Personnel

CREW                                                               



LT DALE McEWEN BECAME 1S PILOT OF THIS CREW SOMETIME AFTER THEIR 10TH MISSION.  

CREW



2ND LT ROBERT A. WEGRZYNEK            P RFS ILLNESS

2ND LT CHARLES J. GUTEKUNST          CP NOC see note below

2ND LT EDMUND "NED" KAUFFMAN     NAV POW  28 JUL 44  MERSEBURG, OIL REFINERY (WITH F.H.MASON (COM)/JAMES B. NOBLE CREW, SEE BELOW)

2ND LT JACK . EPPENDORF                BOM KIA 11 SEP 44  RUHLAND, OIL REFINERY

S/SGT GEORGE W. WRIGHT             TTE NOC

S/SGT JAY V. EMRICH                      ROG NOC TAPS: 1988

SGT DALE E. STRAUSBAUGH             BTG NOC

SGT EDWIN J. TYRRELL                    WG NOC

SGT LUTHER A. WISE, JR.                 WG NOC

SGT RINALDO J. BUSSINO                  TG CPT 24 JUL 44 ST LO GROUD SUPPORT



350TH SQDN....CREW, AS ABOVE, JOINED THE 100TH ON 09 MAR 1944..



"FLEW FIRST MISSION ON APRIL 11, 1944.  AFTER 10 MISSIONS, LT ROBERT WEGRZYNEK WAS GROUNDED BY A SERIOUS ILLNESS THAT REQUIRED A LONG PERIOD OF RECUPERATION IN A STATESIDE MILITARY HOSPITAL.  WHILE SERVING IN COMBAT, HIS B-17 CREW WAS UNITED IN THEIR BELIEF THAT BOB WAS AN OUTSTANDING LEADER AND EXCEPTIONAL PILOT".....2ND LT CHARLES GUTEKUNST IN LETTER DATED DEC. 2000 mpf



LT DALE R. McEWEN TOOK OVER THIS CREW AS FIRST PILOT.  LT KAUFMAN WAS REPLCED ON THE CREW BY FLIGHT OFFICER ALEXANDER MARUCHESS BOTH MCEWEN AND MARUCHESS WERE FROM LT JAMES NOBLE CREW.  PROABLY MOST OF THIS CREW COMPLETED TOURS.





FLIGHT RECORD 

RINALDO J. BUSSINO 39550304

350TH SQDN.. 100TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP (H)

THORPE ABBOTTS, ENGLAND (STA # 139)



