Crew Roster · Personal File

James W. Barker

Gunner · 409th Squadron

Sgt. James W. Barker served as tail gunner and armament man aboard B-24D 42-40265 with the 409th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group. His serial number appears in the MACR as 13048538, but casualty questionnaires give it as 13048321. His status on the MACR is EUS.

During the August 1, 1943 Ploesti crash landing, Barker did not bail out, as the aircraft was flying too low. He was seriously wounded in the crash, suffering a fragment of explosive shell in the back of his head and an apparently fractured skull. He was semi-conscious when removed from the aircraft. Two individual casualty questionnaires confirm he was wounded twice and was last seen unconscious near the plane.

Sortie Log

1 CATALOGUED SORTIE
01 AUG 1943

The sorties below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.

8AF Mission

Date

Target

Aircraft

№ 115

01 AUG 1943

Ploesti

B-24D serial 42-40265, assigned to the 409th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group, departed Site #7 Bengasi on 1 August 1943 on a combat mission to the Ploesti oil fields in Romania. The aircraft was lost as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during the low-level attack. Anti-aircraft damage forced the aircraft down at approximately 1150pm on 1 August 1943 near the town of Ploesti, Romania. The aircraft crash-landed in flat terrain approximately 5 to 10 miles from Ploesti. Several crew members were seen standing near the aircraft on the ground. The forced landing was confirmed by photographs taken by the 44th Bomb Group, which flew over the same area approximately 15 to 20 minutes later. The aircraft was described as riddled during the low-level attack, with no altitude remaining for any alternative to a crash landing.

Honkey Tonk Gal / Naked Truth, The42-40265