850th/857th BSs
Richard Wright Crew
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The Wright crew are shown
above with nine members of the original 10-man crew at Mountain Home, Idaho
in the spring of 1944. Names of the four officers in the rear are known to
us through Arlene Culver, wife of the crew's CP.
Back row, L-R:
Donald S. Sauer
- Bombardier ASN 0697739
Edward A. Brinkman - Navigator ASN
0703692
Edwin L. Culver - Co-Pilot ASN
0818629
Richard L.
Wright - Pilot
ASN 0455369
Names of the Enlisted from
Paul Koski via Richard Wright, son of Richard L. Wright. Verified from
orders issued out of Mountain Home,ID in 1944.
Front row, L-R:
Gilbert H.
Wagner - Gunner
ASN
33678573
Dean G. Kensinger - R.O.
ASN
16169976
Robert R. Mort - Engineer ASN
37601367
Paul J. Koski - Gunner ASN 31078262 (Orphaned)
Donald C. Reed - Gunner
ASN
34721455 * (Orphaned)
Not Pictured:
Robert E. May - Gunner
ASN
15018322
*
Reed's surname is scrambled on his NARA page.
ASNs so-colored for
EMs link to their NARA Enlistment Record.
Like many of the August
1944 crews, their missions were restricted by weather conditions and the
reorganization of the 801st/492nd BGs. William McKinley, Squadron
Bombardier, accompanied the crew on
Mission 1415 and recorded in his diary
that the three agents dropped to the Belgian Tybault target were two males
and one female. Mission 1556 was in support of
Jedburgh team HUGH on
the Brittany peninsula. Tablejam targets were all in Denmark, to which
drops resumed in August of 1944, following a hiatus of three months. The
Licensee circuit was the habitat of the famous American female agent,
Virginia Hall. Except for the Tablejam (Danish) and Tybault (Belgian)
targets, all drops were in France. Data for August of 1944.
|
Pilot |
MR# |
OK |
Fail |
Joes |
Cntrs |
Pkgs |
Nkls |
Day |
Target |
Aircraft |
|
Wright |
1412 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
10 |
7 |
3 |
Ditcher 48 |
B24H 41-29600 M |
|
Wright |
1415 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
5 |
Tybault 15 |
B24H 41-29600 M |
|
Wright |
1556 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
3 |
9 |
11 |
Hugh 2C |
B24H 41-29600 M |
|
Wright |
1594 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
Tablejam 40 |
B24H 41-29600 M |
|
Wright |
1668 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
7 |
16 |
Gondolier 13 |
B24J 42-50607 Q |
|
Wright |
1721 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
6 |
18 |
Licensee 2B |
B24H 41-29600 M |
|
Wright |
1758 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
10 |
6 |
26 |
Messenger 35 |
B24H 41-29600 M |
On the night of 15/16
September, they delivered Jedburgh team DOUGLAS II to the Marc 19 DZ in
Doubs, France, one of the last Jed teams air-dropped by the Carpetbaggers in
1944. The team's full OSS After-Mission Report is available on the FTP Site.
Leaflets:
USF-75
USF-77
USF-78
USF-127
USF-128
ZF-9
Agents
inserted/attempted:
MR 0987
DZ Percy 7G (3)
No drop
MR 1013
DZ Smith 1 (4) PROUST Mission -
Vogel,Jean Assemat,Bricard & Jacques Grenier
MR 1415
DZ Tybault 15 (3)
Belgian Agents
MR 1856
DZ Bob 289 (3)
No drop
MR 1985
DZ Marc 19 (3)
Unidentified
MR 2082
DZ Bob 188C (2) Part of
SAINFOIN Mission and/or
Jed Team Timothy See
MR 2081
MR 2219
DZ Marc 19 (3)
Unidentified
Additional Data Sources:
Richard Wright
Crew Mission Reports
Richard Wright Crew Personnel files
Group-Related Downloads:
AAFRH-21 "AAF Aid to
European Resistance"
Allied Leaflets Index
"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)
Redirect to: Crews Main Agents
