350th Sqdn. Crew, as above, joined the 100th Group on 9/3/44 Shelly flying as CP for J. S. Giles, Jr. on 11 Sep 44.

A/C 43-37863 -- MACR 8812, MICROFICHE 3235

350th Sqdn. Crew, as above, joined the 100th Group on 7/4/44. See "CONTRAILS" p. 199 for photo

On 11/9/44, Lts J. M. Shelly, K. S. Welty & H. H. Skelton had replaced Lambert, Gunter & Ramer. The three became POWs. On 11/8/44, Jack Conger was flying with the crew of A. D. Elbel

Cordy A. Ramer, Jr. flew 10 missions with the above crew before moving to the E. C. Jones crew where he flew 19 additional missions:

350th Sqdn . Above crew as it appears on MACR#7811. Cordy Ramer was on the crew of J. S. Giles when it joined the 100th BG on 7/4/44. On 8/7/44 Sgts Fugene Wells & Richard D. Hawkins were on this crew as gunners. Wells CPT on 12/12/44 & Hawkins KIA on 28/7/44 with crew of W. . G. Stansbury Moran says crew arrived at Thorpe Abbotts 15 May 1944 as above. Letter from Cassell 19/11/90 says Moran was TTE not WG. Cassell letter of 21/6/91 says Gordy Ramer replaced the original BOM, Ferrell O. Mason. also that Eugene R. Wells was on crew when it came to the 100th but removed to reduce crew to nine men. Wells appears on the Kassebaum crew as a WG.

MACR #7811, Microfiche #2858 A/C #42-31903
From MACR: "No definite information concerning the loss of this A/C is available. The leader of the squadron was forced to jettison his bombs short of the target because of flak damage. The formation broke up and all the aircraft except the leader were lost to E/A. "

German reports indicate this A/C was shot down at 1055 hours near Wuelfingerode and both Ries and Prince were interred in Graves #. 1 & #2. It continues that two (2) unknown dead were buried in graves #3 & #4. These presumably were, Leo J. Griffin and James Eadie. Evidently Lt Jones died sometime later from his wounds. .

CREW

350TH SQDN. . CREW, AS ABOVE, JOINED THE 100TH ON 25 MAY 1944. . See S. O. C. page 82/83

ON 29 JUL 44 S/SGT EDWARD LOWTHER, FROM THE J. M. SHELLY CREW, WAS FLYING AS TTE AND BECAME A POW. THIS WAS THE CREW'S 18/19TH MISSION. . . pw

EYEWITNESS:
"A/C #829 was hit by flak over the target. Bombs were dropped; then the aircraft fell back among the stragglers and was not seen again. "

Statement by Lt. Petrdil indicates that all nine members of the crew abandoned the ship about 30 miles west of Merseburg.

The only apparent injury was a fractured foot suffered by Lt. MacAllister hitting the ground. They were leading the high squadron on this day. Crew, with the exception of T/Sgt Edward D. Lowther from the J. M. Shelly crew, had joined the 100^th on 25 May 1944. (They found the 100th despondent over the loss of 15 crews at Berlin the day before , 24 May 44) Lowther was flying in place of the crew's regular TTE, T/Sgt Carlos E. McCutcheon who went on to complete his tour.

Notes:
WIA-WOUNDED IN ACTION

16/03/44 (Berlin) – Sgt. Winkler shot down ME-109
01/04/44 (Ludwigshaven) – Recall
13/05/44 (Osnabruck) – Flak Leave after this mission.
06/06/44 (Falaise) – D-Day; Shelly wounded by flak.
19/06/44 (Ecluse) – Lt. Lambert new pilot.
13/07/44 (Munich) – Sgt. Winkler shot down ME-109.
17/07/44 (Auxerre) – Lt. Fayette wounded.
29/07/44 (Merseburg) – O’Donnell POW. (with Lt Fitzroy Crew)
11/09/44 (Ruhland) – Lt. Shelly POW

"Lt Shelly was injured on D-Day in the face around the eyes, hit by flak over the target-didn't think he would be OK, was grounded until August 24, 1944… Lt Fayette, our Bombardier, was shot in the front of the plane on July 17th Mission to Auxerre. Bates left his station and put his hands in this chest, Fayette was hit by flak over the target, finished mission and was taken away in an ambulance…

Sgt Bates went on to fly a second tour of duty in the 12th Air Force in B-25's. He flew 31 missions in B-25's (out of Italy and Corsica) from January 1945 until the end of the war…." from Sgt Winkler.

Ralph Bates went to Canada and joined the RCAF but before he could complete flight training he was transferred to the USAAF. Staff Sgt Ralph H. Bates completed 35 missions as a tail gunner in B-17 then signed up for another tour of duty. On March 6, 1945 he was assigned as a TG on B-25's flying with the 321st Bomb Group, 446th Bomb Squadron, flying out of Corsica with the 12th Air Force. His B-25 was called Peg O My Heart. Competed his 31st mission on April 25, 1945.

Diary entries of S/Sgt Bates.

3-15-44 "It’s a sad barracks today. The crew (Capt Herb Devore Crew) that slept next to us went down. Last seen they were going into a cloud with one engine gone and oxygen burning. It was their 25th mission and they would have been done today. The were pretty good boys too, May God Bless them.

3-16-44 "Went to Augsburg Germany today, 9 1/2 hour trip mostly on oxygen. Light flak al the way from French Coast. P-47 Thunderbolt and P-38 Lightning escort from coast to target. Got in some good shots at Me 109's and 110's. Saw one flying fortress burn in air, Another crew bailed out over mountains, no holes in our ship

3-18-44 " We hit Chateaudun, France today. There was plenty of flak over the target. Saw two ships explode. We got two holes in our ship--one in wing and one in tail. The piece in tail landed in ammo box about four feet from my rear end. Too Close for comfort.

4-24-44 “Intended to bomb Friedrichshafen, Germany today. Flew over target but didn't bomb. Flak was hell and accurate. About 50 feet away from us a bomber was hit and the explosion seemed to fill the sky with flames. The pieces flew by so close I thought I could touch them. We had about 10 minutes over the flak left. I wondered if I'll ever be able to put into words the feeling one gets when men all around you are getting shot up and you are expecting it any minute. There is only one person who must be looking over us.

7-14-44 " It was July 14, 1944 and we were to drop ammunition, guns and food to the free French near Bordeaux France. The weather was good and we were flying a few hundred feet above the trees in our B-17. The stuff we were to deliver was packed in our bomb bay. It would be parachuted to the French when we reached the Target Area. We had been flying just over the trees when we came to a great big open field. We dropped our stuff right where we were supposed to. When we circled back over the drop zone, we could see hundreds of people on the ground picking up the stuff.