36th/856th/406th NLSs
Bronar Crew 

A picture would be very much appreciated!

Status: Replacement crew. An extract of SO #224 issued from an 8th AF Replacement depot dated 11 Aug '44 shows they arrived at the base with the Leichmann, Reilly, Blume, Garvey, Schaefer, Hunter, Wiebe, Hansen and Wonnel crews.

Os:
Robert W.  Bronar           - Pilot         ASN 0663988      
Irwin T.   Kelly            - Copilot       ASN T-61455   (1st)
Garth      Bowen            - Copilot       ASN 0696422   (2nd)
Henry T.   Dixon            - Navigator     ASN 0722240
William H. Kibbie           - Bombardier    ASN 0563507

Ems:
Robert T.  Nelson           - Dispatcher    ASN 37573333
Thomas     Braswell,Jr.     - R.O.          ASN 15363856
Verne R.   Jacobs           - Engineer      ASN 39613607
Robert C.  Willems          - Gunner        ASN 36743697
Walter S.  Halstead         - Gunner        ASN 14165414  (Orphaned)
Thomas E.  Marron           - Gunner        ASN 35141742  (Orphaned)
Presley W. Smith            - Engineer      ASN 18036184
William F. Eaton            - Engineer      ASN 35433622

ASNs so-colored for EMs link to their NARA Enlistment Records.

With a scarce sample of only four mission reports for September of 1944, we can say about their aircraft only that they favored B24D 42-40768, an H-model that survived the war and was returned to the ZI in July of 1944. The crew scored three out of four missions for a 75% success rate, not bad for beginners. Why Bowen replaced Kelly as CP is not known. Eaton does not appear in Harrington MRs of Jan-Sep '44 and may have been a sub from a different crew. He bailed out during the incident and found his own way back to Allied Forces.

All targets were in France.

Following the temporary cessation of operations in mid-September of 1944 the crew moved to Cheddington to be with the Night Leaflet Squadron. Presley W. Smith, formerly of the lost Pratt crew, went with them. On the night of 4/5 January 1945, after suffering an engine loss, their plane was shot down by an English AA battery, but all survived.

Additional crew data sources:
The Bronar Incident
Crew Personnel files
Bronar Crew MRs