36th
BS
Schreiner Crew
Standing,
L-R:
Lester M. Schick
- Observer ASN 0581185
Pritach
- UK Pilot
William C. Jesperson -
Engineer ASN
19054277
Wilford L. Bollinger -
Dispatcher ASN
36350846
Albert L. Sage
- R.O.
ASN 7000869
Robert C. Durham
- Navigator ASN 0732711
Unknown
- Officer
Unknown
- UK Officer
David H. Schreiner
- Pilot
ASN 0426999
Kneeling,
L-R:
Albert L. Krasevac
- Gunner ASN
39076124
Unknown
- UK
Officer
Neil G. Richards
- Gunner ASN
17024454
ASNs
so-colored
for EMs link to their NARA Enlistment Record.
One of the most diverse crews of
the Group, a very thick book could be written about their
adventures. Schreiner and crew were first assigned to the 406th BS
upon arriving at Alconbury in December of 1943, but this was quickly
changed and they were reassigned to the 36th BS on 11 Dec '43. They
flew four missions as a crew out of Alconbury, and were then chosen
by Bernt Balchen to participate in "Operation Sonnie" out of
Leuchars, Scotland on Detached Service. Sonnie brought Allied
Airmen, Norwegian Resistance fighters, and materials out of Sweden
by using the subterfuge that the planes were civilian. In fact they
did have civilian markings and registrations and they were unarmed.
But little else was civilian about them. The ball turret was
removed, seating was installed, and the five or six planes that
Balchen had for Sonnie were painted a very dull gray with tail
numbers that were barely distinguishable.
Above:
B24 NC38942 at Leuchars,
spring of 1944, it was most often flown in to Sweden by a pilot
named Cormoy.
Aircraft
Details: Tom Brittan
Operation Sonnie came to an end in the summer of 1944 after
repatriating a number of personnel often estimated at around 3000.
By that time Balchen had sought and gained support for supporting
the Norwegian Reistance in the same fashion as the Carpetbaggers had
been doing since January '44. But the men who had volunteered for
Sonnie, outside of the Schreiner crew, had already completed their
tours prior to the Leuchars experience and did not want any part of
it, at least not without a long leave to the ZI. Accordingly, makeup
crews were drafted from incoming ferry pilots and given some
training at Harrington before participating in Balchen's "Ball
Operation". The crew picture above shows the crew on their return to
Leuchars, Scotland after being shot down by "friendly" fire of the
Russians over Murmansk, where they were trying to land after a
successful drop to the Norwegians. After two weeks internment they
were returned via a WWI-era British battleship to the Shetlands and
a British seaplane back to Leuchars. In the incident, LtCol Keith
Allen, command pilot of the mission, was killed. By the time of
their incident(20 Sep '44) Schreiner and crew had been transferred
to Air Transport Command and were no longer part of Heflin's
Carpetbagger operations. Losing LtCol Allen, and one crew with OSS
cadets on board in an attempted drop (O'Hara crew) Balchen's
Operation Ball was brought to a stop by orders from General Spaatz
shortly after the Schreiner incident.
Errata: It has never been widely publicized but two men from Schreiner's crew, Withrow and Durham, participated in the retrieval of an errant V-2 from Swedish territory in a C-47, which provided the Allies advance notice of Hitler's second "vengeance" weapon. LtCol Keith Allen piloted the mission.
Additional Crew Data Sources:
Ball
Project MRs (Leuchars)
Schreiner Crew MRs
(Leuchars)
Schreiner Crew Personnel Files
FTP folders of interest:
(User ID & Password
Required)
Sage Collection
Shreiner Collection
Jesperson Collection
Group-Related Downloads:
AAFRH-21 "AAF Aid to
European Resistance"
Allied Leaflets Index
Ball
Project Historical Report
"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)