Sortie2ADB-24Bombed Primary
“Wee Willie”.
Mission 928 · 05 April 1945
Serial
44-50600
B-24H
Fuselage Code
YM
Squadron
409th
Ted's Traveling Circus
Aboard
8
men
The crew.
§ 8 aboard
Name
Position
Serial
Hometown
On this flight
CaptEdward L. McGuire
“Ted”
Pilot
Station 1
O-392667
Shreveport, Louisiana
Completed his tour
Returned
→
2LtVictor H. Hanf
Co-Pilot
Station 2
O-8266262
—
Returned
→
T/SgtCornelius J. Leach
“Bill”
Engineer / Top Turret
Station 5
42056289
—
Returned
→
S/SgtDonald M. South
“Don”
Radio Operator
Station 6
31305999
—
Returned
→
S/SgtWilliam H. Gardner
“Shorty”
Waist Gunner
Station 8
33710942
—
Completed his tour
Returned
→
S/SgtEdward S. Powell
“Ed”
Waist Gunner
Station 8
33805719
—
Returned
→
S/SgtBarney C. Eller
Tail Gunner
Station 9
34828795
—
Returned
→
S/SgtTheodore F. Szajna
“Snafoo”
Nose Gunner
36164043
—
Returned
→
The flight.
§ Ship’s Record
The Day
Took off fromHardwick (Sta. 104)
Landed atHardwick (Sta. 104)
The Record
ResultBombed Primary
Record confidenceValidated against a source
Formation
Flew with409th Squadron
Fuel & Equipment
H2X scope photoNo
Notes.
§ From the Record
Bayreuth. Formed over Charleroi in poor visibility; a B-24 spun in. Descended the Rhine River on the deck in Javelin formation; near Bonn/Cologne encountered barrage balloons in murk. McGuire threw ship into vertical bank right, then left, dodging balloons by reflex and luck. One or two ships lost in the incident. Hanf spotted the second balloon. Form 5: 2:10 CP, 4:10 P, 2:00 P-AI.