)⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31606⇗	McDonald, Raymond Leroy⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37727⇗	Heffley, Farris Ormond⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37776⇗	Jeter, Sydney Ryland⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37788⇗	Booska, Maurice Arthur⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37792⇗	Poole, George Irvin⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37793⇗	DeFrees, Norman Francis⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37801⇗	Daskey, Kendall (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37848⇗	Ulrey, Edgar Ellsworth⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37885⇗	Lotz, William Henry⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑38014⇗	Markow, Henry Victor⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑39784⇗	Covington, Royston Truitt⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑39888⇗	Jorgenson, Henry (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	41A Group. FLIGHT TIME 4:30 SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑39991⇗	Courtemanche, Ralph Eudor⇗	Did Not Take Off	This aircraft, prepared for the practice mission, was not dispatched on the operational mission, possibly due to insufficient time available to reconfigure it for combat in the 41B Group. Pilot for the intended practice mission, Courtemanche, did not take part in the combat mission. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑40005⇗	Stier, George Withers⇗	Completed Mission	41B Group. SORTIE REPORT ⇗