474th FG, mission 27th of June 1944

[Henofred]

Hi,

I am looking for a copy of the original report regarding the 474th Fighter Group mission the 27th of June 1944 onto a choke point / rail junction near Bourges, Fr. I have already the excerpts from the books – 428th FS, The Geyser Gang- and – 428th FS, The Retail Gang - but there are few details.
Otherwise, is there an association of 474th FG who can help me?

All the best,
Frederic.

[Eagle0025]

Hello Frederic,

I am the official historian of the 474th FG Association. As to the 27 June 44 mission to Bourges, most of what there is on the mission is in the 428th and 429th squadron histories. The 430th FS history is very weak on details and does not mention this particular mission. Of all the pilots who flew on that mission, only Bob Freeman, Bill Siegel (both 428th), and Orville Cester (429th) are still alive today. I email Bob on a regular basis and can ask him if he recalls any details of this mission.

Exactly what information from the squadron histories do you have? The 428th history, The Geyser Gang, mentions this mission on pages 84 and 265. The 429th FS history, The Retail Gang, mentions it on page 77. Let me know what you don't have and I can scan/email it to you. Also, let me know what other kind of information or details you are looking for and I'll do my best to find them for you.

I am also in the process of purchasing four rolls of microfilm containing official 474th FG reports/paperwork from the Air Force Historical Research Agency. Once I get them, I can review them for any information on this mission.

Regards, Gary Koch

[Henofred]

Hello Gary,

I have few things, below excerpts which I have regarding the mission of June 27 :

For the 428th FS :
The 61st mission on June 27 was a Group operation, the bombing of a stalled troop train south of Bourges, in the area south of Paris. The newly established “cover” work fell to the 428th and so its 12 pilots took off at 1934, the other two bomb-carrying Squadrons following immediately. Maj. Hedlund led. The route lay over Caen, where the British invasion forces were still stalled. The 428th’s cover-giving pilots, Kept y their job to a relatively high altitude, saw nothing particularly interesting on the mission ; The two Squadrons “Target train” had somehow vanished, and so the bombing developed into a routine attack on a nearby marshalling yard. No enemy aircraft were encountered.

And for the 429th FS :
Tonight, we were told there was a German troop train located on the tracks between Bourges and Vierzon Ville. Pilots were briefed and took off at 1936. By 2100 the pilots had combed the area but were unable to locate the designated troop train. Capt. Halford spotted a three-way rail junction 4 miles west of Bourges and the Squadron went down and gave it a good working over. Lt. Levey along with 5 others scored direct hits on the tracks. At 2240, all planes returned.

I am looking for all informations regarding this operation : squadrons involved, number of planes in mission, armament, pilots, flight plan, photographs and so on... in a word all that you find in a mission report. What would be great, it is some photographs and mission's account from the involved pilots. I have bought some microfilms at Maxwell regarding the bombardments onto Bourges A/D, 4 miles East from the 27th of June target, amazing documents and photographs are found into these microfilms.
If you can help me to have this kind of informations…

Best regards,
Frederic

[Eagle0025]

Frederic,

Send me your email address in a private message and I can send you some more info on this mission. I tried sending some more data to you on this forum but it would not accept is for some reason.

Cheers, Gary

[Henofred]

OK Gary,

I send you my email address into your “private message” of the forum.

Best regards,
Frederic.