Personnel

CREW



2nd Lt Ralph N. Grover, Jr.    P    FEH

F/0 Cornelius J. O'Leary CP   FEH

F/0 John B. Murphy           NAV   FEH

Sgt Henry D. Niles, Jr.        TOG   FEH

Sgt Wilburn E. Rice            ROG   FEH

Cpl Morris E.  Dean              BTG   FEH

Cpl Hobert L. Mayton           WG   FEH

Cpl Clifford E. Sherman, Jr.     TG   FEH

Cpl Howard T. Callaway       TTE   FEH



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F/O John B. Murphy, US Army Air Forces (USAAF) Timeline



- 8 July 1943: Enters US Army Air Forces (USAAF) as Aviation Cadet.



- 07 Aug – Oct 1943:  Pre-Aviation Cadet Basic Training at Technical Training Center in Miami Beach, Florida



- Oct 1943 – Feb 1944: AAF Flight School at University of Minnesota (5.5 months)



- Feb – June 1944: AAF Pre-Flight Navigation Training at Santa Ana Army Air Field, Santa Anna, California



- June – 05 Aug 1944: AAF Aerial Gunnery School at Las Vegas, Army Air Field, Las Vegas, Nevada



- 08 Aug – 25 Nov 1944: AAF Precision Navigation Training at Selman Field, Monroe, Louisiana



- 13-15 Dec 1944: Assigned to B-17G Crew #10382 at Lincoln AAF, Nebraska

	

 POSITION	MOS		NAME				SERIAL #

--AC		(1024)		2Lt Ralph N. Grover, Jr.	O836771

--P 		(1051)		F/O Cornelius J. O’Leary	T7796

--N		(1034)		F/O John B. Murphy		T138110

--B		(1035)		2Lt George A. Reed		O786983

--AEG		(748)		Cpl Howard Calloway		39420371 	(1118)

--ROG		(757)		Cpl Wilburn Rice		16160885 	(1118)

--AG		(612)		Cpl Henry D. Niles, Jr.	14077723 	(1126)

Filler Crew

--AGU		(611)		PFC Clifford E. Sherman, Sr.	37741895 	(1126)

--AGL		(611)		PFC Morris E. Dean		34919780 	(114)

--AGT 		(611)		PFC Hobert L. Mayton	14160511 	(114)



- 19 Dec 1944 – 19 Mar 1945: B-17 Combat Training with Crew #10382 at Dyersburg Army Air Field, Dyersburg, Tennessee



- 20 March 1945:  Arrive Hunter Army Air Field to begin Ferry Mission in B-17G Tail #44-83479 from Savannah, Georgia to England.



- 23 – 30 March 1945: North Atlantic Transit from Savannah, GA (Hunter AAF) via Bangor, ME (Dow AAF), Labrador, Newfoundland (Goose Bay), Greenland (Bluie West One), Keflavik, Iceland (Meeks AAF), to Valley, Wales. 



- 06 April 1945: Crew reports to AAF Station #139, Thorpe Abbotts. 

	-- Assigned to 100th Bomb Group, 351st Bomb Squadron



- 13 April 1945: Practice Mission (Flt Time 4:30hrs)

	-- Grover Crew, Tail # 231767, “Our Gall Sal”, EP-E, Hardstand #5, A-Sqd



- 17 April 1945: Practice Formation Flight to West England (Flt Time 6:15hrs)



- 18 April 1945: Practice Mission (Flt Time 4:00hrs)



- 19 April 1945: Practice Mission (Combat Mission Scrubbed) (Flt Time 5:50hrs)

	-- Grover Crew, 258, M, Hardstand #1, A-Squadron                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          



- 20 April 1945: Combat Mission to Oranienburg, Germany (Flt Time 7:30hrs)

	-- Mission #306 (Last Combat Mission for 100 BG)

	-- Primary Target: Marshaling Yard

	-- Secondary Target: Engine Test Beds at Rechlin, Germany

	-- 29 Forts/29 Crews participated

	-- Led by Maj R. W. Stivers

	-- Dropped 290 x 500lb GP bombs/145K lbs of munitions

	-- Airborne at 0615 hrs/Bombs away at 1014hrs

	-- Bombing Results: Excellent

	-- 0 Enemy Aircraft Destroyed. 

