Chimples Crew – Assigned 755th Squadron – September 15, 1944

2Lt George Chimples and crew were assigned to the 755th Squadron on September 15, 1944.  Their first operational mission occurred a few days later when they flew from Horsham St Faith to St Dizier France with a load of gasoline for Patton’s Army.  Over the next week, members of Chimples’ crew would fly eight additional Truckin’ Missions.  The crew’s first combat sortie took place on October 5, 1944 when the 458th hit an airfield near Paderborn, Germany.  The crew flew B-24J-1-FO 42-50555 named Baby Shoes.  Coincidentally, this was the first mission for this aircraft as well – an odd occurrence, as new crews were usually not given new aircraft to fly!

A month later the crew had completed 10 additional missions.  They had been transferred from the 755th Squadron to the 754th on October 23rd when all lead crews went to the 755th, and wing (non-lead) crews were transferred out of the 755th and spread amongst the other three squadrons.  On November 8th, on what should have been the crew’s 11th mission, they were forced to abort (their first and only abort) due to a “malfunctioning gyro horizon” (attitude indicator).

By mid-December 1944, the crew had completed 14 combat missions, almost half way done.  On December 20th all of the crew except co-pilot, 2Lt William Patak, were transferred back into the 755th Squadron to act as a lead crew.  Patak became a first pilot, his crew made up of airmen from several different crews who, for one reason or another, had not completed their combat tours with the crews they were assigned with.  Patak flew a total of 25 combat missions as an aircraft commander, completing his operational tour in early April 1945. 2Lt Lawrence E. Tilbury, and individual replacement arriving at Horsham on October 7th, flew several missions with the Chimples crew as co-pilot.

F/O Alden L. Armstrong appears to have been removed from the crew at some point during this transition and placed as navigator with the lead crew of Captain John Moran.  He was on the January 16, 1945 Magdeburg mission when Moran’s crew was forced to bail out near Auxerre, France due to battle damage.  Two of the crew’s gunners were killed when their parachutes failed to open, but the other nine members of the crew made their way back to Horsham by January 21st.

Chimples’ new navigator, F/O Walter W. Godsin, had been recently assigned with Lt Dean G. Williams crew in the 754th.  2Lt Lawrence E. Tilbury had come to the group on October 7th, presumably an individual replacement pilot.  He was assigned to fly with the crew as co-pilot when a command pilot was not on board, and as a gunner when the crew carried a command pilot.  The crew also carried an extra navigator at times, but the individuals who flew in this capacity are largely unknown, save for 1Lt Arthur B. Guest.  Guest, originally on the crew of Captain Allen Blum in the 755th Squadron, was on his second combat tour and flew several missions with Chimples.  After the war, Guest changed his name to Arthur J. Boucot, and obtained geology degrees (BS, MS, and PhD) from Harvard University.  He became a celebrated paleontologist with several books and awards to his credit.

The enlisted men on the crew remained intact except for gunner Sgt Joe N. Armstrong, whose name disappears from records after the October 23, 1944 squadron transfer.

Chimples flew a total of 12 lead missions, all in 1945.  On March 19th, with Captain James F. Simes as command pilot, the crew led the group to bomb an airfield near Leipheim, Germany.  Their bombing results were deemed “Excellent” and the crew was awarded a Lead Crew Commendation.  They flew two additional missions after this date, both in mid-April to complete their combat tour.

Lt George Chimples speaking at the Consolidated/Vultee Plant

Several years ago, I received an email from a gentleman named Dave Trojan, stating the following:

I am looking for the serial number or any info about a B-24 named Jerry Vultee. This is all I know. I have a letter dated 22 Dec 1944 from the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation to Pete Vultee (Famous Aircraft Designer Jerry Vultee’s son who was about 7 at the time) stating that a “B-24 Liberator bomber carried the name Jerry Vultee into the thick of battle.”  The B-24 pilot’s name was Lt. Chimples. The pilot also sent his training wings “From a base, somewhere in England” as a Christmas gift to Pete Vultee. The letter goes on to say “These brave fliers are doing what your daddy would have liked to do in this war. They’re doing it in a plane that your daddy helped to develop and build.” Pete Vultee was also given a model B-24 Liberator with the name Jerry Vultee on it as a gift when he toured the Consolidated factory.  I’m in contact with Pete Vultee, now 73 years old. We would like to solve this mystery of which B-24 it is.

I have photos of Pete Vultee at the Consolidated factory, and receiving the model plane with the name Jerry Vultee on it and the letter.  I’m glad to know that Lt. Chimples survived the war and completed all his missions. I also noted that he flew a couple of B-24s whose name is unknown, so maybe there is still a chance that one of those carried the name Jerry Vultee. The model was painted OD and looks like a J model.  Overall, it was a very nice gesture from Lt. Chimples and the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation to Pete Vultee. His parents, Jerry and Slyvia Vultee were killed in an aircraft accident in 1938, but his company name carried on to form Consolidated/Vultee. The model plane has been lost to time, but still I think an interesting footnote to the Vultee story.

(All photos courtesy Dave Trojan. If anyone can shed any light on these, please contact me.)

March 19, 1945

From the 458th Combat Diary:

“On the 19th we were again favoured with a visual run and proved that the eyes of the bombardiers had not lost their old keenness after such a prolonged run of instrument bombing.  Our hapless victim for the day was the A/F at Leipheim, the first A/B we have attacked in quite some time.  This was the 3rd largest producer of the jet ME-262’s therefore warranted some good bombing results.  Major La Valle, Captains Simes and Polliard led 28 A/C over the target dropping 96×500 GP’s and 178 M17’s by visual methods with excellent results.  Crews reported good to excellent results and SAV’s show incendiaries hitting in the target area with a large part of [the] pattern around [the] MPI.  GP’s also around MPI. and severing part of the runway.  And how’s this for getting them within the 2000’ circle?  Lead squadron: 100%, 2nd squadron: 80%, and the 3rd squadron: 97%.  Boy that is bombing accuracy any way one wants to look at it.  Now give us a few more visual runs and let us show what we can accomplish.”

Courtesy John Chimples
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F/O Alden L. Armstrong

Moran Crew: Alden Armstrong (front, left)

Lead Crew

Distinguished Flying Cross

May 1, 1945: Captain Chimples is awarded the DFC, presented by the 755th Squadron Commander Major Valin R. Woodward.

(Courtesy: John Chimples)

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