S/Sgt
John P. WARGO
Assigned to the 100th Bombardment Group
Location:
Unit: 349th Bombardment Squadron
Rank:
Position: Waist Gunner
Additional 100th Service Notes
Status: CPT
Comments: 18 JUN 44 BRUNSBUTTELKOOG (CANEL LOCKS)
Comments and Notes
Memo 1:
CREW
2nd Lt Arthur H.Becktoft P POW 8/10/43 Bremen
2nd Lt Clifford M.Spencer CP POW 8/10/43 Bremen
2nd Lt Wayne A. Fuess NAV NOC (original Navigator on Crew)
2nd Lt Walter Nichols,Jr. NAV POW 8/10/43 (from crew of Lt John Gossage)
2nd Lt Robert L.Miller BOM POW 8/10/43 Bremen
T/Sgt Elmer J.Williams TTE POW 8/10/43 Bremen
T/Sgt Floyd A.Lowe ROG KIA 8/10/43 Bremen
S/Sgt Charles E.Marengo BTG POW 8/10/43 Bremen
S/Sgt Henry T.Popielarski WG POW 8/10/43 MACR#42 30154
S/Sgt John P. Wargo WG CPT 18/6/44 BRUNSBUTTELKOOG
' S/Sgt Andy P.Stanley TG POW 8/10/43
349th Sqdn. A/C 42-30154 "War Eagle" XR-H Crew joined the 100th in Sept 3, 1943
This was the 6th or 7th mission for this crew except for Sgt.Hoffman (Edward J. Hoffman, Jr.) was on his first mission, he had been a member of the quartermaster unit, but insisted on volunteering as a gunner)who was a replacement on this mission. He replaced John P. Wargo. Plane was flying #3 in third element of the high squadron. Had released bombs on target when it was apparently attacked. Floyd Lowe hit between shoulder blades by a 20mm probably died instantly. All others bailed out and were immediately picked up by the Germans.
Letter (29/3/84) from C.E.Marengo indicates that his crew joined the 100th in Sept 1943. Sgt. John P. Wargo was their regular WG but replaced by Hoffman on 8/10/43. Wargo CT on 18/6/44 (with Lt Allen Crew). Cliff Spencer died 1983 in CA of cancer. Lost track of other crew members. Says Nichols may have been a "new" navigator on crew.
Of the 8 OCT 43 mission Marengo has this to say: "We were hit by ME 109s out of the sun. One took part of our tail off and hit #3 engine which burned. I called the pilot and advised him of the fire, but nothing was done. When the fire burned through the wing and they saw it they dove the plane to put out the fire. Part of the tail came off and we went into a spin. the order to b ail out was given and I got out the ball and started for the door. then went back for my chest pack. Plane was nose down when I went out hooking the right chute clasp as I went. There was a waist gunner still near his gun when I left. I had never worn the harness before as I had swapped mine (which was too big) with another guy the day before, his was too small. Fate is I wore the smaller harness and am still alive. Floyd Lowe was hit in the back with a 20mm during the attack and was gone. The co-pilot was the stick that fateful day and two 17s were knocked out ahead of us and one exploded - left nothing but dust ..."
CREW
Lt George S.Allen P CPT 9/9/44 DUSSELDORF sn# 0-753839
Lt Orton H.Symer,Jr. CP CPT 9/9/44 DUSSELDORF sn# 0-819210
Lt Thomas J. Tracy NAV KIA 24/5/44 BERLIN (with Lt Clarke T. Johnson Crew)
Lt William A.Stewart BOM CPT 9/9/44 DUSSELDORF sn# 0-759879
T/Sgt Robert A. Monroe ROG RFS 15/8/44 VENLO (after 30 missions) sn# 39313008
T/SgtWiilliam M..Oberman TTE CPT 9/9/44 DUSSELDORF sn# 36635419
S/Sgt Richmond L.Bessey BTG CPT 9/9/44 DUSSELDORF sn# 31200232
Sgt Stanley Gottlieb WG RFS Air Sickness (flew one mission)
Sgt David Jacques WG RFS Was left in Base Hospital in Bangor Maine
S/Sgt Ray A. Matz WG RFS Assigned to Crew upon arrival to replace Jacques sn# 33230747
S/Sgt Lester Jackson TG WIA 29/7/44 Merseburg
349th Sqdn. Assigned in April 1944. Appears as Crew #12 on Combat Crew Roster of 11/8/44.
