Mission

ON THIS DAY...APRIL 29, 1944

When the S-2 Officer pulled the curtain back from the wall map at the 0315 briefing, the moans could be heard outside of the briefing room’s closed door. The red string stretched across the map to Germany’s capital city of Berlin, where the Primary target would be its massive railway center. Brunswick would be the Secondary target.

The 3rd Bombardment Division would lead the entire 8th’s AF column of war planes, with the 1st BD flying second and the 2nd Division's B-24s flying third and last. Leading the 3rd Division would be the 4th Combat Wing, split into two Composite formations with the 385th and 447th flying as its ‘A’ Group and a ‘B’ Group lead by the 94th BG with 100th flying as its High Group and the 385th flying as its Low.

The 13th CBW would put up fifty-two B-17s, led by the 390th BG, with a Composite formation of the 95th/390th flying as its High Group and another Composite of the 390/100BG as its Low Group.

Loaded with three 1000 lb GP bombs and five 500 lb incendiaries, the 100th’s ships took off from Thorpe Abbotts in the order of their position within their assigned formations. Wing assembly was accomplished at 0826 and the enemy coast was crossed at 0941 after climbing to 24000 feet. Flying in solid cloud coverage, the formations reached the IP at 1113 hours and started their turns on the bomb run.

However, due to a navigational error, the 4th CBW’s ‘B’ Group had veered from the bomber stream by forty miles and was unable to rendezvous with its assigned escorts. The 100th’s NAV John ‘Dick’ Johnson on the Frank Valesh crew remembered, “We were flying 560 and were assigned along with another PFF aircraft to lead the 385th B.G. A Major Masters was assigned as command pilot and that man couldn't make a decision whether to go to the bathroom or not let alone a decision re the formation. Neither Mickey set was operating properly so the Mickey operators were unable to give position reports to the DR navigators. In fact the only thing I positively identified all day was Dummer Lake. We were over a solid overcast and got lost…About 100 to 150 Krauts hit us and the losses were heavy. As the fighters got set for their second pass, Frank Valesh asked the command pilot if he wanted to turn into them. When Masters (Major Masters Command Pilot) hesitated Frank turned into them on his own. The pilots following us said that probably saved the formation from total extermination. John Booth was manning a nose gun and noted in his diary that he counted eighteen (18) B-17's going down.”

For the 13th CWB, it had remained on course and had met its fighter escorts at the briefed rendezvous times. Although enemy aircraft were sighted by these escorts, the enemy remained high and did not engage with the 13th.

The bomber formations continued to their target, attacking in wing formation for protection through the heavy flak coming up from the multiple guns below. TTE Richard ‘Dickie’ Kendall, on his #4 mission with the Julian Rogers Crew remembered, “Flak was the worst that I have ever seen. It seemed impossible to get through it.” And the bombers were absorbing the exploding pieces of metal the best that they could with nine ships taking on battle damage.

However, bombs were away from forty-nine out of the fifty-two ships flying with the 13th CBW, after which the bombers climbed even higher to avoid the flak which continued to be encountered over most of their route out.

The Valesh crew had survived flying in the 4th’s CBW but his NAV Johnson had come down with the flu while flying. Johnson reported, “I was so damned sick by the end of the mission I didn't care if we got back or not. Had a temperature of 103F when we landed. It was diagnosed as flu and I ended up in the hospital for a one day stay. In the States I’d have been in hospital for at least a week.”

After a rough nine hour mission, all of the 100th’s bombers returned safely but the nine flown by Rosine, Wolf, Evans, Lischer, Schwank, Stout, Howard, Rogers and Rupert returned with flak damage with Rosine’s and Wolf’s B17 seriously damaged. Rosine landed his bomber with three crew wounded.

This would mark the largest battle day for the 8th Air Force. Sending up two thousand planes to Berlin, its 2nd Division of B-24’s would absorb multiple attacks NE of Hanover on the both the route in and out to Berlin. Newspapers in the States would report thirty-eight B-17s, twenty-six B-24s and fourteen fighters lost while the Luftwaffe would suffer eighty-eight planes destroyed, seventy-two by the bomber’s gunners and sixteen by the American fighters. They would continue to remain silent as to the number of Airmen lost.

Crews flying this mission: High Group: Dille, Eichen, Evans, Harris A, Harris C, Hunter, Jesperson, Lischer, Major, Rake, Schomp, Schwank, Scott, Stout, Williams, Roth, Townsend, Wilson, Wolf and Zeller.

Composite crews: Howard, Malooly, Rogers, Rosine, Rupert, Wegrzynek, Shelly

Spares: Simmons and Ryan