COMMENTS & NOTES
MEMO 1:
CREW
2nd Lt Oren E. Hopkins P POW 5 NOV 44 THIONVILLE
2nd Lt Foy E. Read CP POW 5 NOV 44 THIONVILLE
2nd Lt Forrest Gordon NAV POW 5 NOV 44 THIONVILLE
2nd Lt Eugene E. Lockhart BOM KIA 3 FEB 45 BERLIN with the Ernst PFF crew; see below
Cpl Henry B. Marlette TTE POW 5 NOV 44 THIONVILLE
Sgt Kenneth E. Yeater ROG POW 5 NOV 44 THIONVILLE
Cpl Arthur B. Crush, Jr. BTG POW 5 NOV 44 THIONVILLE
Cpl Harold Farlow WG POW 5 NOV 44 THIONVILLE
Cpl Charles W. Koons, Jr. TG CPT 15 MAR 45 Oranienburg with Lt Gwin Crew as BTG
Cpl Eugene E. Jamison WG POW 5 NOV 44 THIONVILLE (became TG when crew was reduced to 9 man Crew)
351st Sqdn. Crew , as above, joined the 100th Group on 4/8/44. On 5/11/44. Lt Robert J. Doucette, BOM from
the crew of J.P.Ernst (see below), was flying with this crew and became a POW. Lt Eugene E. Lockhart was flying with the Pathfinder crew of J.P.Ernst on 3/2/45 when he was KIA. Charles W. Koons, Jr. was removed at the crew reduction to nine men.
Subj: Re: 100thBG Form Submission
Date: 7/21/2001 11:57:47 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From: CHASBELLACOLLIE@cs.com
To: MPFaley
"Hi, I was a Tail Gunner on the Hopkins crew when we arrived at the 100th Group. I was taken off the crew to make it a 9 man crew. Later I was told that I would be a spare Ball Turret Gunner. My first 2 missions were on (9-27-44) to Mainz and (9-28-44) to Merseburg. I'm not sure who the pilot was. At one time I thought it was Lt Bennett. Mission # 3 through # 7 was with Lt Ricci. Mission # 8 started with Lt Gwin and ended with Lt Gwin on (3-15-45) at Oranienburg. I ended my tour on the 15th at Oranienburg. I was told that I could go home. The printing on the old bomb tags does not look as good as it did back in 1944 and 1945. The only picture that I have is one of the Ricci crew before I got on the crew. I hope this info. clears things up for you. Thanks for your trouble." Charles Koons
CREW
2ND LT FREDERICK A. RICCI P CPT 5 NOV 44 LUDWIGSHAVEN, MY (S.T.)
2ND LT NORVAL J. STEWART CP CPT 5 NOV 44 LUDWIGSHAVEN, MY (S.T.)
F/O MICHAEL P. MURPHY NAV NOC
2ND LT ARTHUR R. THOMPSON, JR BOM CPT 5 NOV 44 LUDWIGSHAVEN, MY (S.T.)
T/SGT ARTHUR G.GOLDIE ROG CPT 5 NOV 44 LUDWIGSHAVEN, MY (S.T.) TAPS: 5 JUL 1979
T/SGT JOSEPH HALL TTE CPT 5 NOV 44 LUDWIGSHAVEN, MY (S.T.)
S/SGT HOMER L. PARISH BTG KIA KILLED IN THE FAMOUS "RUN AWAY" GUN INCIDENT OF 11 JUL 44
S/SGT EVERETT C. WYGAARD WG NOC PROABLY REMOVED AT THE NINE MAN REDUCTION IN AUG 1944
S/SGT ELI GARCIA TG CPT 26 OCT 44 HANOVER,TANK WKS & MISBURG, OIL REF
351ST SQDN.. CREW JOINED THE 100TH ON 15 JUN 1944
Crew flew "THE LATEST RUMOUR"
"MIGHTY EIGHT WAR DIARY" page 291. "Accidents with "run - away" guns occured on a number of occasions despite cautions and instruction to gunners on the matter. One of the most bizarre incidents happened at Thorpe Abbotts on the afternoon of 11 July 1944 shortly after the b-17s had returned from a fairly uneventful mission to Munich. Fortress #007 ( SHE HASTA) was parked on its dispersal near the control tower: the crew had vacated the aircraft but the ball turret gunner was underneath his turret cleaning the guns. Suddenly one gun began firing, sweeping the area as the turret swung from the recoil, causing all around to fling themselves flat on the ground for protection. the firing did not cease until the gun had fired 207 rounds, killing the ball turret gunner, S/Sgt Homer Parish as he tried to secure the gun, and damaging three B-17s. One was hit by a tracer in the wing, caught fire with the result it was damaged beyond repair..
email = chasbellacollie@cs.comuname = Charles Koons
comments = On the Lt. Ricci crew Charles Koons was the BTG For the last 7 missions
Subj: Re: 100thBG Form Submission
Date: 7/21/2001 1:28:10 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: CHASBELLACOLLIE@cs.com
To: MPFaley
Hi again Michael Here it goes for where and with who. Charles Koons
1 27/09/44 Mainz Lt Luther Bennett
2 28/09/44 Merseburg Lt Luther Bennett
3 7/10/44 Bohlen Lt Ricci
4 15/10/44 Cologne Lt Ricci
5 18/10/44 Kassel Lt Ricci
6 26/10/44 Hanover Lt Ricci
7 30/10/45 Merseburg Lt Ricci
8 2/11/44 Merseburg Lt Ricci
9 5/11/44 Ludwigshaven Lt Ricci
10 29/11/44 Hamm Lt Gwin ?
11 2/12/44 Koblenz Lt Gwin ?
12 4/12/44 Frieburg Lt Gwin ?
13 30/12/44 Kassel Lt Gwin
14 31/12/44 Hamburg Lt Gwin
15 7/01/45 Cologne Lt Gwin
16 21/01/45 Mannhein Lt Gwin
17 3/02/45 Berlin Lt Gwin
18 6/02/45 Chemnitz Lt Gwin
19 22/02/45 Kitzingen Lt Gwin
20 23/02/45 Treuchtlingen Lt Gwin
21 25/02/45 Munich Lt Gwin
22 26/02/45 Berlin Lt Gwin
23 28/02/45 Kassel Lt Gwin
24 2/03/45 Ruhland Lt Gwin
25 7/03/45 Siegan Lt Gwin
26 8/03/45 Frankfort Lt Gwin
27 10/03/45 Dortmund Lt Gwin
28 11/03/45 Hamburg Lt Gwin
29 12/03/45 Swinemunde Lt Gwin
30 15/03/45 Oranienburg Lt Gwin The End
TARGET WAS BERLIN..
2nd Lt Edward P.Gwin P KIA 18/3/45
2nd Lt Donald H.Reichel CP POW 18/3/45
2nd Lt Robert B.Landino NAV POW 18/3/45
2nd Lt Stewart P.Laidlaw BOM NOC
Cpl William C.Danielson,Jr. ROG KIA 18/3/45
Cpl Herbert Hamann TTE POW 18/3/45
Cpl Joseph M.Griego TG POW 18/3/45
Cpl Earl S.Hamilton BTG Grounded with bad back, Replaced by Sgt Charles Koons Jr.
Cpl Charles T.Maedel WG NOC
Cpl Norman D. Heilbuth WG POW 18/3/45
351st Sqdn. Crew,as above,Joined 100th Group on 5/10/44. Crew Flew A/C "All American Girl" 237936 EP-M until it went down in Jan 45. Assigned new plane 338861 "Sweet Nancy II"
Mission Log Edward P. Gwin Crew
Date Mission# Target Comments
10/30/44 1 Merseburg Bombed alternate
11/02/44 2 Merseburg Very heavily defended
11/09/44 3 Saarbrucken
11/29/44 4 Hamm
12/02/44 5 Coblenz
12/04/44 6 Freilburg
12/05/44 7 Berlin Flak filled skies & fighers
12/24/44 8 Kaiserlauten - Bibkus Aerodrome
12/25/44 9 Kaiserlauten
12/27/44 10 Fulda
12/28/44 11 Coblenz Sgt David Ackerman becomes NG/Toggolier
Cpl Charles Koons becomes BTG
12/30/44 12 Kassel
12/31/44 13 Hamburg Reichel wounded, Gp lost 12
01/07/45 14 Cologne
01/21/45 15 Mannheim
02/03/45 16 Berlin
02/06/45 17 Chemnitz
02/22/45 18 Dresden (listed in 100th missions as Kitzingen)
02/23/45 19 Treuchtlingen
02/25/45 20 Munich
02/26/45 21 Berlin Heavy flak as usual
02/28/45 22 Kassel
03/02/45 23 Ruhland
03/07/45 24 Siegen
03/08/45 25 Frankfurt
03/10/45 26 Dortmund
03/11/45 27 Hamburg Nothing like the last time..
03/12/45 28 Swinemunde
03/15/45 29 Oranienburg
03/17/45 30 Ulm
03/18/45 31 Berlin Final Mission - they shot our tail off!!!
MEMO 2:
Charles W. Koons, Jr 351st
Squadron July 24, 2016
Charlie arrived at the 100th BG in August 1944 as a Tail Gunner with the Oren Hopkins crew, but when crews reduced from 10 to 9 men, he was re-assigned to spare gunner pool as Ball Turret Gunner. Charlie went on to fly 30 combat missions, most with the Edward “Duke” Gwin crew. The original Hopkins crew was shot down on Nov 5, 1944, and the Gwin crew was shot down by an ME-262 on March 18, 1945 Berlin mission with Gwin and two other crew KIA. Charlie was not flying with either crew on those days, surviving to live a long life.