This mission is of note because it is only the 2nd mission after the devistating Sept 28 mission to Magdeburg, from which only 2 planes of the 360th's squadron returned, when 11 planes were lost.
360th Bomb Squadron narrative, taken from microfilm records.
A similar narrative from the 303rd Bomb Group:
Also, on this mission, the lead squadron had a navigational equipment failure, resulting in it getting separated somewhat from the other two squadrons. The low squadron (359th) aparently took over navigational responsibilities, as the wing level narrative stated that the lead squadron got it's bombing line off the low squadron, which seems strange since as the document below indicates, the lead squadron bombed about 6 minutes sooner than the other two squadrons. The high squadron dropped down behind the low squadron to form what they referred to as a "Lo-Lo" position, which is described in the document found at NARA below:
.
A track map of the mission was obtained at NARA in College
Park.
It is shown below.
On this mission, the 360th BS flew as the "High"
squadron,
which eventually dropped down into Lo-Lo position for the bomb
run.
W.E.Jones flew as co-pilot with William Crawford in 43-38451
, ie PU-D .
The crew consisted of:
P Crawford, William G 1lt
CP Jones, William E Capt
N Wade,Robert E 1 Lt
B Cummins, James E, 2Lt
R LE ROUX , LYLE, W , S/SGT
R MILLER, WILLIAM L, S/SGT
BT WHITNEY,DANIEL F, SGT
TG BARDER, EMMETT R, SGT
G CLIPPINGER,ROBERT E, S/SGT
This plane, ie 43-38451 later crash landed in the UK after running
out
of gas returning from a mission to Berlin on Mar 28 1945. It was
salvaged (scrapped beyond repair). PU-D can be seen in a photo
taken
on theJan 29
mission.
The mission loading list for this mission is shown below:
Finally, and most importantly, I have contacted the pilot who flew on this mission, ie William Crawford. He has written an account of his missions, and he was kind enough to send me the pages dealing with this Oct 3 1944 mission.