September 19, 1944 – 384th BG Mission 196.
The 384th Bomb Group Mission 196 was also known as Eighth Air Force Mission 642.
Most of the Buslee crew did not fly this mission. Waist Gunner George Edwin Farrar flew this mission with the William M. Reed crew aboard aircraft 43-38062, Pleasure Bent. Tail Gunner Eugene D. Lucynski flew with the Joe Carnes crew on 42-37982, The Tremblin’ Gremlin. The remainder of the Buslee crew did not fly. Robert Mitchell flew as ball turret gunner.
The primary target was the railroad marshaling yards in Hamm, Germany.
The Tremblin’ Gremlin was struck by flak on this mission and the crew, including Lucynski, bailed out over Binche, Belgium and landed in allied territory. The Sortie Report states that all returned to duty except for the injured Ball Turret Gunner, James B. King, Jr., who was seriously wounded. However, Lucynski’s record on the 384th Bomb Group web site shows that this was his last mission and does not show that he completed his tour and returned home. Lucynski’s inclusion on The Tremblin’ Gremlin on this mission kept him off Lead Banana on September 28, when the Lazy Daisy collided with it coming off the target in Magdeburg.
This was the last mission for The Tremblin’ Gremlin.
Source: Sortie Report – Farrar, Sortie Report – Lucynski
Question – What happened to Eugene D. Lucynski after the September 19, 1944 mission?
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2013
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