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Photos for Crews: 828th Squadron Photos for Crews: 829th Squadron Photos for Crews: 830th Squadron
Photos of Crews: 831st Squadron
Mulligan crew-831st Sqdn-Replacement crew Front Row, Left to Right: John Godfrey, radio operator; Leonard Little, tail gunner; Robert Rector, flight engineer; Sam Nenadich, top turret; Leo Gagne, ball gunner, and Don Evjen, nose gunner. Back Row, Left to Right: Sam Giaimo, navigator; James Mulligan, pilot; Robert Seitz, copilot and Frank Nardi, bombardier. Mulligan’s crew arrived at Venosa in July 1944. Their assigned plane was Flak Shak III. The crew was shot down by fighters on August 24, 1944, while on a raid to the Pardubice Oil Refinery in Czechoslovakia. Several of the crew were wounded, but the entire crew survived the war in POW camps.
Neitzel crew-831st Sqdn-Replacement crew Front Row, Left to Right: Dan Blodgett, navigator; Eddie Neitzel, pilot; Bill Todd, copilot, and Fred Moore, bombardier. Back Row, Left to Right: James Leturno, engineer; Robert Bishop, gunner; Martin Sasser, nosegunner; Philmore Gross, radio operator; Frank Griffin, tailgunner, and Pat Melchione, ballgunner. Neitzel’s crew was an early replacement crew in the 831st, arriving in June 1944. Neitzel became a flight leader and Bill Todd took over as 1st pilot. Moore became a lead bombardier and was subsequently taken off the crew. Blodgett flew a mission with Captain Lawrence on 9/13/44 and was shot down over Oswiecim, Poland. Blodgett became a POW and survived the war. When Todd completed his 50 missions, the remainder of the crew began flying with Neitzel again. On 11/5/44, shortly after take-off on a mission to Vienna (the 485th’s 100th mission), the crew had a mid-air collision with another aircraft. Leturno, Bishop, Sasser, Gross, Griffin, Melchione, and Neitzel were killed. Only Blodgett, Todd, and Moore survived the war.
Proudlove crew-831st Sqdn-Original crew #64 Front Row, Left to Right: Robert Lynn, copilot; Lloyd Proudlove, pilot; Edwin Ivy, navigator, and Julius Tolleson, bombardier. Back Row, Left to Right: Ken Brown, tail gunner; Eric Bernhard, ball gunner; Robert Miller, nose gunner; Arni Gudjonson, top turret gunner; Walter Gworek, flight engineer/waist gunner, and Wilbur Snider, radio operator/waist gunner. Bernhard came oversease by boat and was killed in the sinking of the Paul Hamilton. Lynn became a 1st pilot and was shot down on the 6/23/44 mission to Guirgiu, Romania. Lynn survived the war as a POW. Proudlove's crew was the first crew shot down from the 831st Squadron, downed by flak on the 5/29/44 mission to Vienna. Captain Joe Landis was flying as copilot. All of the men survived as POWs.
Schaefer crew-831st Sqdn-Replacement crew Front Row, Left to Right: Pete Seversky, gunner; Jim Kane, engineer; Ted Lombard, gunner; Pete Saab, radio operator; Don Celenia, ballgunner, and Joe Dye, tailgunner. Back Row, Left to Right: Earl Hall, bombardier; Chris Schaefer, pilot; Bill Geyer, copilot, and Jack Bloomfield, navigator. This replacement crew arrived in August, 1944. Their assigned plane was Valiant Lady. Jack Bloomfield was killed while flying with Gillette’s crew on 12/18/44, when the plane went down in the Adriatic. The rest of the crew survived the war.
Sibilia crew-831st Sqdn-Original crew #75 Front Row, Left to Right: Arthur Dusenberry, navigator; Edwin Sibilia, pilot; Andres Salazar, bombardier. Standing, Left to Right: Hyman Greenwald, radio operator/waist gunner; Louis Schoeneman, gunner; James Lambeth, gunner; Walter Iwanski, engineer/gunner; Roy Bulls, gunner, and Ray Heskes, ballgunner. Missing from the photo is Louis Grau, copilot. Angus Phelts was the original pilot assigned to this crew. He was replaced by Ed Sibilia. This crew completed their 50 missions.
Simpson crew-831st Sqdn-Replacement crew Front row, Left to Right: Lloyd W. Simpson, pilot; Max D. Chapman, copilot; John B. Harrington, bombardier, and Ralph E. Milner, navigator. Back Row, Left to Right: Victor E. Smith, top gunner; Boyce Strong, ballgunner; Frank Kontis, engineer; Merlin D. Nieman, tail gunner; Robert C. Gordon, nose gunner, and Wallace Bellonger, radio operator. This crew was a replacement crew in the 831st Squadron. They were designated a lead crew and flew most of their missions in this capacity. The copilot was assigned to another crew in Italy. The entire crew survived the war . Gordon often flew as a waist gunner on lead missions and was also assigned to photograph the targets after bombs were dropped.
Daniel Sjodin-831st Sqdn commander Front Row, Left to Right: Howard Cherry, bombardier; John Coffin, navigator, and Bob Lewis, nose navigator. Middle Row, Left to Right: General George Acheson (55th Wing Commander), copilot; Major Whitehall, waist gunner; Colonel Dan Sjodin, pilot; Thomas Kelly, ball gunner, and Vernon Christensen, tail gunner. Back Row, Left to Right: Forrest Wilson, waist gunner; Bob Monahan, top turret, and Wilfred Lonsway, radio operator. The make up of the crew that flew this mission was unusual. Cherry was the group bombardier. Coffin was the group navigator. The gunners were from various crews, except for Major Whitehall. Whitehall may have come been assigned to 55th Wing. The photo was taken during the summer of 1944.
