384th BG Mission

MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Date	25 April 1945
Eighth Air Force Operations	Show Operations Eighth Air Force Operations Mission 968: 589 bombers and 486 fighters fly the final heavy bomber mission against an industrial target, airfields and rail targets in SE Germany and Czechoslovakia; they claim 1-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft (including an Ar 234 jet); 6 bombers and 1 fighter are lost: Air Task Force 1. 307 B-17s are sent to hit the airfield (78) and Skoda armament works at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia; 6 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 180 damaged; 8 airmen are WIA and 42 MIA. Escorting are 188 of 206 P-51s. Air Task Force 2. 282 B-24s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Salzburg (109), Bad Reichenhall (56) and Hallein (57) and electrical transformers at Traunstein (56); 20 B-24s are damaged; 1 airman is WIA. The escort is 203 of 216 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air. Air Task Force 3. 17 of 19 P-51s fly a sweep of the Prague-Linz area claiming 0-1-0 aircraft in the air; 1 P-51 is lost. Air Task Force 4. 17 of 19 P-51s fly a screening mission. Air Task Force 5. 4 P-51s escort 2 OA-10s on an air-sea-rescue mission. Air Task Force 6. 22 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany and Czechoslovakia. Air Task Force 7. 88 of 98 P-51s escort RAF bombers. Mission 969: During the night of 25/26 Apr, 11 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany. 12 B-24s and 1 A-26 are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions to Norway; 7 aircraft complete the mission. Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University, used with permission. Hide Operations
Mission	384th BG Mission Number 316, Eighth AF Force Mission Number 968 THE LAST ONE! Previous Mission The 384th Bombardment Group (H) flew as the 41st Combat Bombardment Wing C Group in Air Task Force 1 on today's mission, the last strategic bombing mission of the war in Europe. Under strict orders to bomb by visual means only, the Lead and Low Squadrons made two bomb runs, and the High Squadron made three. Results appeared to be good, and the delay resulted in the 384th dropping the final bombs of the war on Axis targets in Europe. It was not known that this would be the last strategic bombing mission of WWII in the ETO until well after this mission ended.
Primary Target	Target: Skoda Armament Works Type: Industry Location: Pilsen / Plzeň, Czechoslovakia
Target Attacked (Mode)	Primary (Visual)
Sortie/Aircraft Summary	Completed Mission, not including spares - 35 Flying Spare, Completed Mission - 2 Flight Completed - 1 Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused - 4 Failed To Return - 1
Mission Personnel	Mission Personnel Roster⇗ or Mission Loading Lists⇗
Mission Documents	Combat Mission Records and Plans obtained from the National Archives⇗
Other Mission Documents	1945-04-25, Group Lead, PFF Ship, T. Hutchinson, R. Lucas⇗

43 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
42‑37788⇗	Thurston, Lawrence E⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron Hot Camera ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑38208⇗	Ruckman, George Francis⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97309⇗	Poulton, John W⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑97510⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑97824⇗	Knaur, John Sherman⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron Hot Camera ship. Landed away at RAF Woodbridge, Suffolk, on return with hydraulics out due to battle damage. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑98027⇗	Graehl, Russell E⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron Lead. PFF & Gee-H ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102459⇗	Montgomery, Robert W⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102518⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
42‑102620⇗	Schwab, Arthur L⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑102661⇗	Moorhead, Harris Leroy⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
42‑107125⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused
43‑37717⇗	Ahner, Lewis Russell⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑37917⇗	Sheahan, Robert E⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑38501⇗	Lovett, Andrew Gordon⇗	Failed To Return	Three engines knocked out by flak ten minutes away from allied territory; crashed near German-Czech border. MACR 14317 SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑38548⇗	Humphries, Richard Sterling⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑38588⇗	Seavey, Homer Carl⇗	Completed Mission	Lead Squadron Hot Camera ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑38747⇗	Festersen, John Carl⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑38752⇗	Martin, Gerald L⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑38757⇗	Meitzler, Roy Albert⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑38766⇗	Clontz, Leon Maynard⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑38839⇗	Davidson, Wallace Simms⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑38974⇗	Abare, William Tebbs⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑38994⇗	Smith, Eliot Henry⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑39138⇗	Grove, Alfred W⇗	Completed Mission	Damaged when struck by flak during a second run over the target. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑39197⇗	Leavitt, Philip Neldon⇗	Completed Mission	Had one engine out due to battle damage. Landed away at A-70 (Laon/Couvron, France) on return. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑39203⇗	Kendrick, Richard M⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑39236⇗	Scherokman, Edward (NMI)⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron. 'Made 3 runs on target - feathered #4 engine, #3 prop-control cable shot away - left main wing spar shot through - all gas tanks shot through.' (pilot comments) SORTIE REPORT ⇗
43‑39444⇗	Gray, Harold Reginald⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6476⇗	Hartley, Henry Allan⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6514⇗	Eakin, Otho Mitchell⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6592⇗	Aitken, Robert Partington⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron. Note on formation chart indicates a problem with landing gear on return. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6882⇗	Wahlstrom, Harry Lawrence⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6892⇗	Kowats, Daniel Frank⇗	Spare, Completed Mission	Low Squadron Flying Spare. Joined formation. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑6898⇗	Lewis, Charles Allyn⇗	Completed Mission	High Squadron Deputy and Hot Camera Ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑8007⇗	Kinkead, Robert Miller⇗	Flight Completed	Weather aircraft; remainder of crew (CP, N, RO, Eng) not identified SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑8211⇗	Magleby, Calvin Charles⇗	Completed Mission	Group Deputy and Hot Camera ship. PFF & Gee-H ship. Landed with a flat tire; ran off landing runway onto runway 30. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑8408⇗	Cotton, Donald Francis⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑8608⇗	Shotto, Francis Rexford⇗	Completed Mission	SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑8649⇗	[N/A]	Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused	Lead PFF & Gee-H Ground Spare Aircraft.
44‑8679⇗	Drew, James Lawrence⇗	Spare, Completed Mission	High Squadron Flying Spare. Joined formation. On return, landed at B-51 (Lille/Vendeville, France) due to battle damage. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑8789⇗	Lucas, Roy E⇗	Completed Mission	Group Lead. PFF ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑8923⇗	Wright, Edward S⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron Lead. PFF & Gee-H ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗
44‑8945⇗	Wilson, Robert L⇗	Completed Mission	Low Squadron Deputy and Hot Camera ship. SORTIE REPORT ⇗

Mission # 316

MISSION SUMMARY