Operation: Marshalling yards, SE of Paris (Mission #432), France

Date: 22nd June 1944 (Thursday)

Unit No: 7th Bombardment Squadron (H), 34th Bombardment Group (H), 3rd Air Division, 8th Air Force

Type: B-24J

Serial No: 42-40303 ‘Turgo Joe’

Code: R2:?

Location: Silchester, Berkshire, England

Base: Mendlesham airfield (Station #156), Suffolk, England

Pilot: FO. Marvin Gilbert Hayes T-122252 AAF Age 21. Returned

Co Pilot: 2nd Lt. Lloyd Anderson O-817368 AAF Age? PoW *

Navigator: 1st Lt. Stanley Alan Maw O-704608 AAF Age 23. Evader (1)

Bombardier: 2nd Lt. Henry Stanford McPherson O-698028 AAF Age 22. KiA

Radio/Op: T/Sgt. Cecil Guinn Bowers Jr. 37505759 AAF Age 21. Returned

Engineer: T/Sgt. Alvin Joseph Gibbons 39908817 AAF Age 20. Returned

Nose Gnr: S/Sgt. Robert Roy Rockey 39131123 AAF Age 22. Returned (2)

Ball Turret Gnr: S/Sgt. Richard Lawrence Gray 33408719 AAF Age 21. Returned

Flex Waist Gnr: S/Sgt. Arthur James ‘Art’ Dufelmeier 36445679 AAF Age 20. PoW **

Tail Gnr: S/Sgt. Ralph Preston Murphy 33429143 AAF Age 21. Returned

The B-24 had 10 crew positions. Crew complements evolved during the war and comprised 9 personnel who were typically, but not always, Pilot, Co-Pilot, Bombardier, Navigator, Flight Engineer/Top Turret gunner, Radio Operator/Waist gunner, Nose gunner, Ball Turret gunner, Waist gunner, Tail gunner.

* Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland.

** Stalag Luft 4, Groß-Tychow, Pomerania, Prussia now Tychowo, Poland.

REASON FOR LOSS:

The Turgo Joe took off from Mendlesham airfield on the 22nd June 1944 to join a force of bombers on a mission to attack the railway marshalling yard at Tournan-en-Brie near Paris.

The 34th Bombardment Group formation ran into an accurate Flak barrage as it approached the target area. T/Sgt. Gibbons was in his Top Turret when a Flak burst made a direct hit on the Liberator’s nose which knocked the bomber into a climbing attitude for a few seconds. T/Sgt. Gibbons went forward to find that both the FO. Hayes and 2nd Lt. Anderson had been wounded by shell splinters, the former severely. Thinking the bomber doomed, the shocked 2nd Lt. Anderson, 1st Lt. Maw and S/Sgt. Dufelmeier, one of the gunners, baled out.

When he went down to the nose compartment T/Sgt. Gibbons could see that 2nd Lt. McPherson had been killed instantly and had disappeared through the gaping hole in floor of his compartment which had been blasted away. On the far side of the hole he saw that S/Sgt. Rockey was trapped in the nose turret trying desperately to free himself.

With aid of another gunner the wounded FO. Hayes was lifted from his seat and T/Sgt. Gibbons, who had a little experience in flying light aircraft, took over the controls. He found that the rudders were inoperative, that most of the instrumentation had been destroyed and that an engine had stopped.

The heavy Liberator was perilously near to stalling but T/Sgt. Gibbons managed to regain control and head for England, although this had to be accomplished in wide orbits after another engine failed and most directional control was lost. He directed S/Sgt. Gray to take a parachute and hand it across the gaping hole in the Bombardier’s compartment as soon as S/Sgt. Rockey had freed the turret doors. This was accomplished by hooking the spare parachute on an engine cracking handle to bridge the gap.

After many anxious minutes when it was feared the Liberator might suddenly run out of flying speed, the English coast was crossed, by which time another engine was losing power. FO. Hayes was helped to the bomb-bay so he could bale out, followed by the other four crew members. T/Sgt. Gibbons then put the aircraft on automatic pilot and quickly jumped through the open bomb bay. He had hardly cleared the aircraft before it nosed up and then fell off into a spin.

They baled out over the Basingstoke area before the aircraft crashed at Silchester, Berkshire.

T/Sgt. Gibbons’ composure in this critical situation was primarily responsible for saving the lives of the five other airmen and his own. For his conspicuous gallantry aboard the aircraft he was awarded the Silver Star Medal (SSM).

The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States.

Above courtesy of The Ogden Standard Examiner, dated 7th October 1944

(1) 2nd Lt. Maw was one of the three members of the crew who baled out thinking that the aircraft was out of control and was about to crash.

He landed near Le Thuit-de-I’Oison about 6¾ km (3½ mls) west of Elbeuf after delaying opening his parachute until about 3000 ft in altitude. He disposed of his parachute, harness and Mae West in a nearby forest.

Two Frenchmen picked him up and took him to their home at Bosguéurard-de-Marcouville where he remained in hiding until he was liberated. Whilst there he met a local Resistance Chief from Le Neubourg some 13½ km (8½ mls) to the south. When 30 German officers moved into the house in which he was hiding he was moved into a nearby forest and had food brought to him. Whilst in hiding a farmer told him that his host had been seriously wounded by a mortar shell and lost both his legs.

2nd Lt. Maw was liberated by British forces and was interviewed in Bayeux on the 28th August after which he was flown back to England the next day.

(2) Robert Roy Rockey survived the war during which he awarded the Air Medal and 3 Oal Leaf Clusters. He returned to California where he married Shirley Rae Delay in 1955. They had three children, Rogene, Ryan and Renae.

Robert tragically drowned in a boating accident on the 10th November 1966 in Contra Costa, California.

Above: Obituary for Robert Roy Rockey (Courtesy of the Redwood City Tribune, dated 10th November 1966)

Robert Roy Rockey was born in 14th May 1924 in San Francisco, California

Burial details:

2nd Lt. McPherson was initially buried by the Germans or civilians in a field grave marked with a cross and at a spot 1900 m. SSW of the church at Martot and 1900 m. NNE of the church of St. Pierre near Elbeuf, France.

Above: Grave marker for 2nd Lt. Henry Stanley McPherson (Courtesy of Paula Smith – FindAGrave)

2nd Lt. Henry Stanley McPherson. Air Medal. Recovered and interred in the US Military Cemetery St. Evreux in July 1945. Repatriated and laid to rest in grave D-33-5 at the Burkburnett Cemetery in Texas. Born on the 7th October 1921 in Breckenridge, Texas. Son of Allison Woodval and Dora Vesta (née Barker) McPherson of Breckenridge, Texas, USA.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew (Sep 2024).

Other sources listed below:

Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them. Franklin Delano Roosevelt