COMMENTS & NOTES
MEMO 1:
CREW
1st Lt Harry E. Bethea P RFS 4 AUG 44 Physically disqualified from flying on 4/8/44 sn#0-1040875
2nd Lt Leonard F.Coleman CP CPT 25 AUG 44 POLITZ (as 1st Pilot with Lt Rumley Crew) see below sn#0-761887
2nd Lt Robert W.Barry NAV POW 28 JUL 44 MERSEBURG(With Lt Noble Crew, see below ) sn#0-704573
2nd Lt George L.Reid BOM NOC sn#0-673807
S/Sgt Robert A.Vance ROG CPT 10 JAN 45 COLOGNE sn#13052706
S/Sgt William R.Hellen TTE CPT 17 JAN 45 HAMBURG sn#38327782
Sgt Garnet E.Symington BTG CPT 26 AUG 44 BREST (with Lt. Wesley Carlton Crew) sn#17114462
Sgt Edward A.Skapin WG NOC sn#15324676
Sgt Carl C.Dobbins WG CPT 27 SEPT 44 MAINZ sn#34603119
Sgt Donald W. Harris TG NOC sn#37659812
418th Sqdn. Crew,as above, joined the 100th Group on 7/4/44. Crew flew plane possibly named "Who Done It" 42-97090
On 4/8/44, Bethea was grounded and sent to Medical Board for Observation. On 25/8/44, Lt F.Coleman was flying as pilot of a crew comprised mostly of men from the M.C.Rumley crew. Lt Bethea flies last msison with this Crew on May 29, 1944. Crew and Families say Lt Bethea was taken off of flying status in early June 1944 due to nervous breakdwon but returned to flying again in July 1944 only to be Removed from flying status permenately on 4 AUG 44. (this is from Crew and Family members).
Plane "Who Done It " is only mentioned in Lt Coleman's letter. Seemed to be just as he arrived in Europe. He did take his final combat training at Thorpe Abbott.
MISSIONS OF LT BETHEA: CREW LISTED ABOVE FLEW ALL MISSIONS FROM APRIL 24-MAY 29TH, 1944
Date Aircraft Nbr Target
5/1/1944 97090 "Who Done It" SAARGUEMINES/WIZERNES
5/7/1944 97090 "Who Done It" BERLIN
5/8/1944 97090 "Who Done It" BERLIN & LAGLACERIE
5/9/1944 97090 "Who Done It" LAON/COUVRON; ANTHIES
5/11/1944 97090 "Who Done It" LIEGE
5/19/1944 97090 "Who Done It" BERLIN
5/20/1944 32090 SILVER DOLLAR BRUSSELS
5/25/1944 97090 "Who Done It" BRUSSELS
5/27/1944 97090 "Who Done It" STRASBOURG
5/28/1944 97090 "Who Done It" MAGDEBURG
5/29/1944 97071 ANDY'S DANDY'S LEIPZIG
7/13/1944 97230 LAY OR BUST MUNICH (JET ENGINES)
Date Last Name Initial Rank Position A/C Nbr Target
7/13/1944 KAMINSKI L.J. TG TG 97230 MUNICH (JET ENGINES)
7/13/1944 HELMIN P.V. LWG LWG 97230 MUNICH (JET ENGINES)
7/13/1944 KOCZENT N.T. RWG RWG 97230 MUNICH (JET ENGINES)
7/13/1944 KAASA R.P. BTG BTG 97230 MUNICH (JET ENGINES)
7/13/1944 SMITH F.G. TTE TTE 97230 MUNICH (JET ENGINES)
7/13/1944 HARRIS R.E. ROG ROG 97230 MUNICH (JET ENGINES)
7/13/1944 LOWANS W.F. BOM BOM 97230 MUNICH (JET ENGINES)
7/13/1944 RADULEVICH M. LT NAV 97230 MUNICH (JET ENGINES)
7/13/1944 COLEMAN L.E. LT CP 97230 MUNICH (JET ENGINES)
7/13/1944 BETHEA H.E. LT P 97230 MUNICH (JET ENGINES)
A/C 97230 LAY OR BUST
7/14/1944 78 160 BETHEA H.E. LT P 6092 SOUTH OF FRANCE
Date Last Name Initial Rank Position Aircraft Nbr Target
7/14/1944 KAMINSKI L.J. S/SGT TG 6092 SOUTH OF FRANCE
7/14/1944 HELMIN P.V. S/SGT LWG 6092 SOUTH OF FRANCE
7/14/1944 KOCZENT N.T. S/SGT RWG 6092 SOUTH OF FRANCE
7/14/1944 KAASA R.P. S/SGT BTG 6092 SOUTH OF FRANCE
7/14/1944 SMITH F.G. T/SGT TTE 6092 SOUTH OF FRANCE
7/14/1944 HARRIS R.E. T/SGT ROG 6092 SOUTH OF FRANCE
7/14/1944 LOWANS W.F. LT BOM 6092 SOUTH OF FRANCE
7/14/1944 RADULEVICH M. LT NAV 6092 SOUTH OF FRANCE
7/14/1944 COLEMAN L.E. LT CP 6092 SOUTH OF FRANCE
7/14/1944 BETHEA H.E. LT P 6092 SOUTH OF FRANCE
6092 Dixie’s Delight
7/19/1944 93 163 BETHEA H.E. LT P 102649 SCHWEINFURT & DUREN
Date Last Name Initial Rank Position Aircraft Nbr Target
7/19/1944 CARGILE D.M. S/SGT TG 102649 SCHWEINFURT & DUREN
7/19/1944 SKAPIN E.A. S/SGT LWG 102649 SCHWEINFURT & DUREN
7/19/1944 DOBBINS C.C. S/SGT RWG 102649 SCHWEINFURT & DUREN
7/19/1944 BEHR W.T. S/SGT BTG 102649 SCHWEINFURT & DUREN
7/19/1944 HELLEN W.R. T/SGT TTE 102649 SCHWEINFURT & DUREN
7/19/1944 VANCE R.A. T/SGT ROG 102649 SCHWEINFURT & DUREN
7/19/1944 HEGGE D.N. LT BOM 102649 SCHWEINFURT & DUREN
7/19/1944 MEARS H.S. LT NAV 102649 SCHWEINFURT & DUREN
7/19/1944 TALBERT E.F. LT CP 102649 SCHWEINFURT & DUREN
7/19/1944 BETHEA H.E. LT P 102649 SCHWEINFURT & DUREN
A/C 102649 LADY GERALDINE
7/20/1944 83 164 BETHEA H.E. LT P 37935 MERSEBURG
Date Last Name Initial Rank Position Aircraft Nbr Target
7/20/1944 CARGILE D.M. S/SGT TG 37935 MERSEBURG
7/20/1944 SKAPIN E.A. S/SGT LWG 37935 MERSEBURG
7/20/1944 DOBBINS C.C. S/SGT RWG 37935 MERSEBURG
7/20/1944 BEHR W.T. S/SGT BTG 37935 MERSEBURG
7/20/1944 HELLEN W.R. T/SGT TTE 37935 MERSEBURG
7/20/1944 VANCE R.A. T/SGT ROG 37935 MERSEBURG
7/20/1944 HEGGE D.N. LT BOM 37935 MERSEBURG
7/20/1944 MEARS H.S. LT NAV 37935 MERSEBURG
7/20/1944 TALBERT E.F. LT CP 37935 MERSEBURG
7/20/1944 BETHEA H.E. LT P 37935 MERSEBURG
7/21/1944 93 165 BETHEA H.E. LT P 37935 REGENSBURG
Date Last Name Initial Rank Position Aircraft Nbr Target
7/21/1944 DEVINE B.J. S/SGT TG 37935 REGENSBURG
7/21/1944 SKAPIN E.A. S/SGT LWG 37935 REGENSBURG
7/21/1944 DOBBINS C.C. S/SGT RWG 37935 REGENSBURG
7/21/1944 BEHR W.T. S/SGT BTG 37935 REGENSBURG
7/21/1944 HELLEN W.R. T/SGT TTE 37935 REGENSBURG
7/21/1944 VANCE R.A. T/SGT ROG 37935 REGENSBURG
7/21/1944 HEGGE D.N. LT BOM 37935 REGENSBURG
7/21/1944 STOCKTON M.A. LT NAV 37935 REGENSBURG
7/21/1944 TALBERT E.F. LT CP 37935 REGENSBURG
7/21/1944 BETHEA H.E. LT P 37935 REGENSBURG
7/31/1944 75 170 BETHEA H.E. LT P 37935 MUNICH (AERO ENGINES)
Date Last Name Initial Rank Position Aircraft Nbr Target
7/31/1944 STEIN W.E. S/SGT TG 37935 MUNICH (AERO ENGINES)
7/31/1944 WALSH R.E. S/SGT RWG 37935 MUNICH (AERO ENGINES)
7/31/1944 PRYOR R.E. S/SGT BTG 37935 MUNICH (AERO ENGINES)
7/31/1944 HELLEN W.R. T/SGT TTE 37935 MUNICH (AERO ENGINES)
7/31/1944 VANCE R.A. T/SGT ROG 37935 MUNICH (AERO ENGINES)
7/31/1944 MCKENZIE T.A. LT BOM 37935 MUNICH (AERO ENGINES)
7/31/1944 KOBASKY W.C. LT NAV 37935 MUNICH (AERO ENGINES)
7/31/1944 CROWLEY T.J. LT CP 37935 MUNICH (AERO ENGINES)
7/31/1944 BETHEA H.E. LT P 37935 MUNICH (AERO ENGINES)
Combat Diary of Lt Leonard Coleman:
April 23, 1944
Today Started my tour of operational combat duty in the E.T.O. Our crew was put on operations yesterday and was alerted for the mission today. Get up was 0300 hrs and was briefed at 0400 hrs on a target S.W. of Berlin. The target was a synthetic Oil plant south of Leipzig, Germany. The mission was scrubbed 40 minutes before take off time. Was rather glad it was as it being my first mission it was rather long and heavy flak most of the way. Alerted again for tomorrow.
April 24, 1944 Mission No. 1
Went on my first mission today. The raid was on Friedrichshaven, Germany. Hit the target and it was completely destroyed. Had some flak over the target. We got two flak holes in our ship. No enemy fighters came up. The raid was very long being in the air about 9 hrs.
April 25, 1944 Mission No. 2
Went out again today. The target a Junkers assembly and repairs plant at Dijon, France. WE encountered no flak over the target but had none on the way out over the French coast. Our fighter cover was good and no enemy fighters appeared. I would just as soon I never see a German fighter.
April 26, 1944
Didn't have to fly today, it felt good to get to sleep most of the day. I was kind of tired after flying two missions in two days. We are alerted for tomorrowso will probably go out again.
April 27, 1944 Mission No. 3 & 4
Today has been a long day. We did something today that the Eighth Air Force hasn't done before. We made one raid and then landed the plane and made the second raid this afternoon. Our first mission was a short run over the Channel to bomb a secret instillation (V-1 rockets…mpf) on the French coast. It is believed to be a rocket instillation. The flak was pretty heavy and very accurate. We didn't get any hits. The second mission we took off at 1500 hrs and bombed an airfield in France, it was just south of Luxemburg & west of the German border. I saw two B-17's go down on this trip One was from our Group the the other was from another Group. The flak was quite heavy over the target but we managed to dodge it all. We got up at 0300 hrs this morning and didn't get back until 2300 hrs so we had quite a long day. We logged 13 hrs flying time. We are going on a two day pass in the morning so will have a little next.
