Loading List 1, Box I




Loading List 2, Box II




Loading List 3, Box III
(Window Mission)




Route Map




Primary Target area around MBS Coordinate (LZ1) vO148219
Extracted from GSGS-4249/AMS-M661 Sheet 6E - "Cherbourg-Valognes" 1:100:000 Military Topographic Map
(Downloaded from Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection - Army Map Service Topographic Map Series,
France 1:100,000 Series M661 (GSGS 4249), U.S. Army Map Service, 1943-,
Cherbourg-Valognes sheet)
(Note: This coordinate and map display represent the Primary Target Location, the Location actually attacked may differ)
(Annotated Full Map PDF)



A-20 Havocs over France
(Photo courtesy of Wayne Downing)




A-20 Havocs over France Photo overlaid on current Google Earth display
(Overlay by Wayne Sayles)

Missing Air Crew Reports, Aircraft Accident Reports, and other incidents

Date	Report		A/C Serial # Type	Mis- sion #	Bomb Sq	Location	Personnel (Status when available)
Jun 22, 1944 Thursday	No_Report		43-10157 A-20G	83	670	Emergency Landing Strip #A6 on Allied Beachhead in France	Shea, Daniel Francis (WIA) Lee, Robert E. Jr. (Not Injured) Falk, Francis G. (Not Injured)
Jun 22, 1944 Thursday	No_Report		43-9181 A-20G	83	669	Warmell emergency airfield	Smith, Jack Fleming Jr. (Not Injured) Vafiadis, Constantine (Not Injured) Hoffman, Ralph C. (Not Injured)

To view more information regarding an Incident/Report, click on the Report hyperlink.
( = Entries having actual Reports available for review.   = Entries having additional Images or Photos.)
To view an individual's Memorial page, click on the "Name" hyperlink.

Included are Box, Flight and Position; Bomb Squadron; Aircraft Serial Number, Fuselage Code and Model; and Crew Members
transcribed from individual mission Loading List documents by Chris and Mary Adams and Carl Sgamboti.
Some information, such as Squadron, Serial Number, etc. has been expanded from other documents.

Group and Unit Histories

Mission # 83 -- June 22, 1944, Thursday PM
Cherbourg, France -- Strong Point

"416th Bombardment Group (L) - Group History 1944"
Transcribed from USAF Archives

Cherbourg had to be taken. In a plan devised by Lt. General Omar Bradley, a coordinated air and ground attack was the surest way to take the port. The ground troops were to attack. Then, at a certain time, they would withdraw to allow the air power to operate. When the air attack was consumated, the ground forces would resume the attack. Forty of our planes participated in the attacks on one strong point. Anticipating a large scale assault, all of the northern tip of the Peninsula was covered with a thick blanket of smoke by the Germans. The results were fair., hitting in the target area and on nearby roads and a railroad west of the target. Lt. Daniel F. Shea's plane was hit by flak at the target. He was force to seek out an emergency landing strip and became the first member of our Group to land on French soil. Lt. Jack F. Smith's plane was also hit. He managed, however, to bring it across the Channel on a single engine and land at an emergency airfield in the United Kingdom. The two boxes were led by Captain Jackson, Lt. Maltby, B-N, and Capt. Huff, Lt. Kupits, B-N.

"Attack Bombers, We Need You! A History of the 416th Bomb Group"
Ralph Conte
Pages 100 - 101

Mission #83 - 22 June - Cherbourg Heavy Gun Emplacement. - This target had to be destroyed since it was in the way of advancing allied troops. The IX Bomber Command, with medium and light bombers attacking it, as well as fighter strafes. Since there were so many groups assigned to wipe out this annoyance, the timing of the separate bombing groups had to be precise. Window dropping ships helped disperse flak bursts, but two planes did incur hits requiring a forced landing on an allied held airstrip in France for one plane. The other flew single engine back to England, landing on another emergency strip. Lt. Shea with gunners S/Sgts. Lee and Falk was one of the two planes hit over the target. With one engine out and his hydraulic lines inoperative due to having been cut, required Shea to overrun the end of the runway, shearing off the nose wheel and the right wheel, and skidded another 75 yards. The gunners lay prone on the floor of their compartment, escaping injury. That emergency landing strip was in the right place, having just been completed three hours earlier than Shea's landing. One other plane had already used it, so it came in handy. The three occupants of Shea's plane had an opportunity to visit a bombed out chateau, which had been a German Headquarters. Many souvenirs were gathered before they were transported back to base on a C-47. Lts. DeMand and Hanlon, BN - Lts. Shaefer and Burg, BN led flights. The mission was led by Captain Jackson with Lt. Maltby, BN and Captain Hulse and Lt. Conte, BN as deputy. With 37 planes attacking, 11 were battle damaged.

Our base must have been a safe haven for other planes, since a B-24, Liberator, a British Halifax, and a B-26 made emergency landings here. It was interesting for our men to scrutinize these foreign ships.

"669th Bombardment Squadron (L) History"
Transcription from USAF Archives

When Cherbourg continued to resist, General Bradley called on the Ninth Air Force to crack it open. Captain Huff, with Lt Kupits, B-N, led the second box in the attack on the 22nd. The fall of Cherbourg shortly afterwards is proof enough of the effectiveness of the bombing.

"670th Bombardment Squadron (L) History"
Transcription from USAF Archives

June 22nd provided another exciting day in the history of this organization. On a mission in which we had seven crews, to knock out pill box installations on the hills surrounding Cherbourg, Lt Shea and his crew of S/Sgts Lee and Falk, ran into the most unusual experience to date. After releasing their bombs and turning off the target, Lt Shea's plane picked up a direct hit on the left engine. After feathering the propeller, Lt Shea tried to trim up the ship, but found the trim tabs control had been shot away. The airplane vibrated tremendously and began losing speed and altitude. Lt Shea picked out a landing strip, made a 360-degree turn, and made a good landing. On the first third of the runway he tried to apply the brakes, but found that the hydraulic lines had been shot away. He then tried the emergency air bottle, but that too had been destroyed. They came to the end of the runway, jumped a sunken roadway, sheared off the nose wheel, hit some anti-glider obstacles near the end of the field, sheared off the right main landing gear and under carriage of the ship, and came to a halt 75 yards away from a ditch at the end of the field. Both gunners had been lying on the floor bracing themselves. When the plane stopped they had to pry off the top hatch to get Lt Shea out. The Ninth Air Force Service Group removed all secret equipment not damaged in the crash. The landing strip had just been completed 3 hours before they landed there and they were the second ship to crash-land there. It was an advanced allied strip, approximately 6 miles north of St Mare D'Eglise. Near the airstrip was a chateau that had been a German headquarters, surrounded by 88mm gun emplacements. Bombardment had wiped it out completely. After a medical examination the men were taken on a tour of the area. They saw much abandoned nazi equipment and many dead German soldiers. After being assured that the area had been cleared of booby traps, the three men picked up shattered German helmets and German officer's collar insignia as souvenirs of their visit. After a four-hour stay at the base the three men were put on two different C-47's loaded with allied wounded soldiers being returned to England. After landing and having their identity verified, the three were returned to their own base, arriving about 2100.

"671st Bomb Squadron (L) Unit History"
Gordon Russell and Jim Kerns

Target: Cherbourg Results:Fair

(Ver-riding an all-day stand down,) the Ninth Bomber Command assigned the 416th Bomb Group to do a job on Cherbourg itself in an effort to break the city down for ground infiltration. Fighters, light and medium bombers plastered the defenses in a steady aerial stream and when the smoke had cleared it was found that the Ninth Air Force had done a pretty good job.

The group was to knock out some light gun emplacements that were harassing the allied ground forces. Because of the great number of planes attacking the city it was necessary for exact timing at all checkpoints. Landfall was made according to plan and the bomb run was started for the target. This Squadron held the high flight of the second box to bomb. As the formation approached the target area, bursts of flak were seen coming up between the boxes, but it was very inaccurate due to window, which was being thrown out by several of the A-20s. The bombs went away, but no one was sure that they hit their mark because of the dense smoke that was hanging over the city at the time. Just off the bomb run flak came up, and although inaccurate, it did hit two ships. One made a forced landing on an airstrip in Allied-held territory in France; and the other had to make a single engine flight over the channel, landing at an emergency field in England. The crew, which landed in France, returned to the base the same night in a C-47.

[June 22, 1944], HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map Map showing Western Allies and Axis troop position details in Western Europe as of approximately 1200 hours, June 22, 1944 World War II Military Situation Maps Collection Library of Congress

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