James Clifton McClanahan
Military384thbombgroup.com
Original crew of 384th on activation in 1942, Boise, Idaho. Squadron Bombardier & lead crew -- Pilot Phil Algar. Flew the August 17, 1943 and the October 14, 1943 missions. [Schweinfurt] Led Group on Black Thursday (October 14, 1943. ) Awarded DFC for the effort. Also shot down an Me109. Our crew was fortunate as we had only one crew member seriously wounded -- left waist gunner Loring G. Millar -- who was awarded the Silver Star for his courage on this mission. We were the only crew of the 384th able to land at Grafton-Underwood becuase of weather and damaged aircraft. Of the 18 aircraft taking off only 11 returned to base. Lost 5 to enemy antiaircraft -- 4 fighters -- 1 bailed out over England as the pilot was unable to find an airfield on which to land. All of the members of our crew except one finished the combat missions, 25 at that time. Plane was 'Battle Wagon'. After I finished my combat missions I went to the 94th Combat Wing as Wing Bombardier. Wing commander was BG Julian K. Lacey. Returned to the States in August 1944. Had an 8 month old son who I had never seen. Was quite an experience.
DFC w/ 2 Oak Leaf Cluster, 8 Air Medals
1 Me109
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Wing
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Combat organisation
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Lucky Thirteen
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 546th Bomb Squadron
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Hartsville, Tennessee | 10 August 1917 |
Revisions
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / self