| 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 |
Returned Early Comments: Turned back before target because of trouble with three engines; dropped his bombs on a target of opportunity (TOO), an unidentified fighter airfield. |
Primary (Visual) |
| SORTIE AIRCRAFT DATA: | ||||
| TYPE | SERIAL NUMBER | SQUADRON | SQ CODE | NAME |
| B-17F | 42‑29699 ⇗ | 547th | SO*D | OLD BATTLE AXE |
| SORTIE CREW DATA: | |||
| POSITION | CREWMEMBER | UNIT | STATUS |
| Pilot | Frink, Horace Everett⇗ | 547 | Aborted |
| Co-pilot | Price, William Merriman, III⇗ | 547 | Aborted |
| Navigator | Hegstad, Lester Olaf⇗ | 547 | Aborted |
| Bombardier | Carlson, Clyde Pemberton⇗ | 547 | Aborted |
| Radio Operator | Griffith, Roy Wesley⇗ | 547 | Aborted |
| Engineer/Top Turret | Ralston, William Clark⇗ | 547 | Aborted |
| Ball Turret | Shelton, William Abner, Jr⇗ | 547 | Aborted |
| Tail Gunner | Retherford, Archie (NMI), Jr⇗ | 547 | Aborted |
| Waist (Flexible) Gunner | McNutt, Julius Frederick⇗ | 547 | Aborted |
| Waist (Flexible) Gunner | Savage, Clyde Henry⇗ | 547 | Aborted |