So on July 5, 1945 the 8th AF landed on Guam . Setting aside all the caveats for the moment, the research performed and documentation provided by Jim Lux seems to conclusively show that the 93rd Bombardment Group, 330th Bombardment Squadrons B-24 Liberator Hot Stuff and her crew flew their 25th mission on February 7, 1943 dropping bombs on Naples, Italy, and went on to fly five additional missions thereafter, before Hot Stuff and her crew were recalled to the United States, where they were scheduled to go on a War Bonds Tour, a home front publicity junket, where combat aircraft and crews of significant accomplishment were sometimes pulled from frontline service and flown back to the United States to serve as the stirring personification of the heroism of Americas military, helping move the paper and boosting public morale. IN 1959..FROM THERE BACK TO LOUISIANA WHERE I CHECKED OUT AS ENGINEER IN THE KB-50 AIRCRAFTABOUT 2000 HOURS THERE, THEN TO HUNTER AFB GEORGIA TO FLY THE GREAT C-124. No Built - 18,188. Many considered the occupation to be a death sentence. P. S. Hes here to tell the stories. He flew 28 missions over Italy and Germany before his 20th birthday, and flew 48 missions by the time the war was over. AFTER THAT I WAS SENT TO KB-29 AIR REFUELING SQ IN LOUISIANA. A 1944 documentary film was produced detailing its exploits, and in 1990, a Hollywood feature film entitled the Memphis Belle perpetuated its glory for decades. After some time of ineffective high altitude bombing, some of the B-17 bombers adopted skip bombing, a technique usually practiced by medium bombers rather than heavy bombers. Before anything, consult the FEO! He completed his initial training when he was 17, and was called up to active duty before he graduated from high school. However, others stayed behind to complete 30 missions to avoid having to return from the states for a second tour of duty. Unlike the 8th, the 9th didnt had a set limit of 25 missions. A dear friend of mine was the navigator/turret gunner of the lead plane on the 2nd successful Pelosti mission and I saw the commendation for that and for the 50 missions that B24 crew made.. Pilots need to take flash photographs after dropping the bombs otherwise, it might not be included in the required number of missions for a single tour. FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE-Wash. -- On Oct. 14 1943, 8th Air Force launched what became one of the most infamous battles of World War II.By the end of the day, the attack that came to be known as "Black Thursday," Mission 115 to Schweinfurt, saw the loss of more than six hundred Airmen who were killed or captured, the loss of 60 B-17s, and the future of the American daylight bomber offensive in . At the end of their tour, the crew of Hells Angels signed on for a second tour and continued to fly, going on to fly 48 missions, without ever turning back from their assigned target. That's almost 50 percent more than the 12,741 B-17s . A total of 350,000 men served in the Mighty Eighth during World War II. In February 1943, the 93rd BG B-24 Hot Stuff became the first Eighth Air Force heavy bomber to complete 25 combat missions. Coming it third place was the Memphis Belle, which completed 25 combat missions on May 19, 1943. Trained for combat with B-17's. Moved to England, Aug-Sep 1942, and assigned to Eighth AF Eighth Air Force in September 1942 Station . That the Memphis Belle story, though abetted by a government anxious to report uplifting and inspiring stories of the war to its people at home, captured the publics imagination, doesnt make the story any less inspiring and does not and should not be perceived as taking something away from the countless others who made sacrifices for their country, just as the recognizing the achievements of the crews of Hot Stuff and Hells Angels dont diminish the sacrifices made by those unfortunate souls who went down in flames whether on their first, fourth or 24th mission in service to their country. The B-25 first flew on August 19, 1940, and the U.S. Army Air Corps accepted the first five B-25s in February of 1941. Four members of the original crew died in combat as the plane was hit by cannon and machine-gun fire. Short Bier is housed here. 329th and 330th squadrons were under Ted Timberlake. Those uncertainties aside, on May 19, the Memphis Belle flew its 25th combat mission on a strike against Kiel, Germany, though manned by a different crew. After flying 48 combat missions, it returned to the US for a war bond tour, but not until 1944. ten Retired - 1968. Behind every successful air mission are two things: powerful war birds and skilled crewmen. Just to add some fog to the issue, the my fathers certificate of mission completions had only 30 places to list missions. A great resource for some of the 8th AF B-24 groups is TEDS TRAVELLING CIRCUS available at Amazon and elsewhere. With a crew of 10, the bomber usually carried . Bomber Command aircrews suffered a high casualty rate: of a total of 125,000 aircrew, 57,205 were killed (a 46 percent death rate), a further 8,403 were wounded in action and 9,838 became prisoners of war. He flew 28 missions over Italy and Germany before his 20th birthday, and flew 48 missions by the time the war was over. It establishes hearing as the norm or standard to which we are compared, and then indicates that we are "defective" accord Japan was completely impoverished, on the verge of mass starvation, and reeling from nearly an entire generation of men wiped out. My Dad flew 25 missions in a B-24 and B-29 with the 8th AF /466th bomb group. He finished flight school at the age of 18 in 1944. TogetherWeServed.com Inc. All Rights Reserved | Not a U.S. Government Website. Though they were supposed to refuel at Prestwick, Scotland before heading out over the Atlantic, the crew elected to skip stopping at Prestwick and proceed to their next waypoint, Reykjavik, Iceland. The average age of the crew of a B-17 was less than 25, with four officers and six enlisted Airmen manning the aircraft. What a tragedy. Since 1943 Word War II aviation history considered the Memphis Belle as the first heavy bomber to reach the 25-mission mark. Special interest is the year of 1943. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Your chances of completing all 25 missions, at least unscathed, were slim to none. You had to have gloves on, or else your hands would stick to just about anything metal. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The B-17, dubbed the Flying Fortress as a result of her defensive fire power, saw action in every theater of operation during World War II. , former Teacher by Profession, Teacher by Soul. It was April 17, 1945, and World War II in Europe was . A total of 315 men flew in operations in the Lancaster and 101 were later killed when . Activated on 1 Mar 1942. The B-17 Hells Angels (41-24577) of the 303rd Bomb Group completed 25 combat missions on 13 May 1943, becoming the first to complete the feat, one week before the Memphis Belle. VIII Bomber Command 25. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. In 1943, an American bomber crewman stood only a one-in-five chance of surviving his tour of duty, twenty-five missions. Hot Stuff later crashed in Iceland under the command of Captain Robert Shannon in May of the same year. Im hoping you can help. Those who flew the Memphis Belle did seem to have particularly good luck though as none of her crew died or was significantly injured on her missions, despite being routinely riddled with bullets and damaged by flak, reportedly going through 9 engines, both wings, two tails, and both main landing gear assemblies over the course of her seven month combat career. After the war the famous Andrews Air Force Base was named in his honor. That movie "Hearing impairment" is an insult to Deaf people. Hot Stuff was in the 8th Air Force 2nd Air Division, 93rd Bombardment Group, 330th Bomb Squadron. She and her crew were promptly sent home to the United States to join the War Bond selling tours. 1 How many missions did ww2 bomber crews fly? My fathers Bomb Group on Guam, hosted three crews from the 8th Air Force, 346th Bomb Group. Restoration: The Memphis Belle. In 1945 Camp Springs Air Base in Prince Georges County, Maryland, was renamed Andrews Field in Gen. Andrews honor. The first heavy bomber to complete 25 combat missions in the European Theater, May 13th, 1942. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Because his leg got tangled up in heavy wreckage, he couldnt move. Example: Ploest was single credit. Although crew members were required to fly a minimum of 25 combat missions before returning to the United States, some were called back to duty for another 25. The Germans really dialed in shooting bombers out of the sky with their sophisticated FLAK systems and method. B-17E Suzy-Q The Suzy-Q, a 19th BG B-17E, was the first USAAF heavy bomber to complete 25 missions and return to the US. One of my relatives was in the 330th, Captain Hugh R. Roper, He piloted B-24D Exterminator, 41-23717. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Constituted as 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942. I was told that 25 missions was the max and they never told you when your next mission was for worry that word would leak out. Although crew members were required to fly a minimum of 25 combat missions before returning to the United States, some were called back to duty for another 25. Just imagine how hard it is to complete tasks in uncomfortable clothing from the mask to the boots. It does not store any personal data. The most famous aerial gunner was probably Clark Gable - MGM's biggest earner when WWII began. This in no way denigrates the contribution of the B-24 crews. We were having some drinks and I was listening to some of his war stories when he told me he had flown 137 missions. To put this into sobering perspective - the 8th Air Force in Europe lost more men than the entire US Marine Corps did in World War Two - both horrible thoughts to consider. Hells Angels was the first B-17 crew to complete 25 combat missions on May 13, 1943. Memphis Belle is a well-known World War Two bomber, which was made famous by the Hollywood movie of the same name back in 1990. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Then, the bomb shackle is attached and the dolly moved under the bomb bay. Bombing operations during the Second World War were one of the most hazardous undertakings Americans had to endure throughout the conflict. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. , studied Self-Teaching & Curiosity at Lake Howell High (2016). The Germans really dialed in shooting bombers out of the sky with their sophisticated FLAK systems and method. sorry what we call pussy, they call lunch.. After several landing attempts, Hot Stuff crashed into the side of 1,600-foot-tall Mount Fagradalsfjall, near Grindavik, Iceland. I was completely unaware that Hot Stuff had beaten Hells Angels and Memphis Belle to the 25 mission mark. After his first B-17 mission over Germany, the young radio operator-gunner was convinced that he could not survive 25 missions . Are any of the crew of the Memphis Belle still alive? Juni 2022. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns.