COMMENTS & NOTES
MEMO 1:
CREW
Lt Clifton M.Williams P KIA 31/12/44 HAMBURG
Lt Kenneth W.Newkirk CP KIA 31/12/44 HAMBURG
Lt Richard F.Williams NAV KIA 31/12/44 HAMBURG A/C #43 38124
Lt Lawrence W.Ward BOM POW 31/12/44 HAMBURG MACR #11363,Fiche #4182
T/S/Sgt Charles J.McGinley ROG KIA 31/12/44 HAMBURG
T/Sgt .Alvin H.Petteys TTE KIA 31/12/44 HAMBURG
S/Sgt Lee F.Carpenter BTG KIA 31/12/44 HAMBURG
S/Sgt James H.Murphy WG POW 31/12/44 HAMBURG
Sgt Harvey J. Lehman WG CPT 17/2/45 FRANKFURT & GIESSEN (Transferred to Lt Streich Crew as BTG)
Cpl Gordon R.Sinclair TG CPT 15/3/45 ORANIENBURG /WITH THE S. JOHNSON CREW AS NAV (see note)
351st Sqdn. Sqdn Diary of Sept.1944 notes this crew as joining the 100th Group in Sept. Cpl.Harvey J.Lehman was
on the crew at that time but was put on the crew of Lt Frank Streich as BTG when crew was reduced to 9 men. Sgt Harvey J. Lehman (from Lt Clifton Williams Crew) was transferred to this Crew as BTG and completed tour on 17/2/45 mission to Frankfurt & Giessen.
On 31/12/44, S/Sgt Roland L.Douglas,from the crew of Gerald Brown,was flying in place of Gordon Sinclair and was
made a POW.
Note
Gordon Sinclair was removed from Navigator's school one day short of graduation for some unknown infraction, probably the Training Command acted a bit over zealous in view of the need for trained Navigators. The 351st Sqdn. Commander (Harry Cruver, a man known to have had some disagreement with training command personnel during his cadet days) corrected this bit of over zealousness by immediately promoting Sinclair to M/Sgt and making him the Navigator for the Sidney Johnson crew, where he completed a tour. This from Charles M. Beck, of the Sidney Johnson crew..pw
CREW
2nd Lt Sidney C. Johnson P CT 15/3/45
2nd Lt Williarn J. Duggan CP CT 15/3/45
1st Lt Chester Romanowski NAV NC REPLACED ON CREW BY M/SGT GORDEN SINCLAIR
F/O Harry M. Thompson BOM CT 21/3/45
Cpl Charles M. Beck, Jr. ROG CT 15/3/45
Cpl Harry E. Menter TTE CT 15/3/45
Cpl William G. Weeks BTG CT 15/3/45
Cpl Edwin R. Hodgson WG CT 15/3/45
Cpl Francis W. Manser TG CT 15/3/45
351st Sqdn. Crew, as above, joined the 100th Bomb Group on 28 OCT 44.
This crew flew the Dec 31, 1944 Mission to Hamburg which resulted in the loss of 12 a/c from the 100th Bomb Group. This crew flew in the lead flight, low squadron, position #2.
Hi Paul (West),
It says that the sidney Johnson crew flew the Hamburg mission on Dec 31,
1944 but in Charlie Becks listing of missions, Hamburg is not listed? Do you know
why? Was Charlie sick that day, or on leave? just wondering. I know That
sidney flew that day in Mason and Dixon.
From Paul West:
Mike, They lost an engine at takeoff and returned and landed on three
engines. There was not a spare aircraft and they were told to stand down.
This from Charlie, Weeks, and Manser.. Paul
Mission Log ; Charles M. Beck
Clm A/C Lost Crew Lost Results Mission #
1. 16 NOV 44 AACHEN AREA, GROUND SUPPORT 0 0 0 GOOD 223
2. 26 NOV 44 HAMM, MY 0 0 0 MISSED 225
3. 29 NOV 44 HAMM, MY 0 0 0 MISSED 226
4. 30 NOV 44 MERSEBURG, OIL REFINERY 0 1 10 POOR 227
5. 02 DEC 44 KOBLENZ (Recalled with mission credit awarded)
6. 04 DEC 44 GIESSEN, FRIEDBERG 0 0 0 POOR 229
7. 05 DEC 44 BERLIN, TANK WORKS 0 0 0 UNK 230
8. 11 DEC 44 GIESSEN, KOBLENZ 0 0 0 FAIR 231
9. 12 DEC 44 DARMSTADT, MY 0 0 0 HIT TARGET 232
10. 24 DEC 44 BABENHAUSEN,KAISERLAUNTERN 0 0 0 EXCELLENT 234
11. 25 DEC 44 KAISERLAUTERN, MY 0 0 0 EXCELLENT 235
12. 27 DEC 44 FULDA, MY 0 0 0 VERY GOOD 236
13. 28 DEC 44 KOBLENZ 0 0 0 VERY GOOD 237
14. 29 DEC 44 FRANKFURT, MY 0 0 1 VERY GOOD 238
15. 06 JAN 45 GERMERSHEIM & ANNWEILER 0 0 0 POOR 217
16. 13 JAN 45 MIANZ, BRIDGE 0 0 0 GOOD 220
17. 14 JAN 45 DERBEN, OIL STORAGE 6 0 0 EXCELLENT 221
18. 17 JAN 45 HAMBURG, OIL REFINERY 0 0 0 GOOD 222
19. 21 JAN 45 MANNHEIM, RR BRIDGE (S.T.) 0 0 0 UNKNOWN 224
20. 28 JAN 45 DUISBURG, BRIDGE 0 0 0 VERY GOOD 225
21. 29 JAN 45 KASSEL, TANK WORKS 0 0 0 GOOD 226
22. 03 FEB 45 BERLIN, CITY 0 4 36 GOOD 227
23. 17 FEB 45 FRANKFURT & GIESSEN 0 0 0 0 POOR 233
24. 19 FEB 45 OSNABRUCK & MUNSTER 0 0 0 FAIR 234
25. 21 FEB 45 NURNBURG, MY (S.T.) 0 0 0 FAIR 236
26. 22 FEB 45 DONAUESCHINGEN 0 0 0 FAIR 237
27. 23 FEB 45 TREUCHTLINGEN 0 0 0 VERY GOOD 238
28. 25 FEB 45 MUNICH, MY 0 0 0 FAIR 240
29. 26 FEB 45 BERLIN, CITY 0 0 0 GOOD 241
30. 28 FEB 45 KASSEL, MY 0 0 0 FAIR 242
31. 04 MAR 45 ULM, MY (S.T.) 0 0 0 H2X UNK 245
32. 07 MAR 45 SIEGEN, MY (S.T.) 0 0 0 UNK 246
33. 08 MAR 45 GIESSEN, MY (S.T.) 0 0 0 MISSED 247
34. 10 MAR 45 DORTMUND, MY 0 0 0 FAIR 249
35. 15 MAR 45 ORANIENBURG, MY 0 0 0 MISSED 253
EYEWITNESS: "A/C #38124 (flown by Lt Williams) was broken in two by coilision with A/C #42-31066
which fell on it after A/C 42-31066 uas hit by flak. Both A/C
went down in flames.One chute was seen."
A/C 42-31066 was flown by the crew of Floyd E. Henderson. see below for Henderson crew roster..
The following is Lt Lawrence Ward's recollection of what occurred (written
probably in late 1945):
"While we were on the bomb run the tail gunner called out an enemy jet high at six o'clock.In answer
I checked the crew for oxygen and gave orders to all the gunners to be especially alert for enemy fighters.
All action began just as the squadron dropped their bombs.I only had time to say "Bombs Away" when
two terri fic explosions took place;one under the nose in the chin turret,the other some where around
the center of the ship. The one under the nose was flak,and pieces of metal seemed to fill the air as they
tore thru the plexiglass and aluminum. It was at this moment that I received a hit over the left eye that stunned me.
From then on,nothing is clear in my mind as to what happened.
We imnediately went into a spin and I remember trying to climb to the escape hatch but I didn't have strength
to overcome the other forces.The plane straightened into a dive and as I disentangled myself from all the
debris I pulled the red cord on my flak suit,and started again for the hatch. In that one quick moment I
glimpsed the navigator lying on the catwalk on his elbows looking in my direction. This covered a fraction
of a second and then the nose seemed to disintegrate and I passed out.
When I came to I was in the open air and just automatically pulled the ripcordof my parachute. But nothing
happened except the red handle came out - I threw it away and opened the chute by pulling the flaps
open.I never remember the jolt of the chute opening - the next thing I knew was that I was dangling by one strap
It was a habit of mine to hook one side of the harness to the chute on the bomb run and it never occurred
to me to fasten tne other side before opening it. By this time,the bleeding of my wound had stopped - evidently
because the blood over my face had frozen. However,hanging by one strap prevented me from having any control
over myself and I whirled around and around like a top,making me very sick at my stomach.
I made hasty plans as to evading,but when I landed it was within a fenced-in estate on the edge of Hamburg.
I was immediately surrounded by soldiers and civilians They took me to the Luftwaffe base where three
others from our squadron were being searched and held. One was my waist gunner and he is the one who
told me the story of our plane.The other explosion I heard was another plane colliding with us,
slicing our plane in half at the ball turret.
When I was a prisioner,the wound over my eye thawed out and began to bleed again I tried to get it
bandaged but to no avail,so I bandaged it with a handkerchief, and it was over a month before it finally healed."
2ND LT FLOYD E. HENDERSON P KIA 31 DEC 44 HAMBURG
2nd Lt Richard W. King CP KIA 31 DEC 44 HAMBURG
2nd Lt George J. Smigo, Jr NAV POW 31 DEC 44 HAMBURG
S/Sgt Elmer L. Kovach TOGG KIA 31 DEC 44 HAMBURG
S/Sgt George J.Robinson ROG KIA 31 DEC 44 HAMBURG
S/Sgt James W.Shepard TTE KIA 31 DEC 44 HAMBURG
Sgt Leo O.Murphy BTG POW 31 DEC 44 HAMBURG
Sgt Fred Horcasitas WG KIA 31 DEC 44 HAMBURG
Sgt Frank S.Sauls TG POW 31 DEC 44 HAMBURG
************************************************************************************************************
I found for APRIL,1945 a number of DFC's but only a few listed by name in the few pages I printed out.. Awards for April, 94 including AM's
DFC's for the 351st April,1945
LC HARRY F. CRUVER
MAJOR NEAL P. SCOTT, ( OAK LEAF CLUSTER to DFC)
1ST LT. MELVIN L. KODAS
1ST LT JESSE L. WOFFORD
M/SGT GORDON R. SINCLAIR
MEMO 2:
