Personnel

CREW



2nd Lt   Raymond V.E.Monrad      P CPT UNK

2nd Lt   Claude E. Schindler        CP KIA 28 MAY 44  MADGEBURG

2nd Lt   Frank J. McGuire          NAV IIC 24 JAN 44 RTN USA ILLINESS (SPINAL MENG)

2nd Lt   Arthur E. Dehn           BOM CPT UNK

    Sgt   Sidney A.Cary             TTE POW 28 MAY 44  MADGEBURG

    Sgt   Talbert E. Spenhoff       ROG IIC 24 JAN 44 UNK REASONS

    Sgt   Arthur M. Lenfast, Jr.     BTG KIA 04 JAN 44  KIEL

    Sgt   Guthrie H. Head             WG IIC 24 JAN 44

    Sgt   Nicholas Perovich             TG CPT 04 MAR 45  KIEL, SUBYARDS

    Sgt   William E. Wells               WG NOC



351st Sqdn.  Crew, as above, joined the 100th on 1/12/43

Don Drysdale flew the last half of his tour as CP for Monrad - this was a squadron lead crew.  Drysdale came from the Glen Rake crew.

S/Sgt  Loren G. Johnson, LWG, was on this crew list on 8/3/44.  He completed a tour.

Arch "Four Mile" Drummond, CP on the Swartout crew, became a first pilot and  perhaps took over much of the Monrad crew…letter from Frank McGuire 23 Dec 1990.  Jb



Missions of T/Sgt Cary and S/Sgt Head with Lt Monrad Crew



1.  4 Jan 44, Kiel, Ger.

 

2.  7 Jan 44, Ludwigshaven, Ger.

 

3.  14 Jan 44,  Secret (France)

 

4.  21 Jan 44,  Secret (France)



    24 Jan 44   Frankfurt: Lt Arch "Four Mile"Drummond crashed on takeoff in A/C 23307 SKIPPER EP-N  avoiding a collision with a 

                                  stray B-24



Lt A. Drummond            P CPT EARLY MARCH 1944

Lt F McGuire               NAV IIC 24 JAN 44 RTN USA ILLINESS (SPINAL MENG)

Lt C Schindler               CP KIA 28 MAY 44  MADGEBURG

Lt M. G. Zetlan            BOM KIC 24 JAN 44 

S/Sgt S.A. Cary            TTE POW 28 MAY 44  MADGEBURG

S/Sgt T. E. Spenhoff    ROG IIC 24 JAN 44 

S/Sgt S. M. Szekely       BTG  CPT  24 JUL 44 ST LO

S/Sgt J.R. Pendleton      WG  CPT    

S/Sgt G. H. Head           WG IIC 24 JAN 44

S/Sgt   N. Perovich           TG CPT 04 MAR 45  KIEL, SUBYARDS





Missions Flown by T/Sgt S.A. Cary after Lt Drummond Crash on Takeoff 24 Jan 44. A/C 23307 SKIPPER EP-N



3/3/44   BERLIN  (WITH LT MASSOL CREW)  238047  FEVER BEAVER  (RECALL, CREDIT FOR MISSION)

3/4/44   BERLIN  (WITH LT MASSOL CREW)  238047  FEVER BEAVER (RECALL, CREDIT FOR MISSION)

3/6/44   BERLIN  (WITH LT MASSOL CREW)  232018  WAT-i-CARE (RETURNED EARLY)

3/18/44  MUNICH (WITH LT LACY CREW)     231389   LUCIOUS LUCY

9/4/44   POSEN (WITH LT MASSOL CREW)   238047  FEVER BEAVER RECALL, NO CREDIT FOR MISSION

10/4/44  RHEIMS (WITH LT MASSOL CREW) 238047  FEVER BEAVER

11/4/44  POSEN  (WITH LT MASSOL CREW) 238047  FEVER BEAVER

12/4/44  SCHKEUDITZ  (WITH LT MASSOL CREW)  CREDIT FOR MISSION BUT GROUP RECALLED TWO MINUTES INTO ENEMY TERRITORY. 



After this point, it appears that T/Sgt S.A Cary returned to 351st spare gunners pool until joining Lt Lacy's new Pick up Crew in May 1944.



