416th BG Mission 16

416th Bombardment Group (L)

Mission # 16 -- April 12, 1944, Wednesday PM

Dunkerque, France

Coastal Installation

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Summary of Operations

Field Order        : 264 - SPECIAL
OpRep #            : 12a - 12b
Nature of Mission : Window
Mission Status     : Attacked
Bombing Altitude   : 12,000 feet

Take-off Time      : 1420
Time Over Target   : 1527
Landing Time       : 1630
Duration (Hrs:Min) : 2:10

Place of Take-Off : AAF-170 Wethersfield RAF Station, England
A/C Dispatched     : 6 Total -- 4 A-20G's, 2 A-20J's
Tactical Target Dossier: 5102E/J/170
Illustration       : 5102E/31
Illustration Ref   : 038023
Summary of Results : Special Mission - WINDOW. Two flights of 3 ships each participated on missions with 323 and 387 Bomb Groups. Three ships dropped window on missions with 387 BG. Two ships dropped window on mission with 323 BG. One ship accompanying 323 BG was abortive. Window was not ready to be dropped.

Primary Target Latitude/Longitude: 51.03458,2.36881 (51° 2' 4" N, 2° 22' 8" E)
(Latitude/Longitude based on Google Maps, Selected Town center - Dunkerque, France)
(See Latitude/Longitude Coordinates and Target Identifiers for more information. Note: This coordinate represents the Primary Target Location, the Location actually attacked may differ)

Scanned original Mission 16 documents (multipage PDF files)

Mission Folder Reports Folder OpRep # 12b

If nothing happens on Click, check to see if the PDF file was automatically saved to your computer. Depending on Internet speed, the display or download may be slow.
These Public Domain, Declassified Mission documents were graciously provided to the 416th BG Archive by the dedicated staff of the Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA).
An on-line index of records held by AFHRA up to 2001 is available at Air Force History Index.org.
Most of these PDF files are unaltered originals provided by the AFHRA, a few have been re-organized.
Pages may be out of sequence; files may contain scanned blank pages and/or pages scanned upside-down; some pages may be included in more than one file.
The "Mission Folder" usually contains the majority of documents for a Mission, including Field Orders, Status Reports, Pilot Interrogations, Photos (if available), etc.

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.

1 670th 43-9455 F6-T A-20J Lt MacManus, P.F.E., Jr. Lt McQuade, R.J. S/Sgt Webb, C.L. S/Sgt Rogers, J.L., Jr.	2 671st 43-9203 5C-A A-20G Lt Shainberg, N.V. S/Sgt Ballinger, R.L. S/Sgt Hatch, H.F.	3 671st 43-9493 5C-V A-20G Lt Siggs, W.C. S/Sgt Shields, J.J. S/Sgt Radlich, N.

1 668th 43-9444 5H-J A-20J Lt Osborne, A.E., Jr. Lt Maltby, A.H. S/Sgt Kelly, E.E. S/Sgt Coe, W.H.	2 670th 43-9209 F6-K A-20G Lt Meagher, J.F. S/Sgt Damico, E.A. S/Sgt Dickenson, E.S.	3 670th 43-9696 F6-G A-20G Lt Lesher, R.D. S/Sgt Antanaitis, A.J. S/Sgt Hedrick, H.R.

Group and Unit Histories

Mission # 16 -- April 12, 1944, Wednesday PM
Dunkerque, France -- Coastal Installation

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

Flying a mission for the third straight day, on the 12th we attacked another military installation at Vacqueriette with 37 aircraft. Even with two Bomb Runs only 20 of the aircraft were able to bomb because of a heavy cloud cover. Colonel Farmer and Captain Huff led the two boxes. The results were unobserved. At the same time 6 of our A-20's dropped window in support of B-26's in an attack on Dunkerque. None of our planes received any battle damage.

"Attack Bombers, We Need You! A History of the 416th Bomb Group"
Ralph Conte
Page 50

Mission #16 - 13 April - Noball target not identified.

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

Another day... another "No-Ball"... and the 416th hit its target again. This was confirmed by photo reconnaissance. The target area covered by 8/10ths cumulus, but on the second run the lead bombardier caught the target in his sight and let go. The bombs dropped out of site through the clouds. No flak or fighters were experienced.