381 BG 533 BS

My father was in the 381st BG, unit 533 BS.  He passed away in December 1992 and I found a shoebox under his bed with a document of "Certification of Operational Missions" listing 35 missions, mission #1 from 24 Aug 1944 (Weimer, Germany) to mission #35 on 4 March 1945 in Ulm, Germany.  He also had a picture of Frenchy's Folly (42-39997) and Our Boarding House (42-38103)  I also found newspaper articles corresponding to each of the 35 missions.  There was a crew picture (no names).   He received a purple heart for a mission over Merseburg on 21 Nov 1944.  His name is Clifford T. Owens.  If anyone knew him, I'd love to hear from you.  I'm putting together a scrapbook for his grandchildren. 

Hi Terry
I have loaded a couple of photos (Frenchy's Folly and Our Boarding House) up into the photo gallery/aircraft for you. Contact me if you would like the 1mb versions. I would however appreciate it if your photos are different that you could load them up here.

http://www.thames-barge-art.co.uk/Pages/Aviation%20Page.html

Terry,
 
Hopefully you will find the attached file interesting.

Attachment(s)

CTOwens.pdf (39.27 KB) - downloaded 157 times

Lucky, where did you find this flight log? I would love to find such a list for my cousin Wayne Schomburg who was a pilot with the 534th Sq., 381st BG.

Scott:
The information on specific missions comes mainly from crew loading lists which show the aircraft number and personnel who flew in each crew position for that mission.  For pilots only, we also have formation sheets for some but not all of the missions.  These were pages given to pilots at briefing which showed their position within the group and squadron formation.  Lucky M may have other tips for sources he has used as well.  Be aware some of the crew loading lists are missing and are yet to be found if they still exist in the Air Force archives. I checked and saw that Wayne Schomburg has 11 missions credited in our database.  I can prepare a list of eight of those missions for you and may be able to find more (just send me an email).  You can research the original records yourself by the following: go to the History tab at the top of 381st.org, in the history section you will find a link to 381st Microfilm index, click on that and find the section that shows which 534th crew loading lists have been found for the months of combat operations.  You can then tab down and find the exact microfilm roll which contains these 534th crew loading lists for the months you want to explore.  Once you have identified the microfilm roll and pages, you can then directly view those images from the roll by going to the Photo Gallery on 381st.org, clicking on the microfilm roll number in the Microfilm section, and then finding the pages of interest.   Be aware the images on the website reflect the poor quality of the original microfilm image and can be difficult to view at times.
Kevin Wilson, PhD, President 381st BGMA
Email: Wilsonkvn@aol.com
 

Scott,
Here is what I have in the database on Wayne Schomburg.  Sorry my information on the 534th is not as complete.
 

Attachment(s)

WSchomburg.pdf (36.58 KB) - downloaded 126 times

Thanks Lucky. This adds greatly to my research. Appreciate it very much.

LuckyM


Terry,
 
Hopefully you will find the attached file interesting.

Hi Lucky! Again, where can we access the information you gave in that download? That looks like an important database. Can one search it for a compilation of all the missions on which a given crew member flew? Many would appreciate access to this information! (For my case, I'm searching for all the missions of 2Lt. Donald Nason, pilot of 42-37719, 381st BG, 533rdSq who was killed 11JAN1944; the family of 2Lt. Byser, co-pilot, would also like to know.)

The database is not available online.  It is a database that I have built and continue to input data into.  I have entered all the information from the crew loading lists that I found on the microfilm for the 381st Bomb Group.  The database encompasses a lot more than the 381st with a great deal of it being Navy related.
 
In regard to your question, I have built a button in the database that all I have to do is enter the unique identifier (service number if I have it) and the report is generated.  I will be happy to generate a list of missions for any family member who would like it.
 
Please PM me your email address and I will send you the missions for Nason and Byser.  For some reason I am not able to upload the pdf files.

I'm sorry, I don't know how to "PM". Lt. Donald Nason was my brother. Thank you for sharing this information and anything else that would help my search for information about him. Some of what I have found on the internet is not correct. I can be reached at dorothy.lorance@yahoo (please make the subject "Lt. Donald Nason"). I will pass it on to the family of Lt. Byser (co-pilot). Again, thank you, Dorothy

Hi Dorothy.  This is Roberta.  I think you have to sign up before you can PM (private message) on the forum.  You can do that at the top of the forum.  I will send you what LuckyM sent me.  I sent you an email yesterday also.  Nice to meet you.

LuckyM


The database is not available online.  It is a database that I have built and continue to input data into.  I have entered all the information from the crew loading lists that I found on the microfilm for the 381st Bomb Group.  The database encompasses a lot more than the 381st with a great deal of it being Navy related.
 
In regard to your question, I have built a button in the database that all I have to do is enter the unique identifier (service number if I have it) and the report is generated.  I will be happy to generate a list of missions for any family member who would like it.
 
Please PM me your email address and I will send you the missions for Nason and Byser.  For some reason I am not able to upload the pdf files.

Hi Lucky, thank you for the information.  There were 5 missions for Lt. Nason, 12/30/43, 12/31/43, 1/4/44, 1/7,44, and 1/11/44, the final one.  I am wondering why my uncle, Lt. Byser, was not on the 12/30/43 mission, but instead a Lt. Reese was copilot.  All the same Nason crew members were on the rest of the flights.  Do you know why and if Lt. Byser was on another plane or was grounded that day.  I have looked at the loading lists, but didn't see him in any others list.  Thank you for your help.
Roberta