COMMENTS & NOTES
MEMO 1:
CREW
1st Lt Thomas I.Anderson P CPT 10/1/45 COLOGNE
2nd Lt William M.Fratus CP CPT 10/1/45 COLOGNE
2nd Lt Gerald J.Klecker NAV CPT 10/1/45 COLOGNE
1st Lt Frederick H.Schmidt BOM CPT 10/1/45 COLOGNE
S/Sgt Glenn A.Smiley ROG CPT 10/1/45 COLOGNE
S/Sgt Michael Garemko TTE CPT 10/1/45 COLOGNE
Sgt Angelo J.Cioffi WG CPT 10/1/45 COLOGNE
S/Sgt Lewis E.Herron TG CPT 10/1/45 COLOGNE sn# 35708020
Sgt Anthony P.DeMarco BTG RFS
Sgt Charles R.Cramer WG XFR To 9th Air Foce when reduced to 9 man crew. Flew in B-26
350th Sqdn.Crew,as above,joined 100th Group on 2/8/44. Crew roster of
30/9/44 shows this crew as #43 but Demarco was replaced at BTG by either T/Sgt W.G.Jarrell & S/Sgt C.L.Doyle.
Crew flew "HEAVEN SENT"
Michael Garemko entered the Royal Canadian Air Force in early 1941 and was sent by train to Toronto for basic training at Mannign Depot. He was going through advanced training in Winnipeg, Manitoba in early 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He never completed pilot training in RCAF but transferred to USAAF and went to Officer Cadet Pilot Training. He washed out as a pilot and without a college degree, he could not qualify for Bombardier or Navigational training. His love of the air kept him in the Air Corp and he went to Gunnery training/Engineering School. He became a TTE and flew on "Heaven Sent" and completed 34 Missions. Garemko was also responsible for painting the aircraft nose art and A-2 jackets.
The only story that he (S/Sgt Garemko, TTE) frequentl recalled was when they were on the shuttle they were near Warsaw and an FW190 came in so close that he flew between the Heaven Sent and their wingman and by the time my dad got around on him the adjacent B-17 was more likely to be the recipient of the damage than the FW so held his fire. This got him a pretty stiff chewing out from Tom Andersen the pilot and it seemed to always bother him. I think my dad felt that it was a judgement call and he had made the right call but that he wasn't vindicated by the pilot. They landed in Poltava and my Dad could speak a little russian and he was able to cajole a bottle of Vodka from the locals for the crew. Not sure what he gave up in return???I am hoping to start a deeper dialog with the remaining crew to get more information before it is all gone. Thank you for your interest and any help you give me in verifying the DFC (or putting the issue to bed once and for all) will be deeply appreciated.
Thanks again
Michael Garemko, Jr.
Letter from Lewis Herron to Paul West; 31 Oct 1993
Lewis E. Herron
Route 3 Box 101 A
Leicester, NC 28748
(704) 683-16S5
October 31, 1993
My name is Lewis E. Herron and I was the tail gunner on the crew of
'Heaven Sent" of the 350th Bomb Squadron, of the 100th Bomb Group,
8th Air Force. I am going to try and give a brief history of our
tour of duty, as I remember it after 50 years. I am also enclosing
some pictures.
Our crew members were: Thomas Anderson, Pilot; Bill Fratus, Co-
Pilot; Fred Schmidt, Bombardier and Gerald Klecker was Navigator.
Mike Garemko was our Engineer and Glenn Smiley was Radio Operator.
Our Gunners were Angelo Cioffi, Waist Gunner and I (Lew Herron) was
tail Gunner. Gerald Easy was the Ball Turret Gunner.
We flew our first combat mission on August 24, 1944 to Rhuland,
Germany. In early September we flew missions on the 8th, 9th and
10th. We were in luck and did not fly on September 11th because
our Bombardier was ill. September 11th was the day that the 350th
Squadron was wiped out and the 100th lost 13 air planes. It was a
lonely feeling being the only crew in the quarters that night, as
the other four crews who lived there were shot down that day. At
2 o'clock the next morning the orderly opened our door and when I
asked him who he was look for he said, "The Anderson Crew". We
flew that day and the three missions after that, which included the
shuttle to Russia and Italy.
On September 17, 1944, our Squadron Commander, Major Robert
Rosenthal pinned the Air Medal on the members of our crew.
(picture enclosed). This was the day before we flew the first leg
of the shuttle mission to drop supplies to the Polish underground
in Warsaw, Poland. As I remember, in addition to our regular crew
we carried a Ground Mechanic, who was flying his first mission. We
went in over Warsaw at 10,000 feet and received extremely heavy
anti-aircraft fire. As we were leaving the drop area, the German
Fighters came at us but the U. S. P-51 Fighters prevented them from
getting close enough to do any damage. After leaving Warsaw we
flew on to Mirogrod, Russia. The flying time was 11 hours and 20
minutes.
