James Oakley Bates | American Air Museum in Britain

Crew #407 Arthur A. Kraft Crew Standing Left to Right: Robert Carr (WG), Jose V. Monfort (N), Charles Hughes (FE), Norman Siegel (B), Clarence Cless (G), Joseph O'Flaherty (CP), James Bates (WG) Arthur A. Kraft (P), Peter Danylo (TG), Charles Greene (R/O) Kneeling Left to Right: Sgt. Tobin (GC), Sgt. Pajack (GC), MSgt William W. Wallace (GCC)

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SSGT James O. Bates 466th BG - 784th BS Waist Gunner - Arthur Kraft Crew Certificate of Valor

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Service

Arthur Kraft

Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 466th Bomb Group
First 466th BG pilot to complete 30 missions.

466th Bomb Group

Group
The 466th Bomb Group flew B-24 Liberators from Attlebridge, Norfolk, during the last year of the war in Europe. The Group flew 232 missions in the course of the year and celebrated the 100th one by inviting local people onto the base to mark the...
784th Bomb Squadron

Squadron

42-52597 Lady Lightning

B-24 Liberator
Our pilot (Arthur Kraft) picked the plane up at the Willow Run factory and had to sign a $50,000 voucher. We were a new group. In February 1944 we took off from West Palm Beach, FL, stopped in Trinidad and then on to Belem, Brazil. From there we went...

8th Air Force FO 277 BOMBER ESCORT

22 March 1944
A combined force of 540 fighters of types: P-38; P-47 and P-51 are despatched to escort heave bombers attacking ad Berlin and surrounding areas. 275 of these aircraft are contributed by IX Fighter Command units. Despatch summary follows: ...
8th Air Force 282

27 March 1944
This mission might be likened to a "shotgun blast" as a combined force 714 heavy bombers are despatched form all three Air Divisions to attack 11 different German airfields and air depots in France. Mission summary follows: ...
8th Air Force 291

8 April 1944
8th Air Force Field Order 293

10 April 1944
8th Air Force Field Order 298

13 April 1944
306A

18 April 1944
The handwritten log of my father, Horace O. "Hank" Turner, states this.. "Started to raid Berlin, bad weather and we bombed Brandenberg. formation bad and flak terrific." He had marked it with an "x", which he noted meant that "Our plane was hit by...
308A

19 April 1944
309

20 April 1944
315

24 April 1944
319A

26 April 1944

Attlebridge

Military site : airfield
Attlebridge was constructed for RAF use and completed to that standard in 1942. However, with news that it was to be assigned to the American Air Force, the runways were extended and additional hardstandings and outbuildings constructed for the heavy...

Event	Location	Date
Born		19 March 1922
466th BG Combat Tour	Attlebridge, Norwich NR9, UK	22 March 1944 – 12 June 1944
30 missions
Died	Sandy, OR 97055, USA	14 November 2003
Buried	Portland, OR, USA	17 November 2003
Willamette National Cemetery Portland Multnomah County Oregon, USA Plot: Section COL-3 ROW 293 Site D

Date	Contributor	Update
17 September 2016 01:33:23	466thHistorian	Changes to mission associations
Sources
466th BG Archives - John O. Bates Certificate of Valor
Date	Contributor	Update
17 September 2016 01:16:22	466thHistorian	Changes to middlename, awards and events
Sources
466th BG Archives - James O. Bates Certificate of Valor
Date	Contributor	Update
08 January 2015 04:17:52	466thHistorian	Changes to highest rank, role, person associations, unit associations and place associations
Sources
466th BG Historian
Date	Contributor	Update
27 September 2014 18:13:59	AAM	AAM ingest
Sources
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Unit roster in the book 'Attlebridge Arsenal' by Wassom & Brassford, page 343