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Personnel

Lt

Merril T. RISH

Army Serial Number: O-742258
Assigned to the 100th Bombardment Group
Location:
Unit: 351st Bombardment Squadron
Rank:
Position: Pilot
Beginning Date of 100th Service: Unknown
Time of Service at Thorpe Abbotts: Unknown - Unknown

Aircraft

Serial #: 42-38044
Name: Spirit o '44

Spirit o' 44

SPIRIT O' 44, A/C 238044 EP-R. (Photo courtesy of Earl Rudolph)

Additional 100th Service Notes

Status: KIA

Comments and Notes

Memo 1:
CREW

2nd Lt Merril T.Rish P KIA 6/3/44 BERLIN
2nd Lt Frank A.Smith CP KIA 6/3/44 BERLIN
2nd Lt Royal W..Lingenfelter NAV POW 6/3/44 BERLIN TAPS: 1975
2nd Lt Donald K "Heinie" Kehm BOM POW 6/3/44 BERLIN TAPS: 1977
S/Sgt George F.Danehower R0G POW 6/3/44 BERLIN
S/Sgt Howard T.Skaggs,Jr. TTE POW 6/3/44 BERLIN TAPS: 1980
S/Sgt Estil V. McGuffee LWG POW 6/3/44 BERLIN
Sgt Angus Alsup TG KIA 6/3/44 BERLIN
Sgt Armand C.Burt RWG POW 6/3/44 BERLIN
Sgt Chester L.Powell BTG KIA 28/5/44 GERA, CITY & MAGDEBURG, OIL REF (With crew of L.G.Lacy) SEE BELOW

351st Sqdn. Crew,as above,joined the 100th Group on 28/11/43.
A/C #42 38044 Spirit o’ 44
MACR #3026,Micro fiche #1023

On 6/3/44, Sgt.Powell was replaced by Sgt.DEWY ESSARY who was KIA. This was about the 17th mission for this
crew but only the 4th for ESSARY.See: p44 S.O.C.

A statement given by Don Kehm (then a Master Sgt) a short time after the war is as follows: "…..Greman fighters attacked in a group out of the sun at 12 O'clock high. We received numerous hits, fire was visible around #3 engine. The plane immediately went into a tight spin. Centrifugal force prevented me from releasing the escape hatch. Ships inter phone was not operating. At about 3, 000 feet the tail broke off of the aircraft and the ship then began to climb & I could see all the objects coming toward me. The plane must have exploded as next I awoke on the ground with two German soldiers approaching me. I was taken to Quackenbush (Quackenbruck) jail."

According to statements by Estil V. McGuffee, he, Howard T. Skaggs, and Royal W. Lingenfelter were blown out but George F. Danehower, Armand C. Burt and Donald K. Kehm may have baled out.

Sgt Esssry's dog tags were found in the wreckage and it is thought his remains were have been consumed by the fire.

THIS CREW IS PICTURED IN KEITH FERRIS'S FAMOUS PAINTING OF THE THREE 100TH AIRCRAFT IN THE VICINITY OF HASELEUNNE ON THE BERLIN MISISON OF 06 MAR 44. THE PAINTING CAN BE SEEN ON THE COVER OF THE BOOK "TARGET BERLIN; MISSION 250" BY JEFFREY L ETHELL AND ALFRED PRICE. RISH'S AIRCRAFT IS TOP PLANE IN THE THREE PLANE PAINTING, IT IS FURTHER IDENTIFIED BY THE SQUADRON MARKINGS OF EP-R "SPIRIT O’ 44".


Date Crew Nbr Mission Nbr Last Name Initial Rank Position Aircraft Nbr Target
3/3/1944 63 122 ESSARY D. SGT BTG 38044 BERLIN
3/3/1944 63 122 RISH M.T. LT P 38044 BERLIN
3/3/1944 63 122 SMITH F.A. LT CP 38044 BERLIN
3/3/1944 63 122 LINGENFELTER R.W. LT NAV 38044 BERLIN
3/3/1944 63 122 KEHM D.K. LT BOM 38044 BERLIN
3/3/1944 63 122 SKAGGS H.T. T/SGT TTE 38044 BERLIN
3/3/1944 63 122 BURT A.C. S/SGT RWG 38044 BERLIN
3/3/1944 63 122 MCGUFFEE E.V. S/SGT LWG 38044 BERLIN
3/3/1944 63 122 ALSUP A. S/SGT TG 38044 BERLIN
3/3/1944 63 122 DANEHOWER G.F. T/SGT ROG 38044 BERLIN

