788th/859th BSs
Martin Crew

A better picture would be most appreciated!

Shown above as a ten-man crew at Wendover AAB,winter 1943-4.

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

Names below transcribed from SO42-11Feb44-Wendover AAB and SO47-16Feb44-Herington AAF.

Standing, L-R:
Keith O.      Martin     - Pilot        ASN 0687488
Gains M.      Newton     - Bombardier   ASN 0692512
Edward W.     Kregor     - Copilot      ASN 0699639
Frederick W.  Miller     - Navigator    ASN 0698749

Kneeling, L-R:
Carmine       Margiasso  - Gunner       ASN 12037871   (Orphaned)(KIA)
Charles A.    Rogers     - Engineer     ASN 39845971
Melvin        Masut      - Gunner       ASN 39121817
James M.      Jones,Jr.  - Gunner       ASN 36647666   (Orphaned)
Joseph W.     Meek       - R.O.         ASN 35338185
George W.     Meador     - Gunner       ASN 18168430

At Harrington:
Alonzo G.     Dixon      - Engineer     ASN 39272280

Combat Period: May-Sep 1944

Status: Original 788th crew. Margiasso returned to the 467th BG and was shot down on 21 June 1944. He and his second-crew members were shot by the SS on the same day. The fate of Jones is unknown. Rogers was replaced at Harrington by Alonzo G. Dixon. On Mission 1789 an OSS Observer (Franklin O. Canfield,ASN 0909281) was carried. After the crew completed their tour Martin returned to base in September '44 to fly six gas-haul missions. Martin was killed in an aircraft accident sometime after his return to the states.

Names below transcribed from Special Orders #151, dtd 17Sep44.

Gas Haul Crew:
Keith O.   Martin     - Pilot        ASN 0687488
Howard W.  Dye        - Copilot      ASN 0808807
Roy L.     Burton     - Navigator    ASN 054933
Reuben E.  Cartwright - Engineer     ASN 18165381
Stanley R. Haas       - R.O.         ASN 37505532

Preferred Aircraft: B24H 42-50382

The plane was apparently never named and flew throughout the summer of '44 at Harrington, it was inventoried at BAD 2 on 6 December of that year and at BAD 3 on 5 January 1945, after which it drops from sight.

Agents(s) Delivered:
MR 1130   DZ Freelance 4  (1) Roger Faucher
MR 1361   DZ Diplomat 8A  (3) Benjamin Cowburn, David Pearson & Arthur Breen
MR 1439   DZ Frederick 18 (4) Part of Inter-Allied Mission ALOE
MR 1555   DZ John 133     (1) Unidentified
MR 1638   DZ John 22B     (1) No drop
MR 1789   DZ Messenger 35 (2) Meseur and a French Colonel
MR 1849   DZ Bob 279      (2) Unidentified
MR 1992   DZ Percy 8      (4) Part of SHINOILE Mission

Leaflets:
USF-75
USF-77
USF-78
USF-127
USF-133

Additional Crew Data sources:
Martin Crew Personnel Files
Martin Crew Mission Reports

Group-Related Downloads:
AAFRH-21 "AAF Aid to European Resistance"
Allied Leaflets Index
"Carpetbaggers" by Parnell
"They Flew by Night" editor Robert Fish
Serial Number Index of B24s
Station 179 Operations Log (handwritten Apr44-Jul45)
Station 179 Operations Log (transcribed Sep44-Jul45)

Available on Request:
Group Mission Reports Jan-Sep44 (On disk $12ea - $10ea via Paypal)
"Chronology of SOE Operations with the Resistance In France During WWII" by Foot & Boxhall
"Spies,Supplies & Moonlit Skies Vols 1&2" by Ensminger (On disk $12ea - $10ea via Paypal)

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