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The B-17 Bombardier
My dad, George Edwin Farrar, was a waist/flexible gunner with the John Oliver Buslee crew of the 384th Bomb Group of the 8th Army Air Forces in World War II. On 28 September 1944, the Buslee crew and the James Joseph Brodie crew of the same group became forever connected when the B-17’s they were aboard on a combat mission over Germany suffered a mid-air collision.
I am currently updating the biographical information of the men of these two crews, and I thought it would be a good time to explain the duties involved in each position of the airmen aboard the aircraft, the B-17. I have recently updated the information of the four 384th Bomb Group Bombardiers and one Togglier who flew with the John Oliver Buslee crew of the 544th Bomb Squadron and the James Joseph Brodie crew of the 545th Bomb Squadron.
Marvin Fryden, assigned Buslee crew bombardier
- Born 8 January 1921
- Died 5 August 1944, age 23
- Buried Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England, Plot E, Row 2, Grave 4
- 384th BG Personnel Record
- The Family of Marvin Fryden
- Marvin Fryden, Update
James Buford Davis, Jung crew bombardier & Buslee crew replacement bombardier after Fryden’s death
- Born 5 October 1921
- Died 20 December 2009, age 88
- Cremated, Greater South Side Crematory, Greenwood, Johnson County, Indiana, USA
- 384th BG Personnel Record
- James B. Davis
- More Information About James B. Davis
- James Buford Davis, Update – Part 1
- James Buford Davis, Update – Part 2
Robert Sumner Stearns, Durdin crew bombardier, but bombardier of the Buslee crew on 28 September 1944
- Born 25 August 1923
- Died 28 September 1944, age 21
- Buried Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, San Mateo County, California, USA, Section B, Site 302
- Memorial marker at Family/Home Cemetery at Juniper Haven Cemetery, Prineville, Crook County, Oregon, USA
- 384th BG Personnel Record
- Robert Sumner Stearns
- Robert Sumner Stearns, Update
William Douglas Barnes, Jr., assigned Brodie crew bombardier
- Born 20 May 1919
- Died 6 December 1990, age 71
- Buried Riverside Cemetery, Hastings, Barry County, Michigan, USA
- 384th BG Personnel Record
- William D. Barnes, Jr.
- More Information About William D. Barnes, Jr.
- William Douglas Barnes, Jr., Update
Byron Leverne Atkins, Chadwick crew flexible (waist) gunner, but togglier of the Brodie crew on 28 September 1944
- Born 10 November 1924
- Died 28 September 1944, age 19
- Buried Oak Hill Cemetery, Lebanon, Boone County, Indiana, USA
- 384th BG Personnel Record
- Byron L. Atkins
- Byron Leverne “Bud” Atkins, Update
For a list of all of the airmen of the Buslee and Brodie crews, see permanent page The Buslee and Brodie Crews, which is maintained with new information/posts.
Duties and Responsibilities of the B-17 Bombardier
According to the 303rd Bomb Group’s website, the bombardier’s job was the most important of the entire B-17 crew as “accurate and effective bombing is the ultimate purpose of your entire airplane and crew.” This makes “every other function … preparatory to hitting and destroying the target.”
But the bombardier could not act alone. The B-17’s pilot and bombardier worked together to set up the conditions for the bomb run. Many factors were involved in positioning the aircraft and setting the course from the initial point of the run to the target.
The success of the mission rested on the accomplishment of the bombardier during the bomb run, which made up just a matter of minutes, between the initial point of the run and the target, of the multi-hours long mission to the target.
Some of the many things a bombardier must understand were his aircraft’s,
- Bombsight
- Bombing instruments and equipment
- Racks, switches, controls, releases, doors, linkage, etc.
- Automatic pilot as it pertains to bombing and how to set it up and make any adjustments and minor repairs while in flight
- Bombs and how to load and fuse them
The bombardier must be an expert in target identification and in aircraft identification and he should be able to assist the navigator in case the navigator becomes incapacitated.
Please refer to the 303rd Bomb Group’s website for the full list of bombardier responsibilities and much more detailed information.
My next post will cover the process and actions necessary for a successful bomb run.
The B-17 Togglier
According to an article posted on the Carlsbad Army Airfield’s public Facebook page,
When there was a shortage of bombardier graduates coming into the operational units, the continental air forces completed their crews with enlisted men who had received individual bombardier training in their own units.
While a good portion of the aircraft in the formation, especially the lead aircraft, carried bombardier school graduates as their bombardiers, many carried toggliers.
Bombardiers were commissioned officers who graduated from bombardier school as part of their stateside training. Toggliers were enlisted men who did not did not attend bombardier school in the States before going overseas into combat.
The togglier was usually a gunner who was retrained and reassigned to sit in the bombardier’s seat in the nose of the aircraft. The togglier was trained to “toggle” a switch to release his aircraft’s bomb load as soon as the lead bombardier released his bombs.
When the standard bombing procedure changed for the non-lead crew/aircraft bombardiers and toggliers to drop their bombs with the lead bombardier, many bombardier graduates pursued lead bombardier training or navigator training within their combat groups.
Location of the Bombardier in a B-17
The bombardier of a B-17 sits over the bombsight in the Plexiglas nose of the aircraft. Should the bombardier have to bail out of the aircraft, he would likely bail out through the door below the nose.
In the following diagram, Robert Stearns is noted in the bombardier position in the nose of the aircraft along with the other Buslee crew members in their positions on September 28, 1944.
Buslee Crew in Position on September 28, 1944
Diagram courtesy of 91st Bomb Group and modified by Cindy Farrar Bryan in 2014
B-17 Bombardier Position Photos
I took the following photo of the Collings Foundation’s B-17 Nine-O-Nine a few years before its tragic crash. It shows the nose of the B-17 with the navigator’s table in the left foreground and the bombardier’s seat in the front of the nose in the middle.
Nose position of the navigator and bombardier of the Collings Foundation’s B-17G Nine-o-Nine In Leesburg, Florida, November 4, 2017
This photo, shared by photographer John Slemp, shows a much better view of the bombardier’s position.
© (2009) John Slemp
To see more of John Slemp’s photographs, or to purchase his book of photos of WWII Bomber Boys’ flight jacket art, please visit his website.
Stories of 384th Bomb Group Bombardiers and Toggliers
I thought it might also be interesting to read stories, diaries, and journals written by or view video interviews of some of the 384th’s own bombardiers. You’ll find a chart of several bombardiers of the 384th Bomb Group below with links to their personnel records and their written and oral histories as are provided on the Stories page of 384thBombGroup.com.
Sources and Further Reading
303rd Bomb Group: Duties and Responsibilities of the Bombardier
303rd Bomb Group: Military Occupational Specialty
B-17 Flying Fortress Queen of the Skies, Crew Positions, Bombardier
TM 12-427 Military Occupational Classification of Enlisted Personnel
The Military Yearbook Project – Army Air Force WWII Codes
The Army Air Forces in World War II: VI, Men and Planes, Edited by W.F. Craven and J.L. Cate, Chapter 19: Training of Ground Technicians and Service Personnel
Training to Fly: Military Flight Training 1907 – 1945 by Rebecca Hancock Cameron
Facebook post from Carlsbad Army Airfield, Bombardier Training
Carlsbad Army Airfield public Facebook page
Thank you to the 91st Bomb Group for granting me permission in 2014 to use and modify their B-17 diagram for use on The Arrowhead Club.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2021
Robert Sumner Stearns, Update
Robert Sumner Stearns
Photo courtesy of family members Kathy Stearns Anderson and Maradee Stearns
New information from a new search on Ancestry.com, and new information from military records have provided me with some new and updated information regarding Robert Sumner Stearns, the bombardier flying with the John Oliver Buslee crew of the 544th Bomb Squadron of the 384th Bomb Group of the 8th Army Air Forces in WWII on 28 September 1944.
To view my original post and other information about Robert Stearns, please see the links at the end of this post.
