36th BS
Fenster Crew

Back Row L-R:
Marvin L.  Fenster      - Pilot        ASN 0678009
Richard L. Warn         - Copilot      ASN 0691071
Avery V.   Yancey       - Bombardier   ASN 0681530
Richard C. Davis        - Navigator    ASN 0685555

Kneeling L-R:
James W.   Hall         - Dispatcher   ASN 17128257
Richard W. Thomas       - Engineer     ASN 37433791
John C.    Ringlesbach  - R.O.         ASN 13155928
Darwin S.  Gray         - Tail Gunner  ASN 16151759

Not Shown:
Bernard J. Berglund     - Gunner       ASN 16168255 (Orphaned)
George F.  Strutz       - Gunner       ASN 32472766 (Orphaned)

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

Status: Augmentation crew,formed up as a crew at Pueblo, CO in early October of 1943. Arrived at 2nd CCRC,UK,on 20 Nov 1943, assigned to AAF Station 120 for an indefinite period of training 7 Dec 1943. Returned to 2nd CCRC 15 Dec 1943. Reported in to Alconbury,Station 102 in late December 1943 as a ten-man crew. 

Picture Location: Harrington,Spring 1944

Claim to Fame: On the night of 7/8June 1944 the crew dropped four agents to the STATIONER 110B DZ. The agents were Phillip Liewer, Robert Malouber, Violette Szabo, and Jean Guiet. Reportedly organized by Phillip Liewer (Hamlet also known as Maj Charles Staunton), their circuit "SALESMAN" was near Limoges. The drop became famous because the female courier, a young French widow named Violette Szabo (Corinne), was martyred at Ravensbruck after being trapped by the Gestapo a few days after being dropped. In a long letter, dated 6 June 1998, Jean Guiet informed Thomas Ensminger that "We were dropped near the village of Sussac, about 50km to the SE of Limoges. I know there were two runs with two of us going out the hole on each run." Now living in the United States, Jean Guiet recently contacted the Air Force Academy to donate his papers, but not before sending them to the webmaster for scan.

Photo Credits Crew: John C. Ringlesbach

Left: Violette Szabo

Errata: Fenster never had a regular Copilot, his first CP, Lester L. Price,flew two missions and declared himself a medical. The record shows that he was indeed transferred to a medical unit soon after and never flew with the Carpetbaggers again. Fenster's Copilots as a result of this were usually "newbie" pilots who wanted to get one or two missions in with an experienced pilot before taking their own crew into combat.

Combat Period: Feb-July 1944 30 Mission tour

Preferred Aircraft: B24-D 42-40538

Never named, it was received from Burtonwood on 28 January 1944, records from Alconbury or Tempsford of the plane's missions for February and March of 1944 have not yet been recovered.  However, since Fenster flew this plane almost exclusively for April-July of 1944, it is feasible to surmise that he flew it often in February and March.

 
Left: Fenster's first Copilot, Lester L. Price

Below: A candid shot of five of the crewmembers waiting a ride into debrief.

Agents Carried/Delivered:
MR 0175 (1) Not identified
MR 0383 (2) Marguerite D.F. Knight & Henry Bouchard
MR 0407 (3) Not Identified
MR 0620 (4) Liewer,Guiet,Szabo & Malubier

Leaflets Carried/Delivered:
Leaflets were carried on the majority of missions but were not annotated, or were annotated incorrectly.

Additional Crew Data Sources:
Fenster Crew Personnel Files
Fenster Crew Mission Reports
Jean Guiet's Papers
Carve Her Name With Pride (Netflix Link)