| MISSION DATA: | |||
| DATE | 384th BG Mission # | 8th AF Mission # | 384th PRIMARY TARGET |
| 1943‑11‑16 | 36 | 131 | Target: Knaben II Molybdenum Mine Type: Industry Location: Knaben, Norway |
| Several Bomb Runs: The 384th Bombardment Group (H) led the 41st Combat Wing and 1st Bomb Division on today's mission. From the Division Leader's Narrative: 'We dropped down to 14,000 feet to bomb and did not drop any lower because the low Group would be in the clouds. We could not find the target. None of the other Groups seemed to be able to find it either, so we went back out to the coastline to orient ourselves. We came back in, and thought we were on the target, but we were not sure, so we did not drop our bombs. We made three more bomb runs on the target trying to release our bombs, but they would not release, so on the last run we had our Deputy drop his bombs on signal from the lead plane, and the others dropped on him.' | |||
| SORTIE DATA: | ||
| COMBAT CREDIT | STATUS | TARGET ATTACKED (MODE) |
| Yes |
Completed Mission Comments: Official records received to date (Sep 2022) identify Vernon McKittrick as the assigned navigator of this crew, but his name is crossed out on the 545th Loading List for this mission, with no replacement entered. However, in private communication with Sheldon Vernon, he has stated that he was newly-assigned to the 384th/544th and had arrived the previous day. He was awakened and ordered to fly as a replacement, which he did. Since McKittrick's name was crossed out (but no other information has been found to indicate he did not fly this mission), until this conflict is resolved, both navigators will remain assigned to this sortie. |
Primary (Visual) |
| SORTIE AIRCRAFT DATA: | ||||
| TYPE | SERIAL NUMBER | SQUADRON | SQ CODE | NAME |
| B-17G | 42‑37816 ⇗ | 545th | JD*S | BIG STUPE V |
| SORTIE CREW DATA: | |||
| POSITION | CREWMEMBER | UNIT | STATUS |
| Pilot | Edwards, Floyd Clinton⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Co-pilot | Bailey, Everett Lee⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Navigator | McKittrick, Vernon Russell⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Navigator | Vernon, Sheldon Ira⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Bombardier | Palazzo, Anthony (NMI)⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Radio Operator | Hopper, Hugh David⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Engineer/Top Turret | Smith, Roger Carlton⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Ball Turret | Johnson, James Hansel, Jr⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Tail Gunner | Fleming, Paul Hane⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Waist (Flexible) Gunner | Folmar, Warren Alexander⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Waist (Flexible) Gunner | Zink, Chester Harvey⇗ | 545 | Completed, Uninjured |