Smith crew-831st Sqdn-Replacement crew Front Row, Left to Right: Wayne Gammon, top gunner; Peter Wiblanski, engineer; Charles Ebert, radio operator; Ed Darman, nose gunner; Stan Gagnon, ballgunner, and Morris “Smoky” Harsh, tail gunner. Back Row, Left to Right: Bob Hendrickson, bombardier; Phil Stone, navigator; Jim Moore, copilot, and John Smith, pilot. The photo was taken in November, 1944, before the crew went overseas. The crew arrived at Venosa in December, 1944, and began flying missions shortly thereafter. On 1/20/45 Phil Stone flew his first mission with Bob Baker's crew to gain experience. The mission was to Linz, Austria. There was a malfunction in the oxygen system, causing Stone and other crew members to lose consciousness. Stone had his gloves off when his happened and froze several fingers, which were later amputated. The crew survived the war.
Stauverman crew-831st sqdn-Original crew #77 Front Row, Left to Right: Ed Stauverman, pilot; Miles Aldridge, copilot; George Winter, navigator, and Malachi Reddington, bombardier. Standing, Left to Right: Sam Huffman, engineer/gunner; Dominic Sanzotta, radio operator/gunner; Elmer Patton, gunner; Orville Kreifels, tail gunner; John O’Connell, gunner, and Michael DeMarco, gunner. John Jackman was later assigned to this crew, to replace Mike DeMarco, who was killed in the sinking of the Paul Hamilton. Mal Reddington was shot down over Bulgaria on 6/23/44, while flying with Lynn's crew and became a POW of the Bulgarians. John Jackman was originally in the Canadian army, but transferred to the USAAF. George Winter was shot down while flying with Captain Lawrence’s crew on 9/13/44 and became a POW. The assigned plane for this crew was Valiant Lady.
Warden crew-831st Sqdn-Replacement crew Front Row, Left to Right: Glen Warden, pilot; Hal Wilder, copilot; Howard Williams, navigator, and Albert Neal, bombardier. Back Row, Left to Right: George Frenoy, ballgunner; Shirley Jarrell, flight engineer; Clarence Foringer; nose gunner; Carl Spiegel, top turret; Lee Holcomb, tail gunner, and Chris Boehm, radio operator. Warden’s crew was a replacement crew, arriving in December, 1944. On the 3/9/45 mission to Graz, Lee Holcomb, was injured by flak. The plane was severely damaged and the rudder cables were cut. Jarrell managed to splice the cables together, using the cord from his heated suit. The plane made it back safely, with 275 holes. The injured Holcomb was replaced by Warren LaFrance, who had been on Blood’s crew, and who was shot down on the 12/26/44 mission to Blechhammer. LaFrance was rescued by the Partisans, returned to Italy, and assigned to Warden’s crew after recovery from his injuries. Most of the crew had about 17 missions when the war ended.
Warner Crew-831st Sqdn-Replacement crew Front Row, Left to Right: Marinus Mieras, bombardier; Joseph Drutz, navigator; Robert Oppenheim, copilot and Jerome Warner, pilot. Back Row, Left to Right: Maurice Bendes, radio operator; R. Hannmann, tail gunner; Francis Hennessey, top gunner; Wilmer Hogan, nose gunner; Duane Waters, flight engineer;, and Thomas Cook, ball gunner. Apparently Hannmann was replaced by Nathan Veiden. This replacement crew had completed approximately five missions when they were shot down on the November 20, 1944 mission to Blechhammer, Germany. The entire crew survived the war as POWs.
Wiggins crew-831st Sqdn-Original crew #66 Front Row, Left to Right: Kenneth Leasure, navigator; Volney Wiggins, pilot, and Matthew Hall, copilot. Back Row, Left to Right: Ed Hartupee, ballgunner; Virgil Anderson, top gunner; Francis Brittain Jr., nosegunner, and Robert Hickman, tailgunner. (Missing from the photo are John P. Dempsey, bombardier; Martin J. Caine, radio operator, and Wilson B. Shimer, engineer.) The assigned plane for this crew was Flak Shak. This crew was attacked by fighters on the 6/28/44 mission to Bucharest, Romania. Nearly everyone on the crew was wounded in the fighter attacks, but the pilots managed to fly the plane to Bari, Italy, where it was scrapped. The gunners were credited with shooting down 7 German fighters. The entire crew received the Silver Star for the mission. The above photo was taken after the medal ceremony. The missing crew members were still in the hospital from wounds. Matt Hall was later killed on the 9/13/44 mission to Oswiecim, Poland, flying with Captain Lawrence.
Wydler crew-831st Sqdn-Replacement crew Front Row, Left to Right: Mike Goglia, copilot; Niran Kellog, bombardier, Don Swenson, Navigator; Ken Wydler, pilot. Back Row, Left to Right: Phil Williams, gunner, Elmer Gibson, gunner, Robert Espenshade, nosegunner, Harvey Altman, tailgunner, Harold Suess, gunner, George Estok, gunner. The photo was taken in Topeka, Kansas, in September, 1944, before the crew left for overseas. The crew was assigned to the 831st Squadron in October 1944. On the Pola mission on 2/7/45, their aircraft received a direct hit in the nose section, instantly killing the navigator (Swenson) and blowing his body out of the aircraft. Both pilots were temporarily knocked unconscious from the concussion, but recovered in time to save the aircraft and the crew. |
