Aircraft # 42-50287

B-24H-20 = Built by Consolidated in Fort Worth, Texas.
577th Squadron/ 392nd Bomb Group/ 2nd Air Division/ 8th Air Force
Based in East Anglia near Wendling, England
(Photo of crew and plane)
CREW:Back L to R:Neil Larsen(Pilot),Charles Stratton(Copilot), Tom O'Neill(Navigator),Tommy Hiller (Bombardier) Front L to R:Clyde Whitt(Right waist gunner),Henry Fox(radio operator),*Robert Wilcox( Tail gunner),William Robinson(Engineer),*Donald Barker(Ball gunner), Gus Cristofaro(Left waist gunner) & "Gertie".
*(Wilcox was MIA April 29, 1944 while flying with Lt. Shea's crew. He spent the rest of the war as a POW. His replacement was Stanley Prazak)
*(Barker was transferred to the 578th Squadron before June 4, 1944. His replacement was Edward Davis)


Photo probably made in states with training plane. Plane shown was probably made in San Diego, not Fort Worth. Notice shape of the fairing around the nose turret and no armor plate installed under the cockpit window that would be there if the plane was in England
Click HERE to see a map of the route they took from Salt Lake City to England via Brazil and Africa.

S/Sgt Whitt kept a combat diary of his missions which has been reproduced at this link.


23 June, 1944
Target: Leon/Athies airfield in Occupied France
24 bombers from Wendling take off at 1630 hours.
Two ships were lost to flak over target. Ship #287 ,which was hit by flak over target, was hit again over Dunkirk and went down in a spin out of control. Another ship, too severely damaged to make it back to base, made a forced landing at Manston. Of the bombers that returned to Wendling that day, 17 had been damaged by antiaircraft fire.
(map of last mission)
As you can see, the group did not maintain it's flight plan after hitting the target. Due to having received such heavy damage from flak over the target, they took a more direct route back home.

USAAF MISSING AIRCREW REPORT #06523

Aircraft: #42-50287 (NO NICKNAME) "V-Plus" 17th Mission
Aircrew: Larsen / Squadron: 577th
CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:
Pilot		1/Lt	Larsen, Niel R.			KIA

Copilot		2/Lt	Stratton, Charles R. Jr.	KIA

Navigator	2/Lt	O'Neill, Thomas J.		POW

Bombardier 	2/Lt	Hiller, Thomas B.		POW

Nose gunner	PVT	Davis, Edward T.		POW

Radio operator	T/Sgt	Fox, Henry H.			POW

Engineer	T/Sgt	Robinson, William F.		KIA

Waist gunner	S/Sgt	Whitt, Clyde G.			KIA

Waist gunner	S/Sgt	Cristofaro, Gus J.		KIA

Tail gunner	S/Sgt	Prazak, Stanley J.		KIA
MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: An eyewitness (Lt. Holliday, crew Pilot 577th) reported this aircraft as being first hit by flak over the target , hit again at Dunkirk (return route) and lost a propeller with plane going down in a spin out of control and believed to have crashed, (3) chutes seen. A German Report #KU2368, 23 June at 2130, Airdrome Command at Lille, stated that this aircrew of ten were recovered with (6) dead: Larsen, Stratton, Robinson, Prazak, Cristofaro, and Whitt, and (4) members captured. The men taken prisoner were identified positively and sent on to Dulag-Luft center for interrogation at Oberursel/Frankfort on 27 June.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: One crew survivor; O'Neill, later gave information in a 'Casualty Questionnaire' to U.S. authorities after his repatriation from POW status, as follows: that their ship had left the Group formation about five miles north of the target after bombing (and took a more direct route returning to England); and about (10) miles southeast of Dunkirk some of the crew began to bail out starting at about 10,000 feet down to 3-4,000 feet due to the plane being in a spin (after being hit by flak again); that the Pilot, Co-Pilot, and Engineer were in their respective flight positions when the plane took a direct flak hit into the flight deck, and that was the last seen of these members; that the ship had crashed about (10) miles southeast of Dunkirk between a railroad, canal, and a road near a house there; and it burned with no surviving crew members able to get back to it. He noted further that the Pilot and Co-Pilot were killed instantly, he believed, and the Engineer perished before he could bail out since the plane, immediately after the AA hit, went into a right hand spiral spin and no abandon ship signal was given. Another report from Lt. Hiller, Bombardier, stated that he and the Radio Operator bailed out through the bomb bays after the ship stopped spinning momentarily around 10,000 feet, followed by the Navigator and Nose Gunner who jumped through the nose escape way (Note: Escape had to be through the nose wheel well doors as this exit was the only way from the nose section, and quite difficult to accomplish with a Parachute on, back or chest pack). No other accounts were filed with this MACR.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWII:
Larsen (Wife, Arlene I., 3145, Forth Worth, Texas)
Stratton (Wife, Virginia I., 816 North 24th St St. Joseph, Missouri)
O'Neill (Father, Walter L., 4119 A Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, Missouri)
Hiller (Mother, Margaret V., 6727 Toresdale Avenue, Philadelphia)
Davis (Father, Gilbert W., Route #1, McMinnville, Tennessee)
Fox (Wife, Frances K., 3115 Lincoln St, Columbia, South Carolina)
Robinson (Mother, Emmie V., Eatonon, Georgia)
Whitt (Mother, Mary Lee, Route #3, Roxboro, North Carolina)
Cristofaro (Father, Joseph, 38 Oxford, Fernwood, Pennsylvania)
Prazak (Mother, Antoinette C. 163 West Allen, Winsocki, Vermont)
(photo of sue) (photo of clyde)




Annie Sue Barrett
& Clyde Gregory Whitt
Married 12 October, 1943

























Clyde Whitt was my uncle and this page is dedicated to his
memory and to that of my grandmother -
Mary Lee Gregory Whitt.

(Clyde's Mother's Obituary)
(photo of 392 BG planes)
These 2 ships, with the Circle D, were part of the 392nd BG.
SOME RELATED LINKS YOU MIGHT FIND OF INTEREST:

I have another uncle, Frank, who did not go overseas during the war but is looking for his buddies from the 786th AAA AW Co.C or any other Company. They were activated at Ft. Bliss, TX (El Paso) in July 1943 and disbanded at Camp Haan, CA. His phone is 253/383-5469.
url of this page -- Revised: July 21, 2004
 Click here to return to Landon's homepage.
landon_whitt@unc.edu
(air force insignia)

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