Personnel

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)



351st Sqdn. Crew,as above,joined the 100th Group on 28/11/43.  A/C #42 38044 SPIRIT OF 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 OF 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

A discrepancy starts off the profile of Agnus A. Alsup. This is the name that all records (but one) lists as the tail gunner for the Rish crew. Personnel files, crew rosters, mission lists, etc for the 100th Bomb Group show this to be the man. However, his grave marker in Deming, New Mexico is plainly marked "Harold A. Alsup." The information on this gravestone exactly matches that given for Angus A. Alsup in other records. Could his name have been Harold Angus and for some reason, it was recorded wrong? The US Census 1930 shows that a Harold A. Alsup, son of Newbern and Nellie Alsup, resided with his parents in Socorro, New Mexico.



At any rate, Angus A. Alsup enlisted on November 11, 1942 at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas as a private in the Army Air Forces. His enlistment files state he had completed 4 years of high school, and that he was employed as a semi-skilled chauffeur or driver. He was selected for flight duty, and trained as an aerial gunner. He was promoted to Sergeant, and assigned to a crew in the Western U.S. for crew training. This took him to stations in Colorado, Utah, Texas, and Tennessee. The crew then ferried a new B-17 to England, arriving at Thorpe-Abbots on November 28, 1943. They flew their first combat mission in Decemer, 1943, and completed 17 missions.



On March 6, 1944, the crew was tasked to bomb the industrial areas near Berlin, Germany. En route to the target,the formation was attacked by numerous enemy aircraft. The aircraft was severely damaged, and the pilot ordered the crew to bail out. (The MACR states 7 were captured, 3 were killed. 100th Bomb Group records show that 6 were captured, 4 were killed.)  The aircraft went into a tight spin, the tail assembly broke off, and the rest of the aircraft exploded. The wreckage fell near the village of Aschenbuhl, Germany. Evidently, the dead were recovered and buried locally. After the war ended, some of the bodies were retrieved and buried elsewhere. Today, Sgt Alsup lies in the Deming Cemetery in Deming, New Mexico.



Sgt Angus A. Alsup was acting as tail gunner on B-17G # 42-38044, assigned to the 351st Bomb Squadron. (One source refers to this aircraft as "42-39044," all others use correct number.)



Missing Air Crew Report 3026 applies to this loss. Crew rosters and personnel files state the crew was composed of:



2 Lt Merril T. Rish  p

2 Lt Frank A. Smith  c-p

2 Lt Royal W. Lingenfelter  nav

2 Lt Donald K. Kehm  bomb

SSgt Howard T. Skaggs, Jr.  eng/tt gun

SSgt George F. Danehower  r/o

Sgt  Dewey L. Essary  btg

SSgt Estil V. McGuffie  wg

Sgt  Armand C. Burt  wg

Sgt Angus A. Alsup  tail gun



Lts. Rish and Smith plus Sgts Essary and Alsup were killed. All others captured.

Sgt Essary replaced Sgt Chester L. Powell (original crew) on March 3, 1944. Sgt Powell was killed on a later mission.