DATE   TARGET        FLT, TIME



5 APR 1944  LOCAL AREA      2:40

9 APR 1944  AIR SEA  RESCUE     4:30

11 APR 1944  POSEN, AC & ROSTOCK, CITY    11:30

12 APR 1944  SCHKEUDITZ, AC FACTORY (RECALL)   3:30

18 APR 1944  GENSHAGEN (BERLIN) AC ENGINES   8:15

19 APR 1944  LIPPSTADT & WERL AF'S    6:45

20 APR 1944  MARQUENVILLE & FLOTTEMANVILLE-HAGUE  5:00

24 APR 1944  FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, AC FACTORY   9:15

28 APR 1944  SOTTEVAST (NOBALL)     5:30

29 APR 1944  BERLIN, CITY      9:30

1 MAY 1944  SAARGUEMINES, MY & WIZERNES (NOBALL  7:15

3 MAY 1944  LOCAL AREA      4:30

4 MAY 1944  ABORT       2:00

7 MAY 1944  LOCAL AREA      1:00

10 MAY 1944  FALLERSLEBEN, MOTOR TRANSP. (RECALL)  3:30

11 MAY 1944  LIEGE, MY      5:00

17 MAY 1944  LOCAL AREA      1:30

19 MAY 1944  BERLIN, CITY (RECALL)     2:10

20 MAY 1944  LOCAL AREA      2:30

22 MAY 1944  LOCAL AREA      3:20

23 MAY 1944  TROYES, AF      8:00

24 MAY 1944  BERLIN, CITY (SPARE; NO HOLES TO FILL)  3:30

28 MAY 1944  LOCAL AREA      2:30

31 MAY 1944  OSNABRUCK, MY     8:30

2 JUN 1944  BOULOGNE & PARIS, RAILWAY JUNCTION  4:10

3 JUN 1944  LOCAL AREA      3:00

5 JUN 1944  ABBEVILLE & BOULOGNE    5:30

6 JUN 1944  OUISTREHAM, TOWN     6:30

6 JUN 1944  FALAISE, TOWN     7:30

7 JUN 1944  NANTES, BRIDGE     7:50

10 JUN 1944  MORLAIX, AF      5:30

15 JUN 1944  LOCAL AREA      1:30

20 JUN 1944  FALLERSLEBEN, MT FACTORY    7:00

7 JUL 1944  MERSEBURG & BOHLEN, OIL REFS   3:20

8 JUL 1944  CLAMECY-JOIGNY, RAILWAY BRIDGE   5:30

10 JUL 1944  LOCAL AREA      5:20

11 JUL 1944  MUNICH, AERO ENGINES    10:20

12 JUL 1944  MUNICH, INDUSTRIAL AREA    9:20

13 JUL 1944  MUNICH, JET ENGINES     8:20

17 JUL 1944  AUXERRE, RAIL BRIDGE     7:45

18 JUL 1944  KIEL, HEMMINGSTADT, OIL (100TH "B")   7:10

19 JUL 1944  SCHWEINFURT & DUREN    7:00

20 JUL 1944  MERSEBURG, OIL REFINERY    8:10

21 JUL 1944  REGENSBURG & LUDWIGSHAFEN   7:30

24 JUL 1944  ST. LO, GROUND SUPPORT    6:15

6 AUG 1944  LOCAL AREA      1:00

6 AUG 1944  LOCAL AREA      1:30

7 AUG 1944  LOCAL AREA      2:00

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DATE: 28 July 1944          350th Sqdn                 A/C#42-97555

MISSION: Merseburg                                     MACR#7880,Micro-fiche#2890



Capt Floyd H.Mason (349th Ops Officer) COM P   POW

1st Lt James B.Noble                               P    POW

2nd Lt Robert P.Lipps                             CP   POW

1st Lt Edmund J. "Ned" Kauffman    RAD/NAV   POW

1st Lt Robert W.Barry                           NAV    POW (WIA)

2nd Lt Marcus M.Hertz                          BOM   POW

 T/Sgt Frank Cruz,Jr.                            TTE   POW

 T/Sgt Russell F.Ellis                             ROG   POW

 S/Sgt Arthur L.Roberts                       RWG   KIA

 S/Sgt William P.McNally                       LWG   KIA

 S/Sgt Frederick F.Swartz                       TG    POW



Of the above,Noble, Cruz, Ellis, Roberts, McNally,and Swartz appear to be from the

original Noble crew. Lipps was from the M.C.Rumley crew. Kauffman from the R.A.

Wegrzynek crew.Barry from the H.E.Bethea crew.  Mason had joined the 100th with

his own crew on 28/11/43 and may have been on his 2nd tour.



Eyewitness Report: " At 0850 hours near 5043N-0802E,A/C #555 nosed down twice

and the group followed.Then the wheels were lowered and fire was seen in the

radio room. Looked as if it might be a flare fire. The A/C peeled off to the

right.A small explosion was seen in the right wing between #3 engine and the

fuselage. Ono man bailed out before the A/C left the formation. The others

followed. Nine chutes were seen to open and the tenth had not opened when the man

disappoared into the undercast. The fire in the A/C appeared to be out when it

plunged into the undercast flying steadily under AFCE control."



On 4/3/46 Capt.Robert W.Barry gave the following statement:



SUBJECT:Casualty Information of Crew Members.

       · . . . .

a. Activities before leaving aircraft: - Captain Mason was the first crew member

to leave the A/C via a front exit.He departed with his harness on, but not

fastened,and his parachute in his left hand,approxlmately 2 1/2 minutes after the

explosion.

