January 11,1944 - Piraeus Greece

Harbor Mission

Eight Photos Mission’s

January 7 & 29th, April 24,

March 28, May 27 & 29, June 2 & 4, 1944

The mission on January 11, 1944 to bomb the Harbor at Piraeus, Greece was a disaster for the 301st Bomb Group. The 15th AAF sent four B-17 groups, escorted by P38 Lightnings against targets in the Piraeus Harbor in Greece. The 301st launched twenty-one bombers that ran into a weather front of 5/10s to 10/10s clouds along the route an entered an overcast at 18,000 feet. The clouds along the route were extremely thick and visibility was not much beyond the wing tips, making it difficult if not impossible to see the other aircraft. There was also icing. These would be difficult conditions for solo aircraft; they were extremely hazardous for bomber formations. Encountering this weather, the trailing squadrons initiated the procedure of flying off course for two minutes to obtain spacing from the lead squadron, which maintained its course. As the formation began to clim, disaster struck.

About twenty minutes from target, two B-17s from the 97th Bomb Group flew almost head into the 301st formation, one flying below the leaders left wing, the other above and to the right, clipping the vertical stabilizer of Colonel Barthelmess’s aircraft, apparently hitting another 301st bomber before colliding with the lead bomber of the second element. One  Fortress in the lead element exploded, as did the two B-17s in the second element. Aircraft, debris, and men were flying and falling through the overcast. The Commander’s B-17 went over on its back, as did two or three other aircraft, not an ideal position for a fully loaded, iced -up B-17, although at least two of these aircraft successfully recovered at 10,000 feet. Others were not so lucky, five 301st Fortress’s were lost, along with two from the 97th. In addition, a 419th navigator bailed out. There was also a collision that downed a 99th Bomb Group bomber and a P38 Lightning within forty miles of the disaster.

During this disaster a bomber from the 353rd  Bomb Group had the tail severed in a collision trapping the air crew in their positions. However, luck was with the tail gunner, James Raley, as the accident left the tail section with adequate lift and weight distribution to allow it to fall or “fluter” to earth. Raley described the tail spinning around before finally impacting in a clump of trees. He was on his thirteenth mission a did not realize what had happened until the tail came to rest and he opened the bulkhead door to find no aircraft. Raley was the only surviver. As one crew member who flew the mission observed: “Plenty rough mission!!! Moral: “respect for the weather” Better training, better communications, better luck, or perhaps one prudent 360 degree turn might have prevented this tragedy.

The 301st B-17s went on to bomb. as they left the target, the Luftwaffe met them with thirty to forty fighters, four of which the gunners claimed to have destroyed. Two of the groups B-17s that made it safely back to Italy had sustained major damage, Colonel Barthelmess’s Fortress returned with a bent stabilizer. The  AAF lost eight bombers and two fighters on this mission, all but one due to collisions.

July , 26 th. 1944;    Weiner Neudorf, Austria - ACF 

Who Fears ?“ - The 301st In War and Peace 1942 –1979, Kenneth P. Werrell (P 179)

Luftwaffe fighters initially attacked the formation about 60 miles southwest of Vienna. Perhaps Second Lieutenant Otto Rinderknecht`s bomber was the first aircraft hit. Fifteen minutes prior to the target , he fell back from the formation because of a bad engine that forced him to feather the propeller. Rinderknecht headed for Switzerland . He did not make it as GAF fighters jumped the crippled Boeing, setting two engines on fire and forcing the crew to bail out. Seven or eight chutes were observed. At approximately the same time, German fighters tore into the trailing squadron of the formation and quickly downed four bombers. Three B-17s fell from the formation with engine fires and aircraft piloted by First Lieutenant Alonzo Martin and Second Lieutenant Charles Starling (Barr Fly) also had fires inside their aircraft and went into spins before breaking up. Four to six chutes were seen coming from Martins plane and none from Starling`s. Second Lieutenant James Lilligren`s ship was hit in the right wing, he had the vertical stabilizer almost completely shot off and had one engine on fire. It was last seen burning and spinning, with three to four chutes visible. According to one survivor of First Lieutenant Ralph Delonney ́s Fort : „ the plane was all full of holes, you could see the sky almost any place “ . With the plane on fire and out of control, he bailed out , one of two survivors of the crew. Second Lieutenant John Sullivan`s Fort(ress) had fires in one engine and the fuselage, and completed a roll before it exploded. No chutes were seen. First Lieutenant Robert McManaman`s , First Lieutenant Richard Luebke`s and Second Lieutenant Leo McDonald`s bombers all left the formation on fire. The first one stalled before three chutes were observed. The second had seven chutes and the third was spinning downward, with only one chute observed . A few minutes later and just short of the target, Second Lieutenant David Kerr`s number four engine right wing and cockpit were set afire.The bomber stalled , went out of control and then collided with First Lieutenant Ernest Howell`s B-17. An explosion destroyed both aircraft and killed seventeen of the twenty men onboard.