April 28, 29, 30, 1944
Went to London on pass and had a very good time. That townis really something . It was good to get away from the base.
May 1, 1944. Mission No. 5
Today wsa my day to get the air medal. Completed my fifth mission. Bombed a marshalling yard in Western Germany (Saarabrucken). Did a good job. Today was the first time I have seen enemy fighters, four ME 109"s attacked our squadron. The Plane on our right wing got aqbout 3/4ths of his rudder shot off. They missed our plane completely but passed just over our head. They really come through fast when they attack.
May 7, 1944, Mission No. 6
Today we hit the big target, BERLIN. It was a pretty long haul. Our first raid in 6 days. They really dropped a lot of bombs on Berlin. The flak was really bad. Going in on the bomb run it just looked like a solid wall. I can't see how planes can get through so much flak without getytin hit more thatn they do. We got about four hits on our plane. We lost one plane today. We are alerted tonight so will probably go out again tomorrow.
May 8, 1944, Mission No. 7
Today was BERLIN again. We had to come back before we got to the target. We came back alone from about 125 miles inside of Germany. I guess they really had a rough time over the city today with a lot of fighter attacks. We didn't lose any planes.
May 9, 1944 Miission No. 8
This was really a good mission. Went to LAON/COUVRON an airport in Eastern France. Hit the target and done a good job. Didn't see any flak or fighters.
May 10, 1944
Today we started to a target in Germany. Ran into bad weather about the time we got to the enemy coast so had to trun around and come back,
May 11, 1944 Mission No. 9
Went on my ninth mission this afternoon. Bombed a marshalling yard at Liege, Belgium. I think we hit the target. There was a lot of smoke down there. We ran into some pretty bad flak. About the most accurate I have seen. WE got 3 holes in our plane. One plane in our group got a direct hit by an 88mm. It exploded in mid air. Saw about 4 chutes come out of it.
May 25, 1944 Mission No. 10
Flew my first mission today in about two weeks. Bombed a Marshalling yard at Brussels, Belgium. It was a pretty easy mission, not much flak.
May 27, 1944 Mission No. 11
Bombed a target at STRASSBOURG,in southern France today. The target was a D.B. Engine parts plant. Had some pretty good flak not too accurate. Got 3 holes in the left wing.
May 28, 1944 Mission No. 12
Had a pretty rough day today. The target was a synthetic oil plant at Magdeburg, Germany. I guess the Germanys didn't want it bombed very bad. They sure as hell tried to keep us from hitting it. German fighters hit us just before we got to the target. Those boys really come in on us. They made about 4 passes one wave after another all in less than 3 minutes. The lead ship we were flying off from went down. We got one engine hit and had to feather it. We flew all the way back on three engines, This 17 flies pretty good on three engines. That’s the first time I have had to fly one on three engines. The group ahead of us lost about 8 planes. Guess we were pretty lucky. Our ball turrret gunner got one ME 109. The tail gunner got a probable.
May 29, 1944 Mission No. 13
Our target today was an oil refinery and storage plant in Leipzig, Germany another pretty trip. The flak was pretty bad. We only lost one ship. Picked up a couple of flak holes in our plane.
June 6, 1944 Mission No. 14
Today was the big day. Our Group flew two missions. Our target was the town of FALAISE, France. The weather was very poor. Onoy got one look at the channel on the way over. There were sure a lot of boasts at the beachhead. We didn't encounter any enemy opposition.
