Kneeling, L-R:
Phillip B. Latta         - R.O.           ASN 7084841   (Evader)
Graham S.  Hasty         - Gunner         ASN 14050901  (POW)
Leo F.     Dumesnil      - Engineer       ASN 34078638  (POW) *
Homer G.   Collier       - Gunner         ASN 37312824  (Evader)

EM ASNs so-colored link to their NARA Enlistment Record.

* Dumesnil's first name is incorrect in the NARA listing.

This picture was possibly taken just before MR 0214 as the crew makeup matches with the data above. The most illustrious of the evaders, John B. Mead, was eventually awarded two Silver Stars, one for his actions while in evasion,and another for his work in preparing for the invasion in the south of France. The unfortunates Hasty and Dumesnil were imprisoned in Stalag Luft IVuntil the end of the war.until the end of the war.

Picture:    John Reitmeier
Encounter:  Troop train with flak guns, night of 5/6 May 1944.
Crash Site: Bois de Brattes near Mably (Loire)
Plane:      B24D 42-63798

A B-24 loaded with fuel, 12 canisters of explosives and armament, and six self-destruct charges did not leave much when it hit the ground. The picture above is the Simon plane following the morning of the crash. French partisans snapped this picture before the German salvage crews showed up. We received it from Rene Defourneau at the 1997 reunion of the Group. Defourneaux in 1999, who received it as a gift from a local French person who lived near the crash site.

Errata: First crew brought down by enemy fire in which all survived. Only crew to have a member become a Maquis fighter on Detached Service (Mead).

Status::Augmentation crew, Simon flew his first combat mission in February, and was on his eleventh mission when shot down.Augmentation crew, Simon flew his first combat mission in February, and was on his eleventh mission when shot down.

Agents inserted/attempted:
MR 0310    DZ Osric 28 (2) Unidentified Belgian agents

Additional Crew Data sources:
John Reitmeier's Journal
Simon Crew Personnel Files
Simon Crew Mission Reports