Personnel

CREW



2ND LT MARVIN L. LEININGER  P KIA 30 DEC 1943 LUDWIGSHAFEN

2ND LT ALBERT W. WITMYER  CP KIA 30 DEC 1943 LUDWIGSHAFEN

2ND LT LEONARD D. McCHESNEY NAV EVA 30 DEC 1943 LUDWIGSHAFEN

2ND LT CHARLES W. COMPTON, JR. BOM EVA 30 DEC 1943 LUDWIGSHAFEN

    SGT MARSHALL BANTA  ROG KIA 30 DEC 1943 LUDWIGSHAFEN

    SGT MEYER M. WEINTRAUB TTE KIA 30 DEC 1943 LUDWIGSHAFEN

    SGT NICHOLAS J. MATULIK BTG KIA 30 DEC 1943 LUDWIGSHAFEN

    SGT EUGENE F. LATIMER  WG KIA 30 DEC 1943 LUDWIGSHAFEN

    SGT JAMES W. PARHAM  WG KIA 30 DEC 1943 LUDWIGSHAFEN

    SGT CHARLES J. McGROGAN TG KIA 30 DEC 1943 LUDWIGSHAFEN



349th Sqdn.. Crew flew A/C 42-5861 XR-J Laden Maiden (Named by Squadron CO William Veal and later

flown by Cowboy Owen Roane)  When the crew joined the 100th Gp on 1 Dec 1943, Sgt Philp Wagner was a WG instead of James W. Parham. 

According to a family member of Sgt Weintraub, this was the crews first Mission. 



EYEWITNESS: (S/Sgt John J. Strang): One B-17 from the high squadron fell behind and three (3) FW-190S followed the B-17 

which went down in flames. 



LUDWIGSHAVEN MISSION, DECEMBER 30, 1943

 Lt Leininger in A/C #861 was hit by flak at 12:35 hours and dropped out of formation.  At various times on the route from the target both #3 and #4 engines were feathered and started again.  At one time the aircraft was able to regain its position in the formation, but in some reshuffling of the formation, it dropped behind jast as some enemy fighters attacked at 13:42 hours.  It was hit by three enemy aircraft from 9 O'Clock low.  It appeared that at least one of the three fighters fired a rocket into the ship at close range.  The entire left wing caught fire and part of the tail section broke off.  Diving towards the undercast it was followed by several enemy fighters.  It appeared under control when last seen.  From 1-4 chutes were reported before the plane disappeared into the undercast near 4905 N -0438 E.  (from Bill Thompson's MACR Reports) mpf 2001



Report in MACR indicates McChesney and Compton were successful evadees and arrived back in the United Kingdom 17 Apr 1944.



The eight dead, except for Sgts Parham and Matulik, now rest in the Epinal American Cemetary; this from Charles Compton in 1988. (pw)



Subj: Re: 100thBG Feedback Form  

Date: 7/23/2002 10:04:50 PM Pacific Daylight Time 

From: mizccd407@yahoo.com  (Carolyn Compton Delmar)

To: MPFaley@aol.com 

Sent from the Internet (Details) 



 The info about the Ludwigshafen mission being their first is incorrect where Dad is concerned...it was his third mission. 

Unfortunately, both Dad (Charles Compton) and McChesney are gone...Dad in 1990 and McChesney a couple of years later...so I don't know the answer to any of those questions except that one of Dad's missions was to Bremen.

According to his NARA enlistment record, Marshall Banta was born in Kentucky in 1918. No early life, census data, or parentage records have been located. Banta was drafted, and inducted into military service on November 9, 1942 at Cincinnati, Ohio. His enlistment file contains the notation that he had completed 4 years of high school, and was employed as a general industry clerk. He was assigned to the Army Air Forces, and trained as a radio operator and aerial gunner.



He was then sent to crew training. This crew deployed to England, arriving at Thorpe-Abbots on December 1, 1943. Records show they flew 1 mission, but a family member of one of the crew disputes this, saying three is the correct number. On December 30, 1943, the crew was picked to bomb the oil facilities and the manufacturing plants at Ludwigshaven, Germany.



Over the target, the aircraft was hit by flak, rendering two engines inoperative. They stopped, the pilot feathered the propellers. The engines started again. Trying to get power from the engines, the pilot allowed the aircraft to drift out of formation. It was then attacked by a number of enemy aircraft. Entering an undercast, it was seemingly under control, but a wing was burning and cannon holes were visible in the tail structure. It crashed near Lirly, France, not far from Rheims. Two crewmen parachuted out, made safe landings, and evaded to England. The other eight were killed. After the war, the remains were recovered, identified, and moved to other cemeteries. Today, Sgt Banta rests in the Epinal American Cemetery in France in Plot A, Row 21, Grave 42.



Sgt Marshall Banta was acting as radio operator and dorsal gunner on B-17F # 42-5861, named "Laden Maiden," assigned to the 349th Bomb Squadron. (This aircraft was previously named "Stud Duck" by Lt "Cowboy" Roane, pilot who ferried the aircraft to England.



Missing Air Crew Report 2020 was issued for the loss of crew and aircraft. Crew rosters show the crew as:



2 Lt Marvin L. Leininger  p

2 Lt Albert W. Witmyer  c-p

2 Lt Leonard D. McChesney  nav

2 Lt Charles W. Compton  bomb

Sgt  Myer M. Weintraub  eng/tt gun

Sgt  Marshall Banta  r/o

Sgt  Nicholas J. Mautlik  btg

Sgt  Eugene F. Latimer  Rwg

Sgt  James W. Parham  Lwg

Sgt  Charles W. McGrogan  tail gun





Lts McChesney and Compton were the only survivors.