Personnel

CREW



2ND LT LUCIUS G. LACY                   P POW  28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA

2ND LT THOMAS R. LESLIE              CP KIA     6 MAR 44 BERLIN (WITH G.BRANNAN CREW)

2ND LT ALBERT FRANKLIN            NAV CPT   24 JUL 44 ST LO GROUND SUPPORT

2ND LT FRANK C. GREGORY          BOM CPT  13 JUL 44 MUNICH

    SGT CLARENCE H. WOOD, JR.   ROG POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA

    SGT CHESTER J. CARKNARD      TTE KIA   11 APR 44 ROSTOCK

    SGT RAYMOND J. MITCHELL      BTG POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA (MOVED TO LWG WHEN HILBURN RFS)

    SGT WILLIAM L. RENEAU          RWG CPT    5 JUN 44 FALAISE

    SGT HERMAN H. HILBURN         LWG RFS   MEDICIAL REASONS AFTER FIVE MISSIONS

    SGT JOSEPH A. HOWELL            TG RFS    



351st Sqdn.. Crew, as above, joined the 100th on 1 Dec 1943. 

Raymond Mithchell told me they were at Moses Lake and went to Camp Kilmer,NJ where they boarded the Queen Mary for their trip to the ETO.

When Sgt Hilburn was RFS after 5 missions, S/Sgt Raymond Mitchell moved to LWG.  By March 1944 S/Sgt Reneau had moved to Lt Massol's Crew as WG and was replaced on the  S/Sgt Joe Folsom had taken over the RWG position.  The BTG position was manned by several different crewman, S/Sgt L. Black, S/Sgt Chester Powell, S/Sgt J.M. Roberts, & S/Sgt C.L. Morrow from the 350th BS. T/Sgt Sidney A. Cary took over the TTE postion when T/Sgt Carknard was KIA on 11 Apr 44.  S/Sgt Joseph A Howell served as TG on this crew until 15 Mar 44 Brunswick Mission then is replaced by S/Sgt Michael Rotz from Capt T.E. Murphy Crew.



On Dec 29, 1943 Capt Jack Swartout took Lt Lacy on a "check flight" in Holy Terror II 42-21062 EP-D and immediately  upon landing on runway 22  the plane swerved to the left caused by the left brake dragging badly. The aircraft went off the runway and nosed over then dropped back driving the tail wheel into the fuselage.  We do not have a full list of missions this crew flew but here are some we are sure of…mpf.



DATE:         TARGET                   AIRCRAFT

10.   03/03/44   BERLIN                      42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY

11.   04/03/44   BERLIN                      42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY

12.   06/03/44   BERLIN                      42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY

13.   15/03/44   BRUNSWICK               42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY  (LAST MISSION FOR SGT HOWELL, SEE BELOW)

14.   16/03/44   AUGSBURG                42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY

15.   18/03/44   MUNICH                    42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY                

16.   01/04/44   LUDWIGSHAVEN        42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY

        09/04/44   POSEN  (RECALL)       42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY

17.   10/04/44   RHEIMS                     42-31412 EP-G  MASON AND DIXON

18.   11/04/44   ROSTOCK                  42-39867 EP-E  BOEING BELLE





The crew composition that flew the 28 May 44 Madgeburg mission was vastly different from the above roster; below is the crew as of 7 May 44 mission to Berlin thru the 28 May 44 mission to Madgeburg.  



CREW

1ST LT LUCIUS G. LACY               P POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA

2ND LT CLAUDE E. SCHINDLER      CP KIA   28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA FROM THE R.V.E. MONRAD CREW

2ND LT RAYMOND E. ROSSMAN  NAV POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA FROM THE C.W WOLDT CREW

2ND LT HERBERT GREENBURG    BOM POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA FROM THE R.H.HELMICK CREW

T/SGT CLARENCE H. WOOD       ROG POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA 

T/SGT SIDNEY A. CARY             TTE POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA FROM THE R.V.E. MONRAD CREW

S/SGT CHESTER L. POWELL        BTG KIA   28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA FROM THE M.T.RISH CREW

S/SGT JOE FOLSOM                  RWG KIA   28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA

S/SGT RAYMOND J. MITCHELL    LWG POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA 

S/SGT MICHAEL ROTZ                  TG POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA FROM THE T. MURPHY CREW (PICCADILLY  LILY)



EYEWITNESS: "A/C #389 was shot down over the target area at 1405 hours by

              E/A. #4 engine was seen smoking and cockpit was afire.Three

              chutes were seen "



According to Lt.Lacy's statements in MACR, . . . "the electrical system was out,

ship out of control,cables shot away,spun immediately. " . . . . " I fastened my

chute on in air. Seven crew members got out before wings came off."



From statements of Lt.Greenberg in MACR:



"The attack that knocked us out came from High at about 1:00 o'clock. All hits

seemed to concentrate on the starboard side. I would say Lt.Schindler was hit

and killed in the cockpit.He never made a move to get out despite the fact we

were burning fiercely. Our engineer maintains that the last he saw of Schindler

was while the cockpit was burning. Lt Schindler appeared to be slumped in his

seat.His left arm hanging straight down and making no move." Lt.Schindler

was operational from December 1943 til his death. He flew the "Roughest" ones

and was the coolest,calmest co-pilot that ever flew combat."



Sgt.Mitchell last saw Sgt.Folsom lying against the right bulkhead.His head and

face bloody and he made no attempt to leave the ship and was evidently dead.



Sgt.Powell is believed to have been killed in his turret by the fighter pass

that apparently killed Schindler and Folsom.



German report in MACR iB to the effect that  at the crash site 3 dead were found.

Bodies burnt,names unidentifiable.



It appears that this crew had flown about 20/22 missions.



1st Lt Lucius Lacy ended up in Stalag Luft III until the end of the War.



DATE            TARGET                     AIRCRAFT



19.  07/05/44       BERLIN                     42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY

20.  08/05/44       BERLIN                     42-31412  EP-G MASON AND DIXON

21.  11/05/44       LIEGE                       42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY

22.  12/05/44       BRUX,CZECH              42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY  

23.  19/05/44       BERLIN                     42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY  

24.  24/05/44       BERLIN                     42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY 

25.  28/05/44       MAGDEBURG             42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY  (ACCORDING TO RAYMOND MITCHELL, THIS WAS HIS 25TH MISSION)



Raymond Mitchell remembrances:  28 May 44: I was standing right next to Joe Folsom when he was hit by 20mm from a German Fighter. He was gone before he hit the floor. We were on our 24th mission.  Our Tail Gunner Sgt Rotz wore a back parachute and unbeknown to him, it had been hit by fragments from a 20mm shell.  When he bailed out, he seem to decend a little bit faster than others because the 20mm had blown holes in his parachute. When he hit the ground he broke his hip and I thought we would never see him again.  Luckily he was picked up by Luftwaffe personnel vs regular german army or home guard, otherwise he may have been shot due to the nature of his condition. Months later he arrived at the POW camp and I was so surprised to see him.  I landed close to Ray Cary and we stayed together and tried to evade but were eventually captured.

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MARCH 15, 1944 MISSION TO BRUNSWICK:



IN AN INTERVIEW WITH RAYMOND MITCHELL BY JACK O'LEARY, HE GAVE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ON JA HOWELL'S ACTIONS ON THIS MISSION:  MITCHELL SAID THAT during a combat mission S/SGT HOWELL was heading to jump out of the aircraft and he did not have his chute on. Joseph had some kind of battle fatigue or tramatic experience that caused him to lose control and act that way.  MITCHELL either punched Joseph or threw him down somehow on the floor of the aircraft preventing his death.  WHEN THEY LANDED, RAY DID NOT SEE HOWELL AGAIN.  HOWELL WAS IMMEDIATELY TAKEN OFF THE BASE TO A HOSPITAL.

On April 11, 1944 mission to Rostock, T/SGT CHESTER J. CARKNARD the Top Turret Engineer was KIA.  For more information, refer to the Lucius Lacy Casualty report dated April 11, 1944