Lt Eluid J.Knapp NAV (from the James W. McGuire Crew) was one of many Navigators to fly with Lt Allen's Crew. He CPT his
tour with the Allen Crew on 24/8/44-RUHLAND. S/Sgt Wilbur F.Williams, TG (from Lt Herres Crew) replaced Sgt Jackson after Jul 29, 1944. He CPT his tour on 9/9/44-DUSSELDORF with Allen Crew. After one mission, Sgt Gottlieb was removed from flying staus due to air sickness and replaced by S/Sgt John Wargo (from Lt Becktoft Crew) and completed his missions on Jun 18, 1944-BRUNSBUTTELKOOG.
Upon completion of his tour, S/Sgt Ray Matz was replaced on the crew by S/Sgt Joeseph Costanza (from Lt John Keys Crew). His first mission with the crew was Aug 15, 1944 to Venlo and his last was Sept 9, 1944 to Dusseldorf. Joe was from NYC and he fit in with the crew well. He almost cried when we finished our tour, as he had more missions to go and dreaded flying with a new Crew. He did complete his tour on Oc 4, 1944-NURNBURG, Crew unknow. We had several different Navigators (Tracy, Knapp, Holmes), we never did get to know them well. Ray Matz was grounded around the end of July due to combat fatigue. Bob Monroe was grounded after 30 missions for the same reason. They both went home. The replacements were not billeted in our hut so I didn't get to know them very well. We only spoke to one another before we went on a mission, and then we were all busy cleaning our guns, checking ammo and such. These chores were done in darkness… courtesy of S/Sgt William Oberman and son Mark (mpf 2002)
CREW (Pick up Crew)
LT G. S. ALLEN PILOT
LT O. H. SYMER CO-PILOT
LT A. I. HOLMES NAVIGATOR (from Lt Lawrence Townsend Crew)
LT W.A. STEWART BOMBARDIER
T/SGT R.A. MONORE RADIO OPERATOR
T/SGT W. M. OBERMAN FLIGHT ENGINEER
S/SGT R. L. BESSEY BALL TURRET GUNNER
S/SGT R. PATRICK WAIST GUNNER (flying spare gunner, from Lt Cowan Crew)
S/SGT J. P. WARGO WAIST GUNNER (Replacement for Sgt Gottlieb)
S/SGT L. E. JACKSON TAIL GUNNER (original Crew member)
Missions Flown by S/Sgt William Oberman (mpf 2002)
DATE TARGET BOMB LOAD
1. 25/05/44 BRUSSELS 38-100 LBS
2. 27/05/44 STRASSBOURG 38-100 LBS
3. 28/05/44 MAGDEBURG 12-500 LBS
4. 29/05/44 LEIPZIG 12-500 LBS
5. 31/05/44 OSNABRUCK 6-1000 LBS
6. 02/06/44 PARIS 12-500 LBS
7. 04/06/44 BOLOUGNE 12-500 LBS
8. 05/06/44 BOLOUGNE 12-500 LBS
9. 06/06/44 D-DAY 12-500 LBS
10. 07/06/44 NANTES 2-2000 LBS
11. 18/06/44 BRUNSBUTTELKOOG 10-500 LBS
12. 19/06/44 CORME ECLUSE 10-500 LBS
13. 20/06/44 FALLERSLEBEN 2-2000 LBS
14. 21/06/44 RUHLAND 10-500 LBS
15. 26/06/44 DROHOBYCZ 10-500 LBS
16. 03/07/44 ARAD 10-500 LBS
17. 05/07/44 BEZIERS 5-1000 LBS
18. 07/07/44 BOHLEN 10-500 LBS
19. 18/07/44 KIEL 10-500 LBS
20. 19/07/44 SCHWEINFURT 10-500 LBS
21. 21/07/44 LUDWIGSBURG 10-500 LBS
22. 24/07/44 ST LO 38-100 LBS
23. 25/07/44 ST LO 38-100 LBS
24. 28/07/44 MERSEBURG 10-500 LBS
25. 29/07/44 MERSEBURG 20-250 LBS
26. 03/08/44 TROYES 6-1000 LBS
27. 06/08/44 BERLIN 10-500 LBS
28. 11/08/44 VILLACOUBLAY 38-100 LBS
29. 13/08/44 NANTES 36-100 LBS
30. 15/08/44 VENLO 36-100 LBS
31. 24/08/44 RUHLAND
32. 27/08/44 BERLIN (RECALL)
33. 30/08/44 BREMEN
34. 08/09/44 MAINZ
35. 09/09/44 DUSSELDORF
"On June 7 1944 mission to Nantes, two engines and Tail Gunners oxygen were knocked out over target. We landed at a RAF glider base, about 40 miles south of London. We threw ammo and guts of machine guns and radio receivers our as radio man did not need to contact to contact base. This was done to maintain altitude...
On July 29, 1944 Merseburg mission, we led the low squadron that day and had an engine knocked out on the bombing run. The Group did not drop bombs on target area as pathfinder ship could not locate target. Our pilot radioed planes in our squadron t catch up with the main group, since we only had 3 engines and could not keep up. Shortly after, the planes pulled away from us, we were hit by German Jets (ME262). You will read jets did not come up until Aug 44. The came in directly behind our tail and a little high. Our tail gunner (Jackson) had crawled into the waist with a walk around bottle. His oxygen was knocked our and he was wounded in the ankle...
The leader of the jets came in first and my guns would not fire as long as they were aiming at any part of our own ship (fire cut-off cam in gun sight). I held trigger down and as soon as the guns cleared our plane. They began to fire, I gave him a few short bursts and he was gone. He flew out of range to our left and a little high. He must of radioed his buddies and told them our tail guns were not operating. Then they came at us one at a time, directly behind the tail. I gave each one a short burst, then I'd have to pick up the next attacker. By the time Matz (WG) got back into the tail (filling in for injured TG), they were gone. I always wondered why they never pressed the attack further. Our pilot probably saved us by putting the plane in a shallow dive and using evasive maneuvers. The Jets formed up again and attacked the five planes that were flying with us. They knocked every one of the five planes out of the sky and left. Because the pilot put the plane in a dive, we picked up speed and caught up with another group flying at a lower altitude…
We didn't stay with them as we could not keep up after he leveled off. Flying by ourselves was very lonely. Pilot then asked me to fire the vari pistol for fighter protection. I don't remember the color of the day as colors were changed every mission. After firing a few shots at a few minute intervals, 2 P-47's (our little friends as we called them) pulled up along side and they circled around us until their gas supply ran low and they had to leave. What a beautiful sight that was having the 47's with us…
Since no bombs were dropped on the target area our bombardier dropped his bombs on a target of opportunity on our way home. At the time of the attack, our bombardier was in the waist giving first aid to tail gunner Jackson… "
courtesy of S/Sgt William Oberman (mpf 2002)
Memo 2:
Mission List for WAR EAGLE XR-H and Lt Arthur Becktoft Crew
September 3, 1943, Becktoft Crew arrives at Thorpe Abbotts
10-14 days of Orientation Missions around England
Date & Target: Aircraft: Status Crew
6/9/1943 Stuttgart War Eagle XR-H REM UNK
7/9/1943 Watton War Eagle XR-H P UNK
9/9/1943 Beauvais AF War Eagle XR-H P UNK
15/9/1943 Paris War Eagle XR-H P Lt Arthur Becktoft
16/9/1943 La Pallice War Eagle XR-H P Lt Arthur Becktoft
23/9/1943 Vannes AF War Eagle XR-H REM Lt Arthur Becktoft
27/9/1943 Emden War Eagle XR-H P Lt Arthur Becktoft
2/10/1943 Emden War Eagle XR-H P Lt Arthur Becktoft
4/10/1943 Hanau War Eagle XR-H P Lt Arthur Becktoft
8/10/1943 Bremen War Eagle XR-H FTR Lt Arthur Becktoft
Crew List
1st Crew List
Use your thumb to scroll through the results box below.
| Rank | Name | Pos | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lt | BECKTOFT, Arthur H. | P | POW |
| Lt | SPENCER, Clifford M. | CP | POW |
| LT | FUESS, Wayne A. | NAV | NOC |
| Lt | MILLER, Robert | BOM | POW |
| T/Sgt | WILLIAMS, Elmer J. | TTE | POW |
| T/SGT | LOWE, Floyd A. | ROG | KIA |
| S/Sgt | MARENGO, Charles E. | BTG | POW |
| S/SGT | HOFFMAN, Edward J. | WG | POW |
| S/SGT | POPIELARSKI, Henry T. | WG | POW |
| S/SGT | WARGO, John P. | WG | CPT |
| S/SGT | STANLEY, Andy P. | TG | POW |
