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LT  Raymond N. WIELAND

UNIT: 349th BOMB Sqdn POSITION: P
SERIAL #: STATUS: FEH
MACR:

Comments1: LAFAYETTE, MN

COMMENTS & NOTES

MEMO 1:

CREW

CREW FLYING AT END OF HOSTILITIES

2nd Lt Raymond N.Wieland        P    CPT  TAPS: 23 MAY 1965
2nd Lt Paul L.Valentine          CT   CPT   20/4/45  ORANIENBURG, MY (100TH LAST COMBAT MISSION) moved to J.W. King Crew
2nd Lt Anthony J.Pranger     NAV  FEH
Cpl David E.Clowe              TTE    FEH
Cpl Arthur A. Edmonston      ROG    FEH
 Cpl Marvin F.Barner            BTG    KIA   31/3/45 (With crew of A.G.Larson) see below
Cpl Robert F.Joyce,              NG    FEH TAPS 5 MAY 1990
 Cpl John C.Ciaccia               WG   FEH  TAPS: 26 OCT 1986
Cpl Fred E. "Tex" Appleby,Jr.   TG   FEH

349th Sqdn.  Crew,as above,joined the 100th Group on 3/12/44.  Paul Valentine joined the crew of J.W.King and 
finished with them according to a letter to this writer by Robert Culp...jb

Also flew a/c PARD  48849 EP J  on the following mission

I have a bit of information recorded for "Pard" 44-8849. The photo shows five missions flown and I believe these were :
03 Apr 45
05 Apr 45 Led 100"C" formation (P) J Wofford
07 Apr 45 Led 100"D" formation (P) R Weiland
08 Apr 45                                (P) Hensley
14 Apr 45 led 100"C" formation  (P) J Wofford
 
RAY Bowden

With some changes, this became a Lead Crew.  On April 3, 1945 this crew's makeup was as follows

Maj. J.B. Milling                      Command Pilot  (351st BS C.O.)
Lt Raymond Wieland              Pilot
Lt Paul Valentine                   Co-Pilot (formation officer)
Lt Pranger                            Navigator
Lt Jack Tolliver                       Bombardier (originally on Lt Joseph King Crew)
T/Sgt David Clowe                 Top Turret Engineer
T/Sgt Arthur Edmonston         Radio Operator Gunner
Lt Ray Decker                        Mickey Operator (originally a Bombardier on Lt Walter Charles Crew, reclassifed to Radar Operator)
S/Sgt Ciaccia                         Waist Gunner
S/Sgt Fred "Tex" Appleby Jr.  Tail Gunner

"Our first mission on my return from leave was a tough one.  There were many flak guns guarding the target and several German fighter airfields near our route to the target.  For this mission there would be a full colonel for division flying in my position.  Out squadron will be flying group lead.  In this position our plane is equiped with Mickey, a through the clouds bombsight.  The target is Nuremberg.  Meteorology has guarenteed a beautiful clear day, all day.  Today, I am supposed to ride in the tail as group fromation control officer. I didn't go there. I told our regular tail gunner to take his normal position.  In case of fighter attack he is the best man for that position.  The flight to the buncer beacon was pleasent and uneventful and the planes formed quickly into formation.  Our group entered the bomber steram on time and in the correct position.  The trip to the target was routine.  The sky was blue and the sun was bright.  The bombing altitude was twenty thousand feet.  This is the lowest I can ever recall going on a bomb run, since I have been with the group.
    When we reached the I.P. and turned on the bomb run, all hell broke lose.  There was heavy flak and German fighters coming in form all over.  I was manning a waist gun.  The next thing I remember was a big bang and the sound of shattering plywood and tin being crumbled up.  On the intercom, the radar operator in the radio room screamed, 'I have been hit.'  He came stumbling through a large hole where the partition and the door to the radio room used to be, between the waist and the radio room. There was a large hole through the radio room floor and the skin of the airplane.  About half of the radio room floor was gone.  The oxygen tanks were located in that area and the shell that hit us blew up the tanks, causing more damage to the plane.  The radio operator, sitting beside the radar operator, was perfectly all right.  I think that was a miracle.  He stayed at his postion and continued on whth his work, with half the radio room gone.
    At this late time on the bomb run, there was no way that we could abort the group lead position.  We had no oxygen and had to breath the air at this altitude.  The atmospher at twentythousand feet is sufficent to survive on without extra oxygen.  However, you would have to restrict your physical activity to an absolute minimum.  If we were to get excited or have physical activity, we could become light headed and even pass out.  It appeared to us that the Mickey operator had some small pieces of flak in the calf of his leg.  We made him as comfortable as we could back in the waist.  Our lives had been spared by the low altitude for this mission.  Had we been at twenty six or thirty thousand feet, where most of the missions I had been on were flown, we would have had to abort the formation and dive for a lower altitued.  Leaving the safety fo the group fire power would have given the fighters easy access to our crippled B-17. 
    As we started our long let down on the return trip, the lower the altitued, the easier it was to breath.  We had radioed ahead and after landing there was an ambulance waitinf for the Mickey operator.  He had some small pieces of metal removed from his leg and there was no after effects.  When he was back on his feet, the public relations officer had the radio operator and the radar operator stand on the ground with their heads and shoulders up through the hole into the radio room for a picture. 
    Once again everything worked out to our best advantage.   A hit a few feet in any direction would have been a tragic disaster.  Reality agin, that this is war, that men and and equipment are expendable.  The Air Force doctrin, 'We never miss a target because of enemy opposition.'


Hope the information wasn't too long.  Harry Valentine (son of Lt Valentine)


LARSEN CREW
DATE: 31 March 1945          349th Sqdn.         A/C #44-6470

MISSION: Zeitz                                  MACR#13714,Microfiche#5010

1st Lt Arthur G.Larsen       P    KIA
1st Lt Thomas E.O'Neil       CP    KIA
2nd Lt Dale F.Watterson      NAV     KIA
T/Sgt Charles M,Dineen   TOGG    KIA
T/Sgt Raymond R.Bazata      TTE    KIA
T/Sgt Joseph M.Popson       ROG   KIA
S/> Willard P.Bostrom     BTG   KIA
S/Sgt Marvin F.Barner     WG    KIA  (from Lt Wieland Crew)
S/5gt John E.Kaiser         TG    POW

EYEWITNESS:  " A/C 44-6470 was hit by flak immediately after bombs away.#3
             engine was knocked loose and dropped off the wing.The A/C nosed
             up;then leveled off and started for the undercast in a steep glide.
             At the Rally point pilot made a 180 degree turn and headed back
             toward Russia. He was heard over VHF saying that #4 prop was running away
             and that he would attempt to reach the Russian lines. The A/C was
             under control and there was no fire. One chute was seen to leave
             the A/C. Allied fighters were escorting A/C."


CREW

2ND LT JOSEPH W. KING            P CPT 20 APR 45 ORANIENBURG, MY
2ND LT  GEORGE E. MAYBERRY CP NOC BECAME 349TH ENG OFFICER  TAPS: 08 SEP 1977
2ND LT ROBERT C. CULP      NAV CPT 20 APR 45 ORANIENBURG, MY
2ND LT JACK D. TOLLIVER     BOM NOC     LEFT CREW FOR LEAD CREW TRAINING  (see below)
T/SGT ROLAND A. ECKERT   ROG CPT 20 APR 45 ORANIENBURG, MY
T/SGT EDWARD F.MAZANEC   TTE CPT 20 APR 45 ORANIENBURG, MY
T/SGT ANGELO A. LaSALLE     BTG CPT 5  APR 45 NURNBURG, MY TAPS: 19 MAR 1982
S/SGT LESTER E. PRELLWITZ     WG CPT 20 APR 45 ORANIENBURG, MY
S/SGT JAMES R. SMITH, JR       TG CPT 20 APR 45 ORANIENBURG, MY

349TH SQDN... CREW JOINED THE 100TH ON 24 DEC 1944. FLEW FIRST MISSION 17 JAN 45 (HAMBURG) AND THE 100TH'S FINAL MISSION (ORANIENBURG) 20 APR 45.  THEY FLEW FIVE (5) "CHOW HOUND" MISSION, DROPPING FOOD IN HOLLAND AFTER 20 APR 45.

JACK TOLLIVER LEFT THE CREW AFTER AROUND 12 MISSIONS FOR LEAD CREW TRAINING (REPLACED BY S/SGT SYMOUR MYERS courtesy of robert culp) AND GEORGE MAYBERRY DEPARTED AFTER 20 MISSIONS TO BECOME THE 349TH'S ENGINEERING OFFICER.

AT MAYBERRY'S DEPARTURE, LT PAUL VALENTINE JOINED THE CREW AS CP.  HE HAD CAME TO THE 100TH WITH THE R.N. WIELAND CREW ON 03 DEC 1944. WHEN T/SGT LaSALLE COMPLETED HIS SECOND TOUR, HE WAS REPLACED BY T/Sgt James McCullough FROM LT FOWLER'S CREW.

MEMO 2:


			

             
            

         

         
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PHOTOS:

           
                 
 The Raymond N. Wieland crew. After this crew left Ardmore, OK, and completed their Phase Training, I believe this photo was taken as the Replacement Center in Lincoln, NE after the crew received their new flying clothing. (Note Clowe's TTE light colored fur collar.) L to R Rear: Waist Gunner John C. Ciaccia, Ball Turret Gunner Marvin F. Barner, Radio Operator Gunner Arthur A. Edmonston, Nose Gunner Robert F. Joyce, and Top Turret Engineer David E. Clowe. L to R Front: Tail Gunner Fred E. "Tex" Appleby, Jr., Co-Pilot Paul L. Valentine, Navigator Anthony J. Pranger, and Pilot Raymond N. Wieland. Wieland Crew Information. (Photo courtesy of Harry Valentine, son of Paul Valentine) 
                 
The Hawk. Jacket of Paul Valentine, Co-Pilot on the Raymond N. Wieland crew.
 Raymond N. Wieland crew: Front from left; John C. Ciaccia, Ray Decker, Jack Tolliver and Raymond N. Wieland; Back; Anthony J. Pranger, Fred E. "Tex" Appleby, Paul L. Valentine, Arthur E. Edmonston and J. B. Milling. Detailed Information (100th Photo Archives) 
 Crew shot (Paul Valentine collection) 
 Crew shot (Paul Valentine collection) 
 Crew shot (Paul Valentine collection) 
 Crew shot (Paul Valentine collection) 
                                  
           
 

       
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Crew 1
			
	
        
		
        ID:
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