384th BG Mission

MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Date	12 August 1943
VIII Bomber Command Operations	Show Operations > Mission 81: The Ruhr is targeted with the bombers concentrating on manufacturing installations and synthetic oil. >> Air Task Force 1. 183 B-17's are dispatched to synthetic oil installations at Bochum, Gelsenkirchen and Recklinghausen; some B-17's become separated on the bomb run and bomb various targets of opportunity; 133 B-17's hit the targets at 0845-0925 hours; they claim 25-5-11 Luftwaffe aircraft; 23 B-17's are lost, 2 are damaged beyond repair and 103 are damaged; casualties are 5 KIA, 49 WIA and 232 MIA. >> Air Task Force 2. 147 B-17's are dispatched to manufacturing installations at Bonn; 110 hit the target at 0850-0858 hours; they claim 4-2-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-17's are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 69 are damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 7 WIA and 21 MIA. Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University, used with permission. Hide Operations
Mission	384th BG Mission Number 14, VIII BC Mission Number 81 Many Enemy Fighters Next Mission Previous Mission The 384th Bombardment Group (H) flew as the high group of the 103rd Combat Wing on today's mission. The formation was decimated by aborts and losses. Formation problems prevented attack on primary target. Unidentified military installations were bombed leaving primary target area. Heavy fighter attacks occurred for over an hour after the target.
Primary Target	Target: Synthetic Fuel Hydrogenation Plant Type: Industry Location: Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Target Attacked (Mode)	TOO (Visual) Target: Military Installations Type: Military Location: [Unidentified], Germany
Sortie/Aircraft Summary	Completed Mission, not including spares - 9 Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused - 1 Scrubbed - 1 Aborted - 6 Failed To Return - 5
Mission Personnel	Mission Personnel Roster⇗ or Mission Loading Lists⇗
Mission Documents	Combat Mission Records and Plans obtained from the National Archives⇗
Other Mission Documents	1943-08-12, Group Lead, M. Dillingham, D. Ogilvie⇗

22 AIRCRAFT ASSIGNED TO THIS MISSION
Table is sorted by Pilot, and may be sorted by any column: click the column head.
Aircraft	Pilot	Results	Mission/Sortie Information
42‑3104⇗	Keck, George Blackburn⇗	Failed To Return	Damaged by enemy aircraft; crashed near 'House Oelgarten', Hennef, Germany. MACR 286 SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3216⇗	Ogilvie, Donald Potter⇗	Completed Mission	Group lead. Bomb bay doors wouldn't open on bomb run; bombs dropped on target of opportunity 30 west of Gelsenkirchen. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3218⇗	Armstrong, Lloyd Rowland⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Turned back at 0810 hrs because of supercharger failure on #3 & #4 engines. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3222⇗	Mattes, Frank George⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3230⇗	Wofford, Drewry Frye⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Turned back at 0811 hrs because #3 engine was throwing oil and vibrating and had to be feathered. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3231⇗	Carrington, Richard Thompson⇗	Failed To Return	Damaged by enemy aircraft, crashed [SE of] Liblar, Germany. MACR 287 SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑3259⇗	Magowan, David⇗	Completed Mission	On return, landed away at Framlingham, AAF Station 153, with one wounded. Engines #1 & #3 damaged by 20mm shell, many flak holes in ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑5806⇗	Swank, Robert Dale⇗	Failed To Return	Hit by flak on the way to the target, then attacked by fighters. Some of crew bailed out before aircraft exploded. Crashed near Volmershofen/Heidgen (5 miles SW of Bonn), Germany. MACR 288 SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑5849⇗	[N/A]	Scrubbed: Did Not Take Off	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29686⇗	Bigelow, William Horace⇗	Failed To Return	Damaged by enemy aircraft; exploded in mid-air and crashed east of Königswinter, Germany, at Heisterbacherrott; MACR 290 SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29699⇗	Frink, Horace Everett⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Turned back because #1, #3 and #4 oil pressure dropped off between nothing and ten; feathered #1 and #3. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29703⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑29768⇗	Willing, Mark Skinner⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29927⇗	Higdon, Philip Earl⇗	Completed Mission	Flak damaged three engines preventing full power. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑29985⇗	Lecates, Robert Leslie⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Low Squadron deputy. Returned early after #1 engine oil cooler sprung leak and lost power. Bombed a target of opportunity (TOO), an airfield in The Netherlands. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30026⇗	Algar, Philip Morris⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Squadron #2 position. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30039⇗	Bishop, Charles W⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30043⇗	Goulder, Edmund Samuel⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Turned back over Yarmouth; could not reach altitude or keep up with formation; lower turret was out and top turret Vickers unit was 'vaporizing' (?). SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30046⇗	Sierens, Ernest Joseph⇗	Failed To Return	Lead Ground Spare Aircraft; replaced 42‑5849. High Squadron deputy. Damaged by flak; crashed near Gelsenkirchen, Germany. MACR 289 SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30139⇗	Kelly, James Henry⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	High Squadron lead, group deputy. turned back at 0828 hrs because #1 engine failed. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30142⇗	Hausenfluck, Jesse Dee⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑30196⇗	Armstrong, James Edwin⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗

Mission # 14

MISSION SUMMARY