MISSION DATA: | |||
DATE | 384th BG Mission # | 8th AF Mission # | 384th PRIMARY TARGET |
1943‑08‑17 | 17 | 84 | Target: Ball-Bearing Plant Type: Bearings Industry Location: Schweinfurt, Germany |
First Schweinfurt: The 384th Bombardment Group (H) flew as the low group of the 202nd Provisional Combat Bomb Wing on today's mission. The mission was planned as a 'Double Strike' against Schweinfurt-Regensburg industrial plants. [Note: contrary to the implication in naming the raid, Schweinfurt and Regensburg are not neighboring cities; they are, in fact, over 100 miles apart.] The first air strike task force was supplied by the 4th Bomb Wing, which took off late due to heavy fog: they could still reach Africa by dark, but just barely. The second task force - the 1st Bomb Wing, including the 384th BG - was scheduled to take off 90-minutes after the 4th BW, to ensure the enemy fighters had exhausted their fuel and would be limited in their ability to mount a defense. In the event, the 1st BW was repeatedly delayed, also by weather, for almost four hours, allowing the enemy pilots ample time to refuel, rearm (and have a meal, if they wished!). As a consequence, losses were heavy. Both forces, however, inflicted enormous damage on their assigned targets, but the cost was immense. |
SORTIE DATA: | ||
COMBAT CREDIT | STATUS | TARGET ATTACKED (MODE) |
Yes |
Completed Mission Comments: Aircraft loaned by 303rd BG for today's mission. |
Primary (Visual) |
SORTIE AIRCRAFT DATA: | ||||
TYPE | SERIAL NUMBER | SQUADRON | SQ CODE | NAME |
B-17F | 41‑24416 ⇗ | 359th (303rd BG) | BN*V | BLACK DIAMOND EXPRESS |
SORTIE CREW DATA: | |||
POSITION | CREWMEMBER | UNIT | STATUS |
Pilot | Ogilvie, Donald Potter⇗ | 547 | Completed, Uninjured |
Co-pilot | Kilmer, Robert Bruce, Jr⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |
Navigator | Barkley, John William, Jr⇗ | 547 | Completed, Uninjured |
Bombardier | Wilson, William Hollis⇗ | 547 | Completed, Uninjured |
Radio Operator | Murray, James Raymond⇗ | 547 | Completed, Uninjured |
Engineer/Top Turret | Hood, Emmett Alexander⇗ | 547 | Completed, Uninjured |
Ball Turret | McKeon, James William⇗ | 547 | Completed, Uninjured |
Tail Gunner | Ratkiewicz, Louis Lawrence⇗ | 547 | Completed, Uninjured |
Waist (Flexible) Gunner | Martin, William Enoch⇗ | 547 | Completed, Uninjured |
Waist (Flexible) Gunner | Sylvia, Francis Robert⇗ | 547 | Completed, Uninjured |