The Fate of Tremblin’ Gremlin and Her Crew on Mission 196
The 384th Bomb Group’s Mission #196 was the 8th AAF’s Mission #642.
My dad, George Edwin Farrar, participated as waist gunner in his thirteenth mission with the 384th Bomb Group on 19 SEPTEMBER 1944, flying as the only Buslee crew member on a ship piloted by William Marcus Reed. I wrote about the 384th’s and my dad’s participation on this mission last week.
Today I will concentrate on the two 384th Bomb Group crews that flew in the 303rd Bomb Group formation rather than with their own Group, and the only other Buslee crew member to participate on Mission 196, the crew’s tail gunner Eugene Daniel Lucynski, who was aboard B-17 42-39782, Tremblin’ Gremlin with the Joe Carnes crew on this mission.
My dad flew eleven missions with Eugene Lucynski. Also, the B-17 42-39782 Tremblin’ Gremlin, was the ship of my father’s first combat mission and the only B-17 name he ever mentioned in his WWII stories to me as I was growing up.
The two 384th Bomb Group crews and aircraft were flying spare, but instead of filling in for scrubbed aircraft of the 384th Bomb Group, they joined the formation of the 303rd Bomb Group on the 19 September 1944 mission. They were the Carnes crew aboard Tremblin’ Gremlin and the Hassing crew aboard Little American II. Both were assigned to fly in the 303rd’s High Group.
The 303rd Bomb Group, known as “Hell’s Angels,” was based in Molesworth, England, about twelve miles east of the 384th’s Grafton Underwood, England base. For the 303rd Bomb Group, this 8th Air Force Mission #642 was their mission #244. (The 303rd’s Mission #1 occurred on 17 November 1942, with the 384th’s Mission #1 six months later on 22 June 1943. This one was #196 for the 384th Bomb Group.)
According to these excerpts from the 303rd Bomb Group’s mission documents,
The high Group encountered intense but inaccurate flak at Osnabruck and intense and accurate fire over the Ruhr Valley. Returning aircraft had eight major and fourteen minor instances of battle damage.
A 384BG B-17, flying with the high Group, was lost to flak after bombs away.
The 303rd Mission Documents also included a narrative titled “THE RUHR VALLEY AND BAD WEATHER” written by Herbert Shanker, a 303rd Bomb Group mission participant and Engineer/Top Turret Gunner. This excerpt from Shanker’s narrative tells the story of the Carnes and Hassing crews’ mission experience not covered in 384th Bomb Group mission documents.
The date was September 19, 1944. The 303rd Bomb Group was briefed to fly a bombing mission to Hamm, Germany. This mission would take seven and half hours.
The 359th [the 359th Bomb Squadron of the 303rd Bomb Group] was scheduled to fly with the High squadron of the Group [the same part of the formation in which the two 384th Bomb Group crews were flying], which meant that they would drop their bombs between the Lead squadron and the Low Squadron. At the IP the three squadrons separated and bombed individually, two minutes apart, and then reformed as a cohesive unit as quickly as possible to consolidate the Group’s fire power for defensive purposes.
On this particular mission, the Lead squadron had two Radar equipped aircraft (code name Mickey) and the Low squadron had one Mickey ship. For some inexplicable reason, the High squadron had none. The 303rd BG was scheduled to be the last group to bomb this day which meant that the 359th Squadron would be the next to last squadron in the entire bomb stream to bomb.
As things worked out, the Lead and Low squadrons were able to bomb visually, therefore having no need for the radar aircraft for bombing purposes. The High squadron, on the other hand found the target obscured by clouds and made a 360 degree turn to make another attempt.
The second attempt was less successful than the first and so the High squadron “Lead” decided to find a “target of opportunity” on the way home. As the other two squadrons had completed their part in the mission, they took off for home, which was standard practice, so as to limit exposure to loss. All crews had been constantly briefed not to hang back to protect disabled aircraft as the practice usually resulted in greater loss.
The High squadron was now completely on its own as even our fighter escort had disappeared by this time. The squadron, consisting of 12 or 13 aircraft, eventually bombed the town of Osnabruck. Because of a navigational error after “Bombs Away,” the squadron found itself in the Ruhr Valley, one of the most heavily defended areas in the world. At least one aircraft was shot down and all aircraft were subjected to extremely intense flak.
Read more of the 303rd Bomb Group’s mission documents in their entirety.
Flying in the 303rd Bomb Group formation, the aircraft of Lt. Eugene Theron Hassing was hit by flak and the crew was forced to land in Allied territory in France. Hassing described in a post-mission report titled “Lt. Hassing’s Story” that they,
Flew with the 303rd High Group, and just before bombs away, got into the overcast and went on to bomb Munster [actually Osnabruck?]. Hit by flak in the Rhur area. (Leader of this group got lost and we went thru the Rhur area). Low and Gas, and left formation to find a landing field just after leaving the Rhur. Landed at Vitry En Artois. Plane was undamaged. Only one hole in gas lines.
Stopped at Dugua. They fed eighteen men for four days.
None of the men of the 384 Bomb Group’s Hassing crew were reported to be injured during the mission.
Also flying in the 303rd Bomb Group formation, the men of the Carnes crew aboard Tremblin’ Gremlin were not so lucky. A statement recorded in the post-mission documents of the 384th Bomb Group by the co-pilot of the Carnes crew, William Glenn Wyatt, reads,
Statement by Lt. Wyatt, Co-pilot, Mission to Hamm, Germany, 19 September 1944
We were Flying Spare aircraft in our Wing. When we reached the point of turnback we joined the 303rd Group, flying in No. 5 position, Low Squadron, High Group. Bombing was to be done visually, but clouds covered the target just before we reached it. The High Group, therefore, went into the Ruhr area and bombed a Marshalling Yard near ____________ [left blank by Wyatt, but noted in 303rd Bomb Group mission reports that the Low and Lead groups dropped their bombs on Hamm and the High Group dropped on Osnabruck, Germany].
Here we lost two engines. We feathered No. 1 engine, but No. 4 engine could not be feathered. The prop. shaft broke and No. 4 prop. began windmilling and continued to do so all the way back. At the same time the supercharger on No. 3 engine ran away and became uncontrollable. We necessarily lagged behind the formation, finally losing it. The Navigator [Alfred David Benjamin] and Togglier [Robert William Chanter] were brought out of the nose because of the danger of No. 4 prop. flying off.
The Ball Turret Gunner [James Bernard King, Jr.], Waist Gunner [Raymond Arnold Panici] and Tail Gunner [Eugene Daniel Lucynski] were hit by flak at approximately the same time the engines were knocked out. We encountered intense and accurate flak in and around the target area and crossing the Rhine River. We took evasive action the entire route back at 10,000 feet. The co-pilot [William Glenn Wyatt] went back to the waist to take care of the wounded men.
The No. 2 engine then blew the cylinders out, leaving one engine with runaway supercharger. In the meantime the Ball Turret had been jettisoned. The ground was not visible and we were on instruments. The Pilot [Joe Ross Carnes, Jr.] then gave the order to bail out, when the Navigator [Benjamin] was fairly sure that we were over friendly territory.
The waist escape hatch stuck, but we finally got rid of the escape door by firing a .45 automatic at the hinges. The Togglier [Chanter] left by the tail escape hatch. The Waist Gunner [Panici], Radio Operator [Frank Joseph Schick, Jr.], Navigator [Benjamin], Ball Turret Gunner [King] and Tail Gunner [Lucynski], as well as the Co-Pilot [Wyatt], left by the waist escape hatch.
The Ball Turret Gunner [King], being seriously injured, was hooked to static line. The Engineer [Top Turret Gunner Charles William Ford, Jr.] and Pilot [Carnes] left by the Navigator’s escape hatch and were the last to bail out. The entire crew landed in Binche, Belgium.
The injured men, including the Navigator and Togglier, who were slightly injured bailing out, were taken immediately to Gilley [Gilly] (St. Joseph’s Hospital), since the nearest Army Hospital was approximately 40 miles away. It was necessary for the Ball Turret Gunner’s [King] left foot to be amputated. The operation was performed by a Belgian doctor, under the supervision of Major Heron from the Surgeon’s office, 1st Army Headquarters.
The Ball Turret Gunner [King] and Co-Pilot [Wyatt] landed approximately 150 yards apart in a field and were immediately surrounded by Belgian civilians. A doctor was secured as soon as possible and the Ball Turret Gunner [King] was taken to a small hospital at Binche, Belgium, where his foot was dressed. From there he was taken by American ambulance of the 30th Photo Reconnaissance Group to the hospital at Gilley [Gilly].
The Co-Pilot [Wyatt] sent messages to the 8th Air Force concerning the status of the entire crew as soon as possible. Co-Pilot [Wyatt], Radio Operator [Schick] and Togglier [Chanter] returned to the U.K. via 9th TAC Headquarters, Paris, and the regular channels for evadees and escapees.
The Navigator [Benjamin], Ball Turret Gunner [King], Waist Gunner [Panici] and Tail Gunner [Lucynski] are to be evacuated through medical channels. They will be removed to an American hospital as soon as their physical condition permits. The Pilot [Carnes] and Engineer [Ford] were in touch with the M.P. Station at Binche.
SHAEF [Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe from late 1943 until the end of World War II] called this Group to try to get transportation for us back to the Base (Co-Pilot [Wyatt], Togglier [Chanter], and Radio Operator [Schick]). We were unable to contact the Officer of the Day or any officer on duty. These three men had to borrow money to come from London back to the Base. The Group would not send transportation to Kettering for the three men.
These men arrived back at this Station in the P.M. 22 September 1944.
In his book “Memories of the 384th Bombardment Goup (H), Second Edition, Ken Decker added – likely from a story shared with him by one of the crew after the war – that after bailing out of Tremblin’ Gremlin,
The danger wasn’t over yet as the aircraft, as if trying to punish the crew for leaving it in the air, started to circle and they feared it might hit them in their chutes before finally diving into the ground and exploded about 3 – 5 miles from Binche (about 10 miles west of Charleroi, Belgium).
The entire Hassing crew returned to Grafton Underwood from France and on 28 September 1944 participated in their next mission, Mission #201 to Magdeburg, Germany.
The men aboard Tremblin’ Gremlin did not participate in a mission again until October for many of them – 2 OCT for Chanter, 3 OCT for Schick, 5 OCT for Wyatt, 9 OCT for Ford, 14 OCT for Carnes, and 17 OCT for Benjamin – November for Panici on 1 NOV, and King and Lucynski did not ever return to combat.
King was transferred to the Detachment of Patients, 4178 U.S. Army Hospital Plant.
Lucynski was hospitalized until 10 November 1944. On the recommendation form for the Purple Heart, Lucynski’s wounds were described as “multiple lacerations of right hand and left wrist.” He received the Purple Heart on 7 December 1944 at Grafton Underwood.
I am not certain how Lucynski continued his service in WWII, but a passenger list found on Ancestry.com shows he arrived back in the US on October 16, 1945 on the Queen Mary, arriving at the port of New York, New York.
Notes/Resources
- Previous post on Mission 196
- Thank you to the 384th’s Fred Preller and Keith Ellefson for obtaining and sharing WWII reports and mission documents from the National Archives for the 384th Bomb Group.