After we landed in Russia our Flight Engineer, Michael Garemko, who
could speak some Russian, started talking to one of the local
soldiers (Picture enclosed, Mike is in the center and Bill Fratus,
Co-Pilot is in the foreground). We had a pleasant surprise that
night when we entered the Chow Hall. There sat the Flight Surgeon
with our 2 ounces of bourbon, just like it was at Thorpe Abbots
after a regular mission. The Commanding Officer had been very
thoughtful to bring him and several cases of bourbon along on the
trip .
page 2
Our next leg of the shuttle was to Budapest, Hungary where we
bombed a railroad bridge over the Danube river. From there we flew
to Italy where we landed at an American Air Base near Foggia. The
enlisted men along with our Co-Pilot, Bill Fratus took a sight
seeing trip to Foggia the next day.
The flight back to England was rather uneventful. The only thing
I remember was flying over Rome and seeing the Colosseum.
Our crew flew three missions to Merseberg, Germany, which was the
most heavily defended target in Europe. Intelligence reported that
there were 1,000 88mm guns around the synthetic oil plant, which
was our target. On November 2, 1944 the Third Division lost 40
planes over Merseburg and when we went back on Novemher 30, 1944,
the division lost 56 planes. As I recall this was all due to anti-
aircraft fire and not from enemy fighters.
Our crew also flew on Christmas Eve 1944, which was the first day
the weather broke during the Battle of the of the Bulge. Reports
said that this was the largest raid on Germany with 2,000 bombers
in the air. Our group led the Third Division and I remember that
afternoon on our return to England, there were still groups
crossing the English Channel on their way to Germany. We did not
fly the mission to Hamburg on December 30, when the Hundredth lost
10 aircraft.
Our last mission was January 10, 1945, and we were the first crew
in the 350th Squadron to complete a tour of missions between August
1944 and January 1945. The Enlisted Men's Mess Hall had a special
table called the "Lucky Bastards' Table", complete with a checkered
table cloth, China and silverware. That is where the Mess Sergeant
served our specially prepared meal for our entire crew the next
night.
This completes this report of my remembrances of Lt. Thomas
Anderson's Crew.
Lewis E. Herron
Missions of S/Sgt Lewis E. Herron (mpf 2002)
# DATE MISSION TIME
10/08/44 PRACTICE MISSION 5:10
11/08/44 PRACTICE MISSION 3:30
11/08/44 2ND PRACTICE MISSION THAT DAY 3:15
12/08/44 PRACTICE MISSION 5:05
16/08/44 PRACTICE MISSION 4:55
17/08/44 PRACTICE MISSION 3:20
17/08/44 2ND PRACTICE MISSION THAT DAY 4:30
19/08/44 PRACTICE MISSION 3:10
23/08/44 PRACTICE MISSION 2:25
1. 24/08/44 RUHLAND 8:20
2. 25/08/44 POLITZ 9:10
3. 30/08/44 BREMEN 7:05
31/08/44 PRACTICE 3:50
4. 1/09/44 MAINZ 7:10
5. 3/09/44 BREST 7:35
6. 8/09/44 MAINZ 7:15
7. 9/09/44 DUSSELDORF 6:25
8. 10/09/44 NURNBURG 8:00
9. 12/09/44 MAGDEBURG 7:50
10. 13/09/44 SINDELFINGEN 7:10
15/09/44 "OPERATION FRANTIC" RECALL 6:10
11. 18/09/44 WARSAW (2ND RUSSION SHUTTLE) 11:10
12. 19/09/44 SZOLNOK 7:50
22/09/44 RETURN FROM ITALY 9:05
13. 28/09/44 MERSEBURG 8:15
14. 30/09/44 BIELEFELD 6:25
15. 2/10/44 KASSEL 7:20
16. 3/10/44 NURNBURG 8:20
17. 5/10/44 HANDORF (RECALL) 5:55
18. 6/10/44 BERLIN 7:50
19. 7/10/44 BOHLEN 8:50
20. 9/10/44 WEISBADEN & MAINZ 6:40
10/10/44 PRACTICE MISSION 3:15
11/10/44 PRACTICE MISSION 1:00
21/10/44 PRACTICE MISSION 3:45
22/10/44 PRACTICE MISSION OR ABORT 2:40
28/10/44 PRACTICE MISSION 4:10
29/10/44 PRACTICE MISSION 3:35
21. 2/11/44 MERSEBURG 8:00
22. 6/11/44 NEUMUNSTER 7:15
23. 9/11/44 SAARBRUCKEN 7:30
20/11/44 PRACTICE MISSION 4:50
24. 29/11/44 HAMM 6:30
25. 30/11/44 MERSEBURG 8:30
8/12/44 PRACTICE MISSION 2:30
9/12/44 PRACTICE TAKEOFF AND LANDINGS :40
26. 11/12/44 GIESSEN 7:30
13/12/44 OSNABRUCK (RECALL, BAD WEATHER) 5:50
14/12/44 PRACTICE MISSION 1:40
27. 24/12/44 KAISERLAUNTEN 8:00
28. 27/12/44 FULDA 7:50
29. 29/12/44 FRANKFURT 7:50
30. 30/12/44 KASSEL 7:30
31. 5/01/45 FRANKFURT 10:15
32. 7/01/45 COLOGNE 8:00
33. 10/01/45 COLOGNE 7:00
MEMO 2:
