12th AIR FORCE

57th BOMB WING

340th BOMB GROUP (M) 

MISSION NOVEMBER 4, 1944

486th, 487th , and 489th Squadrons November 4, 1944 

Photo Credit:  Dan Setzer and 57th Bomb Wing website

 

Vilafranca, Italy

 

486th BS Mission sheet credit:  Herman Voss

 

Nov 4, 1944  Below credit:  Dan Setzer and 57th Bomb Wing website

 

488th

Lt. King, pilot, was drowned and Sgt. Burger, tail gunner never came up. He must have gone down with the plane. The rest of the crew is in the hospital suffering from exposure. Rommel came back. He wasn't on that 489th plane after all.

 

489th

 

The important railroad bridge near Villafranca di Asti came in for a heavy pounding from the Group today. Thirty-four tons of thousand pounders were unloaded withn the vicinity of the target. It will not be necessary for us to return there. But we paid dearly for the success of this mission. One of our planes, 9E, was hit by flak a few minutes off the target and crashed into the city of Alessandria. The ill-fated crew consisted of:

Lt. Rossler, Pilot
Lt. Gittings, Co-pilot
Lt. Newman, Bombardier
Sgt. Harris, Radio Operator
Sgt. Corle, Turret Gunner
Sgt. Mallicoat, Tail Gunner