Looking for help to identify an AAF Bomb Group from photo

[Cobrahistorian]

Great detective work Kev! Keep it going!

 

Jon

[KVSkelton]

And now, the rest of the story....

 

Donald Eugene Seifert entered service as an Aviation Cadet on 31JULY43 in Akron, Ohio. Before the war he had been attending Ohio State University for a year, majoring in Chemistry. He attended Bombardier Pre-flight at SAACG in San Antonio, TX completeing this on 23MAY44, followed by Advanced Bombardier and D/R Navigator at CAAF in Childress, TX, graduating on 30SEPT44. This location and date go perfectly with date and production tag inside his uniform posted above. Seifert is listed as also receiving his Commission on 30SEPT44.

 

He departed the US on 12JAN45 and arrived in the MTO (presumably Grottaglie, Italy where the 449th BG was stationed at the time) on 13FEB45. This according to a copy of his Certficate of Service. Note that the photo is dated 7FEB45, six days before he was listed as arriving. Would Palermo, Sicily have been a common stop over point on the way from the US to Grottaglie? I believe the travel route for new crews and aircraft going into Italy at that time was via North Africa. If so, it seems that it's at least possible that a stop over in Sicily could have been when the photo was taken. But I'm guessing on that account.

 

I was lucky enough to also receive a copy of his Separation Qualification Record. Under the Summary of Military Occupations it simply states:

 

Bombardier B-24 - Italy - 11 Sorties - 12 Jan. 1945 to 25 May 1945.

 

Such a simple line, but it really opens the doors to avenues of other research into the missions of the 449th (especially the 716thBS) during that timeframe. On his Certificate of Service, it states he was not wounded during his service and received the following campaign awards:

 

Po Valley - North Appennines - Central Europe

 

Those coincide exactly with the EAME ribbon on the uniform. It also states he was awarded the Air Medal via General Order 2377 Hq 15th AF on 15APR45. This too matches the ribbon on the uniform.

 

That's what I have so far. It's been an enjoyable journey these last 8 months or so. Thanks for all of you who helped and gave suggestions. I really appreciate it. A special thanks to Beast! Without him spotting Lt. Seifert's name in the newsletter of the 449th, it is highly unlikely that I would have made it this far in just a few months! One last request: Lt. Seifert is listed as being 5' 7 1/4" tall and 160 pounds in his records, with brown hair and blue eyes. Care to venture a guess which one he is in the photo?

 

Thanks again for everyone's help!

 

Kevin

 

edit: And of course I know that there's no way to tell which one is Seifert in the photo without seeing another photo of him.

[15thaf]

Donald E. Seifert was a bombardier in the 716th Squadron. The newsletter article is incorrect in stating he was a member of Ellis’ crew. The only pilot named Ellis in the 449th was in the 718th Squadron. Seifert flew 11 missions that were credited and another that was recalled due to weather for no credit. Five of the missions were 2-credits, for a total of 16 mission credits. He flew his first 8 missions with John J. Mattson and the last four with four different pilots. Seifert’s first mission was 9 March 45.

 

Mattson was co-pilot for Merle Anderson and was moved up to 1st pilot near the end of his tour. That does not help with the identification of the individuals in the photo as Mattson would not have been ferrying an aircraft through Sicily on 7 Feb.

 

44-49877 was a 449th aircraft but belonged to the 717th Squadron. I show its first mission on 20 Feb. and it was flown to the Gioia Depot on 29 April when the 449th turned in all of their combat aircraft.

 

The timeline is a bit confused. I currently show 44-49877 as arriving 19 January – likewise it was stated above that the IARC showed it arriving overseas in “early January”. Both conflict with a 7 Feb. date presumably during overseas ferry. Also the “12 Jan. 1945 to 25 May 1945.” in Seifert’s record conflict with 7 Feb. The Jan dates may be assignment dates rather than arrival dates.

 

Can you post a scan of the IARC? They generally show both an “assigned” and “received” date for movements. A look at the IARC might clear up the timeline.

[lritger]

The B-25 is indeed a C or D model, most likely from the 310th BG, probably used as a unit hack by this point. The CAF's "Miss Mitchell" is finished as a 310th BG aircraft:

 

 

 

 

Fantastic tunic and excellent research, well done!

 

Lynn