SORTIE REPORT #3124
MISSION DATA:
DATE 384th BG Mission # 8th AF Mission # 384th PRIMARY TARGET
1944‑05‑12 106 353 Target: Synthetic Oil Plant
Type: Oil Industry
Location: Merseburg, Germany
First 384th Oil Industry Attack: The 384th Bombardment Group (H) led the 41st B Combat Bombardment Wing, and supplied an additional group for the low position of the wing formation for today's mission - the first 384th attack on oil industry targets. Clear weather at the target permitted accurate visual bombing.
SORTIE DATA:
COMBAT CREDIT STATUS TARGET ATTACKED (MODE)
Yes Aborted Mission After Taking Off.
Comments: Turned back at 1201 hrs because #1 engine went out and was running rough and losing oil. This occurred at a point about 100 miles inside Belgium, approaching the German border; since they were well within enemy territory, combat credit was awarded the crew for this mission.
N/A
SORTIE AIRCRAFT DATA:
TYPE SERIAL NUMBER SQUADRON SQ CODE NAME
B-17G 42‑38208 ⇗ 547th SO*A LILLY BELLE
SORTIE CREW DATA:
POSITION CREWMEMBER UNIT STATUS
Pilot Johnson, William T⇗ 544 Aborted
Co-pilot Koehne, George Henry, Jr⇗ 544 Aborted
Navigator Schmidtke, George Emory⇗ 544 Aborted
Bombardier Hertel, Wallace Howard⇗ 544 Aborted
Radio Operator Purdy, Alan Bradford⇗ 544 Aborted
Engineer/Top Turret Faux, Roy Sherman⇗ 544 Aborted
Ball Turret Hachmann, Vincent Carl⇗ 544 Aborted
Tail Gunner Nielsen, Erling (NMI)⇗ 544 Aborted
Waist (Flexible) Gunner Breen, John Francis, Jr⇗ 544 Aborted
Waist (Flexible) Gunner Harrington, Joseph Francis⇗ 544 Aborted
Observer Watson, Thomas Forrest, Jr⇗ 547 Aborted
Sortie Report 3124 provided by 384thBombGroup.com
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Report generated: 11 October 2026, 9:01 AM (PDT)
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