360th BS Narrative.

   This was an unusual mission for the 360th BS, as the squadron brought back it's bombs.  Not something that they would want to do after flying a dangerous mission. However, the 8th AF was proud of the fact that they used accurate bombing to attack military targets with minimal damage to non-military targets, so if a military target couldn't be hit, the bombs were brought back to base.  

Captain Jones, led the high squadron on the mission, flying AC# 44-8552.  The crew members on this ship were:

P     Jones, William E  Capt
CP  Tyler, Samuel L  2lt
N     Stewart, James L  1lt
B      Mishtal, Theodore W  1lt
MN  Gibson, Cater M  1lt
R      Ciezadlo, Eugene F  s/sgt
R      Lillis, Joseph Pvt   *
TG   Wotanis, Leo F  sgt

   For this mission, we have the 41st CBW mission summary obtained at the NARA archives in College Park, Md.  This narrative is more descriptive than the squadron narrative above.

One of the reasons for eventually running short of fuel, was difficulties encountered in assembly, such as needing to go to a higher than planned altitude, and running into a squadron of planes from another group going the wrong way.

The Captains of Aircraft mission map for this mission is shown below:

Click for larger map

As mentioned above, and in the narratives, bringing back the bombs was not usual or desirable.
This mission MAP has a few comments relating to this incident. The first, was shortly after taking off, there was a comment
stating "mickey very weak".  Mickey is the name for the ground sensing radar used to locate targets that are cloud covered,
sometimes called PFF, or pathfinder radar.  The primary target for this mission was the submarine building yards in Bremmen, by visual means.  The secondary target was the same target via H2X radar.  Another notation on the map indicated 76 MPH winds near the target. Then a comment stating "last sec the bombadier said that mickey run was 3 miles left ...too late for vis assist....not enough gas for second run".  Also another comment "scouter advised me to take the bombs home".   "Scouter" refers to an aircraft sent out on it's own, ahead to the target to evaluate weather conditions.  This aircraft usually had higher ranking officers, like Lt Col, who served to make command decisions like this.  Vis assist refers to using the visual Norden bomsight to fine tune the bomb release.
   Other notes on the mission map were "11 ships in formation, one way back", "Statton out of formation", "K ship hydralic
system shot out" , "Q ship instruments shot out", and "5 ships dropped bombs at A-able point in North Sea".  Landing with
bombs on board was optional.  Some pilots didn't feel comfortable landing with the extra weight and danger of a full load of
bombs, so they dropped them in the ocean before landing if they couldn't drop them on a target.  Bombs were generally not
just dropped randomly over enemy territory, as they tried to hit military or industrial targets rather than civilian, which is why
bombs were sometimes brought back,or sometimes dropped at sea rather than just dropping them.  In this case, some of the ships dropped bombs at sea, probably because damage to 7 of the planes made landing more problematic.
     There was also a mission track map copied at NARA in Md.  This became somewhat blurred due to smudging of the xerox copy, but it is shown below:

Click for large map

This map shows the actual routes taken for the high and low squadrons.  The route designated _._._. which returns slightly to the north of the planned route is that of the 360th BS.  My assumption is that this detour was taken in order for the 5 ships to drop their bombs at sea.  It is somewhat interesting that the 360th BS was the "high" squadron on this mission, which was to the right and above the other two squadrons in the bomb group, and yet the 360th bombadier reported that when the cloud opening appeared, that they were 3 miles to the left of the target, which would suggest that the other 2 squadrons were even further left of the target (but didn't know).  The lead squadron didn't bomb on the first run, but made a second run, which was perhaps an unfortunate choice, since the lead ship of the lead squadron, co-piloted by group air commander Major Shumake was lost due to damage received from flak over the target area.  Major Shumake became a POW.
   The above map also shows a route shortly after the initial bomb run, that suggests an intention to make a second run, prior to making the decision to return due to lack of fuel and several damaged ships in the squadron.

The loading document from the 360thBS microfilm records is shown below:
 

Some notes on the mission saved by Capt Jones:

*  One additional item of interest.  The radio operator on this mission, had recently flown his 100th mission (about 2/3 of these being in the Pacific), and apparently must have celebrated too much.  He was picked up by MPs and charged with drunk&disorderly in uniform, and busted from T/Sgt down to a Pvt.  In a later mission, he was upgraded to PFC, and then following his final mission he was re-assigned to his previous T/Sgt rank.  Sgt Lillis was written up in Stars&Stripes after completing his 100th mission, and his picture was taken on another mission with Captain Jones in 44-8552.   Sgt Lillis was apparently one of the most respected radio operators in the squadron, as he flew mainly on lead crews, and was allowed to continue flying aafter being reduced in rank.