Stearns Family
Robert “Bobby” Sumner Stearns was the son of Carey Sumner Stearns (1894 – 1966) and Betty Hunt Stearns (1896 – 1970) of LaPine, Deschutes County, Oregon. Robert was born 25 August 1923 in LaPine. LaPine is about thirty miles southwest of Bend, Oregon.
Robert had an older brother, James Gerry (Jim) Stearns (1922 – 2003). The Stearns were a farming/ranching family.
Robert’s and James’ great-grandfather on their father’s side led a family wagon train to Oregon from Illinois in 1853 over the Applegate Trail through northern California. Their mother’s family also were Oregon pioneers, arriving in the 1850’s.
In 1930, the Stearns family lived on Freemond Highway in LaPine, Deschutes County, Oregon. Father Carey S. Stearns was 35 years old, mother Betty M. Stearns was 34, brother James G. Stearns was 8, and Robert S. Stearns was 6. Carey Stearns was a farmer. All of the Stearns were born in Oregon.
In 1940, the family still lived in LaPine, Deschutes County, Oregon. Father Carey S. Stearns was 45 years old, mother Betty M. Stearns was 45, brother James G. Stearns was 18, and Robert S. Stearns was 16. Carey Stearns was a farmer.
Education and Civilian Employment prior to Military Service
Robert Stearns graduated from LaPine High School. He worked at Douglas Aircraft Corporation in Los Angeles, California at the time he registered for the WWII draft. He completed one year of college at Oregon State and was attending the college when he entered the service.
James Stearns also attended Oregon State University and worked for the U.S. Forestry Service before entering WWII as a flight instructor.
Entry into WWII Military Service
Draft Registration
On 30 June 1942, Robert Stearns registered for the WWII draft at Local Board No. 273 in Los Angeles County, California at 411 Jergins Trust Building. He listed his place of residence as 1859 Walnut, Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California. Robert’s Employer’s Name was Douglas Aircraft Corporation and place of employment was Lakewood & Carson St., Long Beach, Los Angeles, California. He was 18 years old and born on 25 August 1923 in LaPine, Oregon.
Mr. Carey S. Stearns (Robert’s father) of LaPine, Oregon was the person who would always know his address.
Robert described himself as 5′ 6 1/4″ tall, 160 pounds, with blue eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion. He noted as an “other obvious physical characteristic that will aid in identification” both a scar on the index finger of his left hand and a scar over his right eye.
Enlistment
On 19 August 1942, Robert Stearns enlisted in the Reserve Air Corps at Portland, Oregon. Robert’s enlistment record notes his residence as Deschutes County, Oregon and that he was born in Oregon in 1923. His Army Serial Number at the time of enlistment was 19122996. Note: Officers were reassigned with a new serial number when they were commissioned and Robert’s later become O-761314.
Note: Robert’s enlistment record is found in the Reserve Corps Records, rather than in the Enlistment Records file, link below.
At the time of his enlistment, Robert Stearns had completed 1 year of college and was single, having no one dependent on him for support.
Military Training
Robert Sumner Stearns graduated from Bombardier School at Deming AAF, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Class #43-17, 12 April 1943.
While I do not have an official military record of Robert’s other military training schools, dates, and stations, I do find some information as appeared in the newspaper.
As reported in The Bend [Oregon] Bulletin on Friday, 25 June 1943,
Lapine, June 25 (Special) … Robert Stearns, son of Mr. and Mrs. [Carey] Stearns, is stationed at Kingman, Ariz., where he will study aerial gunnery for six weeks or two months.
As reported in The Bend Bulletin on Saturday, 18 December 1943,
Lapine, Dec. 18 (Special) … Mr. and Mrs. Carey Stearns and son, Lt. Robert Stearns, spent the weekend in Prineville with Carey’s mother Mrs. Frances Stearns. …
… Lt. Robert Stearns left for Avon Park, Fla., Tuesday.
Military Service
Brothers Robert and James Stearns both served in WWII. James first became a flight instructor and later trained to be a turret mechanic and gunner on a B-29.
