Brodie Crew on September 28, 1944 – 384th BG Mission 201
The 384th Bomb Group Mission 201 was also known as Eighth Air Force Mission 652.
The Brodie crew flew this mission aboard aircraft 42-31222, named “Lazy Daisy.”
The primary target was the Steelworks Industry in Magdeburg, Germany.
Coming off the target, aircraft 42-31222, “Lazy Daisy,” collided with 43-37822, “The Lead Banana.”
Lazy Daisy Crew List:
- Pilot – James Joseph Brodie
- Co-Pilot – Lloyd Oliver Vevle
- Navigator – George Marshall Hawkins, Jr.
- Togglier – Byron Laverne Atkins
- Radio Operator/Gunner – Donald William Dooley
- Engineer/Top Turret Gunner – Robert Doyle Crumpton
- Ball Turret Gunner – Gordon Eugene Hetu
- Tail Gunner – Wilfred Frank Miller
- Waist Gunner – Harry Allen Liniger
Brodie, Vevle, Hawkins, Crumpton, Hetu, Miller, and Liniger were all original Brodie crew members on the aircraft.
Original Brodie crew Bombardier, William D. Barnes, Jr., last flew with the Brodie crew on September 13, 1944. Barnes did not fly again until October 17, 1944. He returned to flight as a Navigator, completed his tour after 35 missions, and returned to the US.
Byron Laverne Atkins flew only six missions, three of them as a Ball Turret Gunner, and one as a Flexible Gunner. He served as Togglier for the Brodie crew on two occasions – once on September 21 and again on September 28, 1944.
William Edson Taylor, did not fly on the September 28 mission. On October 5, he flew as Radio Operator/Gunner with the Robert Bruce Birckhead crew. His aircraft was damaged by flak and crashed near Munchen-Gladbach, Germany (MACR 9754). Of the crew, four were killed, and five were taken prisoner of war, including Taylor.
Donald William Dooley’s first mission would be his last. He flew as Radio Operator/Gunner for the Brodie crew.
Source: Sortie Reports for Lazy Daisy.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2013
The Arrowhead Club 