August 4, 1944 – 384th BG Mission 171
The 384th Bomb Group Mission 171 was also known as Eighth Air Force Mission 514.
The Buslee crew flew this mission aboard aircraft 42-102620, named “De Rumble Izer.”
The primary target was Rocket R&D, Crossbow (V-Weapons), Peenemunde, Germany.
Crew List:
- Pilot – Arthur J. Shwery
- Co-Pilot – John Oliver Buslee
- Navigator – Chester A. Rybarczyk
- Bombardier – Marvin Fryden
- Radio Operator/Gunner – Sebastiano Joseph Peluso
- Engineer/Top Turret Gunner – Clarence B. Seeley
- Ball Turret Gunner – Erwin V. Foster
- Tail Gunner – Eugene D. Lucynski
- Waist Gunner – Lenard Leroy Bryant
Buslee flew his first mission as co-pilot with experienced pilot Arthur J. Shwery piloting the plane. A training opportunity for Buslee, no doubt.
With Buslee in the co-pilot position, David Franklin Albrecht did not fly with the Buslee crew. Albrecht flew as co-pilot with the Paul E. Norton crew on aircraft 42-102959, name unknown.
The tenth member of the crew, George Edwin Farrar, did not fly this mission. Bryant and Farrar were both waist gunners on the original Buslee crew, and Bryant was selected for the waist gunner position on this first mission for the Buslee crew. Farrar did not fly with another crew.
Source: Sortie Report
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2013
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