- Mission documents and other mission information may be found, viewed, and saved or printed courtesy of Fred Preller’s 384th Bomb Group website.
- 303rd Bomb Group website
- Ken Decker’s Memories of the 384th Bombardment Group (H), Second Edition
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2020
MISSION 196
The 384th Bomb Group’s Mission #196 was the 8th AAF’s Mission #642.
My dad, George Edwin Farrar, participated as waist gunner in his thirteenth mission with the 384th Bomb Group on 19 SEPTEMBER 1944, flying as the only Buslee crew member on a ship piloted by William Marcus Reed. See more detail about the makeup of the crew below in the loading list…
The 384th Bomb Group was part of the 1st Bombardment Division, 41st Combat Wing, of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, and today they led the 41st “A” Combat Wing.
The 384th Bomb Group website’s Mission Summary describes the mission as,
Mixed Results
The 384th Bomb Group, flying as the 41st A CBW, attacked the primary target at Hamm, Germany, with fair results for the Lead group [squadron], and poor results for the Low group [squadron]. The High group [squadron] did not bomb.
Mission documents, specifically the Pre-Briefing Target Study, identified the specific target of the day as the R.R. M/Y [railroad marshalling yards] at Hamm, Germany. PFF, same target.
Briefing Notes further detailed,
Primary Target: Rail Road Marshalling Yards at Hamm. Target has capacity of 10,000 railroad cars per day and is the largest and busiest yards in Germany. The nerve center of German Rail Traffic. Handles traffic between the Ruhr and North and Central Germany. Four lines leave the South end of the Yard and two from the North. Yard is three miles long. It is directly connected with supplying the enemy troops opposing our airborne operation.
PFF Target is the same as your primary target visual.
Last Resort are two Air Force targets at Gütersloh and Handorf. If unable to bomb these, any military target positively identified as being in Germany and East of the Current Strategic Bomb Line, which is marked on flak maps of lead navigator.
[Briefing Notes edited by the author for readability].
A special warning instructed,
Be on the alert for enemy aircraft entire time from England.
Forty-three aircraft of the 384th Bomb Group were assigned to the mission. Of the 43,
- 36 completed the mission (not including spares)
- 1 flying spare completed the mission
- 3 ground spare aircraft were unused
- 1 was scrubbed
- 2 landed in Allied territory. Both were flying spare and filled in with the 41st “B” wing with the 303rd Bomb Group. One crew (Carnes) bailed out over Binche, Belgium and one crew (Hassing) landed in France.
My dad flew in the Lead Group commanded by Col. Dale Orville Smith, 384th Bomb Group Commander.
Dad flew under these leaders on this date,
- 41st “A” Combat Bombardment Wing Lead, Air Commander Col. Dale Orville Smith, 384th Bomb Group Commander 23 November 1943 to 24 October 1944, in the 384th’s lead aircraft in the Lead Group. This was the first of my dad’s missions in which the Group Commander participated.
- Major Gerald Busby Sammons, (not a mission participant), 544th Bomb Squadron Commanding Officer 14 September 1944 to 6 November 1944.
The Air Commander’s (Col. Dale Smith’s) Narrative stated, regarding one of the crews landing in Allied territory,
A/C No. 7982 [B-17 42-39782, Tremblin’ Gremlin], Lt. Carnes, Pilot is missing. [Buslee crew tail gunner Eugene Daniel Lucynski was aboard this aircraft]. This aircraft, a spare, joined the formation of 41st Combat Bombardment Wing “B.” Just before the I.P. this aircraft was struck by flak and left the formation immediately after dropping its bombs on the Target. Aircraft appeared to be under control at the time.
The B-17 42-39782, Tremblin’ Gremlin, was the ship of my father’s first combat mission and the only B-17 name he ever mentioned in his WWII stories to me as I was growing up.
The Low Section Leader’s (Capt. Edgar Ellsworth Ulrey’s) Narrative stated, regarding the crew that landed in France,
A/C No. 8014 [B-17 42-38014, Little America II], Lt. Hassing, Pilot is missing. This aircraft, a spare, joined the formation of the 41st Combat Bombardment Wing “B.” The aircraft was struck by flak just before the I.P. and immediately after dropping on the target was observed leaving the formation, apparently under control.
The Loading List for Mission #196 for the aircraft carrying George Edwin Farrar of the Buslee crew was,
- Pilot – William Marcus Reed (originally co-pilot of the Frank Allred crew; promoted to pilot and at that time took over command of the Dale McKinney crew when McKinney was transferred; Mission 196 was his next to last mission before he completed his tour of 35 missions)
- Co-pilot – Donald George Springsted (of the Dale McKinney crew)
- Navigator – Edward Gregory Jacobs (of the Dale McKinney crew)
- Togglier – Nickolas Leschak, Jr. (of the Frank Allred crew)
- Radio Operator/Gunner – Melvin Joseph Meyer (of the Dale McKinney crew)
- Engineer/Top Turret Gunner – William C. Murphy (of the Dale McKinney crew)
- Ball Turret Gunner – Robert McKinley Mitchell, Jr. (of the Frank Allred crew)
- Tail Gunner – Albert Richard Macuch (of the Dale McKinney crew)
- Waist Gunner – George Edwin Farrar (my dad, of the John Buslee crew)
Other than Farrar, the only other Buslee crew member to participate in this mission was Eugene Daniel Lucynski, the Buslee crew’s tail gunner.
My dad flew aboard pilot William Marcus Reed’s B-17 43-38062, Pleasure Bent. The Tactical Interrogation form filled out by Lt. Reed at the completion of the mission described,
- Time took off 1000
- Time landed 1630 Away
- Target attacked at 1355 from an altitude of 24,600 ft.
