384th BG Mission

MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Date	16 June 1944
Eighth Air Force Operations	Show Operations > Mission 416: 370 bombers, including 22 Pathfinders are dispatched to 4 airfields and 4 CROSSBOW (V- weapon) supply sites in France; 1 B-17 is lost: >> Air Task Force #1. Of 146 B-17s, 38 bomb Laon/Athies Airfield, 38 hit Juvincourt Airfield, 18 hit railroad targets of opportunity and 17 hit Laon/Couvron Airfield; 1 B-17 is lost and 58 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 9 MIA. >> Air Task Force #2. 224 B-24s are dispatched to bomb airfields and CROSSBOW sites; B-24s attacking V-weapon supply sites are: 48 hit Renescure, 44 hit Sautricourt, 43 hit Domléger and 21 hit Beauvoir; airfields attacked are: 17 hit Beauvais/Tillé, 17 hit Authe and 12 hit Saint-André-de-L'Eure; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 13 damaged; 5 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA. > VIII Fighter Command missions for the day are: >> Fighter Task Force #1. 165 P-38s, 88 P-47s and 172 P-51s escort the bombers above, they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; no losses. >> Fighter Task Force #2. 70 P-51s perform a sweep against stalled trains between Angoulême and Poitiers, dropping external fuel tanks on them and firing the tanks by strafing; the same tactics are used on trains in the marshalling yard at Saint-Pierre-d'Exideuil; heavy damage is inflicted on both targets, including heavy troop casualties. >> Fighter Task Force #3. 50 P-38s and 75 P-47s make fighter-bomber attacks on troops in the Arras-St Pol area; at St-Pol-sur-Ternoise a large number of railroad cars are burned by oil and phosphorus bombs and strafing attacks; other marshalling yards, a power station, railroad station, trains, barges, tanks, trucks, gun emplacements, AA tower and an armored vehicle are attacked; A total of about 400 railroad cars are attacked and about half of them set on fire. In general the fighter attacks are highly effective; 3 P-38s are lost (pilots are MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. > Mission 417: 10 of 10 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the evening. Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University, used with permission. Hide Operations
Mission	384th BG Mission Number 137, Eighth AF Force Mission Number 416 Enemy Airfield Damaged Next Mission Previous Mission The 384th Bombardment Group (H) formed the entire 41st C Combat Bombardment Wing, the third of three Wings of Air Task Force #1, for today's mission. Bomb pattern centered on the main runway. [Note: Athies-sous-Laon is east of Laon, and the airfield, northeast of Athies, can still be clearly seen on Google Maps.]
Primary Target	Target: Athies Airfield Type: German Air Force (Luftwaffe) Location: Laon, France
Target Attacked (Mode)	Primary (Gee-H)
Sortie/Aircraft Summary	Completed Mission, not including spares - 40 Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused - 3 Scrubbed - 1 Aborted - 8
Mission Personnel	Mission Personnel Roster⇗ or Mission Loading Lists⇗
Mission Documents	Combat Mission Records and Plans obtained from the National Archives⇗
Other Mission Documents	1944-06-16, Lead Group, Wing Lead, Beckett, D. Brown⇗

52 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
42‑3441⇗	Melzar, Raymond Augustus⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	High Group. Turned back over England with a mechanical failure. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31222⇗	Carey, Gates Chapman⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31435⇗	Eakins, Robert Nathanial⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31484⇗	Ungerman, Kenneth Armistead⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, High Squadron Lead. Ground Spare Aircraft, replaced 42‑97139. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑31574⇗	Koehne, George Henry⇗	Completed Mission	High Group Lead. PFF ship and non-384 crew members provided by the 303rd BG, Molesworth, AAF Station 107. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37785⇗	Finch, Francis Nelson⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	High Group, Low Squadron Deputy. Turned back over England due to mechanical failures. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑37792⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑38013⇗	Shelley, John Keith⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑38208⇗	Humbles, Alfred Thomas⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑39888⇗	Gottfried, Raymond Nathan⇗	Completed Mission	High Group. Jettisoned bombs after target. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97139⇗	[N/A]	Scrubbed: Did Not Take Off	Aircraft was damaged in takeoff accident. Ungerman Crew moved to Ground Spare Aircraft 42‑31484. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97142⇗	Rosborough, James Edward⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97150⇗	Halasz, John Julius⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, Low Squadron Deputy. Assumed Lead after designated lead aborted. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97178⇗	Peterson, Walter Thomas⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Low Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97204⇗	Bahten, John Irwin⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97237⇗	Rooker, Billy Roy⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Low Group, Low Squadron Deputy. Turned back due to mechanical failure over enemy territory; bombs jettisoned. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97251⇗	Gibson, James Allen⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Low Group. Turned back over England because they could not find the formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97263⇗	Pryor, Oliver McCoy⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	High Group. Turned back over England with a mechanical failure. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97271⇗	Birckhead, Robert Bruce⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97273⇗	Malone, John James⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97282⇗	Druckenmiller, Leon Charles⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97309⇗	Bagby, Donald Woods⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97320⇗	Fairfield, William Adelbert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97367⇗	Maggart, Richard Lee⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97449⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑97510⇗	Peck, Harland Kenneth⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, High Squadron Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97521⇗	Shearer, Wilbur Lee⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97824⇗	Bennett, Dewayne (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Wing Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97948⇗	Fitzgerald, Thomas Howard⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97960⇗	[N/A]	Lead Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑102430⇗	Spiers, Paul Robert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102442⇗	Peterson, Harold William⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102449⇗	Brown, Donald Harold⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102500⇗	Gowder, Charles Fred⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, High Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102518⇗	Keate, Richard Clifford⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102617⇗	Rimbold, Arthur Arimese⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102933⇗	Stills, James Vernon⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Low Group, High Squadron Deputy. Turned back over England because they could not find the formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107064⇗	Stevens, Raymond Robert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107121⇗	Rucker, David Leroy⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	Low Group. Turned back over England because they could not find the formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107148⇗	Dean, Ralph Merrick⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Group, Wing Deputy. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107221⇗	Kelley, Robert Encil⇗	Completed Mission	High Group Deputy. Jettisoned bombs after target. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37703⇗	Murchan, Lawrence Aloysius⇗	Aborted Mission After Taking Off.	High Group. Turned back over England due to personnel failure. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37713⇗	Sullivan, James Dominic⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, High Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37717⇗	Liebert, Jack Louis⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6080⇗	Menke, Robert Arthur⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, High Squadron Deputy. Moved from #5 position in Low Squadron to #2 (Deputy) position in High Squadron after designated Deputy could not locate formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6105⇗	Wortman, Marshall (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6109⇗	Adams, William Lowell⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6128⇗	Koch, Robert Bruce⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6135⇗	Wright, James Wiley⇗	Completed Mission	Low Group, Low Squadron Lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6141⇗	James, Robert Huey⇗	Completed Mission	High Group, Low Squadron lead. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6147⇗	Burkhard, James Albert⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6149⇗	Lynch, Edward Thomas⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗

Mission # 137

MISSION SUMMARY