Crew 16 – Assigned 752nd Squadron – October 1943

It is not exactly clear when Lt Grant and crew became part of the752nd Squadron.  They are listed as Crew 16 on the Combat Crew Roster, however they are the second crew to be labeled as such.  The first, commanded by pilot 2Lt Sigmund B. Hons, crashed shortly after takeoff on November 16, 1943 during a training flight at Tonopah.  Out of this ten man crew, only the flight engineer survived.

2Lt Dick A. Hill was originally assigned as the pilot of this crew with 2Lt Robert E. Reddish as co-pilot, and Sgt Vincent Gould as flight engineer.  At some point during training, the two officers were replaced by 2Lt Edwin A. Grant as pilot and 2Lt Paul M. Stout as co-pilot.  On December 29, 1943, just as the 458th was receiving their new B-24’s for movement overseas, Lt’s Hill and Reddish were transferred to the 470th Bombardment Group at Mountain Home, Idaho.  Dick Hill went on to fly with the 5th Air Force in the Pacific Theater.  Assigned to the 64th Bombardment Squadron, 43rd Bombardment Group, he flew 60 combat missions.  Nothing further is known on Reddish.

Sgt Vincent Gould also flew in the Pacific with the 320th Bomb Squadron, 90th Bomb Group Jolly Rogers.  It is possible that he was replaced by Sgt Elvin C. Detisch, who appears on a set of orders with other Crew 16 enlisted men, and several loading lists for Grant’s early missions.

Sgt Melvin A. Gershun, gunner, appears to have been moved to another crew after the group moved to England.  He is not listed flying with Grant on available loading lists, but he does appear with Lt Richard W. Nyman (Crew 11), and on April 29, 1944 was on Lt Milton P. Schaaf’s ship when they cracked up on landing.  Sgt John W. Davis appears to have flown several early missions with Grant, but his name is not with those others on Crew 16 who completed their tour in the summer of 1944.  He may have been wounded or reassigned, for his name appears on group records in January 1945 (Air Crew Leave) and in April 1945 (removed from flying status).   Two gunners from the disbanded Crew #12, Sgt Charles B. Burton and Sgt Edward R. Worrell are pictured with the rest of the crew during mid-March, and may have flown several missions with Grant.

It was rare for one crew to fly the same ship on all of their missions, but it appears that Grant’s crew somehow managed to maintain their claim on the B-24 “WURF’LESS” for their first 13 missions.  They might have taken it further if the ship hadn’t have been lost on April 18th near Brandenburg, Germany with the crew of Lt George W. Schuman.  Nine of these 13 missions were to German targets, while the remainder involved missions to France.

On April 29, 1944, Crew 16 was stood down from the day’s mission.  Lt Grant, however, was slated to fly as an Instructor Pilot (I.P.) for the newly arrived crew of Lt Dale R. Morris. The 458th put 29 Liberators into the air.  Of these, six aircraft aborted and the remaining 23, including Grant and Morris made it to the target.  For reasons unknown, Morris’ crew had arrived at the 458th without a navigator, and filling in on this mission was 2Lt William C. Lane.  Lane had been the navigator on the above mentioned Lt Beckley’s Crew 12 before Beckley became ill during training and the crew was dispersed throughout the 752nd.

Related by Grant, the trouble started for the crew, “over the city of Berlin, seconds before bombs away….”  According to the Missing Air Crew Report (MACR 4451): “Morris was seen to be attacked by FW-190s at 1104 hours in vicinity of Celle, Germany.  One engine was knocked out and A/C fell out of formation in an easy spin.  Four (4) ‘chutes were seen before A/C disappeared into clouds below.”  No one had in fact bailed out, as Ed Grant related in the MACR that the, “aircraft landed in Sweden with all crew members aboard.”

After Grant’s unscheduled departure, co-pilot Paul M. Stout with 12 missions from the right-hand seat, took over as pilot of Crew 16.  It is not known if they were assigned a regular co-pilot.  Lt Stout brought the crew through the remainder of their missions, completing their combat tour in early June 1944.  Seeming to keep with crew tradition, Stout flew 15 of his 18 missions in the same aircraft, Gas House Mouse.  The majority of the crew were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in July and sent to other assignments.

Lt Paul Stout returned to the U.S. and eventually was stationed at Randolph Filed, Texas.  It was here, on June 12, 1945, just one year after completing his tour of missions in Europe, that he was killed while the co-pilot on a B-29.

Ed Grant, Paul Stout, Ed Gibbons, Jay Gross

Co-pilot Paul Stout holds what appears to be the crew’s good luck mascot, while navigator Jay Gross holds up 10 fingers.  This photo appears to have been taken at the same time as the one above, judging by the crew’s apparel and the shadows on the aircraft.  Five mission symbols on the aircraft would date this photo mid-March when the crew would have only completed about 6 or 7 missions, so Gross’ figure may be wishful thinking!

Missions – 1Lt Paul M. Stout – Pilot

B-24H-25-FO 42-95050 7V J Gas House Mouse

Crew 16, under Paul Stout, flew this aircraft on 14 of their final 17 missions

(Photo: Mike Bailey)

Interview with J. Gross – 2003

June 12, 1945 – Randolph Field, Texas

B-29 Superfortress similar to the aircraft Stout was flying

Civilian Statements

RANDOLPH FIELD )
COUNTY OF PEXAR )
STATE OF TEXAS )

Personally appeared before me the undersigned authority for administering oaths, one Charlie Hoffman, Route 1, Marion, Texas, who being duly sworn deposes and says:

I live about 3/4 of a mile west of the scene of the accident of a B-29 types airplane on the night of 12 June 1945. I had just walked out on the back porch when I heard a big plane coming and looked up to watch it. It was coming from the northwest. I had to stoop over to see it. The engines seemed to be working nicely. I kept my eyes on the airplane. It passed over my house and then I saw it nose straight down, crash into the ground and explode. I heard no peculiar noise while the plane was in the air and saw no fire while it was in the air. It seemed to me like all the engines were running. It looked like the plane was going to make a nice landing, then it just nosed down. It was up a pretty good ways when I first saw it but was maybe a little lower than they usually fly over the house. It didn’t seem to be going very fast. I saw the red and green lights burning. It was only 6-7 seconds after the plane nosed down that it crashed.

Further, deponent sayeth not.

/Signed/
Charlie Hoffman
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 16th day of June 1945.

/Signed/
Bernard Wallace
Major, Air Corps

RANDOLPH FIELD )
COUNTY OF PEXAR )
STATE OF TEXAS )

Personally appeared before me the undersigned authority for administering oaths, one Gaynell Looff, Marion, Texas, who being duly sworn deposes and says:

I live in Marion, Texas, about 1/4 mile west of the scene of the crash of a B-29 type airplane on the night of 12 June 1945. I was looking out the window in our kitchen when I first saw the plane. It was heading approximately east. Suddenly I saw the airplane nose down. It crashed and exploded. A large column of fire immediately shot up into the air. I did not see any fire before the plane crashed into the ground. I believe the airplane was over 500 feet above the ground as I was looking over a house and trees when I first saw it.

Further, deponent sayeth not.

/Signed/
Gaynell Looff
Marion, Texas
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 16th day of June 1945.

/Signed/
Bernard Wallace
Major, Air Corps

Crash site – June 13, 1945

Crash site diagram