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 Ernest T. Gilbert Crew (left to right)
Kneeling: Morphew, Mechanic, Scott, Julian, Elliott, Crew Chief
Standing: Wright, Frascatore, Gilbert, Runge, Tunnessen,
Mechanic ("Tiny")
Photo courtesy of David Julian (206) 364-9077
Aircraft EP-X (231530)
Assigned Jan 16, 1944
Last Mission Apr 8, 1945 (Eger, Czech.)
Scrapped May 31, 1945
|
| 1st Lt Ernest T. Gilbert |
P |
CPT |
14/4/45 |
ROYAN, GROUND DEFENSES |
| 1st Lt Walter G. Scott |
CP |
CPT |
14/4/45 |
ROYAN, GROUND DEFENSES |
| 1st Lt Paul F. Julian |
NAV |
CPT |
8/4/45 |
EGER, MY (CZECH) |
| 1st Lt John R. Frascatore |
BOM |
CPT |
8/4/45 |
EGER, MY (CZECH) |
| Cpl Donald V. Gloege |
ROG |
RFS |
29/1/45 |
KASSEL (MEDICAL REASONS) |
| Cpl Kenneth L. Morphew |
TTE |
CPT |
8/4/45 |
EGER, MY (CZECH) |
| Cpl George G. Elliott |
BTG |
CPT |
8/4/45 |
EGER, MY (CZECH) |
| Cpl William G. Tunnessen |
WG |
CPT |
8/4/45 |
EGER, MY (CZECH) |
| Cpl Douglas N. Wright TG |
TG |
CPT |
8/4/45 |
EGER, MY (CZECH) |
351st Sqdn. Crew, as above, joined the 100th Group on 24/12/44
Crew flew a/c 42-31530 EP-X "Quittin Time" Reason for name, last three
digits"530" signified quitting time.
Cpl Doug Wright shot down a ME 262 Jet on March
18, 1945 over BERLIN, story below.
After a few missions. T/Sgt George W. Runge replaced Cpl
Donald V. Gloege.. Sgt
Runge transferred to the 100th from the 385th BG. Check note below for info
According to Lt Walter Scott, Cpl Gloege was so shaken up after the Kassel
Mission on Jan 29, 1945 that he refused to fly anymore and was replaced on
the Crew by T/Sgt George W.
Runge.
List of Missions for 1st Lt John R. Frascatore sn# 12093106
| NBR |
DATE |
TARGET |
| 01 |
14/1/45 |
DERBEN |
| 02 |
17/1/45 |
HAMBURG |
| 03 |
20/1/45 |
HEIBRON |
| 04 |
21/1/45 |
MANNHEIM |
| 05 |
28/1/45 |
DUISBURG |
| 06 |
29/1/45 |
KASSEL |
| 07 |
3/2/45 |
BERLIN (T/Sgt George W. Runge replaced Cpl Gloege
on crew) |
| 08 |
6/2/45 |
BOHLEN |
| 09 |
15/2/45 |
COTTBUS |
| 10 |
17/2/45 |
GIESSEN |
| 11 |
19/2/45 |
MUNSTER |
| 12 |
21/2/45 |
NURNBURG |
| 13 |
22/2/45 |
WEHINGER |
| 14 |
23/2/45 |
TREUCHTLINGEN |
| 15 |
25/2/45 |
MUNICH |
| 16 |
10/3/45 |
DORTMUND |
| 17 |
11/3/45 |
HAMBURG |
| 18 |
12/3/45 |
SWINEMUNDE |
| 19 |
15/3/45 |
ORANIENBURG |
| 20 |
18/3/45 |
BERLIN |
| 21 |
21/3/45 |
PLAUEN |
| 22 |
22/3/45 |
ALHORN |
| 23 |
23/3/45 |
UNNA |
| 24 |
24/3/45 |
STEENWIJK |
| 25 |
24/3/45 |
ZIEGENHAIN |
| 26 |
28/3/45 |
HANOVER |
| 27 |
30/3/45 |
HAMBURG |
| 28 |
31/3/45 |
ZEITZ |
| 29 |
3/4/45 |
KIEL |
| 30 |
4/4/45 |
KIEL |
| 31 |
5/4/45 |
NURNBURG |
| 32 |
6/4/45 |
LEIPZIG |
| 33 |
7/4/45 |
BUCHEN |
| 34 |
8/4/45 |
EGER |
Mission Notes from Lt Frascatore:
March 12, 1944, Target: Swinemunde
"We had mechanical difficulties with our plane "Quittin Time", so at
the very last minute we were switched to another plane. Over the target,
we were hit by a flak shell (we think an 88MM) which tore into the radio
room, thru the ship and out the right gunners position before exploding
outside the ship. It left behind a gunner who had just started to move to
the other side when he felt the rush of air on his face as the shell tore
through. It also took with it the entire right gunners position. All that
was left was a batch of exposed hanging control cables etc. After landing,
we counted over 250 holes in the plane before we got tired of counting.