Robert trained to become a bombardier and was assigned to the 544th Bomb Squadron of the 384th Bomb Group at Grafton Underwood, England.
As reported in The Bend [Oregon] Bulletin on Saturday, 3 June 1944,
Lapine, June 1 (Special) … Mr. and Mrs. Carey Stearns received a letter from their son, Lt. Robert Stearns, bombardier, stating that he was overseas and in good health.
Combat Duty in World War II with the 384th Bomb Group
Robert Stearns’ 384th Bomb Group Individual Sortie record indicates that his duty was Bombardier, one month’s pay was $247.50, and his home address was Mr. Carey S. Stearns, P.O. Box 113, LaPine, Oregon.
Morning Reports of the 384th Bombardment Group and other military documents indicate the following for Robert Sumner Stearns
- On 15 JUNE 1944, 2nd Lt. Robert Sumner Stearns was assigned to the 544th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), per AAF Station 106 Special Orders #113 dated 15 June 1944 as Bombardier with the MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) of 1035, of the Larkin Durdin crew.
- On 14 SEPTEMBER 1944, Robert Stearns was appointed 1st Lieutenant.
- On 28 SEPTEMBER 1944, Robert Stearns went from duty to MIA (Missing in Action). He was subsequently declared KIA (Killed in Action) on that date.
Robert was credited with seventeen missions with the 384th Bomb Group. His first mission was on 21 June 1944 and his last was on 28 September 1944.
Medals and Decorations
Robert Sumner Stearns earned the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, and although I find no record, should have also received the Purple Heart.
Casualty of War
Robert Sumner Stearns, Durdin crew bombardier, but participating on the 28 September 1944 mission to Magdeburg, Germany as bombardier of the Buslee crew, died on that date, at the age of 21. Robert is buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, San Mateo County, California, USA, Section B, Site 302, and has a memorial marker at Family/Home Cemetery at Juniper Haven Cemetery, Prineville, Crook County, Oregon.
As reported in The Bend [Oregon] Bulletin on Saturday, 23 December 1944,
Robert Stearns Dies in Action
Article courtesy of The Bend Bulletin, 23 December 1944
Transcription:
Robert Stearns Dies in Action
Reported missing since September 28 in action over Germany, Lt. Robert S. Stearns, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carey Stearns, Lapine, was killed in action, his parents were notified today by the war department.
Meager information received by relatives indicates that Lt. Stearns, a bombardier, was in a plane shot down only ten miles from Berlin. The young officer, a graduate from Lapine high school, went overseas last May. He was attending Oregon State college when he entered the service.
Aside from his parents, Lt. Stearns is survived by one brother, Pvt. James Stearns, now at Fort Lewis. Marshall T. Hunt, Bend, is an uncle.
After the War
Robert Stearns’ brother James, described as a third generation central Oregon cattle rancher, homesteaded in the Tulelake, California area [Tulelake is about three miles south of the California-Oregon state line] from 1947 through 1967, farming grain and hay and also working as a crop duster pilot.
James Stearns was very involved in civic affairs in Modoc County, California and was Modoc County supervisor from 1951 until 1967. He was also the Vice-Chairman of the California Klamath River Compact Commission.
He was director of the California Department of Conservation for then Governor Ronald Reagan from 1967 through 1971. On Sept. 15, 1972 Governor Ronald Reagan appointed him Secretary of the Agriculture and Services Agency and a member of the Governors Cabinet.
He served in that position until 1975. He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as the Chairman of the Board, Securities Investor Protection Corporation in Washington, D.C.
