858th BS
Beard Crew

Status: Shown above at Alamogordo before POM, the crew arrived at Harrington three days after the August dissolution of the daylight 492nd Bomb Group at North Pickenham and merger with the Carpetbaggers at Station 179 on 16 August 1944. To their own amazement, they had survived the gauntlet of a full twenty combat missions with the daylight Group before finishing their tour at Harrington. At Harrington, they managed to get in ten combat missions by the effective end of Operations on the night of 16/17 September 1944.

Standing, L-R:
Charles W.  Beard           - Pilot         ASN 0309009
Kenneth J.  Sousa           - Copilot       ASN 0815006
Thomas G.   Woolsey         - Navigator     ASN 0702518
James W.    Wolslager       - Bombardier    ASN 0694834
Kneeling, L-R:
Robert E.   Denney          - R.O.          ASN 37502698
Tyler J.    Posner          - Gunner        ASN 14135544 (Orphaned)
Israel J.   Eiferman        - Gunner        ASN 12119903
Kenneth E.  Brandt          - Engineer      ASN 35455970 (Orphaned)
Richard L.  Paules          - Engineer      ASN 33495228

Not Pictured:
Albert L.   McFadden        - Engineer      ASN 34385976

 Passengers:
Orrin T.    Bowland         - Copilot       ASN 0809915    MR 1936

ASNs so-colored for EMs link to their NARA Enlistment Records.

 Those orphaned were derived from MR #2241. Bowland (copilot of the Brandenburg crew) shortly afterwards shipped off to Leuchars where he flew two of Balchen's "Ball Project" missions. He and crew reappeared at Harrington in mid-October of 1944.

Preferred Aircraft: B24D 42-40987

The plane was heavily flown most often by Manter since the Group's inception at the first of the year. It had formerly belonged to the 482nd BG and would be declared obsolescent in January of 1945. It was as far as is known, never named. Rare for later Mission Reports of the year, two had coordinates annotated, allowing a small window into exact locations toward the end of Operations.

Downloadable data sources: (small)
 Beard Crew Personnel Files  
Beard Crew Mission Reports  
Serial Number Index of B24s
801st/492nd Personnel MR Index

Downloadable data sources: (large)
"Carpetbaggers" by Parnell
 Serial Number Index of B24s
"They Flew by Night" editor Robert Fish
 Station 179 Operations Log (handwritten Apr44-Jul45)
Station 179 Operations Log (transcribed Sep44-Jul45)

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