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S/SGT  Francis R. BERNARD

UNIT: 351st BOMB Sqdn POSITION: BTG
SERIAL #: STATUS: FEH
MACR:

Comments1: ARNAUDVILLE, LA

COMMENTS & NOTES

MEMO 1:

CREW

1ST LT J. L. EVANS                                   P FEH
2ND LT JACK E. STOFFREGEN                    CP FEH
1ST LT ROBERT N. FENTON                    NAV FEH
1ST LT JOHN S. GARVAN, JR                  BOM FEH
T/SGT MARION VanCLEVE                      TTE FEH
S/SGT DELFORD L. JOHNSON                  ROG FEH
S/SGT FRANCIS RODNEY. BERNARD, JR.   BTG FEH
SGT    ROBERT L. ROSS                          WG FEH
S/SGT JOHN C. WASSON, JR.                  TG FEH

351ST SQDN.. This crew, as above, joined the 100th on 18 Feb 1945 and was originally with the 418th BS and then transferred to the 351st BS.  This Crew later became a lead crew and was Flying at the end of Hostilities.  When they became a lead crew, Lt A.J. Eilers was assigned as Nav/Rad.


Dear Rodney, Bernard
I received your email from Joe Urice, GREAT MAN and a BIG help to us. Two Questions,
We have you as Francis Rodney Bernard Jr. in our files, is that correct and secondly, does anyone know your pilots Evans real first name? All our files say is J.L.Evans.  Thank you for all the info you sent Joe, your original photograph is on the way back to you along with a duplicate copy.  Another question, when this became a lead Crew  on last 3 mission and they put the Radar guy on the Crew, were you assigned another Crew or another postion on the crew,  The Evans crew flew PFF aircraft on there last 3 missions, 


My full name is as shown. We were not permitted to use our officer's first names except for Jack Stoffregan , out of Evans's presence. Never heard anyone call Evans anything but Captain. When we became a lead crew, I was moved to the waist. 
 F. Rodney Bernard Jr 
To: BLOUPGAROU@ BELLSOUTH.NET 
Sent: Sunday, April 02, 2006 2:43 PM


Missions of Lt J.L. Evans (from Capt William Carleton's mission report book for Dec 1944-May 1945…mpf) and Francis Bernard Diary

#     DATE         TARGET                            AIRCRAFT #         NAME             HARDSTAND     POSTION IN FORMATION

1.    02/03/45    DRESDEN                          43-37521     SKYWAY CHARIOT
2.    04/03/45    ULM                                 42-31530     QUITTIN TIME
3.    08/03/45     GIESSEN                          42-31530     QUITTIN TIME
4.    10/03/45    DORTMUND                       43-37521     SKYWAY CHARIOT Hardstand #3,   B-SQDN LOW FLIGHT
5.    11/03/45    HAMBURG                          42-38047     FEVER BEAVER      Hardstand #12
6.    12/03/45    SWINEMUNDE                    42-38047     FEVER BEAVER      Hardstand #12   C-SQDN  HIGH FLIGHT
7.    15/03/45    ORANIENBURG                   42-38047     FEVER BEAVER      Hardstand #12   B-SQDN, LOW FLIGHT
8.    17/03/45    PLAUEN S.T.                     42-38047     FEVER BEAVER      Hardstand #12              
9.    21/03/45    PLAUEN,                           42-38047     FEVER BEAVER      Hardstand #12
10.  22/03/45    ALHORN                            42-38047     FEVER BEAVER      Hardstand #12
11.. 11/04/45    LANDSHUT                        44-8209      THE BRASS HAT     Hardstand #8    A-SQDN ,3RD ESLN LEAD
                                                                                                                            A-SQDN  LEAD, SUTTERLIN BLANDING  824 M PFF  17
12.  16/04/45    ROYAN                             44-8209      THE BRASS HAT
13.  18/04/45    STRAUBING                       44-8776      LN-U PATHFINDER  Hardstand #35   C-SQDN LEAD   

19 APRIL,1945  COMBAT MISSION SCRUBBED,PRACTICE MISSION,  C-SQDN LEAD, STIVERS EVANS  705  Z  11  (# 44-8705  EP-Z)……
25 APRIL,1945  COMBAT MISSION SCRUBBED,PRACTICE MISSION, D-SQDN LEAD, KODAS EVANS,   794  B  44  (# 44-8794  LD-B)……               

Chowhound Missions:

3 MAY,1945  CHOWHOUND MISSION, D-SQDN LEAD, MILLING EVANS  794  B  PFF  40   (# 44-8794  LD-B)…..
7 MAY,1945  CHOWHOUND MISSION, C-SQDN LEAD, WILSON EVANS  916  R  PFF  32  ( # 44-8916  LN-R)…..


15 MAY 45   HORSCHING   RETURN FRENCH POW'S FROM GERMAN PRISON CAMP. FLEW A/C 258
4  JUNE,1945  GREEN SUPPORT MISSION TO CASABLANCA, A-SQDN LEAD, EVANS  849  J  7, ( # 44-8849 EP-J)……..


DIARY OF S/SGT F.R.BERNARD (mpf 2006)

#1    Friday March 2, 1945   521 Skyway Chariot
Target: Railway Yards at Dresden
Bomb Load: 20-500 lb.  General Purpose
Gas Load: Maximum
Take Off: 6:50
Landing : 3:45
Flying Time: 8 hrs 55 minutes
Time On Oxygen: 5:30 hrs
Bombing Altitude: 22,500 ft.
Primary Target was oil refineries at Ruhland, Secondary target: Dresden. Primary target was overcast so we proceeded to Dresden. It was also overcast consequently we bombed PFF. Herman the German got in four burst right back of our tail and one off the right wing. We were picked up by fighters five minutes before the I.P. The group ahead of us and the group back of us were hit.  There were dogfights all over the sky. There was no flak over the target and none on the way home.

