I am continuing my series of articles based on the entries from Kit C. Carter and Robert Mueller’s U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Combat Chronology 1941 – 1945 and Jack McKillop’s USAAF Chronology: Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces. Both combat chronologies are excellent sources of information regarding combat missions in World War II and I thank the authors for sharing them online.

These articles are concentrated on the operations of the 8th Army Air Forces on the missions on which the John Oliver Buslee crew and James Joseph Brodie crew of the 384th Bomb Group participated. The statistics of other dates and missions and of other branches of the American Air Forces and theaters of operation of World War II are available through the links provided in this article to these two sources for those interested.

Today’s installment is the 10 September 1944 mission in which the Buslee crew and Brodie crew participated.

WWII Combat Chronology – Sunday, 10 September 1944

384th BG Mission 191/8th AF Mission 619 to Sindelfingen, Germany.

Target: Industry, the BMW Motor Component Parts Plant.

The John Oliver Buslee crew of the 544th Bomb Squadron and the James Joseph Brodie crew of the 545th Bomb Squadron participated in this mission.

Carter and Mueller’s U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Combat Chronology 1941 – 1945 entry:

Over 1,000 HBs attack aircraft, tank, motor transport and engine plants, A/Fs, and jet-propulsion units plant in SC Germany, along with Ulm and Heilbronn M/Ys and several other secondary and T/Os. 12 gps of escorting ftrs claim 6 aircraft destroyed in air and 73 on ground. 12 HBs and 12 ftrs are lost. 3 P-47 gps strafe A/Fs and ground and rail traffic in sweep over Cologne, Frankfurt/Main, and Kassel areas, claiming destruction of 40 parked planes. 8 P-47’s are lost, mostly to flak.

Jack McKillop’s USAAF Chronology: Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces entry:

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 4 missions are flown.

1. Mission 619 to targets in the Stuttgart, Germany area. The Buslee and Brodie crews participated in this mission.
2. Mission 620 to trial the GB-4 radio/visual control bomb against Duren, Germany.
3. Mission 621, a radar and photo reconnaissance mission over Germany, and a leaflet drop on France, the Netherlands, and Germany during the night.
4. B-24 and C-47 CARPETBAGGER mission during the night.

Also, P-47s strafe airfields and ground and rail traffic in a sweep over the Cologne, Frankfurt/Main, and Kassel areas.

Mission 619: 1,144 bombers and 570 fighters are dispatched to targets in the Stuttgart, Germany area; 7 bombers are lost mostly to flak and 5 fighters are lost:

1. 388 B-24s are dispatched and hit secondary targets, the marshalling yards at Ulm (247) and Heilbronn (100); 2 others bomb targets of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 65 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 2 WIA and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 153 P-38s and P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 1 P-38 and 3 P-51s damaged; 1 pilot is KIA and 2 MIA.
2. 385 B-17s are dispatched to hit a tank factory at Nurnberg (173), Giebelstadt Airfield (112) and an aircraft components plant at Furth (60); 8 others hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost and 147 damaged; 7 airmen are WIA and 28 MIA. Escort is provided by 221 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 38-0-44 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost and 2 damaged; 3 pilots are MIA.
3. 372 B-17s are dispatched to attack a motor vehicle factory at Gaggenau (140), a jet-propulsion units plant at Zuffenhausen (116) and an engine factory at Sindelfingen (73); 19 others hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost, 5 damaged beyond repair and 169 damaged; 9 airmen are WIA and 27 MIA. Escort is provided by 135 of 153 P-51s; they claim 1-1-0 aircraft in the air and 29-0-1 on the ground without loss.

Links/Sources

• The Buslee crew’s and Brodie crew’s participation in 384th Bomb Group Mission 191/8th AF Mission 619
• Kit C. Carter and Robert Mueller’s U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Combat Chronology 1941 – 1945
• Jack McKillop’s Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces

Except for entries from Carter and Mueller’s U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Combat Chronology 1941 – 1945 and McKillop’s Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces © Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2022