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416th Bombardment Group (L) Mission # 26 -- April 23, 1944, Sunday AM Bonnieres, France NOBALL (XI/A/85)
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416th Bombardment Group (L) Mission # 26 -- April 23, 1944, Sunday AM Bonnieres, France NOBALL (XI/A/85)
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Place of Take-Off : AAF-170 Wethersfield RAF Station, England A/C Dispatched : 37 Total -- 32 A-20G's, 5 A-20J's Target Operational Number: Z 3096 Illustration : A/85/1 Illustration Ref : 027038 Summary of Results : Both boxes bombed with Poor results. Primary Target Latitude/Longitude: 50.24722,2.26528 (50° 14' 50" N, 2° 15' 55" E) (Latitude/Longitude based on V1 Sites, BONNIERES LB55) (See Latitude/Longitude Coordinates and Target Identifiers for more information. Note: This coordinate represents the Primary Target Location, the Location actually attacked may differ) |
| Date | Report |   |
A/C Serial # Type |
Mis- sion # |
Bomb Sq |
Location | Personnel (Status when available) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 1944 Sunday |
MACR 4095 |
|
43-9707 A-20G |
26 | 671 | Over target at Bonnieres France | Schouten, Joseph Thomas (MIA, KIA)
Williamson, Robert Ray (MIA, KIA) Feistl, Joseph E. (MIA, KIA) |
= Entries having actual Reports available for review. = Entries having additional Images or Photos.)Mission Loading Lists Transcription
Mission # 26 -- April 23, 1944, Sunday AM
Bonnieres, France -- NOBALL (XI/A/85)
| 1 668th 43-9444 5H-J A-20J Maj Price, R.F. Lt Hand, A.R. S/Sgt Kelly, E.E. S/Sgt Coe, W.H. |
2 670th 43-9439 F6-J A-20J Lt McNulty, G.M. Lt Bursiel, F.H. S/Sgt White, H.E. S/Sgt Addleman, R.F. |
3 670th 43-9750 F6-M A-20G Capt Conant, H.F. S/Sgt McCreery, J.E. S/Sgt Orr, J.R. |
| 4 668th 43-9362 5H-L A-20G Lt Shaefer, R.F. S/Sgt Judd, E.R., Jr. S/Sgt Fejes, J.A., Jr. |
5 668th 43-9182 5H-B A-20G Lt Bartmus, G.F. S/Sgt Hibbs, C.L. S/Sgt Daugherty, L.M. |
6 668th 43-9684 5H-K A-20G Lt Kleopfel, M.E., Jr. S/Sgt Shaw, L.R. S/Sgt Bankston, R., Jr. |
| 1 668th 43-9377 5H-W A-20G Lt Siracusa, L.J. S/Sgt Hume, J.N. S/Sgt Brown, F.E. [Not Airborne] |
2 668th 43-9195 5H-D A-20G Lt Downing, W.E. S/Sgt MacDonald, R.W. S/Sgt Hill, A.A. |
3 668th 43-9194 5H-C A-20G Lt Kreh, E.B. S/Sgt Molver, V.E. S/Sgt Gray, C.M. |
| 4 668th 43-9216 5H-E A-20G Lt Ebenstein, G.N. S/Sgt Perkins, H., Jr. S/Sgt Burch, R.W. |
5 668th 43-9223 5H-F A-20G Lt Meagher, J.F. S/Sgt Damico, E.A. S/Sgt Dickenson, E.S. |
6 668th 43-9745 5H-I A-20G Lt Cruze, R.K. S/Sgt Love, C.F. S/Sgt Adair, F.L. |
| 1 670th 43-9455 F6-T A-20J Capt Jackson, C.R. Lt Forma, W. S/Sgt Bonamo, A.J. Pvt McKee, J.C. |
2 670th 43-9696 F6-G A-20G Lt Shea, D.F. S/Sgt Lee, R.E., Jr. Sgt Falk, F.G. |
3 670th 43-9978 F6-S A-20G Lt Rooney, R.J. S/Sgt McCleary, H.M. S/Sgt DiNapoli, S.F. |
| 4 670th 43-9209 F6-K A-20G Lt Crispino, J.C. S/Sgt Walsh, T.I., Jr. S/Sgt Conopask, R.E. |
5 670th 43-9217 F6-D A-20G Lt Leonard, T.J. S/Sgt Evans, O.D. Sgt Palmer, T.A. |
6 670th 43-9227 F6-F A-20G Lt McBride, L.R. S/Sgt Allred, F.D. Sgt Stephens, D.W. |
| SPARE 669th 43-9211 2A-C A-20G Lt Shainberg, N.V. S/Sgt Colosimo, R.J. S/Sgt Wing, J.S. |
| 1 669th 43-9450 2A-S A-20J Maj Campbell, M.W. Lt Palin, W.H. S/Sgt Thompson, J.B. S/Sgt Hatch, H.F. |
2 671st 43-9914 5C-X A-20J Capt Clark, R.A. Lt Jones, C.W. S/Sgt Kasper, J.F. S/Sgt Boyer, H.E. |
3 671st 43-9711 5C-M A-20G Lt Cole, H.P. S/Sgt Chvatal, F.R. S/Sgt Fandre, B.G. |
| 4 671st 43-9707 5C-H A-20G Lt Schouten, J.T. S/Sgt Feistl, J.E. S/Sgt Williamson, R.R. |
5 671st 43-9221 5C-F A-20G Lt Merchant, W.A. S/Sgt Harp, C.J. S/Sgt Brown, K.P. |
6 671st 43-9937 5C-B A-20G Lt Durante, A.R. S/Sgt Best, H.T. S/Sgt DeGiusti, I.R. |
| 1 671st 43-9951 5C-P A-20G Lt Stockwell, R.E. S/Sgt Foster, H.A. S/Sgt Rust, E.W. |
2 671st 43-9393 5C-K A-20G Lt Greenley, R.E. S/Sgt Worden, H.C. S/Sgt Rzepka, J.J. |
3 671st 43-9493 5C-V A-20G Lt Smith, R.H. S/Sgt Stockham, A.A. S/Sgt Adams, V.P. |
| 4 670th 43-9386 F6-W A-20G Lt Greene, W.J. S/Sgt Ochaba, J.A. Sgt Colbert, W.F. |
5 670th 43-9380 F6-N A-20G Lt Johnson, E.L. S/Sgt Donahue, W.J. S/Sgt Brayn, M.R. |
6 670th 43-9689 F6-I A-20G Lt Atkinson, P.G., Jr. S/Sgt Glynn, P.F. Sgt Swafford, J.O., Jr. |
| 1 669th 43-9679 2A-W A-20G Lt Morton, R.J. S/Sgt Norton, C.Q. S/Sgt Citty, F.M. |
2 669th 43-9226 2A-E A-20G Lt Renth, E.J., Jr. S/Sgt LaNave, O.D. S/Sgt Fields, W.E. |
3 669th 43-9181 2A-A A-20G Lt Land, W.H. S/Sgt Alden, S.F. S/Sgt Ballinger, R.L. |
| 4 669th 43-9673 2A-I A-20G Lt DeMun, E.E. S/Sgt Carney, H.O. S/Sgt Rosenstein, M. |
5 668th 43-9701 5H-H A-20G Maj Roney, K.T. T/Sgt Kelly, W.J. S/Sgt Ferguson, W.G. |
6 669th 43-9743 2A-R A-20G Lt Siggs, W.C. S/Sgt Radlich, N. Sgt Nicks, R.W. |
| SPARE 671st 43-9219 5C-D A-20G Lt Adams, J.D. Sgt Clearman, P.L., Jr. Cpl Zeikus, A.J. |
Group and Unit Histories
Mission # 26 -- April 23, 1944, Sunday AM
Bonnieres, France -- NOBALL (XI/A/85)
"416th Bombardment Group (L) - Group History 1944"
Transcribed from USAF Archives
Flying back for the sixth consecutive day, 37 aircraft dropped 143 x 500 G.P. bombs in an attack on a military installation at Bonnieres. For the first time the crews saw one of their own planes broken in half by flak over the target. The crew, Lt. Joseph T. Schouten, S/Sgt. Robert R. Williamson, and Sgt. Joseph E. Feistl, are all listed as "Missing in Action". Some of the other planes, seeing the bombs fall out of Lt. Schouten's stricken plane, mistook them for bombs from the lead plane and dropped on them. As a result the bombing was poor. Major Price with Lt. Hand, B/N, and Major Campbell with Lt. Palin, B/N, led the two boxes.
"Attack Bombers, We Need You! A History of the 416th Bomb Group"
Ralph Conte
Page 54
Mission #26 - 23 April - Bonniereres NoBall. We've been here
before and were not too happy with the greeting we got back
then. Today, Sunday, the experts were manning the antiaircraft
guns. Major Price with Lt. Hand, BN, led Box I with Major
Campbell and Lt. Palin, BN leading Box II, The second box
took an unusually long bomb run giving the gunners good time
to cut their fuses. Lt. Joseph T. Shouten, with gunners S/Sgt.
Robert Williamson and Sgt. Feistl were flying in slot #4 on the
lead flight of Box II. This slot is directly behind and below the
Box leader in position #1. A flak burst hit Shouten's right engine.
He remained in his slot,. but another burst hit them amid ships,
splitting the plane in half, causing a flat spin down. No parachutes
were seen coming out. When the flak hit Shouten's plane
amidships, the bombs dropped out, causing the planes behind
him to think the drop was following a legitimate bomb run, so
they dropped their load, well short of the assigned aiming point.
Other planes came back with multiple flak holes, one with 38
shots and another with 29 hits.
April 24 - A mission scheduled for today did not get too
far from base, getting a recall before reaching the English
Channel. The weather was cloudy, requiring ascents and
descents through a hazy mixture. Lt. A. A. McDonald of the
669th Squadron, lost control of his plane and started a dive, causing
a wing to break. He managed to pull the plane out of the dive,
but knew he was going to crash. He saw he was heading for a
housing area and managed to maneuver the plane to an open
space and crash landed, exploding the bombs. His heroic effort
probably saved many civilian lives. Gunners with McDonald
included S/Sgt. Leroy Barard and S/Sgt. Joseph J. Shields. All
three crew members perished. Their remains were interred in the
American Military Cemetery at Cambridge, England. No other
planes were lost.
"670th Bombardment Squadron (L) History"
Transcription from USAF Archives
On the 23rd, ten crews took part in the attack on the Bonnieres noball site. S/Sgt Donahue sustained flak wounds and received the Purple Heart as a result of this mission.
"671st Bomb Squadron (L) Unit History"
Gordon Russell and Jim Kerns
Sunday seems an ill-fated day for the 416th Bomb Group. The outfit received its real baptism of fire just over a month ago on March 19th , 1944, on what is now aptly called "Bloody Sunday". Today was another dark Sunday for this Squadron in particular. Take off for another "No-Ball"-Bonnieres-was in the mid-morning. Up to the target area nothing of importance happened except for some inaccurate flak. The second box took an extremely long (11/2 minutes) bomb run for a known well defended target. It was on this run that Lt. Joseph T. Schouten, flying number four in the lead flight second box, received a hit on his right engine. He held position, however, until additional direct hits blew the entire fuselage off directly behind the wing, and the forward section of the plane tumbled to the ground. No chutes were seen to open. Though the crew are officially " Missing in Action" , the Squadron has reconciled itself to the loss of Lt. Schouten, S/Sgt. Feistl and S/Sgt. Williamson. Sgt. Feistl had received the Purple Heart and a cluster for injuries sustained on previous missions with this Group.
Additional flak on the way out left a considerable number of the ships battle damaged. Bomb results were only fair.
"671tst Bombardment Squadron (L) History"
Transcribed from USAF Archives
The plane flown by Lt. Joseph T. Schouten received a direct hit by an 88mm. shell over the Pas-de-Calais Area on April 23. His Gunners, Sgt. Joseph E. Feistl and S/Sgt. Robert R. Williamson were also missing.