Merlin Harvey Verberg

Military
media-15273.jpeg UPL 15273 Lt. Roy Braly, pilot - standing left side - Pilot of the B-24D Liberator bomber, #42-40749, named, SACK-TIME SALLY, from the 565th Bomb Squadron, the 389th Bomb Group, and the 8th Air Force from Britain, and crew, flew on the Ploesti oil refinery bombing mission, returning safely to Libya. August 1, 1943
Crew:
Standing (L-R) Roy Braly - Pilot, Norbert Gebhard - Co-Pilot, Merlin Verberg - Bombardier, James McGahee - Navigator
Kneeling (L-R) Essman Matthews - Radio Operator, Virgil Hoffman - Engineer, Andrew S Toth - Waist Gunner, George Scott - Ball Turret
John Filenger - Tail Gunner, Edward Goodall - Waist Gunner

Best Web - B-24 - SACK-TIME SALLY

Object Number - UPL 15273 - Lt. Roy Braly, pilot - standing left side - Pilot of the B-24D Liberator bomber, #42-40749, named, SACK-TIME SALLY, from the 565th Bomb...

Bombardier of B-24 42-40749 'Sack Time Sally'.



Took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1-Aug-43, flying B-24 Liberator 42-40749.



Shot down by Me 109 fighters, Opeinde, Netherlands on 26-Nov-43 baled out and sheltered by resistance, captured by Gestapo during the journey to freedom, sent to Stalag Luft 1 till wars end.



Awards: DFC, AM, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.



"Verberg on landing was taken to a safe house from where he was collected by a teenager in the Resistance Tiny Mulder. She brought him a change of clothes and a bike and they rode off hand-in-hand, openly past German soldiers, to her home where he stayed for some weeks.

Sadly on arrival in Amsterdam on the 21st December, the four men were collected by a 'red-headed' man who drove them straight to the enemy. Verberg kept in touch with Tiny Mulder after the war and they exchanged several visits until Tiny's death in 1993; a very brave woman."

Connections

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Units served with

The insignia of the 389th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 389th Bomb Group 565th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Sack-Time Sally
  • Unit: 389th Bomb Group 565th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Soluch Airfield
  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12
Prisoners of war, including Colonel Hubert Zemke of the 479th Fighter Group at Stalag Luft I.
  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Grand Rapids, MI 21 August 1920 Son of Anne Verburg.

Enlisted

Grand Rapids, MI 2 March 1942 Grand Rapids, Michigan

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

9218 Opeinde, Netherlands 26 November 1943 Shot down by Me 109 fighters, Opeinde, Netherlands on 26-Nov-43 baled out and sheltered by resistance, captured by Gestapo during the journey to freedom.

Other

Assigned

Benghazi, Libya 23 November 1943 565th BS, 389th BG, 8th AF. TDY 9th AF.

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Barth, Germany Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft I.

Revisions

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Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Flagged as a "Possible DUPLICATE" in the Nickname field so an Admin can check out this person.

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ContributorAl_Skiff
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ContributorAAM
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Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 3493 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

Merlin Harvey Verberg: Gallery (1 items)