Doyle Crew – Assigned 754th Squadron – August 15, 1944

Lt Edward Doyle and crew arrived at the 458th and were assigned to the 754th Squadron on August 15, 1944.  Given their pay grades at the time arrival, the crew may have been held over for a while or come from another unit.  They flew their first mission ten days later to the Dornier aircraft factory at Lubeck, Germany.  The 458th lost one plane on this first of two missions to take place on August 25th.  The crew flew four more missions including an abortive attempt on September 5th to Karlsrue, before the 458th was pulled off of combat operations and tasked to ferry gasoline to Patton’s Army in France.

The group resumed combat missions on October 3rd, but the Doyle crew did not fly until the 9th.  After three missions in October, Ed Doyle was removed from flying status and sent to the 4174th US Army Hospital for severe combat fatigue.

Records indicate that 1Lt James B. Coode was to be the replacement pilot for the crew.  He was originally assigned as the co-pilot on the crew of Captain Gordon Lamers in May 1944.  It appears that Coode was the pilot of Doyle’s crew for missions beginning on November 4 through December 31, 1944, when Coode had most likely completed his tour.  Records from the 496th Fighter Training Group show him assigned to that unit in March 1945.

1945 brought a third pilot to command the crew, 1Lt Milton E. Krogh who had been assigned to the 754th Squadron in September 1944 as the co-pilot of 2Lt Willie E. Hodges.  Krogh took the crew through January, February, and the first half of March 1945 when records indicate that his tour was complete.

The last pilot of Doyle’s crew was 1Lt Frank J. Beck, the crew’s co-pilot since training in the States.  Records show that he flew as first pilot on four missions in March to complete his tour.  It is believed that most of the men still assigned to this crew completed their missions around this time as well.

Very shortly after the crew had arrived, on August 21, 1944, F/O Howard N. Richard (B) was sent on Temporary Duty (TD) to the 482nd BG at AAF102 Alconbury, possibly to receive training in radar navigation.  Upon his return to the 458th, he was assigned to the 755th Squadron (the group’s lead squadron) in November 1944.  It appears that he flew missions until April 1945 when he is shown going on rest home leave.  The last time that his name appears in the 458th records is dated May 26, 1945, and simply says. “Trial by Courts-Martial”.  No explanation or outcome is given.

S/Sgt Ned L. Dressler flew several (if not most) of his missions with the crew, and in December was reclassified with MOS 866 (RCM) Radio Counter Measures.  After this he flew with several different crews in that capacity.

Of S/Sgt Ernest R. Valencia there is not one single entry other than that showing his assignment with the crew.  His status is unknown.

These two enlisted men were replaced on the crew by S/Sgt Robert E. Gougeon, assigned as an individual replacement gunner on August 10, 1944; and Sgt Raymond E. Barto, originally in the 755th Squadron.  Barto with the group since July 10, 1944, was a gunner on Lt James B. Prevost’s crew when they were forced to ditch in the English Channel on the August 5th mission to Brunswick.  All except the crew’s co-pilot were picked up by British Air-Sea Rescue and a motor torpedo boat.  Both Sgt’s Gougeon and Barto appear on available loading lists with the rest of the Doyle crew and it is assumed that they flew several missions with them to complete their tours.

1Lt Frank Beck Mission List

Mission List courtesy: Mike Beck

B-24H-30-DT 42-51196 Z5 Q  Gypsy Queen

Undated photo of the Doyle Crew

(Photo: Josh Harris)