Personnel

CREW



1st Lt John K. Justice  P EVADEE  10/10/43 MUNSTER

2nd Lt John F. Shields  CP KIA  10/10/43 " "

2nd Lt Peter Battisti  N POW  10/10/43 " "

2nd Lt William C. Brothers B POW  10/10/43 " "

  T/Sgt Richard E. Whitlock R POW  10/10/43 " "

  T/Sgt John F. McDonough E POW  10/10/43 " "

  S/Sgt Stanley S. Stopa BT POW  10/10/43 " "

  S/Sgt Harry Hafko  RW POW  10/10/43 " "

  S/Sgt Robert E. Bergendahl LW POW  10/10/43 " "

  S/Sgt Gaetano D. Sportelli TG KIA  10/10/43 " "



349th Sqdn.  Crew, as above, jolned the 100th Group in early July 1943.  It was one of the first four replacement crews of the Group.  The other three were Lt Henry Henington, F/O Owen "Cowboy" Roane, and Lt Walter "Chief" Moreno.  Medals Awarded Lt Justice: DFC, Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart  



MACR #1021, Microfiche #338, A/C #42 3229 "PASADENA NINA" XR-A.  



This mission to Munster on 10/13/43 was the 17th for thls crew; its first was to Kiel on 25/7/43.  Lt. Shields was wounded about the head by 20mm fire but did bail out.  A notation on a German report in MACR says his body was found about 100 meters from the crash point on 10 November.  Jack Justice is of the belief that, if the German report is factual, Shields was sheltered by frlendly Dutch in the area immediately after he landed but that he finally died of his wounds and the Dutch, fearing the Germans would discover they had aided him placed his body near the crash site to be found by the Germans.  Sportelli's remains were apparently found in the a/c debris   he had not bailed out.  It is probable that he was killed or very badly wounded by 20 mm fire.  He and Shields were buried at Ede Cemetary in Row C, Graves #1 & 2.  Justice was taken in by the Dutch Resistence forces and, after many months, returned to Thorpe Abbotts.  He has written a very interesting account of his life as an evadee.  See also Ian Hawkins book on Munster raid...pw



  MISSIONS OF LT JOHN K. JUSTICE (mpf 2001)





1. 25/07/43 WAREMUNDE (KIEL)

2. 28/07/43 OSCHERSLEBEN

3.  17/08/43 REGENSBURG

4. 24/08/43 BORDEAUX

5. 31/08/43 Les MERUEAUX

6.   3/09/43 PARIS

7.    7/09/43 WATTEN

8.    9/09/43 BEAUVAIS-TILLE

9. 15/09/43 RENAULT

10. 16/09/43 La PALLICE

11. 23/09/43 VANNES

12. 26/09/43 PARIS

13. 27/09/43 EMDEN

14.   4/10/43 HANAU

15.   8/10/43 BREMEN

16.   9/10/43 MARIENBURG

17. 10/10/43 MUNSTER (SHOT DOWN







NOTES FROM LT JOHN "JACK" JUSTICE:



Our plane was named Pasadena Nena by William Brothers, Bombardier because I had lived in Pasadena, California and "Pasadena Nena" was his lucky word for the number "Nine" when he played craps"  The wound in my neck continued to fester throughout my excape. X-Rays showed ti was a metal object.  I thought it was a piece of shell fragment, but when I had it removed several years later, it was a piece of my airplane.  (mpf 2001)



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POW/KIA notes: Body found in aircraft debris, apparently did not bail out.