850th/857th BS
Bales Crew
First crew of the 490th BG to land in the UK, the Bales crew is shown above as a
10-man crew at Mountain Home in April of 1944.Standing, L-R:
Leo Ensminger - Radio Operator (WIA)
Arthur J. Simcik - Bombardier
Joseph M. Sekerak - Navigator
James A. Doyle - Copilot
William L. Bales - Pilot
Jerry A. Hobbs - Engineer (Orphaned)
Kneeling, L-R:
James P. Bowden - Top Turret Gunner, Engineer at 179
Silas S. Stamper - Ball Turret Gunner, TG at 179 (WIA)
Frank Bielawski - Nose Turret Gunner (Orphaned)
William H. Fox - Waist Gunner, Dispatcher at 179
Shortly before leaving for the UK, Sekerak was replaced by 1st Lt. Milton Silverstein. At Cheddington, when the crew was reduced to eight, Jerry Hobbs and Frank Bielawski were released. Once at Harrington, William Fox attended training at Ringway to become the Dispatcher. An 8-man crew picture has never been found. On the night of 8/9 August 1944, the crew encountered a JU-88 Night Fighter and ground flak over a Belgian DZ. The crew jettisoned their load, put out the fires, and tended the wounded (Ensminger and Stamper) and returned to the UK, leaving the wounded at Castlecamp, an RAF base. On the morning of 9 August, Bales and the remainder of the crew returned to Harrington in B24H 42-51201 "The Loretta Ann II", on three engines, and with over 1,000 flak and cannon holes. The remaining six of the crew completed their 35 missions by mid-September and October of 1944, and returned to the ZI. After an eight-week hospital stay, Ensminger and Stamper returned to the ZI in October of 1944 to complete lengthy therapy in VA hospitals and were eventually discharged. Ensminger and Stamper were both awarded the Purple Heart, the rest of the crew were awarded the DFC. The plane was repaired and later flew for the 15th AF, 859th BS, in Italy, and, like the first plane the crew had, shown here (B24-H 41-29602), returned to the ZI to be scrapped in late 1945.
Jedburgh Delivery: On the evening of 27/28 August 1944, with William H. Lynch as RO, William Chandler from the broken-up Huenekens crew as TG, and Paul O. Messner, the Aviation Medical Examiner for the BG as a passenger, the crew dropped Jedburgh Team CEDRIC to the Messenger 35 DZ in eastern France.
Combat Period: May-September 1944.
Status: Original 490th BG crew, arrived at Harrington at the end of May 1944. Eighteen missions for Stamper and Ensminger.
Preferred Aircraft: B24H 42-51201 O "Loretta Ann II"
Data from July 1944 indicate the following for the crew:
Pilot MR# Day Target Aircraft Bales 792 2 Stationer 151 B24H 42-95170 F Bales 854 4 Mitchell 7 B24H 42-95170 F Bales 897 6 Percy 20 B24H 42-51201 O Bales 940 8 Digger 43 B24H 42-51201 O Bales 1009 11 Stationer 137 B24H 42-51201 O Bales 1012 12 Trainer 264 B24H 42-51201 O Bales 1042 14 Percy 19F B24J 42-50600 G Bales 1062 16 Percy 19 B24H 42-51201 O Bales 1089 17 Minister 12 B24H 42-95036 A Bales 1129 19 Hamish 5 B24H 42-51201 O Bales 1157 20 Ian 8 B24H 42-51201 O Bales 1275 28 Historian 42 B24H 42-51201 O Bales 1301 30 Shipwright 14A B24H 42-51201 O Bales 1349 31 Gerald 3 B24H 42-51201 O All targets for the month were French.
Aircraft Details Credit: Tom Brittan
