| MISSION DATA: | |||
| DATE | 384th BG Mission # | 8th AF Mission # | 384th PRIMARY TARGET |
| 1945‑01‑22 | 259 | 805 | Target: Synthetic Oil Refinery Type: Oil Industry Location: Sterkrade, Germany |
| Visual Bombing!: The 384th Bombardment Group (H) provided the lead and low squadrons of the 41st Combat Wing C Group on today's mission. Although prepared for blind bombing with PFF (radar) and Gee-H, the target was clearly visible. Bombing was reported to be excellent. | |||
| SORTIE DATA: | ||
| COMBAT CREDIT | STATUS | TARGET ATTACKED (MODE) |
| Yes |
Spare, Completed Mission Comments: Lead Squadron flying spare; joined formation. The aircraft suffered major damage to the #4 engine and the tail, and less severe damage to the nose area. The tail gunner suffered a "high altitude cold injury" which required hospitalization on base and kept him off operations for a few weeks. |
Primary (Visual) |
| SORTIE AIRCRAFT DATA: | ||||
| TYPE | SERIAL NUMBER | SQUADRON | SQ CODE | NAME |
| B-17G | 42‑102459 ⇗ | 544th | SU*O | LITTLE KENNY |
| SORTIE CREW DATA: | |||
| POSITION | CREWMEMBER | UNIT | STATUS |
| Pilot | Reed, Verlin Dean⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Co-pilot | Johnson, Howard K⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Navigator | Weiss, Morris B⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Togglier | Vermillion, Eugene Carroll⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Radio Operator | Grimes, Paul John⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Engineer/Top Turret | Bobbitt, Charles Rufus⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Ball Turret | Leighton, Robert Raymond⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Tail Gunner | Gariepy, Ernest Joseph⇗ | 544 | Wounded |
| Waist (Flexible) Gunner | Spafford, Kenneth Culver⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |