Mission # 9

MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Date	24 July 1943
VIII Bomber Command Operations	Show Operations > Mission Number 75: Three targets in Norway are attacked. This is Eighth's first mission to Norway and its longest (1,900 miles or 3,040 km round trip) to date. >> Air Task Force 1. 179 B-17's and 1 YB-40 are dispatched against the nitrate works at Heroya, Norway; 167 aircraft hit the target at 1317-1414 hours; they claim 9-2-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 is lost and 53 are damaged; casualties are 3 WIA and 10 MIA. Work at the plant is disrupted for 3.5 months, and unfinished aluminum and magnesium plants are damaged and subsequently abandoned by the Germans. >> Air Task Force 2. 45 B-17's are dispatched against the port area at Trondheim; 41 hit the target; they claim 4-2-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 9 are damaged; casualties are 3 WIA. >> Air Task Force 3. 84 B-17's are dispatched against the port area at Bergen; they find 10/10 cloud cover and return to base with their bombs. >> Crews successfully experiment with a new assembly procedure for occasions when bad weather conditions prevent ascent in formation. Aircraft take off individually on instruments, proceed to a designated splasher beacon for group formation, and then along line of 3 splasher beacons for force assembly. The method works well and makes possible many future missions which might otherwise have been abandoned. Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University, used with permission. Hide Operations
384^th Bomb Group Mission	384th BG Mission Number 9, VIII BC Mission Number 75 Aluminum Plants Attacked Next Mission Previous Mission The 384th Bombardment Group (H), led by Col. Budd Peaslee, flew its longest mission to date today - over seven hours - mostly over the North Sea to southern Norway. At the target, they found it somewhat obscured on the first bomb run, so went around for a second. Their effort was rewarded with good bombing.
Primary Target	Target: Aluminum & Magnesium Plants Type: Industry Location: Herøya, Norway
Target Attacked (Mode)	Primary (Visual)
Sortie/Aircraft Summary	Completed Mission, not including spares - 19 Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused - 1 Scrubbed - 2 Aborted - 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	1943-07-24, Group Lead, B. Peaslee, J. Merritt⇗

23 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
42‑3216⇗	Edwards, Floyd Clinton⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron lead, group deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3218⇗	Armstrong, Lloyd Rowland⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3230⇗	Hall, Ralph Jackson⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑5843⇗	Pulcipher, Ralph Robert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑5848⇗	Ogilvie, Donald Potter⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑5849⇗	Sierens, Ernest Joseph⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑5852⇗	Butler, Johnny Addison⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑5883⇗	Merritt, James Melvin⇗	Completed Mission	Group lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑5889⇗	Sprague, Alfred Lee⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29670⇗	[N/A]	Lead Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑29686⇗	Armstrong, James Edwin⇗	Completed Mission	Ground Spare Aircraft; replaced 42‑30196. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29703⇗	Ward, P J⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Turned back because of trouble with #2 engine oil pressure and erratic supercharger regulator on #4 engine. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29728⇗	[N/A]	Scrubbed: Did Not Take Off	Replaced by Ground Spare Aircraft 42‑30139. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29768⇗	Willing, Mark Skinner⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29956⇗	Hausenfluck, Jesse Dee⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29985⇗	Lecates, Robert Leslie⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30033⇗	Kelly, James Henry⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30039⇗	Hankinson, Gordon Joshua⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30043⇗	Frink, Horace Everett⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30065⇗	Keck, George B⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30139⇗	Hegewald, John Martin⇗	Completed Mission	Ground Spare Aircraft; replaced 42‑29728. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30142⇗	Hall, Kelmer Jim⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30196⇗	[N/A]	Scrubbed: Did Not Take Off	Replaced by Ground Spare Aircraft 42‑29686. SORTIE REPORT ⇗