	-- 0 U.S. aircraft lost. 

	-- 0 Men Lost.



- 22 April 1945: Proficiency Sortie (Flight Time 2:00 hrs; 6 landings)



- 26 April 1945: Proficiency Sortie (Flight Time 2:40 hrs; 1 landing)



- 03 May 1945:  Operation CHOWHOUND Humanitarian Mission. Provides food rations to Dutch citizens in Nazi Occupied Holland.  Rations dropped at low altitude on Alkmaar Airfield, Hilversum. (Flight Time 2:50hrs)

	-- Grover Crew, Tail #297126, “Latest Rumor”, EP-D, Hardstand #12, B-Sqd

	-- Bombardier 2Lt Robert V. Gildea replaced TOG Sgt Henry D. Niles, Jr.*

	-- ROG Sgt Wilburn Rice injured on this sortie.**



- 05 May 1945:  Operation CHOWHOUND Humanitarian Mission. Provides food rations to Dutch citizens in Nazi Occupied Holland.  This crew dropped rations at low altitude at Alkmaar Airfield, Hilversum. (Flight Time 3:20hrs)

	-- Grover Crew, Tail #297126, “Latest Rumor”, EP-D, Hardstand #12, B-Sqd

	-- Bombardier 2Lt Robert V. Gildea replaced TOG Sgt Henry D. Niles, Jr.



- 20 May 1945: Displaced Persons (DP) Ferry Mission. Depart Thorpe Abbotts for Linz, Austria to repatriate French DPs to Reims, France. (Flt Time 10:00hrs)***



- 03 June 1945: Displaced Persons (DP) Ferry Mission. Depart Thorpe Abbotts for Linz, Austria to repatriate French DPs to Paris, France. (Flt Time 9:10 hrs)



- 12 June 1945: Fly from Thorpe Abbotts to Casablanca (8:45 hrs)

- 13 June 1945: Fly from Rabat, Morocco to Thorpe Abbotts (7:30 hrs)



- 20 June 1945: Fighter Ferry Mission supporting the 357 Fighter Group. Fly supplies from Station #139 to Neubiberg Airfield, a former Luftwaffe airfield, six miles south of Munich. The 357 FG (P-51D) relocating from RAF Leiston (AAF Station #373) to Neubiberg (later Army Air Field R-85, Camp Rattle) to begin Occupation Duties. (Flt Time 6:00hrs)



- July 1945: 13 Proficiency sorties from Station #139. Total flight time: 39:20 hrs



- Aug 1945: 11 Proficiency sorties from Station #139. Total flight time: 38:15 hours



- Sep 1945:  07 Proficiency sorties from Station #139. Total flight time: 27:35 hours



- Oct 1945:  01 Proficiency sortie from Station #139. Total flight time: 4:00 hrs



- 15 Oct 1945: Transfers from 100 BG to 305 BG at AAF A-92, St Trond, Belgium. Assigned to conduct high altitude aerial mapping missions of the European Continent in support of Project CASEY JONES.



COMMENTS AND NOTES



* Sgt Henry Niles (TOG) was removed from the Grover Crew in April 1945 after he accidently discharged the .50 caliber chin turret guns during his preflight check. The aircraft was on the hardstand at the time of the incident and being prepared for flight by the crew.  The chin turret guns were oriented 90 degrees off center, pointing toward either the starboard or port side of the aircraft (exact direction is unknown).  At the same moment of the accidental discharge, 2Lt Ralph Grover (AC) and another crewmember were performing the pre-flight walk around of the aircraft and narrowly avoided serious, if not fatal, injury.  