Crew on June 6, 1944 A/C 42-97673 "LUCKY LASS"
FORYSTHE W.C. CAPT P 6/6/1944 FALAISE/OUISTREHAM
COLEMAN L.F. LT CP 6/6/1944 FALAISE/OUISTREHAM
MILLER R.E. LT NAV 6/6/1944 FALAISE/OUISTREHAM
FOX B.S LT BOM 6/6/1944 FALAISE/OUISTREHAM
DOBBINS C.C. S/SGT RWG 6/6/1944 FALAISE/OUISTREHAM
HARRIS D.W. S/SGT TG 6/6/1944 FALAISE/OUISTREHAM
HELLEN W.R. T/SGT TTE 6/6/1944 FALAISE/OUISTREHAM
SKAPIN E.A. S/SGT LWG 6/6/1944 FALAISE/OUISTREHAM
SYMINGTON G.E. S/SGT BTG 6/6/1944 FALAISE/OUISTREHAM
VANCE R.A. T/SGT ROG 6/6/1944 FALAISE/OUISTREHAM
June 8, 1944 Mission No. 15
The target today was a railroad yard at Tours, France. We got a little flak over the target outside of that we had no opposition. Our crew led the 13th Combat Wing. I had another experience. I rode as tail gunner for the purpose of directing the formation (Formation Officer…mpf). The tail isn't a bad place to ride but I would rather be in the cockpit.
Crew on June 8, 1944 A/C 2106986 "SACK ARTIST"
BATTISTA R.E. LT COM NAV 6/8/1944 TOURS (BRIDGES) 106986
COLEMAN L.F. LT CP 6/8/1944 TOURS (BRIDGES) 106986
DOBBINS C.C. S/SGT RWG 6/8/1944 TOURS (BRIDGES) 106986
FORYSTHE W.C. CAPT P 6/8/1944 TOURS (BRIDGES) 106986
FOX B.S LT BOM 6/8/1944 TOURS (BRIDGES) 106986
FULLER (COM) M.C. MAJ COM PILOT 6/8/1944 TOURS (BRIDGES) 106986
HARRIS D.W. S/SGT TG 6/8/1944 TOURS (BRIDGES) 106986
HELLEN W.R. T/SGT TTE 6/8/1944 TOURS (BRIDGES) 106986
MILLER R.E. LT NAV 6/8/1944 TOURS (BRIDGES) 106986
SKAPIN E.A. S/SGT LWG 6/8/1944 TOURS (BRIDGES) 106986
SYMINGTON G.E. S/SGT BTG 6/8/1944 TOURS (BRIDGES) 106986
VANCE R.A. T/SGT ROG 6/8/1944 TOURS (BRIDGES) 106986
S/SGT SYMINGTON GOES TO LT HENRY SMITH/WESLEY CARLTON CREW:
CAPT. HENRY F. SMITH P CPT DATE & MISSION UNK
1ST LT WESLEY R. CARLTON CP KIA 11 SEP 44 RUHLAND
2ND LT MARK M. HERTZ NAV/BOM POW 28 JUL 44 MERSEBURG SN# 0-700104 (see note below)
T/SGT MILTON S. EDELSTEIN ROG KIA 11 SEP 44 RUHLAND
T/SGT HIKE B. BAGDASIAN TTE KIA 11 SEP 44 RUHLAND
SGT GARNET E. SYMINGTON BTG CPT 26 AUG 44 BREST (FLEW 18 MISSIONS WITH THIS CREW, ORIGINAL CREW LT BETHEA)
S/SGT PAUL J. HAHN LWG NOC (FLEW 12 MISSIONS CAPT SMITH CREW, THEN TO SPARE GUNNERS POOL)
S/SGT WILLIAM U. SCHAEFER RWG KIA 11 SEP 44 RUHLAND
S/SGT GEORGE E. WATROUS TG KIA 11 SEP 44 RUHLAND
350th Sqdn. Crew as of June 1944. Crew flew 14 mission in A/C 42-31991 MISS-CHIEF .
It appears this crew used a toggelier for many missions until July 18, 1944 when Lt Eppendorf became the permanent bombardier. CAPT SMITH WAS A GROUP COMMAND PILOT FROM JUNE 1944 UNTIL COMPLETION OF TOUR. He left the Crew after the June 25th Maquis Supply drop and the crew flew three missions with Lt G.W. Clark (original CP with Lt Tiahrt Crew) as pilot before Lt Wesley Carlton took over the Crew. 2nd Lt Hertz shows up in records as flying as the Navigator on this Crew but left the crew after the July 8, 1944 Clamecy-Joigny mission to become a Pathfinder Bombardier (Lead Crew) with the 100th Bomb Group and the 95th Bomb Group. Capt. Smith became 350th Bomb Squadron Operations Officer in Sept. 1944.
MISSION LIST OF CAPT. HENRY SMITH AND LT. WESLEY CARLTON
# DATE TARGET PILOT/COPILOT A/C NUMBER A/C NAME
1. 18/6/44 MITBURG LT. SMITH 2102695 NO NAME
LT. W. CARLTON-CP
2. 19/6/44 CORME ECLUSE LT. SMITH 232009 BLACK CAT 13
LT. W. CARLTON-CP
3. 20/6/44 FALLERSLEBEN LT. SMITH 231991 MISS-CHIEF
LT. W. CARLTON-CP
4. 24/6/44 GRAND COURONNE LT. SMITH 231049 SUPERSTITIOUS ALOYSIOUS
LT. W. CARLTON-CP
5. 25/6/44 MAQUIS SUPPLY DROP LT SMITH 231074 CAHEPIT
LT W. CARLTON-CP
6. 6/7/44 FLEURY LT. G.W. CLARK 231991 MISS-CHIEF
LT. W. CARLTON-CP
7. 8/7/44 CLAMECY-JOIGNY LT. G.W. CLARK 231991 MISS-CHIEF
LT. W. CARLTON-CP
LT HERTZ LEAVES CREW TO BECOME RADAR/NAVIGATOR
8. 11/7/44 MUNICH LT. G.W. CLARK 231991 MISS-CHIEF
LT. W. CARLTON-CP
9. 18/7/44 KIEL LT. W. CARLTON 231991 MISS-CHIEF
LT. G.C. MALCOM-CP
LT J.L. EPPENDORF BECOMES BOMBARDIER ON THIS CREW
10. 20/7/44 MERSEBURG LT. W. CARLTON 231991 MISS-CHIEF
LT. R. DYKEMAN-CP
11. 21/7/44 REGENSBURG LT. W. CARLTON 231991 MISS-CHIEF
LT. R. DYKEMAN-CP
12. 24/7/44 ST LO LT. W. CARLTON 231991 MISS-CHIEF
LT. R. DYKEMAN-CP
CREW REDUCED TO 9 MEN, S/SGT P.J. HAHN IS TAKEN OFF THE CREW AND SENT TO SPARE GUNNERS POOL
13. 25/7/44 ST LO LT. W. CARLTON 231991 MISS-CHIEF
LT. R. DYKEMAN-CP (Lt Dykeman is KIA on July 29, 1944 with Fitzroy Crew)
14. 31/7/44 MUNICH LT. W. CARLTON 231991 MISS-CHIEF
LT. E.F. NEU ?-CP
15. 2/8/44 TERGNIER LT. W. CARLTON 231991 MISS-CHIEF
LT. E.F. NEU ?-CP
16. 3/8/44 TROYES LT. W. CARLTON 297924 PARTY TONIGHT
LT. E.F. NEU ?-CP
17. 4/8/44 HAMBURG LT. W. CARLTON 338043 NO NAME
LT. E.F. NEU-CP
18. 5/8/44 MAGDEBURG LT. W. CARLTON 231991 MISS-CHIEF
LT. E.F. NEU-CP
19. 6/8/44 BERLIN LT. W. CARLTON 46089 LEADING LADY
LT. E.F. NEU-CP
20. 7/8/44 BEAUTOR LT. W. CARLTON 337882 HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
LT. E.F. NEU-CP
21. 26/8/44 BREST LT. W. CARLTON 46089 LEADING LADY
LT. E.F. NEU-CP
SGT G.E. SYMINGTON COMPLETES 35 MISSIONS AND IS REPLACED ON THE CREW BY S/SGT R.E.JACOBSON
MEMO 2:
