Barney Sutton, regular waist gunner on this
crew, had flown six or seven missions when he
received an appointment as an Aviation cadet. He
returned to the U. S. and was replaced on the
Crew by James Sides. Sutton became a navigator
and, in the fall of 1944, returned to England
for duty with the 398th Bomb Group. In a letter
to this writer in 1979 Sutton had this to say,
"The Esprit de Corp of the 398th was nothing to
match the 100TH. However, at that time the 100TH
had been shot down twice, and I feel sure the
398TH had suffered also. " At the time of the 3
Sept. 43 Paris mission,
Derrell Piel was recovering from a flak
wound and was replaced by Robert McKnight, the
regular radio operator of crew #27. On 8 Oct.
1943, flying with crew #22, Piel was KIA. It is
rather ironic to note that McKnight's regular
crew successfully completed their tour of 25
missions
Statement of
Trafford Curry taken at Thorpe Abbotts in
January 1944:
"I was in the top
turret at the time we were hit amidships by flak
from the Paris area. Our A/C left the formation
in a steep dive and when it leveled off several
thousand feet below I came out of my turret to
see what was taking place. I quickly observed
that the A/C was burning both in the bomb bay
and the navigator's compartment. The A/C was
very badly damaged and the fires were too far
advanced to be extinguished. I put on my chute
and when given the bail out order I tried to go
out the navigator's hatch, but changed my mind
when I saw the fire and smoke in that part of
the A/C. I then went to the bomb bay and jumped
through the flames that practically covered that
area of the A/C. Just before I jumped I looked
back and saw Lt. King and his co-pilot adjusting
their chutes. After my chute opened I saw
several other chutes come from my A/C, but never
knew who they were. The A/C disappeared still in
level flight and I learned later that it crashed
in a field several miles away, still in level
flight, but exploded soon after. I was not able
to obtain any information about any of my crew
members. "
Plane was on bomb run
when hit by flak and apparently lurched up and
its right wing struck the tail section of A/C #
42-30059 flown by crew #23. Eyewitness accounts
have some conflict but some said that bombs from
#059 fell onto #089.
Heber Hogge is
authority for information that Edward Hovde was
wounded in left leg and had it amputated at hip.
See M. A. C. R. #685 and #686 for more data on
this crew.
*Note, the
following came from Jim Sides' personal Log
recorded during World War 2. Some of the dates
were changed from the original log to correspond
with the correct mission Jim is describing. Mike
Faley April 1, 2000
Missions flown by
S/Sgt James Sides Jr. as given on April 1, 2000
Crew 26, 351st Sqdn, AC #42-3234 'Little Mike"
Left Waist Gunner and Assistant Radio Operator
1. July 24,
1943-Trondheim, Norway, Target-Submarine Pens.
Longest air raid made by 8th Air Force bombers
to date. Twelve Hours and fifteen minutes.
Intercepted by 6 German ME 109's and Heavy Flak.
Received hit by 88mm shell in vertical
stabilizer. Bombing altitude 19, 000 feet.
2. July 25,
1943-Rostock, Germany. Target was covered by
smoke, Bombed Submarine Pens at Kiel, Germany,
Heavy Flak, intercepted by 8 German fighters.
Mission time: eight Hours.
3. July 28,
1943-Hanover, Germany, (Oschersleben) Target was
FW 190 Assembly Plant. Attacked by German
Fighters and five of 100th Bombers were
destroyed. Bombing altitude 18, 000 feet. (**
Side note here, according to 100th records, No
aircraft were lost that day-Mike Faley)
4. July 30,
1943-Kassel Germany, Target was F. W. 190
Assembly Plant. Crossed over Belgium, met great
deal of Flak. Intercepted by 25 German fighter
planes which followed us to the target. Fighter
attack lasted for one hour and fifteen minutes.
Bombed Target from 24, 000 feet. Flak heavy over
target. Before leaving Germany we were met by 25
American P-47 that flew above us. Attacked by 3
FW 190 German Fighter Planes. One fighter was
destroyed by myself and ball turret gunner.
Sides was given the credit of destroying one
enemy aircraft. We were on oxygen for four hours
and fifteen minutes. Mission lasted 8 hours.
5. August 12,
1943-Bonn, Germany-Primary Target was Gasoline
and Oil Storage Tanks. Secondary target was City
of Bonn. Heavy Flak. Bombing altitude was 26,
000 feet. 8th lost 25 bombers this raid.
6. August 14,
1943-Southern France-Duck Diversion Mission
(*note: Duck was a symbol for decoy-MF)-Altitude
20, 000 feet. Escorted by American P-47's.
Purpose was to flush up enemy aircraft to
intercept and destroy.
7. August 15,
1943-Lille France, Target was Airport. Secondary
target at Merville, France. Bombing altitude was
20, 000 feet. Met very heavy flak at Merville.
Was intercepted by 20 German fighters. Mission
was successful.
8. August 19,
1943-Holland-First and secondary targets were
overcast. Failed to drop bombs. Returned to
base. Mission unsuccessful.
9. August 24,
1943-France, Air Fields in France near Paris.
Bombing altitude 24, 000 feet. Very Heavy flak
and enemy fighters. Our radio operator, Derrell
Piel was wounded by Flak. Was Attended by Sides.
10. September 3, 1943-
Paris, France-Target was Renault Works in Paris,
Secondary target was Air Field at Evruex,
France.
Note: LITTLE MIKE,
crew 26 was flying in borrowed aircraft from
another crew. LITTLE MIKE had been damaged so
badly on a previous mission that is was unable
to fly. Bombing altitude was 23, 000 feet. On
target run we had a direct hit by 88mm in our
number 2 engine which caught fire. We were
knocked out of formation. Our plane was still
under control. King attempted to get back into
formation. We were then either hit or we hit
another plane. See Crew 23 statements. We then
received direct hits by anti-aircraft fire in
our bomb bay section and in the radio
compartment, each hit causing fire. All
communications were knocked out in our plane.
Our ball turret gunner came out of the turret
and started to put on his chute, saw the fire in
the radio hatch and grabbed a fire ext. and
started fighting the fire in the radio room.
Hogge and I were firing at enemy fighters coming
in on us. At this time smoke was so thick that
we could hardly see anything, I knew it was time
to get out of the aircraft, I disconnected my
oxygen and motioned for Hogge to bail out. Hogge
and I both were wearing back-type parachutes. At
that time apparently blacked out from the lack
of oxygen. I heard a very loud explosion. When I
came to, I realized that I was falling, I was
then able to grab my ripcord and pulled. I then
determined that I was about 5000 feet above the
ground and that I had fallen about 15, 000 feet
while I was unconscious. There was a German
fighter circling around me all the way to the
ground. Probably radioing my position to my
captors. I was captured immediately then
transported to Bastille Prison where I was kept
during the night. Both of my ears had been
ruptured along with some flak wounds in my back.
The next day I was transported to Frankfurt,
then to Dulag Luft Prison. Two weeks later I was
transported to Munich to Stalag 7A. Thirty days
later I was transported by cattle car to Stalag
17B at Krems, Austria. Was interned there until
March 26, 1945. On that Day 4200 American POW's
were forced to march across Austria in the
foothills of the Carpathian mountains to
Innsbruck Austria. Appox. 280 miles. On May 3.
1945 we were liberated by Patton's 13th Armored
Division. Then transported to Camp Luckie Strike
in France. Met Edward Hovde and Ernest Anderson
at the 100th Reunion in Tampa Florida in 1990.
We did not know about Curry until later years.
Hogge said that he bailed out and did not know
about Curry before the airplane blew up.
Therefore, it appears that I was the only
survivor that survived the explosion. Also, I am
the only remaining survivor of my crew. God has
really blessed me.
JIM SIDES-APRIL 1,
2000
Source: 100th bomb
Group Foundation