- Bombs on target: 12 x 500
- Inaccurate flak reported at the target
- Visual observations: 6 barges in one of canals
- Technical Failures: none
- Armament Failure: none
- Battle damage: none
The James Brodie crew – James Brodie, Lloyd Vevle, replacement navigator Richard Potter, replacement togglier Theodore Rothschild, William Taylor, Robert Crumpton, Gordon Hetu, Wilfred Miller, and Harry Liniger – of the 545th Bomb Squadron flew on this mission in the High Group aboard B-17 42-97309, Kathleen Lady of Victory.
The Brodie crew reported,
- Moderate to heavy inaccurate flak at the target area and East of the Moselle River.
- Technical Failures, Aircraft: none.
- Battle damage: none.
Mission data in group reports included,
- No enemy aircraft encountered.
- Flak encountered at target only was inaccurate for the Lead and Low Groups and fairly accurate for the High Group. Continuously Pointed Fire (CPF) employed.
- Fighter support as briefed – good.
- A/C 982 and A/C 014 missing. The two missing aircraft were briefed to fly as spares in the Lead and Low Groups respectively, but filled in with 303rd Bomb Group. Hit by flak after bombs away and forced to leave formation. No further information available at present – to follow.
- Thirty-seven aircraft returned to England 19 September. A/C 083 only returned to base that date, A/C 703 landed at Woodbridge, one engine out. Balance of aircraft landed at Old Buckenham because home base was closed in. All aircraft except 703, 9888, 7788, 7320, and 1222 returned to home base 20 September. The five aircraft have remained at the bases they originally landed at.
- PFF Aircraft 007 and 986 flew Lead and Deputy Lead of Lead Group respectively.
Written by Lt. Eugene Theron Hassing, pilot of the B-17 that flew with the 303rd Bomb Group and landed in France, “Lt. Hassings’ Story” was also included in the Mission Folder.
Flew with the 303rd High Group, and just before bombs away, got into the overcast and went on to bomb Munster. Hit by flak in the Rhur area. (Leader of this group got lost and we went thru the Rhur area). Low and Gas, and left formation to find a landing field just after leaving the Rhur. Landed at Vitry En Artois. Plane was undamaged. Only one hole in gas lines.
Stopped at Dugua. They fed eighteen men for four days.
To be continued next week, the fate of the Tremblin’ Gremlin and her crew…
Notes
The James Brodie crew left crew training at Ardmore, Oklahoma at the same time as the Buslee crew on their way to the ETO, European Theatre of Operations. Both crews were assigned to the 384th Bomb Group within days of each other after reaching England although the Buslee crew was assigned to the 544th Bomb Squadron while the Brodie crew was assigned to the 545th.
The two crews participated in many of the same missions, although it is unlikely that the men of the two crews interacted in any other way as they were members of different crews and different squadrons at Grafton Underwood, although they may have recognized each other from their time at Ardmore together.
- Previous post on Mission 196
- Thank you to the 384th’s Fred Preller and Keith Ellefson for obtaining and sharing WWII reports and mission documents from the National Archives for the 384th Bomb Group.
- Mission documents and other mission information may be found, viewed, and saved or printed courtesy of Fred Preller’s 384th Bomb Group website.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2020
MISSION 194
The 384th Bomb Group’s Mission #194 was the 8th AAF’s Mission #628.
My dad, George Edwin Farrar, participated as waist gunner in his twelfth mission with the 384th Bomb Group on 13 SEPTEMBER 1944, flying with two other original crew members of the 544th Bomb Squadron’s John Oliver Buslee crew. See more detail about the makeup of the crew below in the loading list…
The 384th Bomb Group was part of the 1st Bombardment Division, 41st Combat Wing, of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, and today they led the 41st “A” Combat Wing.
The 384th Bomb Group website’s Mission Summary describes the mission as,
The ‘Oil Campaign’ Continues
The 384th Bombardment Group (Heavy) led the 41st A Combat Bombardment Wing on today’s mission, supplying all planes and crews, except for the high section of the high group which was filled by three aircraft from the 303rd BG.
Mission documents, specifically the Pre-Briefing Target Study, identified the specific target of the day as the Oil Plant at Merseburg.
Briefing Notes further detailed,
Primary Target: Synthetic Oil Plant at Merseburg. Attacked by this group several times in the past. Produces 600,000 tons of oil per annum when in full production. Is 2 miles from N to S and 3/4 miles from E to W. Oil is the very life blood of the Luftwaffe and the German War machine, and your target for today is very vital to the Hun in the last ditch defense of his Fatherland. There is no indication that this target has been effectively hit recently. Effective smoke screen at target.
Secondary Visual Target: An aircraft engine plant just outside town of Eisenach.
PFF Target: If weather A/C report both primary and secondary visual obscured, then all wings of 1st Division will attack Merseburg Synthetic plant using PFF.
Last Resort Visual: Rubber Tyre Factory at Fulda, Germany, or any military objective positively identified as being east, repeat, east of the Rhine River.
The 384th Bomb Group was the seventh wing of eight Combat Wings of the 1st Bombardment Division into Germany this date and the fourth of five wings on their target.
A special warning instructed,
There are no convoys expected. Stay on the alert for enemy aircraft. First Division alone lost 19 aircraft on Monday and 26 aircraft yesterday. It takes only one pass at you for them to knock you down. Gunners should stay at your guns and keep your eyes open at all times.
Thirty-nine aircraft of the 384th Bomb Group were assigned to the mission. Of the 39,
- 30 completed the mission (not including spares)
- 2 flying spare completed the mission
- 2 ground spare aircraft were unused
- 2 were scrubbed
- 1 returned early
- 1 completed flight (weather aircraft)
- 1 failed to return
The three Buslee crew members flew as the High Group Lead commanded by Captain William Adelbert Fairfield, Jr.
The Buslee crew members flew under these leaders on this date,
- High Group Leader, Captain William Adelbert Fairfield, Jr., 544th Bomb Squadron. Mission #194 was Fairfield’s 30th and final mission with the 384th Bomb Group.
- 41st “A” Combat Wing Lead, Lt. Col. William Edward Buck, Jr., 384th Bomb Group Deputy Group Commander. Mission #194 was Buck’s 21st and final mission with the 384th Bomb Group.
- Major Gerald Busby Sammons, (not a mission participant), 544th Bomb Squadron Commanding Officer 14 September 1944 to 6 November 1944
- Col. Dale Orville Smith (not a mission participant), 384th Bomb Group Commander 23 November 1943 to 24 October 1944
Two ships with major battle damage landed away at RAF Manston, Kent. Both were flying as part of the High Group following the High Group Lead aircraft carrying the members of the Buslee crew.
Also following the High Group Lead aircraft carrying the Buslee crew members was the unnamed B-17 43-38213, the only 384th Bomb Group fortress lost on Mission 194. Immediately after bombs away, at 1124, the aircraft was seen going down in flames due to flak.
On this mission, the Canion crew was aboard 43-38213 with experienced pilot Lee White Dodson checking out new pilot William E. Canion. The Canion crew was on their second mission, their first mission aborted due to engine failure two days earlier.
On Mission 194, two members of the crew were killed, five became POW’s, and two, including Lee Dodson on his 34th mission, remain missing. The Missing Air Crew Report, MACR8902, and a prior post (see the section “September 13, 1944”) provide more details.
The Loading List for Mission #194 for the aircraft carrying the three members of the Buslee crew (bolded) was,
- Commander – William Adelbert Fairfield, Jr.
- Pilot – John Oliver Buslee
- Navigator – Kenneth Smith Lord
- Bombardier – Donald Leroy Ward
- Radio Operator/Gunner – Albert Keith Sherriff
- Engineer/Top Turret Gunner – Lenard Leroy Bryant
- Ball Turret Gunner – Irving L. Miller
- Tail Gunner – Lloyd Earl La Chine
- Waist Gunner – George Edwin Farrar (my dad)
Other than Buslee, Bryant, and Farrar, the remaining original Buslee crew members did not participate in Mission 194.
The Buslee crew members flying with Commander Fairfield were aboard 43-38016, Lorraine, on this mission. The Tactical Interrogation form filled out by Lt. Buslee at the completion of the mission described,
- Time took off 0635
- Time landed 1520
- Target attacked at 1124 from an altitude of 27,000 ft.
- Bombs on target: only 5 x 500 due to a malfunction, and the pilot salvoed 5 x 500 on the center of the town of Mühlhausen, Germany at 1145
- Flak reported at the target, accurate CPF, Barrage, few rockets
- Visual observations: at 1126 at the target, altitude of 27,000 feet, #3 lead element in flames, #1 high element in flames, #3 high element were hit by flak & left formation. 2 were on fire.
- Technical Failures, Aircraft: #4 engine lost oil. #1 engine vibrating badly and overheated. Oxygen system hard to draw on. Top turret out in azimuth. GEE box out, radio compass out, left [bomb] rack failed to release on bombardiers salvo or intervalometer – released on pilot salvo.
- Armament Failure: Upper turret operates rough at high altitude.
- Battle damage: Control cables in bomb bay shot out. Trim tab controls cut by flak. Lots of small holes throughout aircraft. Most damage the last minute before bombs away.
Note: Buslee’s salvoed bombs apparently missed the Mühlhausen Synagogue at Jüdenstraße which had been damaged during the pogrom of Kristallnacht in 1938. It was one of only a few Synagogues in Germany that survived the Nazi period and World War II.
The James Brodie crew – James Brodie, Lloyd Vevle, George Hawkins, William Barnes, William Taylor, Robert Crumpton, Gordon Hetu, Wilfred Miller, and Harry Liniger – of the 545th Bomb Squadron flew on this mission in the Low Group aboard B-17 42-97521, The Saint.
The Brodie crew reported,
- Multiple reports of accurate flak, including at the target area.
- Technical Failures, Aircraft: Radio compass out. Has been out and written up before. Left upper turret gun inoperative. Written up before.
- Battle damage: Turbo knocked out by flak in target area.
Narratives from 384th Bomb Group crew members who participated in Mission 194 describe events of the mission better than official Group reports. The following excerpts were taken from personal experience shared with Ken Decker and published in his book, Memories of the 384th Bombardment Group (H), Second Edition.
Bombardier Leo Feider, who was in one of the aircraft in the High Group that landed away due to battle damage, described the mission as “one of the severest flak barrages of the war.” (Note: Feider began flying missions at the end of August 1944 and completed his tour at the first of February 1945). He estimated his ship received fifty to seventy-five flak holes on Mission 194.
Feider wrote,
We saw Lee Dodson, a pilot with a new crew go down in flames, right along side of us, over the target. His whole left wing came off, just after we saw only one man get out. I had supper with Dodson last night and he said he had become a father just a few days previously. It was horrible seeing him go down. The flak was so close you could hear it and see the red inside of those damn black bursts. I felt frozen, yet I guess I still functioned, for I got my bombs toggled off and the bomb bay doors closed. I know, though, I shall never be the same after that experience.
Lt. Canion, the pilot in training with Lt. Dodson in the High Group, was blown out of the doomed aircraft, and survived and became a POW. He wrote,
We were high element, high group and we took all the flak. It was so heavy you could have gotten out and walked on it. The last flak that hit us blew up in the ball turret and blew the plane apart.
In his diary, Engineer/Top Turret Gunner Sgt. William P. Hornack, aboard 42-102430, Spam-O-Liner, described,
When we hit the I.P. [Initial Point of the bomb run], the flak was as we suspected (unbearable) again. I was thinking to myself, how in the hell are we going through that stuff? There goes that “rumping” noise, that sound makes your heart skip a beat and swallow your tongue. Every burst of flak seemed like it was rumping against our plane. I’m telling you, a guy really holds a service all of his own, by his guns, hoping we won’t be next.
Spam-O-Liner’s Co-Pilot Gerald Rose said of the mission,
This was in my opinion, one of our most dangerous missions. We had been under a heavy flak barrage from the IP and received many hits, but when we got the explosion from almost a direct hit under our right wing, it flipped us up on our side and we started to fall. I salvoed the bombs and without that weight, we were able to get control after falling 4 or 5 thousand feet.
The Buslee and Brodie crews were lucky to survive this mission unscathed.
Notes
The James Brodie crew left crew training at Ardmore, Oklahoma at the same time as the Buslee crew on their way to the ETO, European Theatre of Operations. Both crews were assigned to the 384th Bomb Group within days of each other after reaching England although the Buslee crew was assigned to the 544th Bomb Squadron while the Brodie crew was assigned to the 545th.
The two crews participated in many of the same missions, although it is unlikely that the men of the two crews interacted in any other way as they were members of different crews and different squadrons at Grafton Underwood, although they may have recognized each other from their time at Ardmore together.
- Previous post on Mission 194
- Thank you to the 384th’s Fred Preller and Keith Ellefson for obtaining and sharing WWII reports and mission documents from the National Archives for the 384th Bomb Group.
- Mission documents and other mission information may be found, viewed, and saved or printed courtesy of Fred Preller’s 384th Bomb Group website.
- Wikipedia: Mühlhausen Synagogue
- Ken Decker’s Memories of the 384th Bombardment Group (H), Second Edition
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2020
MISSION 192
The 384th Bomb Group’s Mission #192 was the 8th AAF’s Mission #623.
My dad, George Edwin Farrar, participated as waist gunner in his eleventh mission with the 384th Bomb Group on 11 SEPTEMBER 1944, flying with the 544th Bomb Squadron’s John Oliver Buslee crew.
The 384th Bomb Group was part of the 1st Bombardment Division, 41st Combat Wing, of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, and today they flew as part of both the 41st “A” and “B” Combat Wings.
The 384th Bomb Group website’s Mission Summary describes the mission as,
Primary Targets Spared By Weather
The 384th Bombardment Group (H) flew as the high section of the 41st A Combat Bombardment Wing (41A Group) and as the high section of the 41st B Combat Bombardment Wing (41B Group) on this mission. The primary target for the 41A Group, Lützkendorf oil installations in Germany, were obscured by a solid undercast, as was the secondary and an airfield near Giessen. Finally, a successful visual attack was accomplished on an unidentified factory in the Friedberg, Germany, area. This group saw several Me-163 ‘Komet’ rocket-powered aircraft in the vicinity of Leipzig, and one near the Belgian coast, but they were not attacked. The 41B Group primary target, oil installations in the Merseburg, Germany, area was obscured by weather conditions. The formation then proceeded to the secondary target. Although the rest of the formation broke off the attack, the 384th pressed on and were able to drop their bombs in the vicinity of the target, although results were deemed ‘poor.’ This group was attacked by a single ME163 ‘Komet’ rocket-powered aircraft, which made two passes on his formation (the high and low squadrons), in the vicinity of the primary target.
Mission documents, specifically the Pre-Briefing Target Study, identified the specific target of the day for the 41st A High Group as the synthetic oil plant at Lutzendorf, and the 41st B High Group as the synthetic oil plant at Mersberg.
The 384th was part of the fourth and fifth combat wings alternately over the two oil targets.
Briefing Notes further detailed,
Primary Targets: Synthetic oil plants at Merseburg and Lutzendorf, Germany. 41A on Lutzendorf. 41B on Merseburg. These plants are producers of large quantities of oil now so very vital to the Germans war effort. Both have been damaged on previous attacks but are now partially in production with repairs being rushed to get them back into full production. They are being attacked today to ensure maintaining the favourable condition presently existing in regard to German’s fuel supply. Smoke screens at both visual targets.
Secondary Visuals: 41A AC Engine factory in the town of Eisenech. 41B AC Engine factory located 2 mi. NE of town of Eisenach.
Last Resort Visuals: 41A&B Airfield at Erfurt and an airfield at Frieburg. Only Military objects Pass Iden in Germany and go east, repeat east of the Rhine River.
A special warning instructed,
Stay on the alert for enemy aircraft. You are going on two of the Huns most precious targets and he may use his Hoarded Luftwaffe to destroy you.
Twenty-nine aircraft of the 384th Bomb Group were assigned to the mission. Of the 29,
- 21 completed the mission (not including spares)
- 1 flying spare (the Robert C. Owens crew in 42-97142) from the 41B Group filled in the 41A Group and completed the mission
- 3 aborted due to aircraft equipment failure
- 3 ground spare aircraft were unused
- 1 failed to return
The B-17 42-107058, White Angel, of the James Woodrow Chadwick crew was the only 384th Bomb Group fortress lost on Mission 192.
Flying in the 41B Group, the aircraft,
Received a direct burst of flak in the area of the Primary Target at 1208 hours, 28,400 feet. He was hit in the bomb bay and immediately released his bombs whereupon the ship caught fire. He was last observed diving down to 18,000 feet where he levelled off and was lost sight of. No chutes were observed.
The aircraft crashed near Halle, Germany and all crewmembers were killed except for the navigator and tail gunner who became POW’s. Few details are provided in the Missing Air Crew Report, MACR8903.
On Mission 192, the Buslee crew flew with the 41A Group (High Group) led by Capt. Edward William Lane.
The Buslee crew flew under these leaders on this date,
- 41st “A” Combat Wing High Section Leader Capt. Edward William Lane, 384th Bomb Group Assistant Group Operations Officer
- Major Gerald Busby Sammons, (not a mission participant), 544th Bomb Squadron Commanding Officer 14 September 1944 to 6 November 1944
- Col. Dale Orville Smith (not a mission participant), 384th Bomb Group Commander 23 November 1943 to 24 October 1944
The Buslee Crew Loading List for Mission #192, with the only crew substitution in the ball turret, was:
- Pilot – John Oliver Buslee
- Co-Pilot – David Franklin Albrecht
- Navigator – Chester Anthony Rybarczyk
- Bombardier – James Buford Davis
- Radio Operator/Gunner – Sebastiano Joseph Peluso
- Engineer/Top Turret Gunner – Lenard Leroy Bryant
- Ball Turret Gunner – Paul Leland Watson
- Tail Gunner – Eugene Daniel Lucynski
- Waist Gunner – George Edwin Farrar (my dad)
Paul Leland Watson replaced Erwin Foster in the ball turret.
The Buslee crew was aboard 42-102661, Big Dog, on this mission. The Tactical Interrogation form filled out by Lt. Buslee at the completion of the mission described,
- Time took off 0744
- Time landed 1526
- Target attacked at 1251 from an altitude of 27,000 ft.
- Bombs on target: 10 x 500
- Oxygen: Flow indicator in Ball Turret inoperative.
- Battle damage: Minor flak damage.
The James Brodie crew – James Brodie, Lloyd Vevle, George Hawkins, William Barnes, William Taylor, Robert Crumpton, Gordon Hetu, Wilfred Miller, and Harry Liniger – of the 545th Bomb Squadron flew on this mission in the 41B Group High Group aboard B-17 42-97309, Kathleen Lady of Victory, led by Assistant Group Operations Officer Major A. E. Bean, Jr.
The Brodie crew reportedly landed back at Grafton Underwood after completion of the mission with the bomb bay doors open.
The Brodie crew reported,
- Multiple reports of flak.
- Crew suggestion: Code word for chaff should be given over VHF on every (with “every” underlined 4 times) mission.
- Battle damage: Moderate flak damage.
Both the Buslee and Brodie crews had flown four missions in the past four days and were likely ready for a day off, which they would receive on 12 September, but both crews would participate in the 13 September mission after a needed rest.
Mission data in group reports included…
For the 41A Group,
- The 41st A Wing attacked a Target of Opportunity – a factory outside Friedberg – with very good results.
- No attacks were made on the formation.
- Flak at the target was fairly accurate, CPF and Barrage type fire.
- Fighter escort good.
- None of our aircraft are missing.
For the 41B Group,
- This Group bombed the Motor Assembly Plant at Eisenach-Stock-Hausen. Bombs hit about half mile from the N.P.I.
- Two jet propelled A/C attacked this formation, but did little damage. Crew members identified the aircraft as the ME 163.
- Flak was moderate to intense in the target area. CPF and Barrage type fire.
- Fighter escort was good and as briefed.
- One of our A.C. is missing. A/C 058 was seen to receive a direct burst of flak directly over the target on the second run. Two chutes were seen to emerge.
Notes
The James Brodie crew left crew training at Ardmore, Oklahoma at the same time as the Buslee crew on their way to the ETO, European Theatre of Operations. Both crews were assigned to the 384th Bomb Group within days of each other after reaching England although the Buslee crew was assigned to the 544th Bomb Squadron while the Brodie crew was assigned to the 545th.
The two crews participated in many of the same missions, although it is unlikely that the men of the two crews interacted in any other way as they were members of different crews and different squadrons at Grafton Underwood, although they may have recognized each other from their time at Ardmore together.
- Previous post on Mission 192
- Thank you to the 384th’s Fred Preller and Keith Ellefson for obtaining and sharing WWII reports and mission documents from the National Archives for the 384th Bomb Group.
- Mission documents and other mission information may be found, viewed, and saved or printed courtesy of Fred Preller’s 384th Bomb Group website.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2020
MISSION 191
The 384th Bomb Group’s Mission #191 was the 8th AAF’s Mission #619.
My dad, George Edwin Farrar, participated as waist gunner in his tenth mission with the 384th Bomb Group on 10 SEPTEMBER 1944, flying with the 544th Bomb Squadron’s John Oliver Buslee crew.
The 384th Bomb Group was part of the 1st Bombardment Division, 41st Combat Wing, of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, and today they flew as part of the 41st “B” Combat Wing.
The 384th Bomb Group website’s Mission Summary describes the mission as,
384th Leads Wing
The 384th Bomb Group (H) provided all aircraft for the 41st B CBW, the tenth of eleven wings in Air Task Force 3 of Eighth Air Force Mission 619. The lead and high squadrons attacked the primary target at Sindelfingen visually, after four and two bomb runs, respectively. The low squadron lost contact with the group leader and, after finding the primary target obscured by clouds, went on to bomb a target of opportunity, railroad marshaling yards between Stuttgart and Bad Cannstatt, Germany.
Mission documents, specifically the Pre-Briefing Target Study, identified the specific target of the day for the 41st “B” Combat Wing as Sindelfingen nr. [near] Stuttgart (MT Works of Daimler Benz) [BMW Motor Component Parts Plant].
The Secondary Target was the Stuttgart Marshalling yards and the Targets of Last Resort were any military positively identified as being east of the Rhine; also, Neckarsulm nr Bockingen – aircraft components (pistons).
