Tracking my grandfather's service

Copied to this forum to get out of the welcome one. If anyone has any additinoal information or pictures to add I would greatly appreciate it. Unfortunately my grandfather died in 1988, before I became obsessed with research and I never took the opportunity to ask him about his service.


S/Sgt Clark Irving Vermilyea #12208880
US Army Air Corps
15th Air Force
49th Bomb Wing
484th Bomb Group
826th Bomb Squadron
B-24 Liberator Crew
Tail #41-28803 RCL #61 Named : Dry Run
Based at Toretta Italy
Arrived Mar 44

I've transcribed exactly the mission list from 1944 and will list it below:

29 Apr 44 4:30 Drnis M/Y, Yugoslavia
30 Apr 44 8:10 Allesandria M/Y, Italy
02 May 44 7:35 Parma, Italy
06 May 44 8:15 Pitesti M/Y, Rumania
07 May 44 9:00 Bucharest M/Y, Rumania
12 May 44 7:30 Viareggio (P T Bologna), Italy
14 May 44 5:50 Pontelonzo (P T Padua), Italy
18 May 44 7:00 Belgrade (P T Ploesti), Yugoslavia
22 May 44 7:10 Pimbino Harbor (P T Marina De Canara), Italy
23 May 44 5:00 Subiaco, Italy
25 May 44 7:20 Carnoules, M/Y, France
26 May 44 9:30 Lyons M/Y, France
29 May 44 7:35 Weiner Neudstadt, Austria
31 May 44 7:40 Ploesti Oil Refinery, Rumania
05 Jun 44 5:35 Marradi R. R. Bridge, Italy
06 Jun 44 6:45 Pitesti (P T Ploesti), Rumania
09 Jun 44 8:15 Munich Neuabring Hornier Werke, Germany
10 Jun 44 6:15 Portomarghera Oil Storage, Italy
13 Jun 44 7:10 Innsbruck M/Y, Germany
14 Jun 44 5:05 Splitt and Szony Oil Refinery, Hungary
22 Jun 44 6:55 Pola (P T Trieste Oil Storage), Italy
23 Jun 44 7:45 Giurgiu Oil Storage, Rumania
28 Jun 44 7:25 Chitella M/Y Bucharest, Rumania
30 Jun 44 5:50 Blechhammer, Germany
05 Jul 44 8:30 Beziers M/Y, France
06 Jul 44 6:00 Aviano, Italy
07 Jul 44 7:55 Blechhammer, Germany
11 Jul 44 7:40 Toulon (Submarine), France
12 Jul 44 8:15 Nimes M/Y, France
14 Jul 44 6:15 Petfurdo Oil Refinery, Hungary
15 Jul 44 7:20 Ploesti Creditul Minier Oil Refinery and Storage, Rumania
16 Jul 44 7:45 Weiner, Neudorf A/C Factory, Austria
17 Jul 44 7:20 Tarascon R. R. Bridge, France
19 Jul 44 8:30 Munich, Germany
21 Jul 44 6:45 Brux Synthetic Oil Refinery, Czechoslovakia
25 Jul 44 8:20 Villach M/Y, Austria 3D alt. (P T HERMANN GOERING TANK PLANT, Austria
27 Jul 44 6:30 Manfred Weiss Armament Works, Hungary
28 Jul 44 7:40 Ploesti Oil Refinery, Rumania

I've also included in the post a shipping order of the crew en route to Italy.

View attachment 21045 View attachment 21055

 

Some additional pictures of the airfield and of the bomber.

View attachment 21046 View attachment 21047 View attachment 21048

 

Also a brief synopsis of the loss of the aircraft although the number is mistaken as #41.

View attachment 21050 View attachment 21051

 

Thanks!

The loss record for this aircraft has been updated. http://lostaircraft.com/database.php?mode=viewentry&e=24449

 

Apparently I need to raid the closets more, found some additional documentation...