Sgt.Roberts,who was the engineer and top turret gunner and not the right waist

gunner(as shown on questionaire),had not left at time of my departure;however,

according to informatlon as given to me by the bombardier,at a subsequent date,

there was no one left in front end of the ship when he left. It can be therefore

assumed that Sgt.Roberts suceeded in bailing out.

Sgt.McNally,being a waist gunner,would bail out via the rear exits. All communi-

cation with the back of the ship had gone dead at the time of the explosion.I

have no way of stating whether this crew member ever left the ship from personal

knowledge.However,from information received from Capt. E.J.Kaufman,Radar Navigator,

McNally bailed out at about the same time as he did.

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Edmund Jamison "Ned" Kauffman   |   Visit Guest Book 

Kauffman, Edmund Jamison

June 12, 1915 - April 28, 2011



Edmund "Ned" Jamison Kauffman passed away Thursday, April 28, 2011. He was born June 12, 1915. He was 95 years old. Ned was born in Girard, Ohio. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and was a Cum Laude B.A. in Economics from Princeton, class of 1938. Two years ago, he attended the 70th reunion of the class of '38. 

Ned was a radar navigator in the 100th Bomb Group, 350th Bomb Squadron of the Eighth Air Force with the European theater of operations, navigating B-17s. On his final mission, his plane was shot down and he was captured by the Germans and spent six months in Stalag Luft III, two weeks after the Great Escape occurred. At the end of the war, Captain Edmund Kauffman settled in Youngstown, Ohio and was a business owner of Atlas Excelsior. His first wife was Sue Anna Kauffman, who also raised and showed dogs.

He moved permanently to Sarasota in 1972. Sue was the first volunteer at the Selby Gardens in the early 1970s, and she was also the editor of the Selby Gardens Bulletins. 

He married Margretta Patterson in April 2001. She is also a noted dog show judge. He and Margretta have lived in Siesta Key and spent their summers in Michigan.

His extended family includes film producer, Paula Wagner from Los Angeles, and her husband Rick Nicita, also a film executive, Susan Kunkle and her husband William Kunkle, historical preservationist of Columbus, Ohio, Sally Jean Hale, RT and her husband Mark Hale, executive at Scripps Networks Interactive. He also leaves behind step-children Wylie Patterson of Detroit, Christine Dever of Brewster, New York and Dorothy Wells of Portland, Oregon and 11 grandchildren. 

A visitation for family and friends will be held on Monday from 6-8 p.m. at Toale Brothers Funeral Home, Colonial Chapel, 40 N. Orange Ave., Sarasota. Graveside services will be held on Tuesday at 2:30 PM at the Sarasota National Cemetery. 

Friends may make contributions in his memory to the American Red Cross.



Published in Herald Tribune from April 30 to May 2, 2011 Follow this Obituary

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FROM COL GUTEKUNST:



Ed passed away on 28 April about 2 weeks before reaching his 96th birthday. He lived with his wife in Sarasota FL.



He wanted to be called Ned bacause that is what his family called him. He arrived at Thorpe Abbotts with the 



Wegrzynek crew in March 1944 and flew 10 missions until the crew lost it's pilot. He was sent to 8th AF headquartes



for training as a Radar Navigator. On his return to the 100th and on his 1st mission as a Radar Navigator with



Noble as Pilot he was shot down on 28 July 1944,and became a POW until the spring of 1945 when all the American



and thousands of RAF airmen were forced evacuate the prison camp and  march to the southeast to avoid the 



Russian Army coming their way to exterminate the Germans.He was a member of the 8th Air Force Association and, as far



as I know, was never a member  of the 100th. for whatever reason







Note:  Ned joined the Wegrzynek crew when it was formed in Euphrata WA in September 1943.



          He was significantly older and wiser than the rest of the crew having been a graduate of



          Princeton University. The entire crew benefited from his expertise in all matters and his companionship

On the James B. Noble Casualty Report (Additional Crew - RAD NAV). Floyd H. Mason was Command Pilot.



Not listed on the Noble MACR (#07880), but he should be listed as Additional Crew.