** CHOWHOUND May 3, 1945: Sgt Wilburn E. Rice, the Radio Operator/Gunner  (ROG) on the Grover Crew was seriously injured during a mercy mission delivering food parcels to starving Dutch citizens in German-occupied Holland.  It was a low altitude mercy mission of 2 hours and 50 minutes in duration to Alkmaar. All food parcels were stowed in the bomb bay on two hinged wood floors. Once the bombardier electronically opened the bomb bay doors, the wood doors would fall open freely, releasing the food parcels.  Following release, the ROG would manually lift the wood floors back to a level position before signaling the Bombardier to retract the bomb bay doors. On the day in question, following a successful food release, Sgt Rice lifted the wood doors and signaled the Bombardier (2Lt Gildea) to retract the bomb bay doors. While the bomb bay doors were retracting, Sgt Rice’s flight jacket became tangled in the door gears and began pulling him out of the aircraft. Sgt Rice was not wearing a safety harness nor was he wearing his parachute. The aircraft was still at a low level altitude. The Waist Gunners (Cpl Maytum and Sherman alerted the crew to Rice’s emergency, freed him from the door gears and pulled him back into the aircraft. The Pilot (Grover) directed the Navigator (F/O John Murphy) to proceed to the radio compartment and render medical aid to Rice. The initial assessment showed a non-responsive male, in shock, with a mangled left arm, one or more broken bones and bleeding. The crew quickly stabilized him and returned him safely to Thorpe Abbotts. 



*** DP Mission May 20, 1945: On this mission, the Grover Crew was assigned to fly from Thorpe Abbotts to Linz, Austria where the crew would load approximately 30 x French Displaced Persons (DPs) and transport them, via air, to Reims, France. These DPs had been held captive by the Germany Army for up to five years and used as slave labor. None of them spoke English. No one on the Grover Crew spoke French. This would almost prove disastrous for this repatriation flight a few hours later. As my father told the story, a few hours after takeoff from Linz, the DPs located in the rear of the aircraft saw something outside the waist windows that excited them. They quickly began cheering and yelling in joy. This commotion attracted the attention of the other DPs located throughout the aircraft who quickly began hurrying to the waist window to see what the excitement was about. This sudden and significant shift in weight & balance resulted in the aircraft becoming tail heavy and susceptible to stalling and crashing. The Pilot (2Lt Ralph Grover) and Co-Pilot (F/O Cornelius O’Leary) struggled to keep the aircraft airborne while directing the crew, via intercom, to stop the human stampede and return people back to their original sitting positions. This task became even more challenging based on the fact no one on board could communicate with the DPs. Despite the communication challenge, the DPs were redistributed, weight & balance was restored and the mission ended successfully.  However, the crew would perform another similar mission in a few days and my father was determined not to repeat the same mistake.  



On June 3, 1945, the Grover Crew would return to Linz, Austria and transport a second group of French DPs, but this time to Paris! In preparation for this next mission, and the possibility of the DPs moving inside the aircraft again, Dad learned select French phrases including, “Sit Down.” He then taught the crew this phrase as well. During the second mission, the DPs became excited and began leaving their positions throughout the aircraft. The crew quickly directed them to,”Asseyez-vous!” and they did. The second repatriation mission for the Grover Crew proved safe and uneventful thanks to an AAF English-to-French Phrase book.



On June 20, 1945, the Grover Crew flew from Thorpe Abbotts to Neubiberg Field, 8 miles south of Munich. During their time on the ground, the crew explored abandoned German Luftwaffe aircraft on the field including Bf-109, FW-190 and an Me-262 jet fighter. Later, the crew drove into bombed out downtown Munich



John served with the 305th Bomb Group at Army Air Field Lechfeld, near Augsburg, from October 15, 1945 to July xx, 1946. He served as a line Navigator and later as the Acting Group Intelligence Officer supporting Project CASEY JONES, post- hostilities, high-altitude aerial photography and mapping operation of the European Continent.





OBITUARY

John B. Murphy – 351st Sqdn – June 16, 2012

John was the Navigator for the Ralph Grover crew which arrived at Thorpe Abbotts April 6, 1945. He flew April 20, 1945, the last combat mission of the 100th BG., two Chowhound Food Drop Missions to Alkmaar, two Repatriation Missions of French Displaced Personnel from Austria to France and a Ferry Mission to Casablanca. On October 15, 1945, he transferred to the 305 BG to support Project CASEY JONES. John served as the 1987 co-chairman of the 100th Bomb Group Reunion in Long Beach, California. His son, Michael, a retired US Air Force Pilot and Intelligence Officer with 22 years service, survives him.