View attachment 21061 View attachment 21062 View attachment 21063 View attachment 21064

 

Have you been to these sites?

http://wwarii.com/content/page.php?i=484th-bg
http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/USAAF/484th_Bombardment_Group.html
http://www.angelfire.com/wv/liberator/airpics.html
http://trees.ancestry.com/view/military.aspx?tid=842991&pid=-105607779&vid=f6aa4955-9af4-49ab-848e-68164cd355f9
http://sanktpoelten.eu/?option=com_content&view=article&id=1136&Itemid=250&limitstart=9&fontstyle=f-larger
http://www.dcnyhistory.org/davidsonww2story.html
http://www.armyaircorpsmuseum.org/484th_bombardment_group.cfm

 

Thank you for the links, some I hadn't seen and will be reading up on them. I really appreciate you taking the time to post.

On a general note I did get a hold of one of his pics..

 

Just a point of interest. The picture of your grandfather is reversed--the patch and the wings would be on his left side. Don't know why this was done so much. I see many WWII photographs that have been reversed. He was a very nice looking man.

 

Ha, I didn't even realize it until you pointed that out, nice catch. I'll have to do a quick photoshop flip to get an accurate depiction before my OCD gets the best of me. Thank you.

 

Thanks so much for the salute. Good luck on your quest for information,
Dave

 

Received some great news today, I located the co-pilot of my grandfather's crew. I've set up to call him on thursday for an informal phone interview and I'm very excited. I'll be posting more soon.

 

What a great man Mr Robert Goble, the copilot of my grandfather's bomber, is. http://ww2il.com/?p=99&cpage=1#comment-406924 for his brief biography. At 93 years old he still sounds like a youngster. He informed me that my grandfather was the ball turret gunner on the Dry Run, and that the photo I listed above is indeed the actual aircraft. Mr Goble also confirmed the story that they named the plane the Dry Run due to the fact that the first mission they flew, they were unable to drop their payload after flying all the way to the target. The 826th squadron apparently lost a lot their ground crews due to their ship being sunk in the Mediterranean on the way to Italy as well. He also walked me through a normal mission day from briefing to bombing and how the down time was spent in Foggia and Cerrignola. Lastly he informed me that he has a crew photo that he is going to copy for me and list off names of those he can remember, so I am eagerly awaiting that to arrive. I still have some poring over the interview to do but wow, I am just so impressed. A big thank you to Mr Goble and his daughter Karen. I'll update as I can.

 

That's fantastic that you were able to speak with Mr. Goble. It was incredibly generous of him to offer the photo with names to you. That would be a nice addition to this thread and might help you connect with other veterans or their relatives. Well done, Sopa13!!

 

Received these in my email today, there's just nothing like having more pieces of the puzzle fall together. Crew names to match up with the pictures are still to follow, but the shipping order in my first post of this thread has the crew listed on it. Some of the positions have proven not to be accurate though. Quick question if anyone knows off hand (I sent an email to Mr Goble asking the same) anyone know why some of the mission markings were painted as white bombs and some as a darker color? Enjoy the photos!

 

First pic of Dry Run crew -

Back row left to right: Somers, Leo M 0695332 Bombardier | Wolford, Orville E 0703356 Navigator | Goble, Robert W 0814348 Co-Pilot | Landrum, William M 0810898 Pilot | Hanson, Donald G 16156801 1st Engineer

Front row left to right: Edgecomb, Lloyd R 18151804 1st radio | Hochstatter, William J 16075835 Tail Gunner | Vermilyea, Clark I 12208880 Ball Turret gunner | then 2 unknown ground crew

Second pic of flight crew in Nebraska -

Back row left to right: Hanson, Donald G 16156801 1st Engineer | Vermilyea, Clark I 12208880 Ball Turret gunner | Taylor, Robert K 33571927 Top Turret Gunner | Hochstatter, William J 16075835 Tail Gunner | Edgecomb, Lloyd R 18151804 1st radio

Front row left to right: Landrum, William M 0810898 Pilot | Goble, Robert W 0814348 Co-Pilot | Wolford, Orville E 0703356 Navigator | Somers, Leo M 0695332 Bombardier

 

That's a nice addition to the thread. Hopefully, some relatives of the crew members will find this thread and connect with you.

 

Thank you for updating as you discover more information! Always nice to see the full story develop, as sometimes we are left wondering....