COMMENTS & NOTES
MEMO 1:
CREW
2nd Lt. Edward W. Aubuchon,Jr. P FEH
2nd Lt Harold W.Higgs CP FEH
2nd Lt Oliver W . Dunn NAV FEH
2nd Lt Myron S.Alexander BOM FEH
Sgt Robert Arthur TTE FEH
Cpl Donald O.Bridge BTG FEH
Cpl Albert A.Gillen ROG FEH
Cpl Harold D. Hyde TG FEH
Cpl Garland S.Miller WG KIA 14/3/45 SLEEZE (FLAK)
349th Sqdn. Crew,as above,joined 100th Group on 18/2/45.
Flying in 43-38852 EP-N when hit by flak on 14 MAR 45.
Hi Mike; (All)….Here is what I have in my ongoing TA/1945 project files on the Lt.Edward Aubuchon crews missions….(I've got ten of their thirteen combat missions……their food drop mission,(s) ?... I'm also including an edited text (I've omitted personal comments from Hal to me) from a letter from Hal Higgs that explains three of the crews missions that is of interest…also at the very end a listing of Hal Higgs,as 1st Pilot… crew from the September, revised to October,1945 349th BS Operations Officer’s Combat Crews roster…I sent Hal a copy in 1993 and he commented that was the first document he had ever seen that proved he was a first pilot in command of his own ship………………
1 October,1993 letter from Hal Higgs-CP ….."I arrived at Thorpe Abbott I believe in February,1945. At that time I was a co-pilot on the crew whose pilot was Ed Aubuchon. We flew thirteen actual combat missions plus a food drop or two. Like most of the others I was quite young, age 20,and had not acquired a habit of keeping significant records. There are three missions that are truly memorable to me. On our first mission our crew was chosen to haul & drop chaff (tinfoil strips). The purpose of this chaff was to jam German radar. On that day the 100th Bomb Group was the group to lead the entire 3rd Division. The six aircraft hauling chaff had to fly ahead of the lead bomb group and their six aircraft had to spread out away from each other -so as to give the tinfoil a chance to cover a large area in jamming the radar. Normally all aircraft flew in very tight formation. As we were going on the actual bomb run all of a sudden I felt what to me was severe vibration. My first impulse was to think we had a run away engine (exceeding its RPM). Then I realized our machine gunners were firing at enemy aircraft. Just then I saw an ME-262 (Germanys' & the worlds first jet aircraft) go over our right wing & one under our right wing. The closest other 100th BG aircraft to us was piloted by Jack Thrasher. He was ahead of us and on our left. One or more of the ME-262s attacked Thrasher's aircraft after going by us and most unfortunately his aircraft exploded. Fortunately for us our tail gunner, ball turret gunner and top turret gunner had opened up on the enemy and I'm certain that was most helpful in our surviving.
The second mission that sticks out in my memory was a mission to Frankfurt. As we were on the bomb run and approached the target all of a sudden it was discovered another Group was approaching Frankfurt at about the same altitude but from a different heading. The 100th BG leader had a tough decision to make. He chose to pull off the bomb run (and) take the entire group back to the I.P. (Initial Point) and make a run on Frankfurt again which we did. It is my understanding he was severely reprimanded for exposing his BG to this extreme exposure twice in a short time span. Had he not chosen to abort our first pass there very possibly would have been many mid air collisions of American aircraft.
The third mission that is memorable is the one on which our aircraft was hit by flak and our waist gunner Garland Miller was struck by flak and perished. We were hit a fraction of a second after our bombardier had dropped the bombs. I knew that’s when it was because our aircraft was trimmed for a load & just after bombs are released the pilots would re-trim the aircraft to fly with a different weight load. We didn't have time to retrim. For the next three hours we flew the aircraft that was in a continuous stall position. In my judgment I was fortunate to fly as a co-pilot for Ed Aubuchon. When we were flying in formation we worked out a system whereby when one person was handling the controls the other person would handle the throttles & visa versa. This kept each person continuously occupied. It's my understanding few copilots were offered this treatment. I was checked out as a first pilot for a B-17 in April of 1945. In the Fall of 1945 some of the pilots, self included of the 100th (Bomb Group) were sent to Munich for some strange reason. I was bored with inactivity and applied for a transfer to European Air Transport Service and sent to an airline instrument school and flew the corridors in and out of Berlin for EATS for about six months & then came home in August,1946"…..
MISSIONS OF LT AUBUCHON (from jack O’Leary)
1. # 271 3 MARCH,1945 BRUNSWICK (aircraft info currently unknown)….
2. # 275 9 MARCH,1945 FRANKFURT 44-8334 XR-B, Hardstand # 18 No Name , A-Sqdn, Low flgt # 2……
3.. # 276 10 MARCH,1945 DORTMUND 44-8680 LN-X "HURRI-KANE"……
4. .#278 12 MARCH,1945 SWINEMUNDE 43-38383 LN-F Hardstand # 30, No Name, B-Sqdn,Low Flgt,# 4 (TEC)
5. # 279 14 MARCH,1945 SEELZE 43-38852 EP-N Hardstand # 6, A-Sqdn,High Flgt…….
6. # 283 19 MARCH,1945 FULDA 43- 38681 XR-V Hardstand # 24, "GRUMBLIN GREMLIN III " ,A-Sqdn,Lead Flgt,Element 2,# 2
7. # 286 23 MARCH,1945 UNNA, 44-6811 XR-X Hardstand # 18, No Name , C-Sqdn, Element 1, # 2
8. .# 287 24 MARCH,1945 STEENWIJK 43-38602 XR-P Hardstand # 16, "GRUMBLIN GREMLIN II" ,D-Sqdn, Element 1, # 2
9. .# 292 3 APRIL, 1945 KIEL 43-38313 XR-S Hardstand # 20, "LIL BUTCH" , B-Sqdn, Element 2,Lead.
10. # 293 4 APRIL, 1945 KIEL 44-6811 XR-X Hardstand # 18, No Name, A-Sqdn, Element 2, Lead........
349th Bombardment Squadron (H)
ARMY AIR FORCES
Office of the Operations Officer 1 Sept 1945 revised 1 October,1945
Combat Crew Asssignment
Crew # 6 Ship # 696-W (# 42-97696 XR-W)
P - 2nd Lt. Higgs, Harold W. Hut # 13
CP- 1st Lt. Watne, John M Hut # 13
Nav- 2nd Lt. Kuyrkendall, Ray C. Jr. Hut # 13
Bom- 2nd Lt. Lindh, John W. Hut # 13
ROG- T/Sgt Volonnino, Frank J. Hut # 20
TTE- T/Sgt Clellen, Jack T. Hut # 20
BTG- S/Sgt Hale, Richard S. Hut # 20
WG- S/Sgt Warren,Frank E. Jr. Hut # 20
TG- S/Sgt Bennett,John F. Hut # 20
R- Sgt Matthews, David H. (Spare) Hut # 20
Crew # 8, Ship # 810-L (44-8810 XR-L "TARGET FOR TONIGHT")
P-1st Lt Smith, William G. Hut # 13............
CP- 2nd Lt. Groover, William T. Hut # 13.......
Nav- 2nd Lt. Accinelli, John F. Hut # 13........
CT- Sgt O'Leary, John J. Hut # 33.......
ROG- S/Sgt Cumbaa,Delome (NMI) Jr. Hut # 33.........
TTE- S/Sgt Szalwinski, Stanley A. Jr. Hut # 33........
BTG- Sgt Russo, Anthony R. Hut # 33.......
WG- S/Sgt Beyne, Russell O. Hut # 33.....
TG- Sgt Baugh, Earl J. Hut # 33........
WG- Sgt Leffew, Henry (NMI) (Spare) Hut # 33
MEMO 2:
