Mission 039 - 1

303rd BG(H) Combat Mission No. 3921 May 1943

Target: Marinwerke Submarine Pens, Wilhelmshaven, Ger.Crews Dispatched: 19

Bomb Load: 10 x 500 lb M-43 G.P. bombs

Bombing Altitude: 24,400 ft

Length of Mission: 5 hours, 55 minutes

Ammo Fired: 44,295 rounds

Enemy Aircraft Claims: 8 Destroyed, 2 Probables, 3 Damaged

Maj. Lewis E. Lyle, CO of the 360th BS(H), led the Group formation in excellentflying weather to bomb the primary target. One aircraft, #41-24602, Yardbird,360BS (Trojan), returned before bombing when the ball turret heating unit went

out. Eighteen Group B-17s reached the target at 24,000 feet and dropped 45 tons of 500-lb. M-43 bombs. Flak was reported as moderate and fairly accurate over the target, slightover the coast, and from one island just off the German coast.

It became quite apparent that the Germans were desperately attempting to do allin their power to stop the devastation caused by the precision bombing of the Fortresses.Many aircraft attacked from all angles. Nose attacks were the most prevalent. Many aircraftattempted to bomb the formation from above. In addition, an apparently new type of attackwas made. Crews reported that single-engine planes were shooting what seemed to berocket shells at the formation. Great bursts of flame from their wings would suddenlydevelop into many bursts. None, however, was effective enough to cause any realdamage.

Maj. Lyle, in his mission report, commented, "It is my belief that unless ourformations are able to use heavier long-range defensive firepower, our losses willmaterially increase because of the 30mm cannon attacks from enemy pursuit planes thatfly outside of our effective range." He described the mission as ". . . one of the roughestever. We flew in terrible weather until just before our bomb run. We had no attacks of anykind until we started on the run. Then we got flak and fighters a'plenty although the flakwasn't too bad. We saw the fighters before, but they didn't come in until then. They stayedwith us as far as 90 miles back out to sea. There were two Squadrons of JU-88s out theresweating us out. It looked like they were coming on top of us to bomb us so we took violentevasive action. They stuck around for another 10 minutes, still sweating us, and then theyturned back. It looked like they were using smoke screen starting over the target, but ourFortresses were able to make their bomb run and set their sights on the aiming point of thetarget while it was still visible."

Capt. Carl H. Morales, 358th BS(H) pilot, who completed his 25th mission in S forSugar, said, "There were so many fighters that it looked like a fighter escort. I am notkidding. I have never seen so many before." 2Lt. Richard McElwain, who at 19 was oneof the Air Force's youngest commissioned officers and Capt. Morales's navigator,commented, "I would look around and all I could see were fighters all around us. They

Mission 039 - 2

A.O.G. Not in Stock #42-5788 (360BS) PU-H102nd PBCW Lead (360BS) - Pilot Maj L.E. Lyle / CoPilot Capt J.W. Fredericks

(Back L-R) S/Sgt H.L. Collins (WG), T/Sgt R.J. Smith (R), T/Sgt M.S. Hlastala (E), Capt J.W. Fredericks (CP),Maj L.E. Lyle (P), Lt M.S. Fonorow (B), Lt O.A. Hoyt (N), Lt L.M. Schulstad (TG-O)

(Front L-R) S/Sgt H.H. Nardine (BT), S/Sgt H.G. Schneiderman (WG), Capt P.G. Moore (N)

stayed with us for 30 to 40 minutes, attacking from all angles. I was too busy over thetarget to see the bombing results." S/Sgt. Robert C. Blake, another 25-mission veteran tailgunner on the Morales crew, said, "I didn't get any attacks from my end today. They werecoming by from the top and nose."

Crew Reports of Enemy Aircraft Destroyed or Damaged

T/Sgt. F.B. Ziemer (081) FW-190 Possible

T/Sgt. H.E. Hernan (029) ME-109F Destroyed

S/Sgt. J.D. Gonsalves (605) FW-190 Destroyed

Lt. R.O. Philpit (846) FW-190 Destroyed

Lt. R.O. Philpit (846) FW-190 Destroyed

Sgt. W.H. Bruns (605) ME-109 Possible

Sgt. E.T. Knudsen (605) ME-109 Probable

S/Sgt. R.A. Garcia (635) FW-190 Possible

T/Sgt. A.S. Stevens (393) FW-190 Destroyed

Lt. H.R. Wright (221) FW-190 Possible

S/Sgt. L.F. Bourdon (540) FW-190 Possible

S/Sgt. L.F. Bourdon (540) FW-190 Probable

S/Sgt. H.T. Brown (540) ME-109 Destroyed

Mission 039 - 3

Route Map

Mission 039 - 4

Aircraft Formation at Assembly Point

Lyle788

Palmer Stallings 483 393

Clifton221

Trojan Burch 602 540

Morales Roller 619 605Lemmon Jess Van Wie Cline 571 432 640 561 Nolan Smith 955 846O'Connor Thompson Haines Campbell 081 539 635 029 McDonald 792

One (1) aircraft aborted this mission:Lt. Trojan in 602

KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS

CREW POSITIONSCMP - Command PilotP - PilotCP - Co-PilotNAV - NavigatorANV - Ass't. NavigatorMNV - Mickey NavigatorENG - EngineerBOM - BombardierRO - Radio Operator

TOG - TogglierBT - Ball Turret OperatorTT - Top Turret OperatorTG - Tail GunnerNG - Nose GunnerRG - Radio GunnerWG - Waist GunnerLWG - Left Waist GunnerRWG - Right Waist GunnerGUN - Gunner

VI - Voice InterpreterOBS - ObserverPAS - PassengerPHO - Photographer

RESULTS OF MISSION

KIA - Killed in actionWIA - Wounded in actionMIA - Missing in actionPOW - Prisoner of war

DOW - Died of woundsEVD - Evaded the enemyINT - Interned in neu cntryREP - RepatriatedRES - RescuedESC - EscapedBO - Bailed outDCH - DitchedCR-L - Crashed on landCR-S - Crashed at sea

Mission 039 - 5

358th Bombardment Squadron Crew Lists

B-17F #41-24539 Jersey Bounce

P Thompson, Frank H., 2LtCP Joy, Ripley W., 2LtNAV McConnen, James R., 2LtBOM McCord, Lawrence E., 2LtENG Welch, James R., S/SgtTT Koenig, Bernard H., T/SgtRO McGuire, Robert J., T/SgtBT Nakaniski, Ralph, S/SgtTG Aubrey, Eldred L., S/SgtRWG Wilson, Donald R., S/Sgt

B-17F #42-29955 Mr. Five By Five

P Nolan, Robert J., CaptCP Kruse, Richard L., 2LtNAV Anderson, William J., 2LtBOM Hopper, Richard R., 1LtENG Hively, Roy J., T/SgtRWG Meddaugh, Allerton F., S/SgtRO Hamill, Milton, T/SgtTG Bitter, Emile V., Jr., S/SgtBT Mathews, Frank M., S/SgtLWG Smith, Delvyn, S/Sgt

B-17F #42-5432 The Hunting Club

P Jess, Ray W., 1LtCP Gunn, Harold W., 2LtNAV Davidson, Robert P., 2LtBOM Godwin, Harold E., S/SgtENG Smith, Harold E., T/SgtRWG Hardacre, Charles F., S/SgtRO Godzinski, Joseph J., T/SgtBT Johnson, Byron W., S/SgtLWG Hall, Sidney V., SgtTG White, Frank M., Sgt

B-17F #42-29571 Charley Horse

P Lemmon, John V., 1LtCP Clark, Elmo E., F/ONAV Gust, Darrell D., 2LtBOM Stone, Elbert E., 2LtENG Berzansky, Andrew, T/SgtRWG Beavers, Albert T., S/SgtRO Zeller, Caryl C., T/SgtBT Bagwell, Clayton R., S/SgtTG Brown, Virgil E., S/SgtLWG Briggs, Wayne E., S/SgtPHO Weiskopf, Dennis, S/Sgt

B-17F #42-5081 Luscious Lady

P O'Connor, Robert S., 2Lt CP Hurlburt, Donald W., 2LtNAV Grant, Donald L., 2LtBOM Steele, Earl A., 2LtENG Ziemer, Frederick B., T/SgtBT Maxwell, Samuel P., S/SgtRO Warren, Russell M., T/SgtRWG Smith, Robert H., S/SgtTG Sadler, James K., S/SgtLWG Heaps, Theodore C., S/Sgt

B-17F #42-5792 The Mugger

P McDonald, James M., 1LtCP Sumarlidason, Arni L., 2LtNAV Clement, Richard W., 1LtBOM Miller, Robert S., 2LtENG Fanning, David D., T/SgtRWG Zioance, John, S/SgtRO Carpenter, Glenn S., T/SgtBT Toy, James E., S/SgtTG Sterling, Robert W., S/SgtLWG Martin, James C., S/Sgt

B-17F #41-24619 S for Sugar

P Morales, Carl H., CaptCP Swaffer, Calvin A., 2LtNAV McElwain, Richard E., 2LtBOM Zasadil, Frank E., 1LtENG Hinds, Francis G., T/SgtBT Carroll, Albert V., S/SgtRO Burns, Francis J., T/SgtRWG Hill, John E., S/SgtTG Blake, Robert C., S/SgtLWG Westfall, Max M., S/Sgt

Mission 039 - 6

359th Bombardment Squadron Crew Lists

B-17F #41-24635 The 8 Ball MK II

P Haines, Rolland M., 1LtCP Kramer, Mayer, 2LtNAV Delorenzo, D.D., 2LtBOM Morse, Anthony E., 2LtENG Garcia, Robert A., S/SgtRO Kalk, Kenneth T.M., T/SgtTG Davis, Charles E., S/SgtRWG Martin, Raymond W., S/SgtBT Foster, Allen G., S/SgtLWG Morgan, Robert L., Sgt

