Crew 8 – Assigned 752nd Squadron – October 14, 1943

Due to asthma, 2Lt David Osborne was removed from flight status prior to the 458th’s departure for the ETO.  He evidently recovered enough to be reassigned as pilot of another crew, and was sent to the 15th Air Force.  Assigned to the 345th Squadron of the 98th Bombardment Group, Osborne flew several missions from their home field of Lecce.  On June 7, 1944, while on a bombing mission to Ploesti, their aircraft was forced out of formation (most likely due to flak).  Osborne was able to crash land with all the crew aboard near Tapola, Yugoslavia.  All eleven men made it back to their base in Italy with the help of Chetniks. Click here for the June 7th Sortie Report on this crew.

Osborne was eventually replaced by Lt Calvin G. Cragun.  It is not clear where Lt. Cragun came from.  His name first appears on Special Orders 298, dated December 30, 1943 sending 30 crews (about half the air echelon) from Tonopah, NV to Hamilton Field, CA for final processing before heading overseas. He was listed as co-pilot for Lt Burton Bush and Crew 14.  At what point Cragun took over as pilot for Crew 8 is not known, but it was most likely after their arrival in England.

S/Sgt Lewis was grounded at some point during his tour.  He became deaf on a mission due to a head cold.  Records show that Claude Larimore was reclassified in October 1944 as an Airplane Armorer.  He remained with the 458th, and was transferred to the 814th AE Squadron in April 1945.  Sgt Clifford Allen’s name appears only on a very early combat crew roster.  Nothing further is known about him.

Lt Cragun, after completing his combat tour in June 1944, was sent on Temporary Duty to “Beaconsfield PW & X Detail”.  It is not known at what point he returned to the U.S.

It is most likely that the crew members that completed their tour flew the majority of their missions with Lt Cragun, finishing about the same time.

(Courtesy: Kaya Cragun Staehlin)

B-24H-15-CF 41-29352 7V K  Wolves Lair

B-24J-25-FO  42-95117 M 7V  You Can’t Take It With You!

(Photos courtesy: George Reynolds)