Personnel

CREW



 LT ROBERT D. VOLLMER                 P POW 3 MAR 44 BERLIN

 LT JOHN W. ADAMS III                 CP KIA    3 MAR 44 BERLIN

 LT EDWARD G. SULLIVAN           NAV POW 3 MAR 44 BERLIN

 LT ROBERT S. CONNELLY            BOM NOC

 T/SGT RICHARD C. HULL              TTE NOC

 T/SGT ELIAS M. JOHNSON           ROG KIA    3 MAR 44 BERLIN

 S/SGT DON GUTHRIE                   BTG POW 3 MAR 44 BERLIN

 S/SGT DONALD W. BECKER          RWG KIA   3 MAR 44 BERLIN

 S/SGT THOMAS H. MULLENIX       LWG POW 3 MAR 44 BERLIN

 S/SGT GEORGE W. WOOD              TG KIA   3 MAR 44 BERLIN



349th Sqdn.  Crew, as above, joined the 100th on 28 Nov 1943.

MACR #3029, Microfiche # 1026, A/C #42-39817 "MURDERER'S ROW"



On 3 Mar 43 T/SGT ERNEST B. CLARK was flying as Toggalier in place of Connelly and was KIA. T/SGT WILLIAM S. HUMPHREY was flying in place of Sgt Hull and became a POW



When this crew joined the 100th GP on 28/11/43,Lt.Robert S. Connelly was the Bombardier and Sgt.Richard C.Hull the TTE. Nothing further is known of them.



Eyewitness Report: A/C #817 was #3 in lead element,lead squadron. Near 5410 N 0910 E the leader flew into a dense layer of clouds. The leader of the second element pulled up above the overcast and his wing men peeled off right and left. None of these crews saw the leading element agaln. Crews in the 100th B group flying in the combat wing behind turned back before entering the cloud bank. Most of the crews observed a large explosion behind them and slightly above the formation. altitude. It is believed that A/C 970 and A/C 817 collided and exploded and that A/C 017 which is missing was damaged by explosion.



A VHF sigral was received from A/C 017 a short time later saying that the pilot intended to try to reach Sweden.



A somewhat clearer picture of events is given in a letter from Vollmer to John Miller (1980/81).  "Our element remained together and broke out on top of the clouds at 31,000 feet. For the next five or ten minutes it looked like the mighty 8th Air Forc.,consisting now of only three B-17s,was going to try to make the first strike on Big B. It didn't last long. A bunch of FWs hit us from about 2 o'clock high and got all of us. Two shells exploded in the cockpit,starting a fire in front of the rudder pedals and causing flames to come through my oxygen mask. At that altitude,I was unsble to secure the walk around bottle before losing conciousness. The plane then dived and climbed alternately until it finally broke up. I don't know how I got out,but I did parachute with debris falling all around me. Five of the men on my crew died that day."   ".  .  . B0b Lohof was leading the 349th. John Gossage was on right wing,and I was on the left. Lohof was leading the 100th. His radio operator did not receive the recall message and we were unable to convince him,so we continued . . . .".