3/4/1944 63 123 KEHM D.K. LT BOM 38044 BERLIN
3/4/1944 63 123 RISH M.T. LT P 38044 BERLIN
3/4/1944 63 123 LINGENFELTER R.W. LT NAV 38044 BERLIN
3/4/1944 63 123 DANEHOWER G.F. T/SGT ROG 38044 BERLIN
3/4/1944 63 123 SKAGGS H.T. T/SGT TTE 38044 BERLIN
3/4/1944 63 123 ESSARY D. SGT BTG 38044 BERLIN
3/4/1944 63 123 BURT A.C. S/SGT RWG 38044 BERLIN
3/4/1944 63 123 MCGUFFEE E.V. S/SGT LWG 38044 BERLIN
3/4/1944 63 123 ALSUP A. S/SGT TG 38044 BERLIN
3/4/1944 63 123 SMITH F.A. LT CP 38044 BERLIN

3/6/1944 63 124 BURT A.C. S/SGT RWG 38044 BERLIN
3/6/1944 63 124 SKAGGS H.T. T/SGT TTE 38044 BERLIN
3/6/1944 63 124 MCGUFFEE E.V. S/SGT LWG 38044 BERLIN
3/6/1944 63 124 RISH M.T. LT P 38044 BERLIN
3/6/1944 63 124 ESSARY D. SGT BTG 38044 BERLIN
3/6/1944 63 124 DANEHOWER G.F. T/SGT ROG 38044 BERLIN
3/6/1944 63 124 KEHM D.K. LT BOM 38044 BERLIN
3/6/1944 63 124 LINGENFELTER R.W. LT NAV 38044 BERLIN
3/6/1944 63 124 SMITH F.A. LT CP 38044 BERLIN
3/6/1944 63 124 ALSUP A. S/SGT TG 38044 BERLIN
**************************************************************************************************************


1ST LT LUCIUS G. LACY P POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA
2ND LT CLAUDE E. SCHINDLER CP KIA FROM THE R.V.E. MONRAD CREW
2ND LT RAYMOND E. ROSSMAN NAV POW FROM THE C.W WOLDT CREW
2ND LT HERBERT GREENBURG BOM POW FROM THE R.H.HELMICK CREW
T/SGT CLARENCE H. WOOD ROG POW
T/SGT SIDNEY A. CARY TTE POW FROM THE R.V.E. MONRAD CREW
S/SGT CHESTER L. POWELL BTG KIA FROM THE M.T.RISH CREW (see below)
S/SGT JOE FOLSOM RWG KIA
S/SGT RAYMOND J. MITCHELL LWG POW
S/SGT MICHAEL ROTZ TG POW FROM THE T. MURPHY CREW (PICCADILLY LILY)

When Sgt Hilburn was RFS after 7 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.

KIA / MIA / EVA / INT Information:

Target:
Berlin
Aircraft:
"Spirit of 44" (42-39044)
Date:
1944-03-06
Cause:
EAC & Explosion

Photos

Merril T. Rish Crew

The Merril T. Rish Crew (left to right) Back: Estil McGuffee, Donald Kehm, Royal Lingenfelter, Frank Smith, Merril Rish Front: Armand Burt, George Danehower, Angus Alsup, Howard Skaggs, Mike Kosh Kosh grounded - replaced by Chester L. Powell

Merril T. Rish crew

Merril T. Rish crew Detailed Information (100th Photo Archives)

Crew List

1st Crew List

Use your thumb to scroll through the results box below.

Rank Name Pos Status
Lt RISH, Merril T. P KIA
Lt SMITH, Frank CP KIA
Lt LINGENFELTER, Royal NAV POW
LT KEHM, Donald K. BOM POW
T/Sgt SKAGGS, Howard TTE POW
T/Sgt DANEHOWER, George ROG POW
Sgt ESSARY, Dewey BTG KIA
S/Sgt POWELL, Chester BTG KIA
S/Sgt BURT, Armand WG POW
S/Sgt MCGUFFEE, Estil V. WG POW
S/Sgt ALSUP, Harold TG KIA