309
20 April 1944
Object Number - UPL 44294 - 8th Air Force mission 309; April 20, 1944; V-1 launching site, France. 447th Bomb Group strike photo
Mission Details
Description: BOMB TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY
Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Notes: Note from log of Horace Turner, 412th Bomb Squadron, 95th Bomb Group, "Raided Fabenville, Haegg. Flak moderate, good bombing, formation good. A good mission. Flak hit airplane."
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
CHERBOURG (Primary)
Description: V-1 MISSILE SITES
PAS DE CALAIS (Primary)
Description: V-1 MISSILE SITES
Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Notes: 1st Bomb Division was made up of 91st Bomb Group, 92nd Bomb Group,303rd Bomb Group, 305th Bomb Group, 306th Bomb Group, 351st Bomb Group, 379th Bomb Group, 381st Bomb Group, 384th Bomb Group, 401st Bomb Group, 457th Bomb Group. A total of 24 V-Weapon sites out of 33 briefed were bombed. 457th BG MISSION NO. 29 - GORENFLOS, FRANCE 20 APRIL, 1944 The target was a No Ball installation situated south of the village, located ten miles southeast ofAbbeville. It was a ski shaped launching ramp for V-i bombs. Other units of the Eighth attacked other installations in the Calais and Cherbourg areas. The Group used a new twelve plane formation, and dispatched two boxes on its target. The A box was led by Captain William F. Smith as Air Commander and Lt. J. L. Smith was the pilot. The B box was led by Major George C. Hozier as Air Commander and Captain Jerry Godfrey was pilot. Takeoff was late in the afternoon, at 1615. Bombing results were good, with the bomb pattern centering within two hundred feet of the MPI. Flak was moderate but accurate. One anti aircraft shell hit the Deputy Lead plane of the B box, piloted by Lt. Walter S. Milne, at the radio compartment, and exploded inside. The remnants of the craft plummeted nose down. Only two of the crew survived the crash. Eleven aircraft from the A box and eight craft of the B box sustained damage. The aircraft broke apart between the tail wheel and the waist door. The craft hit the ground with a terrific explosion. Four of the crew parachuted to safety.
- Unit Hierarchy: Division
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 869 T HE
PAS DE CALAIS (Primary)
Description: V-1 MISSILE SITES
Notes: 2nd Bomb Division was made up of 44th Bomb Group, 93rd Bomb Group, 389th Bomb Group, 392nd Bomb Group, 445th Bomb Group, 446th Bomb Group, 448th Bomb Group, 453rd Bomb Group, 458th Bomb Group, 466th Bomb Group, 467th Bomb Group. B-24s from 453rd Bomb Group carried 8,000 lbs bomb loads.
- Unit Hierarchy: Division
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Combat organisation
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 419 T HE
PAS DE CALAIS (Primary)
Description: V-1 MISSILE SITES
Notes: 3rd Bomb Division was made up of 94th Bomb Group, 95th Bomb Group, 96th Bomb Group, 100th Bomb Group, 385th Bomb Group, 388th Bomb Group, 390th Bomb Group, 447th Bomb Group, 452nd Bomb Group.
![Three B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 94th Bomb Group are attacked by a Nazi Fighter aircraft during a mission. Printed caption on reverse of print: 'A-62641 USAF: Nazi fighter plane attacking Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortresses" during a bomb run over enemy installations somewhere in Europe, 10 September 1944. 100th[sic] Bomb Group, 3rd Bomb Division. U.S. Air Force Photo.'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-408505.jpg.webp?itok=zJwHCUjh)
- Unit Hierarchy: Division
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Combat organisation
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 604 T HE
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 6962724
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 612th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36703821
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Togglier, Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 390th Bomb Group 568th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 12037589
- Highest Rank: Corporal
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Ruth-Marie
- Unit: 467th Bomb Group 790th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Little Sheppard
- Unit: 448th Bomb Group 712th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 560th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: The Doodle Bug
- Unit: 95th Bomb Group 334th Bomb Squadron 335th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Peg O My Heart
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 561st Bomb Squadron
Revisions
Added by Karen Turner, daughter of Horace Turner.
Mission details added courtesy of Diane Elizabeth Reese from 457th Bomb Group Mission Documents. http://www.457thbombgroup.org/
Lee Cunningham, 8th Air Force missions research database / Stan Bishop's 'Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces', the Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces and the work of Roger Freeman including the 'Mighty Eighth War Diary'.
