401st 614th
Bomb Group Squadron
"Hard 17"
R.J. Andrews B
D.H.Campbell LWG
J.
Griset N
J.A. Gruman P
W.W. Harwell BT
K.M. Jacobson RO
L.T. Melton CP
R.R. Ruhmann TG
H.H. Shanks RWG
E.M. Snyder ENG
 |
| The bomber belonged to the 614th squadron |
401st Bombardment Group
HISTORY:
Constituted as 401st Bombardment
Group (Heavy) on 20 Mar 1943. Activated on 1 Apr 1943. Prepared for combat with
B-17's. Moved to England, Oct-Nov 1943, and served in combat with Eighth AF,
Nov 1943-Apr 1945. Operated chiefly against strategic targets, bombing
industries, submarine facilities, shipyards, missile sites, marshalling yards,
and airfields; beginning in Oct 1944, concentrated on oil reserves. Received a
DUC for striking telling blows against German aircraft production on 11 Jan and
20 Feb 1944. In addition to strategic missions, operations included attacks on
transportation, airfields, and fortifications prior to the Normandy invasion
and on D-Day, Jun 1944; support for ground operations during the breakthrough
at St Lo in Jul, the siege of Brest in Aug, and the airborne attack on Holland
in Sep 1944; participation in the Battle of the Bulge, Dec 1944-Jan 1945, by
assaulting transportation targets and communications centers in the battle
area; and support for the airborne attack across the Rhine in Mar 1945.
Returned to the US after V-E Day. Inactivated on 28 Aug 1945.
Redesignated 401st Bombardment Group
(Very Heavy). Allotted to the reserve. Activated on 26 Jun 1947. Redesignated
401st Bombardment Group (Medium) in Jun 1949. Called to active service on 1 May
1951. Assigned to Strategic Air Command. Inactivated on 25 Jun 1951.
Redesignated 401st Fighter-Bomber
Group. Activated on 8 Feb 1954. Assigned to Tactical Air Command and equipped
with F-86's.
Squadrons:
612th: 1943-1945; 1947-1951; 1954-.
613th: 1943-1945; 1947-1949; 1954-.
614th: 1943-1945; 1947-1949; 1954-.
615th: 1943-1945; 1947-1949.
613th: 1943-1945; 1947-1949; 1954-.
614th: 1943-1945; 1947-1949; 1954-.
615th: 1943-1945; 1947-1949.
Stations:
Ephrata AAB, Wash, 1 Apr 1943;
Geiger Field, Wash, Jun 1943; Great Falls AAB, Mont, Jul-Oct 1943; Deenethorpe,
England, c. 1 Nov 1943-May 194 Sioux Falls AAFld, SD, c. 1-28 Aug 1945. Brooks
Field, Tex, 26 Jun 1947; Biggs AFB, Tex, 27 Jun 1949-25 Jun 1951. Alexandria
AFB, La, 8 Feb 1954-.
Commanders:
Col Neil B Harding, c. 1 Apr 1943;
Col Harold W Bowman, Jun 1943; Col William T Seawell, Dec 1944-1945. Unkn, 1
May-25 Jun 1951. Col Walter G Benz Jr, 8 Feb 1954-.
Campaigns:
Air Offensive, Europe; Normandy;
Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe.
Decorations:
Distinguished Unit Citations:
Germany, 11 Jan 1944; Germany, 20 Feb 1944.
Insigne:
Shield: Azure, within a diminutive
border argent a sheaf of four lances bend sinisterwise of the last, surmounted
by a fess chequy sable and of the second overall a bend wavy vert, gules, or
and of the first each fimbriated silver. Motto: Caelum Arena Nostra - The Sky
is Our Arena. (Approved 9 Sep 1958. This insigne replaced an insigne approved
22 Apr 1955.)
42-102659
IW-J Hard Seventeen (AKA Hard Luck)
|
 |
Recorded Missions
|
#
|
Date
|
Mission
|
Crew
|
Flown As
|
|
1
|
06/04/1944
|
|||
|
2
|
07/07/1944
|
Hard Luck
|
||
|
3
|
07/11/1944
|
Hard Luck
|
||
|
4
|
07/13/1944
|
|||
|
5
|
07/18/1944
|
Hard Luck
|
||
|
6
|
07/20/1944
|
|||
|
7
|
07/21/1944
|
|||
|
8
|
07/24/1944
|
|||
|
9
|
07/25/1944
|
|||
|
10
|
07/28/1944
|
|||
|
11
|
07/29/1944
|
|||
|
12
|
07/29/1944
|
|||
|
13
|
08/01/1944
|
|||
|
14
|
08/01/1944
|
|||
|
15
|
08/03/1944
|
|||
|
16
|
08/04/1944
|
|||
|
17
|
08/05/1944
|
|||
|
18
|
08/08/1944
|
|||
|
19
|
08/14/1944
|
|||
|
20
|
08/16/1944
|
|||
|
21
|
08/24/1944
|
|||
|
22
|
08/25/1944
|
|||
|
23
|
08/26/1944
|
|||
|
24
|
08/27/1944
|
|||
|
25
|
08/30/1944
|
|||
|
26
|
09/05/1944
|
|||
|
27
|
09/09/1944
|
|||
|
28
|
09/10/1944
|
|||
|
29
|
09/11/1944
|
|||
|
30
|
09/17/1944
|
|||
|
31
|
09/19/1944
|
|||
|
32
|
09/22/1944
|
|||
|
33
|
09/25/1944
|
|||
|
34
|
09/26/1944
|
|||
|
35
|
09/28/1944
|
|||
|
36
|
09/30/1944
|
|||
|
37
|
10/06/1944
|
|||
|
38
|
10/07/1944
|
|||
|
39
|
10/15/1944
|
|||
|
40
|
10/17/1944
|
|||
|
41
|
10/22/1944
|
|||
|
42
|
10/25/1944
|
|||
|
43
|
11/04/1944
|
|||
|
44
|
11/05/1944
|
|||
|
45
|
11/06/1944
|
|||
|
46
|
11/08/1944
|
|||
|
47
|
11/21/1944
|
|||
|
48
|
11/26/1944
|
|||
|
49
|
12/04/1944
|
|||
|
50
|
12/11/1944
|
|||
|
51
|
12/12/1944
|
|||
|
52
|
12/15/1944
|
|||
|
53
|
12/27/1944
|
Hard Luck
|
||
|
54
|
12/29/1944
|
|||
|
55
|
12/30/1944
|
|||
|
56
|
01/03/1945
|
|||
|
57
|
01/05/1945
|
|||
|
58
|
01/06/1945
|
|||
|
59
|
01/10/1945
|
|
With snow and ice on the runway, it was difficult for pilots to
keep their ships from sliding forward with brakes locked while applying
maximum takeoff power. However, all of the Group's aircraft made it, clearing
trees at the end of the runway by a matter of feet.
The 401st, which put up three squadrons comprising the 94th Combat Wing "A" Group, was to have been led by Major Jere Maupin. However, when his ship was forced to abort, the lead was taken over by Lt. Louis Lawrence, flying Deputy Lead position of the Lead Squadron. Bombing was conducted by the Gee-H (radio beam) technique through heavy clouds. However, a break in the clouds permitted strikes to be seen at the northern edge of the target airfield and on the railroad and autobahn. Because of high winds, the High Squadron became separated from the 401st and bombed with another Group. No fighters were encountered, and flak was meager and inaccurate, resulting in minor battle damage to two aircraft. However, the ship piloted by Lt. R. B. Thompson lost two engines over the target and made a forced landing in Belgium. When he was unable to land on the runway of a small fighter strip occupied by a Polish RAF squadron, Lt. Thompson was forced to fly between two chimneys 120 feet apart, under an electric power line and over a house before crash landing in an open field. None of the crew was injured, but his airplane, "Hard Seventeen", was a total loss. |
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