~per James Stearns’ FindAGrave.com memorial
Notes/Links
Previous post, Robert Sumner Stearns
Robert Stearns’ Personnel Record courtesy of the 384th Bomb Group
Robert Stearns’ Enlistment Record in the online National Archives (in the Reserve Corps records)
MOS means Military Occupational Specialty
Previous post, Assigned Military Operational Specialties of the Buslee and Brodie Crews
Previous post, Timeline for Buslee Crewmembers and Substitutes, 544th Bomb Squadron
Missing Air Crew Report 9753 for the Buslee crew on the 28 September 1944 mid-air collision in which Sebastiano was killed, courtesy of the 384th Bomb Group
Missing Air Crew Report 9366 for the Brodie crew on 28 September 1944 courtesy of the 384th Bomb Group
Robert Sumner Stearns’ Find a Grave memorials
Brother, James Gerry Stearns’ Find A Grave memorial
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2023
The Boys
On September 28, 1944, the Lead Banana, manned by the Buslee crew, and the Lazy Daisy, manned by the Brodie crew collided after coming off the target at Magdeburg, Germany. Neither crew of the 384th Bomb Group was the original crew as assigned.
That day, the Buslee crew was made up of five original crew members and four fill-ins. The Brodie crew was made up of seven original members and two fill-ins.
These are the two crews as they were that day:
The Buslee crew aboard Lead Banana, 544th Bomb Squad
PILOT John Oliver Buslee, original Buslee crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
John Oliver Buslee
CO-PILOT David Franklin Albrecht, original Buslee crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
David Franklin Albrecht
NAVIGATOR William Alvin Henson II, Gerald Sammons crew, KIA 9/28/1944
William Alvin Henson II
BOMBARDIER Robert Sumner Stearns, Larkin Durden crew, KIA 9/28/1944
(Possibly) Robert Sumner Stearns
RADIO OPERATOR Sebastiano Joseph Peluso, original Buslee crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
Sebastiano Joseph Peluso
ENGINEER/TOP TURRET GUNNER Lenard Leroy Bryant, original Buslee crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
Lenard Leroy Bryant
BALL TURRET GUNNER George Francis McMann, Jr., Stanley Gilbert crew, KIA 9/28/1944
George McMann
TAIL GUNNER Gerald Lee Andersen, Joe Ross Carnes crew, KIA 9/28/1944
Gerald Lee Andersen
FLEXIBLE GUNNER George Edwin Farrar, original Buslee crew member, POW Stalag Luft IV
George Edwin Farrar
The Brodie crew aboard Lazy Daisy, 545th Bomb Squad
PILOT James Joseph Brodie, original Brodie crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
James Joseph Brodie
CO-PILOT Lloyd Oliver Vevle, original Brodie crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
Lloyd Oliver Vevlve
NAVIGATOR George Marshall Hawkins, Jr., original Brodie crew member, POW Obermassfeld Hospital #1249 (served Stalag 9-C)
No photo available
TOGGLIER Byron Leverne Atkins, James Chadwick crew, KIA 9/28/1944
No photo available
RADIO OPERATOR Donald William Dooley, from Group Headquarters, KIA 9/28/1944
Donald William Dooley
ENGINEER/TOP TURRET GUNNER Robert Doyle Crumpton, original Brodie crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
Robert Doyle Crumpton
BALL TURRET GUNNER Gordon Eugene Hetu, original Brodie crew member, KIA 9/28/1944
Gordon Eugene Hetu
Photo courtesy of Anne Fisher via Ancestry.com
TAIL GUNNER Wilfred Frank Miller, original Brodie crew member, POW Stalag Luft IV
No photo available
FLEXIBLE GUNNER Harry Allen Liniger, original Brodie crew member, POW Stalag Luft IV
Harry Allen Liniger
Fourteen out of the eighteen boys aboard the two B-17’s were lost that day. Not only did they leave behind grieving parents and siblings, but they also left behind at least five wives and three children.
I have connected with many children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews of these boys. If I have not connected with you yet, and you are related to any of them, please comment or e-mail me. If anyone can provide pictures of those I don’t have yet, that would be greatly appreciated. They all deserve to be honored for their service and their fight for our freedom.
Sortie reports provided by the 384th Bomb Group.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2017
Robert Sumner Stearns
Robert Sumner (Bobby) Stearns was born August 25, 1923 to Carey Sumner Stearns (1894 – 1966) and Betty Hunt Stearns (1896 – 1970) of LaPine, Deschutes County, Oregon. Older brother James Gerry (Jim) had been born a year earlier, in 1922. The Stearns were a farming/ranching family.
Both of the Stearns’ sons served in WWII. Jim first became a flight instructor and later trained to be a turret mechanic and gunner on a B-29. Robert enlisted in the Army Air Corps on August 19, 1942. He trained to become a bombardier and was assigned to the 544th Bomb Squad of the 384th Bomb Group at Grafton Underwood, England on AAF Station 106 Special Orders #113 dated June 15, 1944 as part of the Larkin C. Durdin crew.
Robert’s first mission as a bombardier was Mission #142 on June 21, 1944 to Berlin. By June 28, he had flown his last mission with the Durdin crew. After that, he served as bombardier on several different crews. In a letter to the Stearns family in January 1945, Durdin explained the reason that their son was flying with other crews was that Durdin had started flying lead, but Bob had not been checked out as lead.
The Stearns’ local paper reported on August 26, 1944 that Robert had earned an air medal.
LaPine Aviator Wins Air Medal Over Europe
An Eighth AAF Bomber Station, England, Aug. 26 (Special)
Award of the air medal for “exceptionally meritorious achievement while participating in sustained bomber combat operations over enemy occupied continental Europe” to 2nd Lt. Robert S. Stearns, 20, Box 113, Lapine, was announced today.
Lt. Stearns, a bombardier on a B-17 Flying Fortress, has taken part in more than 10 bombing attacks against targets in Germany and occupied countries. The son of Carey S. Stearns of the same address, he attended Oregon State college and worked as a ranch foreman…
On September 27, 1944 on Mission #200, Robert replaced James B. Davis as the John Oliver (Jay) Buslee crew’s bombardier. Mission #200 was Robert’s sixteenth credited mission.
On his seventeenth credited mission on September 28, Mission #201, Robert replaced Davis on the Buslee crew as bombardier for the second time. After coming off the target at Magdeburg, Germany, Lazy Daisy carrying the Brodie crew collided with Lead Banana carrying the Buslee crew. Of the Buslee crew, only waist gunner George Edwin Farrar survived. Robert and the other members of the Buslee crew were killed in the mid-air collision.
The local paper announced that Robert was missing in action, article date unknown.
Lt. Robert Stearns is Missing, Parents Told
Lapine, (Special) – First Lieut. Robert Stearns has been missing in action over Germany since September 28, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Carey Stearns, Lapine, have been notified by the war department.
Lt. Stearns, a bombardier, was a graduate from the Lapine high school.
Classified as missing in action since the collision, the Stearns learned on December 23, 1944 that their son, Bobby, had been killed on the September 28 mission. The local newspaper ran an article regarding Robert’s death.
Lt. Robert S. Stearns is Killed in Action
Bend, Dec. 23 – Reported missing since September 28, in action over Germany, Lt. Robert S. Stearns, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carey Stearns, Lapine, was killed in action, his parents were notified today by the war department.
Meager information received by relatives indicates that Lt. Stearns, a bombardier, was in a plane shot down only ten miles from Berlin. The young officer, a graduate from Lapine high school, went overseas last May. He was attending Oregon State college when he entered the service.
Aside from his parents, Lt. Stearns is survived by one brother, Pvt. James Stearns, now at Fort Lewis. Marshall T. Hunt, Bend, is an uncle.
Lt. Robert Stearns was a grandson of Mrs. Frances E. Stearns, and a nephew of Harry and the Misses Lora and Nora Stearns, of Prineville.
Robert Sumner Stearns lost his life barely a month past his twenty-first birthday. He was first buried in the cemetery at Ost Ingersleben, near the Lead Banana crash site. He was later buried in the U.S. Military Cemetery at Margraten, Holland in Plot “L” Row 12, Grave 299.
After the end of the war, Robert’s body was returned to the states and he was buried in Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, San Mateo County, California, Section B, Site 302.
He also has a memorial marker in the Stearns family section at the Juniper Haven Cemetery, Prineville, Crook Co, Oregon.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2015
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