Missions Flown by T/Sgt S.A.Cary with Lt Lacy's new Crew:



DATE            TARGET                     AIRCRAFT



07/05/44       BERLIN                     42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY

08/05/44       BERLIN                     42-31412  EP-G MASON AND DIXON

11/05/44       LIEGE                       42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY

12/05/44       BRUX,CZECH              42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY  

19/05/44       BERLIN                     42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY  

24/05/44       BERLIN                     42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY 

28/05/44       MAGDEBURG             42-31389  EP-J  LUCIOUS LUCY



Info regarding Lt Lacy Crew:

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.



The crew composition that flew the 28 May 44 Madgeburg mission is listed below.  This crew flew together from the 7 May 44 mission to Berlin thru the 28 May 44 mission to Madgeburg.  



CREW

1ST LT LUCIUS G. LACY               P POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA

2ND LT CLAUDE E. SCHINDLER      CP KIA   28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA FROM THE R.V.E. MONRAD CREW

2ND LT RAYMOND E. ROSSMAN  NAV POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA FROM THE C.W WOLDT CREW

2ND LT HERBERT GREENBURG    BOM POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA FROM THE R.H.HELMICK CREW

T/SGT CLARENCE H. WOOD       ROG POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA 

T/SGT SIDNEY A. CARY           TTE POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA FROM THE R.V.E. MONRAD CREW

S/SGT CHESTER L. POWELL     BTG KIA   28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA FROM THE M.T.RISH CREW

S/SGT JOE FOLSOM             RWG KIA   28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA

S/SGT RAYMOND J. MITCHELL   LWG POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA 

S/SGT MICHAEL ROTZ                TG POW 28 MAY 44 MAGDEBURG & GERA FROM THE T. MURPHY CREW (PICCADILLY  LILY)



EYEWITNESS: "A/C #389 was shot down over the target area at 1405 hours by

              E/A. #4 engine was seen smoking and cockpit was afire.Three

              chutes were seen "



According to Lt.Lacy's statements in MACR, . . . "the electrical system was out,

ship out of control,cables shot away,spun immediately. " . . . . " I fastened my

chute on in air. Seven crew members got out before wings came off."



From statements of Lt.Greenberg in MACR:



"The attack that knocked us out came from High at about 1:00 o'clock. All hits

seemed to concentrate on the starboard side. I would say Lt.Schindler was hit

and killed in the cockpit.He never made a move to get out despite the fact we

were burning fiercely. Our engineer maintains that the last he saw of Schindler

was while the cockpit was burning. Lt Schindler appeared to be slumped in his

seat.His left arm hanging straight down and making no move." Lt.Schindler

was operational from December 1943 til his death. He flew the "Roughest" ones

and was the coolest,calmest co-pilot that ever flew combat."



Sgt.Mitchell last saw Sgt.Folsom lying against the right bulkhead.His head and

face bloody and he made no attempt to leave the ship and was evidently dead.



Sgt.Powell is believed to have been killed in his turret by the fighter pass

that apparently killed Schindler and Folsom.



German report in MACR iB to the effect that  at the crash site 3 dead were found.

Bodies burnt,names unidentifiable.



1st Lt Lucius Lacy ended up in Stalag Luft III until the end of the War.



*************************************************************************************************************



Hi Mike,

 

I was having a casual e-mail conversation with William "Bill" Dixon from the 100th BG (Sam Barrick crew) about the gunnery school at Las Vegas and his time before going to England and one thing led to another. Below is what he sent me.  Perhaps you have seen it before because he remembers sending you a lot of stuff in the past.  Anyway's, it closes another small gap in my fathers history I didn't know about and I thought you might like to see it.  The Queen Mary story sounds familiar.  

 

Ray

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

 I was in the same group with your father from Aug 1943 until I was shot down on 6 March 1944.  I even recognized him in the picture you sent. 

 

Your father was assigned to an air crew in August 1943 in Moses Lake, Washington.  The others on the crew were Raymond V. Monrad, pilot; Arthur E. Dehn, bombardier; George L. Lewis, assistant engineer; Talbert E. Spenhoff, radio operator; Nicholas Perovich, armorer gunner; and, of course, your father, engineer.  The rest of the crew was assigned in Kearney, Nebraska. (I will scan the portions of the orders moving us from Moses Lake to Kearney that include your father's crew and send them to you separately.)  On 11 August, we went by train to Kearney.

 

We took overseas training in Kearney from mid August until mid October when we were given overseas leave.  We did get several hours of flight time in B-17s in Kearney, but not enough was formation flying and there was only one practice bomb and gunnery flight.  There was no practice for gunners in looking for, tracking, or leading fighter planes.  We did not, however, realize just how untrained we were.

 (A personal note: The girl to whom I was engaged and my parents came out to Kearney on 20 August and she and I were married on 21 August in the rectory of the Catholic Church there.  Still married in our 64th year.) 

 

On returning to Kearney, we were put aboard a train and taken to Fort Dix, New Jersey.  We were processed there, shots checked, physicals again, paperwork in re insurance, deductions, bond purchases, etc.  We were allowed to go into New York City twice while in Dix.

 

(The following is a true account that I wrote some years ago about our trip in the Queen Mary.  Your father was in the same room with me so he, too, experienced this.)  

 

 

The Black Hole



 



Early in the morning of November 14, 1943, we were taken from Ft. Dix, across to New York harbor, and marched through a hole in the side of the Queen Mary for our trip to Jolly Old England.  



After entering the ship, we walked as far forward as it was possible to go and then down as far as it was possible to go.  At that point we reached a room that had a sign over the door “Max. Occupants 13”.  



We entered, all 63 of us, and found hammocks slung in every available inch of the room.  Another door stood open even farther forward, but it was the head, (toilet) an open trough through which a continuous stream of water flowed.  Oh joy!  Oh my!  



We later learned that there were over 15,000 troops aboard.   



I was the last one to enter the (what should I call it?  I know – the floating dungeon) and so I had to take the last of the hammocks.  The only hammock left was over the only way into the head.  



I learned, in the next few days, exactly what is meant by a head butt.  Every time someone went in the head, his head met my  -- well, you get the idea.  



We did have one recreational device in the dungeon and that was a small metal table that was bolted to the floor.  There were hammocks swung over it.  But that didn’t stop some of our brave soldiers from shooting dice on that table – 24 hours a day.  



If you have never heard the constant sound of dice hitting a metal table for 24 hours a day, you haven’t lived!



After the three fellows who had the hammocks over the table threatened vile and hurtful actions to the dice players, they persuaded three of the dice players to switch hammocks with them.  Fortunately, it took only four and one-half days to get to Scotland or some of those dice players may have had to swim part of the way.



 



Food or ----- What?



 



Our first meal aboard the Queen Mary was served Army mess style in the Grand Dining Room and consisted of kidney stew  with real beef kidneys (at least I think they were beef) and stewed apricots that had to be scraped off the serving spoon onto our trays.  Now, my grandmother had been born in England and raised in Wales and so I was not unfamiliar with both stewed apricots and kidney stew.  But my grandmother always soaked the kidneys well before preparing them to eat.  And, she knew when to stop cooking the apricots, too.  This was not the case with those who, on the Queen Mary, prepared both of these dishes.  



The routine followed by most of the soldiers was the routine I followed.  I went through the line received my food(?), kept moving until I reached the garbage cans, scraped both apricots and kidneys into the cans, placed my tray in the used tray pile, and departed as hastily as possible because the odor  was beginning to penetrate my pores. 



Early on the second day we had what would normally be called a lifeboat drill but they certainly didn’t have enough lifeboats for 15,000 people and so they called it a submarine drill.  I called it “The prepare to drown drill” if there really was a submarine around.  



 



Upon leaving the Queen Mary, we boarded a train for a destination unknown.  Our trip south ended somewhere on Salisbury Plains.  (My father had encamped on Salisbury Plains during World War I before being sent to France.)  It was at this camp that we were assigned to our 8th Air Force Group, the 100th Bomb Group.    When others at the Camp heard that we were going to the 100th, we heard for the first time the reputation of the Bloody Hundredth.  It was supposed to be the hard luck outfit of the 8th AF.  The story was that one of the planes of the 100th had lowered its wheels, a sign of surrender similar to waving a white flag, and, when German fighters came up to lead the B-17 to a landing, the gunners had shot the fighters down.  After that, the story goes, the Luftwaffe sought out the 100th in revenge.  We later learned that the story was apocryphal although it is still brought up every once in a while by someone who served in another Group.  And, at least one German Luftwaffe General has said that if he had ever heard of one of his pilots picking out a particular Group, he would have shot him himself because they didn’t have time to waste looking for specific targets – any old U.S. bomber would do!



 



We reported to the 100th Bomb Group at Thorpe Abbotts in East Anglia on December 1, 1943.



 



Bill (Sapp) Dixon, from Sam Barrick Crew.