Forty-three aircraft of the 384th Bomb Group were assigned to the mission. Of the 43,
- 35 completed the mission (not including spares)
- 1 aborted due to aircraft equipment failure
- 4 were scrubbed
- 1 flying spare, completed the mission
- 2 flying spare, returned as briefed
Bombardier Vern Arnold provided a great narrative on his introduction to the Nazi “box barrage” type of flak attack on today’s mission in Ken Decker’s Memories of the 384th Bombardment Group (H), Second Edition.
[A box barrage flak attack] is possible only at large, vital targets where there are an almost unlimited number of gun installations. All of the guns in that area are coordinated into a single overall plan in which each gun is assigned a particular spot in our bomb run path to fill it with continuously exploding shells.
As soon as they spot a group going onto its bomb run (where we cannot swerve or dodge) they begin to create a solid cut of bursting flak directly in its path. Obviously, it is impossible to squeeze 36, 105 foot wide bombers through such a nightmare without everyone getting hit and hit plenty.
Watching the group ahead of us, they seemed to be actually swallowed up in the inferno. I had to busy myself with checking the bomb control panel to maintain any semblance of self control. Seconds later, we were in it too and it was just as bad as it looked from a distance.
Arnold continued and explained how their ship was hit, lost an engine, and then a second engine, nearly needing to abandon ship. They had to limp home alone, having been abandoned by the bomber stream, and eventually made it back, but not without a flak burst near Dunkirk just before crossing the English Channel.
On Mission 191, the Buslee crew was part of the Lead Group led by Lt. Col. William R. Calhoun.
The Buslee crew flew under these leaders on this date,
- 41st “B” Combat Wing Air Commander Lt. Col. William R. Calhoun, Jr., originally of the 303rd Bomb Group, transferred to 41st CBW HQ at Molesworth as Director of Operations and Executive Officer until 23 DECEMBER 1944.
- Major Gerald Busby Sammons, (not a mission participant), 544th Bomb Squadron Commanding Officer 14 September 1944 to 6 November 1944
- Col. Dale Orville Smith (not a mission participant), 384th Bomb Group Commander 23 November 1943 to 24 October 1944
The Buslee Crew Loading List for Mission #191, with the only crew substitution in the ball turret, was:
- Pilot – John Oliver Buslee
- Co-Pilot – David Franklin Albrecht
- Navigator – Chester Anthony Rybarczyk
- Bombardier – James Buford Davis
- Radio Operator/Gunner – Sebastiano Joseph Peluso
- Engineer/Top Turret Gunner – Lenard Leroy Bryant
- Ball Turret Gunner – Paul Leland Watson
- Tail Gunner – Eugene Daniel Lucynski
- Waist Gunner – George Edwin Farrar (my dad)
Paul Leland Watson replaced Erwin Foster in the ball turret.
The Buslee crew was aboard the unnamed B-17 43-38213 on this mission. The Tactical Interrogation form filled out by Lt. Buslee at the completion of the mission described,
- Time took off 0754
- Time landed 1457
- Target attacked at 1200 from an altitude of 25,000 ft.
- Bombs on target: 12 x 500
- Observed Results, Probable damage: Hit City.
- Radio: VHF shot out over target.
- Guns and Turrets: Left solenoid upper turret is out.
- Battle damage: 15 minor flak holes; left flap to be replaced #9 Tokyo
The James Brodie crew – James Brodie, Lloyd Vevle, George Hawkins, William Barnes, William Taylor, Robert Crumpton, Gordon Hetu, Wilfred Miller, and Harry Liniger – of the 545th Bomb Squadron flew on this mission in the Lead Group aboard B-17 42-97521, The Saint.
The Brodie crew was the one crew flying spare that completed the mission. Fred Preller’s 384th Bomb Group mission notes read,
Lead Squadron flying spare; joined formation. The Brodie crew may have been originally assigned to fly 42‑97309 [Kathleen Lady of Victory], and was forced to switch aircraft for unknown reasons. Apparently they were told to go to Ground Spare Aircraft 43‑37971, but that had already been assigned to Johnstone. Again for unknown reasons, the Chadwick Crew was told to move to lead Ground Spare Aircraft 43‑37971, and turn over 42‑97521 [The Saint] to the Brodie Crew.
The Brodie crew reported,
- Armament failure: Left gun would not fire in upper turret.
- Technical failure, aircraft: Entire interphone [system] went out on route back.
- Battle damage: Moderate flak damage.
Mission data in group reports included,
- The Lead and High groups bombed the primary target with unobserved results.
- The Low group bombed a target of opportunity (Zuffenhousen) with poor results.
- No enemy fighters were observed.
- Flak at the target was moderate to intense and fairly accurate. Both CPF and Barrage type fires being employed. Rockets were also fired upon this formation. Without any visual damage being done.
- Fighter escort was good and as briefed.
Notes
The James Brodie crew left crew training at Ardmore, Oklahoma at the same time as the Buslee crew on their way to the ETO, European Theatre of Operations. Both crews were assigned to the 384th Bomb Group within days of each other after reaching England although the Buslee crew was assigned to the 544th Bomb Squadron while the Brodie crew was assigned to the 545th.
The two crews participated in many of the same missions, although it is unlikely that the men of the two crews interacted in any other way as they were members of different crews and different squadrons at Grafton Underwood, although they may have recognized each other from their time at Ardmore together.
- Previous post on Mission 191
- Thank you to the 384th’s Fred Preller and Keith Ellefson for obtaining and sharing WWII reports and mission documents from the National Archives for the 384th Bomb Group.
- Mission documents and other mission information may be found, viewed, and saved or printed courtesy of Fred Preller’s 384th Bomb Group website.
- Vern Arnold also wrote the story of his WWII experiences in his book B-17 Bombardier – A History of An Air Crew Member of the 384th Bomb Group.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2020
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