Crew #4 -- Aircraft #4230035 -- "Torchy"
| 1st Lt |
Sam L. Barr |
P |
CPT |
14-Jan-44 |
-- |
| F/O |
Dan Barna |
CP |
POW |
10-Oct-43 |
Munster (With Crew #7) |
| 2nd Lt |
James R. Brown |
N |
SWA |
15-Sep-43 |
Paris |
| 2nd Lt |
Howard J. Kelly |
B |
CPT |
30-Jan-44 |
-- |
| T/Sgt |
Robert E. Cliff |
E |
CPT |
21-Jan-44 |
-- |
| S/Sgt |
William Ohl |
WG |
CPT |
-- |
-- |
| T/Sgt |
Michael J. Tanowigch |
R |
KIA |
6-Mar-44 |
Berlin |
| S/Sgt |
Max Russ |
BT |
CPT |
21-Jan-44 |
-- |
| S/Sgt |
Hobart Spires |
WG |
KIA |
6-Mar-44 |
Berlin |
| S/Sgt |
James T. Hiten |
TG |
CPT |
21-Jan-44 |
-- |
The composition of this crew,
lead crew of the 349th, was to change considerably in the six months
following its first mission of 25 June 1943. After a few missions, Joe
Kelly had an extended period of illness during which he was replaced by
"Big Joe" Armanini from Crew #8. This writer was severely wounded on a
milk run to Paris (my life was saved by Anmanini's prompt, effective,
but damn clumsy first aid) and that was the last mission I flew. Howard
Bassett from Crew #8 replaced me as navigator. Dan Barna went to Crew #7
and was with that crew on the terrible Munster mission.
Mike Tanowigch and Hobart Spires
finally made it to Berlin (with other crews) but their luck ran out and
they did not make it back.
Everyone knows the story of Sammy
Barr, the stocky, lionhearted Mississippian. Utterly fearless and grimly
determined, Sam continued to fly combat missions long after he could
have stopped. After becoming Squadron commander of the 349th, he
continued until he had 50 missions to his credit second only to Robert Rosenthal's 52.One of the most loved and
respected flyers of the 100th, Sam continued with the Air Force after WW
II saw active service in
Korea and finally retired
as a Colonel about ten years ago. Although suffering a partial loss of
speech and some paralysis, the aftermath of a severe stroke, Sam
continues life with the same imdomitable spirit he shower during his
career with Eighth A.F.
The planes flown by this crew:
Torchy, Torchy 2nd, and Torchy 3rd, were named after the redheaded wife
of this writer whom all the crew had come to know when she stayed
briefly at Sioux City, Pierre, South Dakota, and Kearney, Nebraska.
Torchy 3rd came to her end in April 1944 when ditched in the English
Channel by a crew piloted by James Stout.
Crew #5 -- Aircraft
#4230002 -- "Damdifino" -- M.A.C.R. #682
| 1st Lt |
Glen S. Van Noy |
P |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| 2nd Lt |
James B. Evans |
CP |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| 1st Lt |
Kenneth G. Allen |
NAV |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| 2nd Lt |
William H. Couch |
BOM |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| T/Sgt |
William R. Stewart |
TTE |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| Col |
William L. Kennedy |
RWG |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| S/Sgt |
George P. Gineikis |
RWG |
EVA |
5-Nov-43 |
Gelsenkirchen |
| T/Sgt |
William W. Crabb |
LWG |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| S/Sgt |
James D. Gibson |
ROG |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| S/Sgt |
Joe F. Hruskocy |
BTG |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
| S/Sgt |
Samuel J. Cusmano |
TG |
POW |
17-Aug-43 |
Regensburg |
On the Regensburg mission this
crew was leading the second element of the 349th squadron, which, led by
Veal and Barr, was the high squadron. Their aircraft this day was
#4230042, "Oh Nausea". About an hour before takeoff, a Colonel William
L. Kennedy had replaced George Gineikis as a waist gunner. Kennedy was
an armorer and gunnery expert who was soon to return to the U.S. and,
before his return, wanted to get some firsthand experience as to exactly
what problems our gunners were facing in combat. Of Kennedy, Bill Crab
was later to say, "He kept squeezing off one round at a time and I
remember thinking, 'My God! a short burst is one thing but this is
ridiculous."' The Colonel became a POW with the rest of the crew.
Soon after crossing the enemy
coast, a fighter pass knocked out one engine and at the target a second
engine was lost. Under almost constant attack, Crabb (in the ball turret
this day) ran out of ammo before reaching Regensburg although he had
started the mission with 1100 rounds for one gun and 900 for the other.
Realizing that they probably could not reach Africa, the decision was
made to try for Sicily which, according to the morning briefing, was
supposed to fall to the Allies that day. It did.
One bomb had hung up over the
target and Couch tried to release it over a small airfield near the
Brenner pass but it wouldn't go. Later it was released manually over the
Mediterranean. Van Noy went down to about 500 feet and the crew began to
throw out everything detachable to lighten the ship. Eeven shoes were
discarded. Such efforts were of no avail however for a third engine went
out about 90 miles north of Sicily and Van Noy and Evans made a perfect
landing on the deep blue sea. One crew member was to say, "Van Noy never
could land an airplane except when it really counted."The crew got into the two five man
dinghies and a smaller one with "lots of rations, radio, etc." "Oh
Nausea" floated about an hour and a half before she finally sank and the
crew was picked up by Germans in a flying boat the next morning.
Bill Couch probably had the
biggest feet in the Eighth A.F. and one of the Germans, noticing the
shoeless Couch, remarked that, "No shoes in Italy will fit that man."On 28 June 1943, Crew #5 had
nearly had it's luck run out when, during the mission to St. Nazaire,
one engine was disabled. Van Noy, unable to maintain formation, had gone
down to the deck and flew back to England at an average altitude of 50
feet.
Crew #6 -- Aircraft #423229
| 1st Lt |
Woodrow B. Barnhill |
P |
KIC |
16-Jul-43 |
Thorpe Abbotts |
| 2nd Lt |
Carl F. Hudson |
CP |
KIC |
16-Jul-43 |
Thorpe Abbotts |
| 2nd Lt |
William H. Carr |
N |
KIC |
16-Jul-43 |
Thorpe Abbotts |
| 1st Lt |
Winifred L: Rucker |
B |
KIC |
16-Jul-43 |
Thorpe Abbotts |
| T/Sgt |
Peter Contos |
E |
KIC |
16-Jul-43 |
Thorpe Abbotts |
| S/Sgt |
Newton E. Harris, Jr. |
WG |
KIC |
16-Jul-43 |
Thorpe Abbotts |
| T/Sgt |
Edward D. Johnson |
R |
KIC |
16-Jul-43 |
Thorpe Abbotts |
| Sgt |
Frank M. Opala |
BT |
IIC |
16-Jul-43 |
Thorpe Abbotts |
| S/Sgt |
Vincent S. Noel |
WG |
IIC |
16-Jul-43 |
Thorpe Abbotts |
| S/Sgt |
Peter S. Russell, Jr. |
TG |
IIC |
16-Jul-43 |
Thorpe Abbotts |
On 16 July 1943, this crew took
off on a practice mission but crashed near the rectory at Dickleburgh a
moment or two after taking off. The official report of the crash reads
as follows:
"On 16 July 1943, B17F, serial
number 4230305, took off from Station #139 on a local formation practice
mission. Weather was clear and visibility unlimited. Takeoff was at 1006
local time. After takeoff, the aircraft entered a right bank almost
immediately. The bank continued, and the aircraft lost altitude until
ground impact. Duration of the flight did not exceed 30 seconds. Three
crew embers in the rear of the aircraft survived with injuries. The
other seven crew members received fatal injuries, and the aircraft was
destroyed."
Ken Everett, who has been most
active in the efforts to restore the Control Tower at Thorpe Abbotts and
who now lives near the tower, was a 12yearold at the time of this crash
but remembers it vividly. He says, "I recall the plane passing overhead
very low and then hitting trees about 200 yards away. The dead were
buried at the U.S. cemetery at Madingly near Cambridge."In a letter to this writer dated
30 November 1978, Vince Noel stated as follows:
"Peter Russell and I did survive the crash and fire but, due to our severe
injuries, we were removed from flying status. At my request I was
permitted to remain with the 349th until June 1945 and then returned to
the U.S." Noel made no mention as to what happened to Frank Opala, the
third injured man.
Loss of this crew coupled with
the loss of three others four crews in three weeks
plunged the squadron into bitter gloom.
Crew #7 -- Aircraft #42
30042 -- "Oh Nausea" -- M.A.C.R.#1020
| 1st Lt |
Magee C. Fuller |
P |
POW |
20-Jul-44 |
Merseburg |
| 2nd Lt |
Winton L. MacCarter |
CP |
POW |
10-Oct-43 |
Munster |
| 2nd Lt |
Harold L. Weachter |
N |
POW |
10-Oct-43 |
Munster |
| 2nd Lt |
George H. Ziegler |
B |
POW |
10-Oct-43 |
Munster |
| T/Sgt |
Jack C. Rogers |
E |
POW |
10-Oct-43 |
Munster |
| S/Sgt |
Robert W. Sandy |
R |
POW |
10-Oct-43 |
Munster |
| S/Sgt |
Alexander F. Sawicki |
BT |
POW |
10-Oct-43 |
Munster |
| S/Sgt |
Cosimo A. DeMonica |
WG |
POW |
10-Oct-43 |
Munster |
| S/Sgt |
Raymond J. Manley |
TG |
POW |
10-Oct-43 |
Munster |
| S/Sgt |
George W. Easterwed |
WG |
-- |
01-Jul-43 |
GROUNDED |
After a few missions, Magee
Fuller was made operations officer of the 349th and was later
transferred to the 418th where he became Squadron Commander. Magee
appears to be the last of the original air crewmen of the 100th to be
lost to enemy action.
When Fuller left the crew,
MacCarter became first pilot and Dan Barna roved over from Crew #4 to
become copilot. George Easterwed was grounded for some reason soon after
the group arrived in England and his place on the crew was filled by
S/Sgt. Roy B. Graff, a Minnesota boy from a Provisional Group. Both
Barna and Graff became POWs on the Munster mission.
On the terrible Munster mission,
Aircraft #4230090, "El P'sstofo", was swarmed by fighters and #1 engine
began to burn. The fire quickly spread to the left wing and gas tank.
The entire crew bailed out successfully and were immediately taken
prisoner. The enlisted men spent the remainder of the war in Stalag 17B,
Krems, Austria.In 1973, one of Ray Manley's sons
graduated from the Air Force Academy. Perhaps the Air Force fever
continues from generation to generation. |