Mission 35: Ebreichsdorf, Austria

[caodwolf]

B-24J:  FLYING HOME


Pilot: 1Lt. M. Kucek
Assignment:  15th Air Force,  509th Bomber Group, 78th Squadron
Mission Date: 23-May-1944
Mission No.: 35
Mission this Bomber: 3
Target for Today:  Elbreichsdorf, Austria -  Aircraft Factor
Squadron Position:  Low
Result:   DNB  - LOST IN ACTION
 

The Flying Home was lost over Elbreichsdorf.    Flak blew off the starboard wing and no chutes were spotted.   Bomber impacted within the city.

Crew Manifest

Position	Rank	Name	Missions Flown	Kills this Mission	Total Kills	Awards	Status
Pilot	1Lt	M. Kucek	9	---	---	AM, PH	KIA
Co-Pilot	2Lt	C. Lawson	2	---	---	---	KIA
Bombardier	2Lt	M. 'Colonel' Collins	2	---	---	---	KIA
Navigator	2Lt	S. 'The Brain' Zell	4	---	---	PH	KIA
Top Turret/Engineer	S/Sgt	B. 'Boltze'  Boltz	2	---	---	---	KIA
Radio Op	Sgt	E. Karabinos	2	---	---	---	KIA
Chin Turret	S/Sgt	A. 'AJ'  Weiss	4	1	1	---	KIA
Stbd Waist	Sgt	B. 'Rogers'  Gilbert	4	---	---	---	KIA
Ball Turret	Sgt	P. Datello	2	---	---	---	KIA
Tail Turret	S/Sgt	S.  Young	2	---	---	---	KIA

 

[caodwolf]

B-24J:  WILEY WITCH


Pilot: 1Lt. E. Andreoli
Assignment:  15th Air Force,  509th Bomber Group, 78th Squadron
Mission Date: 23-May-1944
Mission No.: 35
Mission this Bomber:1
Target for Today:  Elbreichsdorf, Austria -  Aircraft Factory
Squadron Position:  Low
Result:   20%
 

Just follow the pack was the final instructions relayed to me as the Wiley Witch and her entire crew are flying our first mission in combat.

Clear sailing up to target where all hell broke loose.  Several waives of German fighters and Flak.   We survived all of that but our Bombardier didn't as he passed out on the bomb run due to anoxia. 

The Navigator toggled bomb release as soon as the 78th dropped ordnance  then we skedaddled.    On the egress the Ball Turret gunner mentioned something like 'where is the rest of the squadron ?" .  Then he cut out as the intercom failed.   But we did notice many B-24's were MIA.

On the inbound we were attacked by Italian fighters and #1 engine was hit again and feathered.  

But that was that and we returned to base without further incident. Surprisingly our gunners were credited with three kills.

Over and out....

Crew Manifest

Position	Rank	Name	Missions Flown	Kills this Mission	Total Kills	Awards	Status
Pilot	1Lt	E.  Andreoli	1	---	---	---	OK
Co-Pilot	2Lt	P. 'Sneakers' Bandonis	1	---	---	---	OK
Bombardier	2Lt	J. Tallo	1	---	---	---	OK
Navigator	2Lt	R.  'Pretty Boy'  Savoy	1	---	---	---	OK
Top Turret/Engineer	Sgt	D.  Zimmer	1	1	1	---	OK
Radio Op	Sgt	D.  Martin	1	---	---	---	OK
Chin Turret	Sgt	M.  Lee	1	---	---	---	OK
Stbd Waist	Sgt	R.  Heuske	1	1/2	1/2	---	OK
Ball Turret	Sgt	C.  Garris  III	1	1	1	---	OK
Tail Turret	Sgt	P. Henneman	1	1/2	1/1	---	OK

 

Convalescing

Sgt  B Peterson, Radio:              RTD  20-July-1944
S/Sgt B Burgess.  Bombardier:   RTD  28-May-1944
2LT S Zell, Navigator:                RTD: 13-June-1944

Medals / Promotions

Purple Heart


None

Fighters Encountered

 

FTR	Spotted	Driven-Off	Damaged	Not-Damaged	Claimed - Credited
ME-109	15	12	2	1	1      1
FW-190	9	6	2	1	---
ME-110	1	---	---	---	1      1
JU-88	1	1	---	---	---
C-205	5	---	3	2	1      1
TOTALS	31	19	7	4	3     3

B-24J Damage:

*  92  *

-Bombardier - Anoxia
-#1 Engine hit -  superficial
-Intercom out
-Port wing flap
-#1 Engine hit again >  runaway >  feathered >  out

[Keltos]

After-Action Report

B-17G-20BO-42-31444 – “Lady Liza”
79th Bomber Squadron, 509th Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force

Commander: 1st Lt. M. Adkins

Mission Date: 23 May 1944

Mission Number: 35

Mission of this bomber: 8

Formation: High
Position: Middle

Target: Ebreichsdorf, Austria
Target Type: Aircraft Factory

Bomb Run: On Target - 95%

Lady Luck Smile #: 0;

CREW

Position	Rank - Name	Missions	Mission Kills	Total Kills	Awards	Status	Stress Point
Pilot	1st Lt. Mark Adkins	8	n/a	n/a	AM	RTD	0
Co-Pilot	2nd Lt. Roy Edwards	8	n/a	n/a	AM	RTD	0
Bombardier	2nd Lt. Greg Swanson	2	1	1	PH / DFC	RTD	0
Navigator	2nd Lt. Rudolph "Rudy" Livingston	4	0	0		RTD	0
Engineer	T/Sgt Daniel Yelton	8	0	2	AM	RTD	0
Radio Op.	T/Sgt Jerry Castillo	8	0	0	AM	RTD	0
Ball Gunner	S/Sgt Steve McGowan	8	0	0	AM	RTD	0
Port WG	Sgt Paul Morgan	8	0	.5	AM / PH	LW	0
Starboard WG	Sgt Jessie Henson	8	1	1.5	AM	RTD	0
Tail Gunner	Sgt Norman Fisher	8	0	1.5	AM	RTD	0

Crew Chief: s/Sgt Jasper Styers (Average Joe) - 8 missions;


E/A Encountered

Type	No.	Intercepted	Destroyed	Damaged
Fw-190	13	9	1	0
Me-109	5	1	2	0
Me-410	0	0	0	0
Me-210	0	0	0	0
Ju-88	0	0	0	0
Total	18	10	3	0

Claims:
- T/Sgt Daniel Yelton: 1 Fw-190 claimed - no credit awarded
- Sgt Jessie Henson: 1 Me-109 claimed - full credit awarded

- Sgt Jessie Henson: 1 Me-109 claimed - no credit awarded

- 2nd Lt. Greg Swanson: 1 Me-109 claimed - full credit awarded

Damage:
- Superficial x2: 2
- Tail control cable n/e: 5
- Right wing surface n/e: 5
- Navig. Equipment inop: 10
- LW x1: 2

Peckham Points: 24pts - overnight routine maintenance

Casualties:
- Sgt Paul Morgan: LW abdomen cut - RTD 

Awards:
DFC: 2nd Lt. Greg Swanson (95% bombs on target)
PH: Sgt Paul Morgan

Promotions:--


AAR (flown with TFT)


Giulia Airbase: Take off and assembly went smooth.

Zone 2-10 Outbound: Nothing to report.

Zone 11 Outbound/Inbound (Target Zone): Attacked by 9 enemy fighters in three successive waves. The escort fighters did an excellent job intercepting and removing 7 of them, while the others preferred to head towards other targets after an exchange of fire that did not cause damage to both sides.
Although the Flak was very heavy, our ship did not suffer any damage. This situation of relative calm allowed our bombardier 2nd Lt. Swanson to keep the aircraft level and to make all the settings for a textbook launch.
Immediately after the bombing the Flak fell silent, perhaps they had felt the hard blow suffered.
3 Fw-190s tried to attack us but the escort kept a good guard and kept them away from us.

Zone 10-8 Inbound: Nothing to report.

Zone 7 Inbound: 3 Fw-190 on us, one shot down the others moved away.

Zone 6 Inbound:  Nothing to report.

Zone 5 Inbound: Attacked by 3 Me-109s: one in vertical dive did not hit us and continued further; we managed to shoot down the 1.30H one, but the 12Low one, probably piloted by an ace, managed to hit us and slightly wound the Sgt Morgan, but on his second pass he had no chance and was shot down.

Zone 4-2 Inbound: Nothing to report.

Giulia Airbase: Landed safely.

-------------------------------------------------

Mark Adkins, 1st Lt., USAAF, 
Commanding B-17G: Lady Liza (B-17G-20BO-42-31444)
79th Bomber Squadron, 509th (H) Bombardment Group

[GaryK]

Personal Diary of 1st. Lieutenant Louis M. Marlowe

I can't believe it - all of the guys gone in a second.

Nobody really knows what happened. I've spoken to several people in the squadron who had a view of the Patch. Seems that they were under heavy attack as they closed on the target, and were giving a good account of themselves. More than one bandit was observed being taken out of the game. Everyone saw the explosion under the plane of a 190 that Crawford must have dealt with.

While everyone was busy with their own defence, enough of them commented to make it pretty certain that the gunners on my plane were firing up until the last second available. Then the poor old Patch ran out of luck and vanished in a massive fireball. It's pretty certain that one of the many shots at the plane managed to detonate the bombs before they were dropped.

It seems strange that I'm still here when everyone I've flown and trained with is dead. I can't help feeling guilty at my relief that I wasn't flying today. I guess I have a whole bunch of 'those letters' to write, which won't help those feelings. I'll need to see the XO and find out which replacements were on board along with the usual crew. I know Nate was, and that's another dagger of guilt stabbing at me. I asked him, as a favour, to cover for me to ensure that my crew had an experienced pilot at the controls. I can't help thinking that I sent him to his death, despite him being keen to get the last few missions he needed to complete his tour.

This has really got to me, and I'll have to leave it a day or so before facing up to the writing I've got to do. Something that I didn't imagine in my darkest moments.

[OOC: The Patch was going well, coping with a total of 11 bandits across 3 waves as it flew towards the target. Unfortunately, despite the gunners splashing four of those, plus another couple of FBOA results, a 190 managed to put a shell into the bomb bay that caused the load to detonate.]

[Grondeaux]

B-24J-25-CF 42-99881 Palpatatin’ Pam
78th Bombardment Squadron
Bomber Position: Low squadron, middle
Mission Date: 23 May 1944
Mission #: 35
Aircraft Mission #: 7
Target: Aircraft factory, Ebreichsdorf, Austria

Crew at Mission Start

Position	Rank	Name	Missions	Credits	Stress	Awards	Notes
Pilot	1LT	Arnold Stone	6		0	AM
Copilot	2LT	Lloyd Newell	6		0	AM
Bombardier	2LT	Glenn McGrath	6		0	DFC, AM
Navigator	2LT	Ernest Yoder	6		0	AM
Nose Turret Gunner	SGT	Victor Crawford	6		0	AM
Flight Engineer	TSGT	Theodore Childers	6	1	2	AM
Ball Turret Gunner	SGT	Clifton Horton	6	1.34	0	AM
Left Waist Gunner	SGT	Leon Hooper	0		0
Right Waist Gunner	SSGT	Morris Mullins	6		0	AM
Tail Turret Gunner	SGT	David Gonzalez	6	0.5	0	AM

Crew Chief: SSGT Ray Elliott (43 skill points; roll every even-numbered zone)

Bomb Run: On target, 30%

Casualties:
    SGT Victor Crawford, KIA (lacerated groin, both femurs shattered)
    SGT Leon Hooper, LW (torn rt. flexor/extensor)
    SSGT Morris Mullins LW (torn trapezius)

Attackers: 21

Type	Spotted	Destroyed	Damaged	Driven Off by Escort
ME-109	7	1	2	3
FW-190	7	0	2	3
ME-110	3	0	0	3
ME-210	2	0	0	2
ME-109	2	0	0	2

Claims:
    TSGT Timothy Childers: 1 x ME-109

Credits: none

Award/Promotion Requests: none

In Hospital/Recovery:
    SGT Leon Hooper, RTD 1 June
    SSGT Morris Mullins, RTD 1 June

Aircraft Damage: 104 Peckham points (#4 engine superficial, nose turret guns, bomb controls, left inboard fuel tank (sealed), right elevator, 1 x KIA, 2 x light wounds, 10 x superficial) Aircraft ready 26 May.

AFTER ACTION REPORT – Using TFT (Variants used: TFT Axis Fighter Aircraft Add-on Module, Jasta 6’s Table 5-3 Placement Variant, Variant Tables for Take-Off and Mechanical Failure, Bruce Peckham’s German Fighter Pilots variant, Fuel Tank Fires, Seriously Wounded Bail Out, On the Subject of Bombs, my variation to Nolan Bryant’s Crew Chiefs, Combat Fatigue, Chris Riches’ Enhanced Fighter Attacks (Simple Version)
-----------------------------------------------------
Routine take-off and assembly.

Outbound
Zones 2-9: Nothing to report.

Zone 10: Four FW-190s zero in on us. Two of them are engaged by the Lightnings from the 14th FG. The remaining pair make a single attack run with both missing us.

Target Zone (11)
As predicted the enemy is up in force, including some 109s sporting the markings of the Royal Hungarian Air Force. We’re hit by a German ME-109 who makes three attack runs as we make our target run-in. Crawford is killed and the nose turret is taken out and both waist gunners are wounded. The rest of the damage isn’t serious. An accompanying 109 falls to Childers’ fire.
The flak then opens up and finds us. We take a hit to the left inboard fuel tank and it seals like it is designed to do.
McGrath’s bomb run is average.
Pulling off the bomb run and turning for home we’re again attacked, this time by FW-190s, They hit us, but the damage is largely superficial. Hooper jams his gun in his zeal to hit the enemy.

Inbound
Zone 10: Hooper clears the jam from the left waist gun.

Zones 9-8: Nothing to report.

Zone 7: We’re attacked by two waves of fighters, but the 52nd FG Mustangs keep most of them away from us. The single ME-109 that gets past them takes some hits from Childers and breaks off.

Zones 6: Nothing to report.

Zone 5: A lone ME-110 is immediately engaged by a P-51.

Zones 4-2: Nothing to report.

Landing: Picture-perfect landing [rolled a “12”].

Two crew members killed in two days with another two wounded. It seems like the odds have caught up with us.

V/r,
1LT Arnold Stone, First Pilot
B-24J Palpatatin’ Pam
78th BS, 509th BG (H), 15th AF

[caodwolf]

B-17G:  Honey Bun



Pilot: 1Lt. D. Diluzio
Assignment:  15th Air Force,  509th Bomber Group, 80th Squadron
Mission Date: 23-May-1944
Mission No.:  35
Mission this Bomber:   10
Target for Today:  Ebreichsdorf, Austria -  Aircraft Factory
Squadron Position:  Middle
Result:   Off-Target:  0%
 

"....Captain...."  squawks the Ball Turret  Gunner  "....the 78th boys below are taking a beating....".     I'm glad the 80th occupies the middle squadron on this long sortie to Austria.

Enemy fighter cover and FLAK was heavy over target but at the last minute cloud coverage obscured the factory and we totally missed it.  Damn... 

The Germans pecked at us a couple of times on the inbound but they were fought them off.

Landed without further incidents.  

That is all....    

Crew Manifest

Position	Rank	Name	Missions Flown	Kills this Mission	Total Kills	Awards	Status
Pilot	1Lt	D. Diluzio	20	---	---	AM,PH	OK
Co-Pilot	2Lt	J. Boyer	9	---	---	AM	OK
Bombardier	2Lt	M, Russell	7	---	2	AM	OK
Navigator	2Lt	J. Labelle	11	---	---	AM	OK
Top Turret/Engineer	Sgt	R. Reese	9	---	2  2/3	AM	OK
Radio Op	S/Sgt	B. Warford	2	---	---	----	OK
Port Waist	S/Sgt	M. Comerota	14	---	1/3	AM, PH	OK
Stbd Waist	S/Sgt	J. Shoemaker	19	---	1	AM, PH	OK
Ball Turret	Sgt	J. Quain	9	---	1/3	AM, PH	OK
Tail Turret	S/Sgt	K. Taylor	22	---	2	AM	OK

 

HOSPITAL

2Lt J Pate                RTD:  1-June
2Lt.  A Tharpe         RTD:  12-June



KIA

None


WIA

None

Medals / Promotions

Purple Heart

None


Air Medal

None

Fighters Encountered

 

FTR	Spotted	Driven-Off	Damaged	Not-Damaged	Claimed - Credited
ME-109	4	3	---	1	---
FW-190	5	2	3	---	---
ME-110	1	1	---	---	---
---	---	---	---	---	---
---	---	---	---	---	---
TOTALS	10	6	3	1	---

---

B-17G Damage:   * 9 *   
-(9) superficial hits

[rhreiss]