850th BS
Michelson Crew

 

The crew are shown above at Mountain Home AAF, Idaho in the spring of 1944. Names have not been matched to faces, but names by row are known, information welcomed if it is more exact. Their flyover plane (B24-H 42-94876) is believed to have been named "Lotta Stern", after a Red Cross girl at Eye, Suffolk.

Standing, L-R:
David A.   Michelson     - Pilot             ASN 0807758      (FOD)
John P.    Shaw,Jr.      - Co-Pilot          ASN 0551161      (KIA)
Donald C.  Boyde         - Navigator         ASN 0703598      (KIA)
Melvin     Weiss         - Bombardier        ASN 0695572      (FOD)

Front Row, L-R:
William J. Hovanec       - R.O.              ASN 35533579     (KIA)
Duncan L.  Patterson     - Engineer          ASN 12072733     (KIA)
Enoch K.   Wooten,Jr.    - Gunner            ASN 34604500     (KIA)
Jack K.    Jones         - Gunner            ASN 19125817     (Orphaned) Returned to Eye, 849th BS
Arnold     Marinoff      - Gunner            ASN 32787037     (FOD)

Not pictured:
John B.    Kolander      - Gunner            ASN 16117462     (Orphaned)

ASNs so-colored for EMs link to their NARA Enlistment Records.
The Michelson crew collided with a British SOE Halifax while circling their DZ on the night of 18/19 July 1944. All aboard were killed. For more details check the Honor Roll page.

 Leaflets:
USF-127

Monument:

  
   Left: Donald C. Boyde and trainer aircraft, USA.
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Crew Data Sources:
 MACR 7551
Michelson Crew Crash details
 Michelson Crew Mission Reports
Michelson Crew Personnel Cards
Michelson Crew Honor Roll Cards

Group-Related Downloads:
 AAFRH-21 "AAF Aid to European Resistance"
 Allied Leaflets Index
 Ball Project Historical Report
 "Carpetbaggers" by Parnell
 Carpetbagger C47 Missions (Jul-Sep 44)
 "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)

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