Pictured above are the four officers of the crew, from the Corriere collection. They are at Stone, the 70th Replacement Depot, just before deployment to Harrington. Left to right they are: Ferrandino, Kempke, Batson and Circello. The Batson crew reported in from the 70th Replacement Depot on 18 December 1944 as a ten-man crew consisting of the following members.
Os:
Gerald W. Batson -
Pilot ASN 0828916
Robert A. Kempke - Copilot
ASN 0810672
Nicolo J. Ferrandino - Navigator ASN
T-132903
Joseph C. Circello - Bombardier
ASN 0785377
EMs:
Frederick A. Britt -
Gunner ASN
19073250
Russell C. Hastler,Jr. - Gunner ASN
35921055
Manley J. Jensen - R.O.
ASN 19089900
Robert W. Krumscheid - Engineer
ASN 32779185
William C. Lipscomb - Gunner
ASN
35846708
Stanley N. Walker - Gunner
ASN
11138579
The crew carried two orientation riders on the night of 30/31 March 1945:
Stanley Rosenthal - Bombardier ASN 0783159 (Pittman crew)
Gerald E. Trueblood - MOS 938 ASN
37668705 Gunnery Instructor
ASNs
so-colored
for EMs link to their NARA Enlistment Records.
Combat
Period:
January-May 1945.
Status: Replacement crew for the 857th BS. At present their mission reports are incomplete, though entries for others can be found in the Late Period Log. Three mission reports have been recovered from microfilm roll 5689 and are available at this link.
Below: Robert Kempke at Stone, (70th Replacement Depot),UK early 1945.
Additional data sources:
Batson Crew
Personnel Files
Batson Crew pictures
Batson Crew Mission Reports (partial)
Group-Related Downloads:
"Carpetbaggers" by Parnell
"They Flew by Night" editor Robert Fish
Serial Number Index of B24s
Station 179 Operations Log (handwritten
Apr44-Jul45)
Station 179 Operations
Log (transcribed
Sep44-Jul45)
Available on Request:
Group Mission Reports Jan-Sep44 (On
disk $12ea - $10ea via Paypal)
"Chronology of SOE
Operations with the Resistance In France During WWII" by
Foot & Boxhall
"Spies,Supplies & Moonlit
Skies Vols 1&2" by Ensminger (On
disk $12ea - $10ea via Paypal)