Crew 49 – Assigned 754th Squadron – October 1943

Crew 49 was an original crew assigned tot he 745th Squadron.  They trained in Tonopah, Nevada and moved overseas in January 1944.

Their fist mission came in mid-March, the group’s eighth mission to Friedrichshafen, Germany.  They would be without gunner, S/Sgt. Bewell E. Warren, as he filled in on the crew of 2Lt Thayer Hopkins on the March 6 Berlin raid and was shot down.  Warren was captured and spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft III.  Records indicate that his place on the crew was taken by S/Sgt Claude A. Neil, an individual replacement first appearing in group records in April 1944..

Crew 49 flew missions on several of the Group’s Liberators before apparently settling down on Envy of ’em All for most of April and all of their May missions.  This crew flew a total of 35 missions, although the majority of the original crews were only required to complete 30 for a combat tour. 

Shortly after the crew had completed their tour, and possibly because he had missed one or more missions with his crew, 2Lt Frederick Erdman, bombardier, flew on a raid to Aschersleben with Lt Charles B. Armour and crew on June 29, 1944.  Their aircraft was damaged by flak, necessitating a hasty exit by the crew, all of whom made it down safely.  Erdman evaded capture for several weeks, but was betrayed to the Gestapo and spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft I near Barth.

B-24H-25-FO 42-95108 Z5 M  Envy of ’em All II

The crew finished up in this aircraft, flying 8 missions at the end of June.
Pictured in March 1945 with almost 70 missions, “Lt. R. W. Davis” can still be seen on armor plate under pilot’s window – long after the crew’s departure.

(Photo: George Reynolds)