367

24 May 1944
media-44048.jpeg UPL 44048 8th Air Force mission 367; Berlin; May 24, 1944. 447th Bomb Group strike photo 447th Bomb Group collection

Timothy Motz, from Pictorial History of the 447th Bombardment Group (H) https://www.americanairmuseum.com/media/41056

Object Number - UPL 44048 - 8th Air Force mission 367; Berlin; May 24, 1944. 447th Bomb Group strike photo

Mission Details

Description: BOMB TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 14 T HE

BERLIN (Primary)

Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Notes: This is the 3rd 1000 plane mission staged by 8th Air Force and the largest to date with 1,106 bombers participating. 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, 398th Bomb Group, 401st Bomb Group, 457th Bomb Group. 3rd Bomb Division was made up of 34th Bomb Group, 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, 486th Bomb Group. 100th Bomb Group became separated from main force by weather and contrails and came under attack by approximately 200 German fighters. 457th BG - MISSION NO. 50 - BERLIN, GERMANY 24 MAY, 1944 Mission No. 50 for the 457th, represented the thirteenth take off for Berlin and the tenth time over the city. Again the target for the eighteen crews assigned to fly the mission was the Friedrichsirasse Railway Station. The Group led the 94th Combat Wing with Lt. Col. Henry B. Wilson serving as Air Commander and Lt. Russell M. Selwyn as pilot. The primary target was attacked with poor results. There was no fighter opposition. Flak was intense and accurate. Fourteen aircraft suffered damage. The aircraft piloted by Lt. Harry Stafford did not return from the mission. The craft ditched in the North Sea and the crew was later picked up by the Air/Sea Rescue in the afternoon of the second day, amid big swells that began to rise in the North Sea.

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 1081 T HE

CREIL (Secondary)

Description: AIRFIELD

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 91.5 T HE

MELUN (Primary)

Description: AIRFIELD

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, 453rd Bomb Group, 458th Bomb Group, 466th Bomb Group, 467th Bomb Group, 492nd Bomb Group. 3rd Bomb Division was made up of 388th Bomb Group, 487th Bomb Group.

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 500.9 T HE

NAUEN (Opportunistic)

Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 71 T HE

ORLY (Primary)

Description: AIRFIELD

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 469 T HE

Description: AIRFIELD

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 170 T HE

Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 31 T HE

Connections

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People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 95th Bomb Group 336th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 31013228
  • Highest Rank: Technician Third Grade
  • Role/Job: Waist Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Pilot B-17
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 379th Bomb Group 525th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-755018
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Bombardier / Navigator / Bombardier Instructor
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 100th Bomb Group 349th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-754012
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 379th Bomb Group 525th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 18160669
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Waist Gunner

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Kentucky Colonel aka Helena II
  • Unit: 398th Bomb Group 384th Bomb Group 546th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Doasy Doats
  • Unit: Base Air Depot 1 398th Bomb Group 603rd Bomb Squadron 491st Bomb Group 600th Bomb Squadron 384th Bomb Group 545th Bomb Squadron
Ground personnel of the 452nd Bomb Group attend to the wreck of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-107134) nicknamed "Round Trip" of the 388th Bomb Group, destroyed by German dive bombers. Image via William C Gaither. Letter from Gaither enclosed with print: ‘These photographers were taken at Poltava, Russia on June 22 1944. On June 21st my group, the 452d and others flew from England to Poltava en route hitting oil refinery at Rhurland, Germany. That night after landing German dive bombers bombed
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Round Trip
  • Unit: 388th Bomb Group
Nine men in Air Force uniform posed in two rows in front of a military airplane.  Five men standing to the rear and four men kneeling in front.
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Dark Angel
  • Unit: 384th Bomb Group 545th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Puddles
  • Unit: 3rd Bomb Division 95th Bomb Group 334th Bomb Squadron 412th Bomb Squadron

Revisions

Date
Changes
Sources

Mission details added courtesy of Diane Elizabeth Reese from 457th Bomb Group Mission Documents. http://www.457thbombgroup.org/

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

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'.

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