#2    Sunday March 4, 1945  530 Quittin Time
Target: Railway Yards at Ulm
Bomb Load: 6-500 lb GP's & 6-500 lb incendiary clusters.
Gas Load: Maximum
Take off: 6:00
Landing: 15:30
Flying time: 9:30 hrs
Bombing Altitude: 21,000 ft
Time on Oxygen: 5 hrs
Bombed PFF, results unobserved. No Fighters, No Flak. Thick contrails and very heavy overcast, temperature down to -40. There was frozen oil on the ball turret window. It’s a good thing no fighters came in.

#3   Thursday March 8, 1945    530  Quittin Time
Target: Marshalling Yards at Giessen
Bomb Load:
Gas Load: 2400 gallons
Take off: 10:40
Landing: 5:20
Flying Time: 6 hours, 40 minutes
Bombing Altitude: 23,000 ft.
Time On Oxygen: 3:30 hrs
Bombed PFF, the two groups ahead hit target and left large fires. Our own bombs missed by a wide margin, no flak

#4      Saturday. March 10, 1945     521  Skyway Chariot
Target: Marshalling Yards at Dortmund
Bomb Load: 42-100 lb GP's, 2-500 lb Incendiary Clusters
Gas Load: Maximum
Take Off: 8:55
Landing: 3:40
Flying Time: 6hrs 45 min.
Bombing Altitude: 22,000 ft
Time on Oxygen: 3:30 hrs
Bombed PFF, Results unobserved. Heavy Flak two miles to our left and some behind us. We dropped 33 of our GP's and one cluster. The others hung up in the racks and we had to bring them back. 

#5      Sunday March 11, 1945   047  Fever Beaver
Target: Marshalling Yards at Hamburg
Time: 6hrs 35 Minutes

#6      Monday March 12, 1945  047 Fever Beaver
Target: Naval instillations and oil dump at Swinemunde.
Time: 9hrs

#7     Thursday March 15, 1945  047 Fever Beaver
Target: Oranienburg
Time: 7hrs 35 minutes
Bomb Load: 6-1000 lb
Marshalling yards where German troops were being shipped south. Bombed with heavy bombs armed with delayed action fuses. 

#8     Saturday   March 17, 1945   047 Fever Beaver
Target: Plauen, textile mill converted to steel plant
Time: 10 hrs
Came back with one engine out and the prop feathered and very low on gas. Landed with a five minute supply

#9     Wednesday  March 21, 1945   047 Fever Beaver
Target: Tank factory and jet parts factory at Plauen.
Bomb Load: 12-500 lb GP's
Bomb Altitude: 21,000 ft
Time: 8 hrs 15 minutes

#10   Thursday March 22, 1945   047 Fever Beaver
Target: Jet Airfield at Alhorn
Bomb Load: 24-100 lb GP's with delayed fuses. 
Bomb Altitude: 18,000 ft
Time: 6 hrs

#11     April 11, 1945
Target: Munich (Landshut was actual target…mpf) Small arms factory
Bomb Load: 8-500 lb GP's and 4-500 lb clusters
Altitude: 18,000 feet
Uneventful

#12     April 16, 1945
Target: Bordeaux- Point de-Grave-Gun emplacements and troop concentrations. 
Bomb Load: 12-500 lb GP's
Altitude: 15,000 feet
Flying Time: 7:40
Bombs were dropped 7 miles from briefed target

#13     April 18, 1945
Target: Straubing, Marshalling Yards
Bomb Load: 12-500 lb GP's
Altitude: 25,000 ft
Flying Time: 9:40 
No flak. Excellent bomb results for our squadron. Poor results for group as a whole.

MEMO 2:


			

             
            

         

         
KIA / MIA / EVA / INT INFORMATION: 
  
         

  

    TARGET:
			
    DATE: 
			
     
  

  

    AIRCRAFT:
	
    CAUSE:
			
     
  



			


			

            
BURIAL INFORMATION

            

  

    PLOT:
			
    ROW:
			
     
  

  

    GRAVE:
			
    CEMETERY:
			
     
  



			
			
            

			
 
            
           
PHOTOS:

           
                                                                    
 Take Mid-1945 in front of a plane that happened to be available.J. L. Evans Crew (left to right)
Standing: Robert Fenton (NAV), A. J. Eilers (Radar - see notes), J. L. Evans (P),Jack Stoffregen (CP), John Garvan (BOM)
Kneeling: Marion Van Cleve (TTE), Delford Johnson (ROG), John Wasson (TG)
Robert Ross (WG), Francis Rodney Bernard (BTG)

Notes 1-4 courtesy of Joe Urice (4 Apr 2006)
(1) "The PARD aircraft just happened to be conveniently available when they decided to take the picture"
(2) "Eilers - This man was probably a radar operator who flew with the crew on approximately two missions at the end of their missions" (see mission list below)
(3) In an undated letter from Harry Cruver to Joe Urice: "This [unknown] is probably 1st Lt. [M.] Eilers.
(4)"Also see Cruver's blackboard picture of a 351st crew availability list that shows Eilers as BTG. That is the same way Wofford's radar man was shown on the list that day."
(5) Eilers identified as A. J. Eilers by Michael Faley 4 Apr 2006. 
 Rodney Bernard, Carl Lindstrom, Algie Davenport, Jack Wasson 

           
 

       
SERVED IN: 

				
Crew 1
			
	
        
		
        ID:
			342