B-17F #41-24561 The Duchess

P Cline, William J., 1LtCP Mulligan, Thomas E., 2LtNAV Street, Benjamin B., lLtBOM Gordon, LeRoy V., 1LtENG Doran, Arnold S., T/SgtRO McGee, Paul C., T/SgtTG Milliff, Mike C., S/SgtTT Jordan, Lloyd L., S/SgtBT Lemann, Paul C., S/SgtLWG Kerr, Joseph, Sgt

B-17F #42-3029 Wallaroo

P Campbell, Claude W., 1LtCP Miller, Arthur W., 2LtNAV Ririe, George M., 2LtBOM Boutelle, Winston E., 2LtENG Hernan, Howard E., T/SgtRO Kraft, Harold A., T/SgtRWG Bachert, Kurt W., S/SgtBT Catozza, Peter P., S/SgtTG Quick, George D., S/SgtLWG Wilson, Benton, Sgt

B-17F #42-29846 (No Name)

P Smith, Sanford T., CaptCP Farrell, Lawrence C., 2LtNAV Summers, Thomas E., 1LtBOM Philpit, Russell O., 2LtENG Hardaway, Sidney T., T/SgtRO York, Robert F., T/SgtLWG Perryman, Jack L., SgtBT Tibbles, Russell F., S/SgtTG Howard, Earl R., SgtRWG Adams, Ralph B., S/SgtPHO Kagey, Martin I., Jr., Sgt

B-17F #41-24605 Knockout Dropper

P Roller, Jack, CaptCP Konsmo, George E., CaptNAV Henson, Walter C., 1LtBOM Shoup, John R., Jr., 2LtENG Marcelonis, Joseph G., S/SgtRO Williams, Lemuel T., T/SgtTT Ketron, Frank M., S/SgtBT Bruns, William H., Jr., SgtTG Knudsen, Elmer T., SgtLWG Gonsalves, John D., S/Sgt

Mission 039 - 7

360th Bombardment Squadron Crew Lists

B-17F #42-29640 Old Ironsides

P Van Wie, John A., LtCP Walsh, James D., LtNAV Blank, Paul, LtBOM Rice, Bernard, LtENG Hlebasko, Albert, T/SgtBT Morton, Eugene L., S/SgtRO Noll, Robert W., T/SgtRWG Spring, Benjamin F., S/SgtLWG Swanson, Theodore G., S/SgtTG Bridges, Robert C., S/Sgt

B-17F #42-5221 Son

P Clifton, David S., LtCP Garvey, John L., LtNAV Wright, Howard R., LtBOM Currie, Herman C., LtENG Doss, Carroll P., T/SgtLWG Compo, Anthony, S/SgtRO Morrison, Eugene D., T/SgtBT Mitchell, John B., S/SgtTG Villarreal, Rodolfo A., S/SgtRWG Jameson, Jimmie E., Sgt

B-17F #41-24602 Yardbird

P Trojan, Joseph E., LtCP Vaughan, Thomas S., LtNAV Madsen, Parley W., Jr., LtBOM Stewart, Jack W., LtENG Prescott, Paul H., S/SgtLWG Semonick, Martin A., S/SgtRO Craft, Cecil E., S/SgtBT Sunderlin, Joseph R., S/SgtTG Bartlett, Frank W., S/SgtRWG O'Connell, Lincoln T., S/SgtNG Murray, Gilbert A., Jr., Sgt(Abortive)

B-17F #42-5393 Just For Laughs

P Stallings, George V., Jr., LtCP Bradbury, Joseph E., LtNAV Kelley, James F., LtBOM Kulesa, Frank E., LtENG Watson, James A., T/SgtLWG Yattaw, Robert H., S/SgtRO Jones, Dick W., S/SgtBT Stevens, A.S., T/SgtTG Stickler, John J., S/SgtRWG Klasnick, Joseph S., Sgt

B-17F #42-5483 Red Ass

P Palmer, Joseph F., LtCP Way, Arthur C., LtNAV Rosenblum, Nathan J., LtBOM Kieffer, Claude M., Lt ENG Duffey, Elmer E., S/SgtRO Gullage, Edmund, T/SgtLWG Hornbacher, Norman E., SgtBT Owen, Burl M., S/SgtTG Hodges, Alva E., S/SgtRWG Holder, Samuel A., S/Sgt

B-17F #42-5788 A.O.G. Not in Stock

P Lyle, Lewis E., MajCP Fredericks, Jacob W., CaptNAV Hoyt, Otis A., LtNAV Moore, Paul G., CaptBOM Fonorow, Milton S., LtENG Hlastala, Michael S., T/SgtLWG Schneiderman, Henry G., S/SgtRO Smith, Richard J., T/SgtBT Nardine, Howard H., S/SgtTG Schulstad, Louis M., LtRWG Collins, Harvie L., S/Sgt

Mission 039 - 8

427th Bombardment Squadron Crew List

B-17 #42-29540 Shooting Star

P Burch, Armand F., LtCP Olsen, Curtis M., LtNAV Noblin, John D., LtBOM Butt, Byron K., LtENG Means, Lucian W., Jr., T/SgtBT Bourdon, Louis F., S/SgtRO Ashworth, George W., S/SgtRWG Arnold, Robert W., S/SgtTG Brown, Howard T., S/SgtLWG Cooney, Robert M., Sgt