Dailies of the 323rd - the 91st Bomb Group!

Lt. Corman and crew; #7234, Lt. Basinger and crew; #2490, Lt.
Pickard and the “A” crew in lead ship. There were no abortives.
Ship #7075 and #1542 were involved in an accident in which they
ran together in Mid-air. Both ships and their crews are missing.
It is believed that ship #7075 crash-landed in Switzerland. Ship
#1542 was seen going down hopelessly out of control. Crew of ship
#7075 was as follows: Pilot, 2/Lt. Cyril J. Braund; Copilot,
2/Lt. John Sykes, Jr.; Navigator, 2/Lt. Kenneth M. Boltz;
Bombardier; 2/Lt. John Grubka; Engineer, T/Sgt. Donald J. McBey;
Waist Gunner, Sgt. Carl C. McCarrell; Radio Operator, T/Sgt.
William W. Bridges; Ball Turret Gunner, Sgt. Robert W. Lockard;
Tail Gunner, Sgt. Clifford G. Johnson.
Crew of ship #1542: Pilot 2/Lt. Normand N. Burwick; Copilot,
2/Lt. Frank J. Way; Navigator, 1/Lt. Carl Sanders; Bombardier,
1/Lt. Albert R. Steelhammer; Engineer, T/Sgt. David M. Cotton;
Waist Gunner, S/Sgt. Henry S. Carlson; Radio Operator, T/Sgt.
George R. Beltz; Ball Turret Gunner; S/Sgt., Melvina A. Gemmell;
Tail Gunner, Sgt. Gordon D. Smith. This was an experienced crew.
Lt. Steelhammer was on his last mission to complete his tour of
thirty-one. Other members had a high number toward completion of
their tours.
20 July 1944: Leipzig, Germany, where their ME-109 Assembly Plant
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is located, was successfully bombed on the 20 . According to
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figures on the subject, this was the 200 Mission in which this
squadron has participated. Twelve ships from this squadron
participated as follows: #7304, Lt. Supchak and crew; #1579, Lt.
O’Toole and crew; #7625, Lt. Basnight and crew; #1909, Lt.
Dietrich and crew; #7234, Lt. Basinger and crew; #2116, Lt.
Corman and crew; #7540, Lt. Stunf and crew; #7504, Lt. Pullen and
crew; #1636, Lt. Mullins and crew; #7276, Lt. Riser and crew ;
#7594, Lt. Eblen and crew; #7956, Capt. Reid and crew in lead
ship. All ships of this squadron returned safely to base and
there were no abortives.
Enemy fighters made a furious attack on our formation.
Approximately eight ships of the group were lost, but our
squadron was lucky in not losing any. It was by far the roughest
mission experienced by this group for several months. Enemy flak
was also heavy and accurate.
Shortly after the ships landed, there was a serious accident that
marred our good luck for the day. M/Sgt. Lewis Katona was riding
a bicycle and somehow rode into the path of a B-17 airplane as it
was being taxied by M/Sgt. Olen K. Leathers. He was instantly
killed. This was a shock to the entire squadron. M/Sgt. Katona
was assistant line chief and had been with the squadron since it