The miracle was that no one was injured. "
March 18, 1944, Target: BERLIN
"We were flying auxiliary lead below and behind the lead ship in the
low squad. We were suddenly jumped by enemy planes -four or more jets
included. In no time at all, we lost our leader as well as 3 other planes
(Swain, Jensen, King, Gwin). A jet was on our tail trying to finish us off
but fortunately our Tail Gunner, Doug Wright shot him down instead.
Naturally, our low formation as well as a good part of the group had
scattered badly. At that point, our pilot Tracey Gilbert assumed
leadership and flew straight & level premitting the others to form on our
plane. The planes soon re-grouped and no further losses were experienced.
That evening Col. Harry Cruver recommended Gilbert for a promotion to
Captain. We officers had just been 1st Lt's for 2 weeks so Tracey was a
1st Lt for a very short time. He later became Engineering officer for the
351st after the War in Europe ended. Because of clerical error, Doug was
not credited with his jet kill at that time. He was given belated credit
(due to the efforts of Col Cruver) at a group reunion, I believe in 1996.
The German pilot who was shot down backed Doug's claim. "(mpf Nov, 2000
from Lt Frascatore questionnaire)
Correspondence between Sam Runge (son of George
Runge) and Mike Faley (100thBG Photo Archivist) November, 2001:
Runge:
On www. 100thbg. com/mainpages/crews/crews4/gilbert. htm: The man
standing 4th from left without a hat was my father George William Runge. You list him as "Gloege". Also there is no mention of my
father in your web site. He
won the Air Medal, DFC, and Purple Heart.
Maybe you can correct this gross mistake. Sam Runge11221 N. Twin Spur Ct. Tucson, AZ 85737
Faley:
Hi Sam, after receiving your telephone call and also calling both Jan
Riddling and David Julian (Dad flew on Lt Gilbert Crew as NAV) I think we
have this figured out. Your
Dad was originally assigned to the 385th Bomb Group (H) based at Great Ashfield in England. On
August 6, 1944, while flying in AC 337528 named "Lady Luck, " they were
hit by flak. With a damaged aircraft the pilot Lt Donald J. Noe was able
to nurse the plane back to England and crash-land the plane at Thelentham
UK. Records say the Crew
returned to duty and the B-17 was salvaged. Sam, based on your story about
your Dad, this is what we feel happened.
The August 6th 1944 mission must be the one where your Father
bailed out low to the ground after pushing the two injured WG's out (I
will check 385th Bomb Group unit history for more info). He broke both legs upon landing
and would have been laid up for a very long time. His position on Lt Noe's crew
would have been taken by a replacement ROG. Your Dad would have been sent to
another hospital in England to recover and upon full recovery, was
reassigned to the 100th BG as a replacement ROG. The 100th BG had just lost 12
Crews on December 31, 1944 so hopefully your Dad's paperwork will confirm
my theory that he was sent to the 100th as a replacement for these losses. It is around this time that T/Sgt
George W. Runge would have
been assigned to Lt Gilbert's Crew because Cpl. Donald Gloege was the
original ROG on the Gilbert crew but was taken off the Crew after 6
missions (reason unknown).
That is why we had no records of your Father in our database; he did not
come into the 100th with a Crew and was a replacement ROG. We still need from you when your Father was assigned to the
100th BG (and the 385th BG) and if you know how many missions he flew in
the 385th before the Aug 6, 1944 mission.
You should call David Julian; he can put you in touch with members
of your Dad's 100th BG crew.
We hope this sheds some light on your Dad's service. We look forward to what you
uncover in your Fathers paperwork.
Thanks Jan and David for the help piecing this together. Regards, Michael Faley 100th Bomb
Group Photo Archives
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