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(size=398 KB)Hi Mike,
Re: Dennis G. Wales --
The entry on page 29 MIA roster for 44-49028 MACR 9748 is incorrect.
Lt. Wales was the 11th man on the crew as a "Radar Bombardier" NOT Engineer/Gunner
as the roster indicates. One of the Gunners was left off the roster ..... Joseph
B. Watt, so I am adding his name to the list right now.
Since he was not on Lt. Lee's a/c 42-51389 Red "O" when she went down on 10/16/44
and Lt. Wales was a "Radar" or "Mickey" bombardier he could have floated to
whichever squadron/crew that needed a "PFF" Pathfinder Radar operator, thus
he was riding with a 779th crew in Black Roger, a "PFF" aircraft..
Hope this helps.......
Regards,
Bob
(Note, "Bob" is Bob Hoskinson of the 464th BG, 778th
BS, see photo, Bob is lower right)
MACR 9748
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(size=398 KB)
Mike Whitehead wrote:
Hi Bob
I have a question that you may be able to help me with. One of the regular crew
members that my uncle flew with was Dennis Wales. He is shown in the photos
on http://ray.mlwsw.com/CrewPhotos.htm as "Denny".
And on the letter by Cleo Keller (see http://ray.mlwsw.com/ChaplainJohnEastwoodLetters.htm
) she refers to him as the Bombardier of the "regular crew". Dennis was absent
from the flight on Oct 16 when my Uncle's plane went down.
Now on page 29 of the MIA booklet, it lists a plane going down on 11/15/44 with
a Dennis Wales in the EG position (I assume that means engineer?). I believe
everyone on board was killed and this is described in MACR 9748 (which I don't
have).
My question is how likely is it for a Bombardier to be moved to EG position
in a different squadron? My Uncle's squadron was the 776th, but the plane missing
on 11/15/44 was the 779th squadron. To add more uncertainty, Dennis, like my
uncle, should have completed about 45 missions by Oct 16, 1944, so I suspect
he would have wrapped up all 50 by 11/15/44. What are your thoughts?
Thanks
Mike