Loading List 1, Box I




Loading List 2, Box II




Primary Target area around MBS Coordinate (LZ1) vU091679
Extracted from GSGS-4250/AMS-M762 Sheet 7F-2 - "Troarn" 1:50:000 Military Topographic Map
(Downloaded from McMaster University Digital Archive - WWII Topographic Maps,
France 1:50k Topographic Maps,
Troarn sheet)
(Note: This coordinate and map display represent the Primary Target Location, the Location actually attacked may differ)
(Annotated Full Map PDF)



Target Illustration GSGS 4250 7F/2 NEG. NO 40933

Missing Air Crew Reports, Aircraft Accident Reports, and other incidents

Date	Report		A/C Serial # Type	Mis- sion #	Bomb Sq	Location	Personnel (Status when available)
Jul 18, 1944 Tuesday	No_Report		43-21717 A-20J	100	668		McNulty, Gerald M. (Not Injured) Bursiel, Francis Harold (WIA) Fejes, John Andrew Jr. (Not Injured) Judd, Earl R. Jr. (Not Injured)
Jul 18, 1944 Tuesday	No_Report		43-9209 A-20G	100	670		Sommers, Douglas T. (WIA) Zaklikiewicz, Stanley Robert (Not Injured) Johnson, John Lennart (Not Injured)

To view more information regarding an Incident/Report, click on the Report hyperlink.
( = Entries having actual Reports available for review.   = Entries having additional Images or Photos.)
To view an individual's Memorial page, click on the "Name" hyperlink.

Included are Box, Flight and Position; Bomb Squadron; Aircraft Serial Number, Fuselage Code and Model; and Crew Members
transcribed from individual mission Loading List documents by Chris and Mary Adams and Carl Sgamboti.
Some information, such as Squadron, Serial Number, etc. has been expanded from other documents.

Group and Unit Histories

Mission # 100 -- July 18, 1944, Tuesday AM
Giberville Area G, France -- Strong Point

"416th Bombardment Group (L) - Group History 1944"
Transcribed from USAF Archives

We tried on the 17th to get missions No. 100 and 101 off, but weather prevented it. On the 18th, however, we succeeded in reaching the century mark. General Montgomery called for air support to wipe out enemy resistance in the area just east of Caen. He planned an feinting movement to the southwest of the the city. The air strength would hit to the east, an in a welltimed move, his armored units would sweep on southward. Our target was Giverville. One box dropped a good concentration in the target area. The bombsight in the lead plane of the second box was damaged by flak so that the bombs could not be dropped. The air plane was very effective, though, because General Montgomery was enabled to move his troops forward six miles without experiencing any enemy opposition.

"Attack Bombers, We Need You! A History of the 416th Bomb Group"
Ralph Conte
Page 110

Mission #100 - 18 July - AM - Giberville Strong Point. Records show that over 2000 planes dumped 8000 tons of bombs on this area, where German hordes are located near Caen. This makes it a very important target to defend and the Germans did that very well. Heavy intense flak caused major damage to planes. Captain McNulty and Lt. Burseil, BN led Box I with Captain Prentiss and Lt. McBrien as deputy. The German gunners zeroed in on the box leader, hitting the bombardier's compartment, destroying the Norden Bombsight. The BN, Lt. Burseil was hit in the face; with no bombsight, and a confusion of smoke at the target, the lead plane did not drop its bombs. The following planes, therefore, did not unload their bombs, either.

On July 19, the STARS AND STRIPES wrote:

Spearheading the great onslaught on the continent, was a dawn attack by Havocs and Marauders against German armor amassed ahead of the British east flank in Normandy.

"668th Bombardment Squadron (L) History"
Transcription from USAF Archives

On the morning of 18th July the Group flew its hundredth combat mission. A formal review was conducted on the Station for Major General Lewis H. Brereton, Commander of the Ninth Air Force, who awarded to 1st Lt. Charles C. Mish of the 668th, the Distinguished Flying Cross.

"670th Bombardment Squadron (L) History"
Transcription from USAF Archives

The July 18th mission proved to be another important one, in not only the history of this organization, but also in the history of the war. Missions of the group on this date preceded the attack by the British Second Army on their break-through from Caen. The missions were part of a massive air assault that dumped 8,000 tons of bombs on the enemy. We were a part of 2,000 allied warplanes that heaped tons of explosives on German bastions around Caen as a prelude to that memorable ground offensive. Eighteen of our crews participated in the two missions of that day. The Stars and Stripes of July 19th commented; "Spearheading the great onslaught on the continent, was a dawn attack by Havocs and Marauders against German armor massed ahead of the British east flank in Normandy." Of the later mission, another column carried the description "continuing the spectacular support of ground troops, Ninth Air Force Havocs bomber rail bridges at St Hilaire du Harcourt on a line leading to the Normandy battle area."

Evidence of the bitterness of this air attack was very prominent among our own combat crews. Of the six crews participating in the afternoon mission, six members returned with wounds. Lts Rooney, Sommers and Conte; and S/Sgts McCleary, DiNapoli and Stephens received the Purple Heart for wounds sustained on this mission.

Lt Rooney was piloting his plane on a "window mission" on this attack, and was about ten minutes over France when a burst of flak made the right engine useless. A second burst damaged the interphone and the hydraulic lines. A third burst riddled the aircraft and with the interphone out of commission, lip reading was resorted to by the two gunners, S/Sgts McCleary and DiNapoli, which led to the knowledge that Sgt McCleary was badly injured. Sgt DiNapoli ripped McCleary's suit with a knife and applied a tourniquet and gave the injured gunner a needle of morphine to ease the pain. Lt Rooney was wounded in the back, and had severe pains in the abdomen, and fearing his gunners would not be able to get out due to possible wounds since the ship was so riddled, he turned his plane back, salvoed his bombs over a wooded area in France, and made for an emergency landing field in England. Coming into Ford, Sussex, landing field, a taking off Spitfire was heading right for them, and, raising his wheels just in time, the Polish pilot of the fighter just cleared the incoming ship of Lt Rooney. There was no hydraulic pressure left, and only one wheel dangled, but with no support, so Lt Rooney made a belly landing. The ship was a total wreck. Due to the severity of his wounds Lt Rooney was unable to get out of the plane and had to be extracted by the ground crews of the field. Both he and Sgt McCleary were rushed to the hospital there. A very bad compound fracture of the arm resulted in the transfer of Sgt McCleary to a hospital unit for removal back to the United States for recuperation.

Another crew, part of this days missions, encountered difficulties as a result of the heavy flak met. As the plane of Lt Hall approached the coast of France it was met by heavy anti aircraft fire. Gunner S/Sgt Burger's parachute and boots were cut; the pilot line and static line of the plane were tore apart. When the bombing run on Glos Sur Risle, the secondary target, was completed, Lt Hall perceived that his air speed indicator and altimeter were useless and called to his gunner to see if anyone was wounded, and asked that they check the control lines. Discovering two tubes torn by flak, S/Sgt Blackford, other gunner of the crew, gave the scissors from his kit to S/Sgt Burger who cut off the jagged edges of the tubes and bored open their flattened parts. Sgt Burger replaced the broken parts of the metal lines with rubber tubing from his Mae West. The jagged metal tore the tubing, so, with tape from Sgt Blackford's earphones, he sealed the tubes, and the air speed indicator and altimeter were restored to normal use. In spite of poor visibility the plane made its way back. The task was performed in such a manner that T/Sgt Spillett, crew chief, remarked that the instruments were repaired sufficiently to have worked for a long time.

"671st Bomb Squadron (L) Unit History"
Gordon Russell and Jim Kerns

July 17th , 1944

There was a new tenseness in the briefing room on the morning of July 17th , 1944. The reason û it was Mission No. 100.... When the boys boarded the boat in New York harbor just six months ago many of them wondered...would there be 100 missions? What would it be like? How long would it take? , etc. Well, this looked like the day, and the crews that went out to the ships that morning felt sort of proud that they were taking part in the big mission. However, it just wasn't in the cards...the weather was cloudy and hazy and after four delays the mission was finally scrubbed late in the afternoon. Still sweating!

July 18th û July 25th, 1944

The weather (enough said) curtailed the 416th Bomb Group's activity again during this period, but seven missions were chalked up. Mission No. 100 came off on the morning of July 18th , and in the afternoon the Group passed the century mark. Single missions were run off on the 19th, 22nd, 23rd, 25th and 26th of July. Bombs were dropped on all these flights except the latter on in which a cloud covering over the target interfered. All of these missions were in direct support of allied ground forces in Normandy.

No ships were lost, but flak was met in many instances. A gunner from one on the other Squadrons was killed by a direct flak burst in the turret. This was the first time a member of a crew was brought back to base dead. Lt. Murray had the honor of being the first member of the Squadron to land on the Normandy beachhead when his plane ran short of gas on a late mission on July 19th. Lt. Murray and his gunners, S/Sgt. Jones and DeBower, landed on a P-47 field on the Peninsula and were treated in good fashion. They returned the next day with a few souvenirs... helmets, rifles, etc. They all related to quite and experience.

This Squadron fell behind the others this month in individual sorties mainly because when the 671st had a large number on the loading list, path¡finders were used and a number of the crews would be scrubbed.

Lt. Lackovich got his first mission in on July 18th and is rapidly joining the ranks of the other crews. The first mission in the rough one. After that the rest come a little more easily. Each pilot will tell you that the sack felt wonder¡ful after their first mission. (And you won't find one that tells you it still doesn't feel mighty good.)

Highlight of the above missions was the afternoon encounter on July 18th when the Group received an excellent rating on bombing a Railroad Junction at Gles-Sur-Risle. The strike photo showed a remarkable pattern right in the target area.

"671tst Bombardment Squadron (L) History"
Transcribed from USAF Archives

Bad weather continued on into July with the result that by July 20th the Squadron had taken part in only 13 missions. One of these was the One-Hundredth Mission however, and proved to be one of the most effective efforts of the 416th Group. The target for this mission was Giberville Area G just northeast of Caen. This was in close support of the British-Canadian drive in that sector. Within two hours after the attack the ground forces broke through the area and drove on deep into enemy territory.

[July 18, 1944], HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map Map showing Western Allies and Axis troop position details in Western Europe as of approximately 1200 hours, July 18, 1944 World War II Military Situation Maps Collection Library of Congress

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