U S Army Air Force/8th Air Force/2nd Air Division/14th Bomb Wing/492nd Bomb Group (Heavy)
 492ndBombGroup.com home
follow the 492nd
on
Roads Crew 915
 Roads Crew 915
Back row, left to right...
Carl Roads, pilot
Bernerd Harding, pilot, Crew 902
Lester Knight, navigator
Robert Taylor, bombardier
Not in the photo...
John Higgins, co-pilot
George Devine, waist gunner
Front row, left to right...
Jack Brown, tail gunner
Sidney Leith, engineer
Cpl Morton David, top turret gunner
Howard Kuhn, radio operator
Gerald Polzin, togglier, nose gunner
Roads Crew 915 Summary
2nd Lt Carl "Dusty" Roads began his service with the 492nd during the Col Pierce command in 1943. We assume that he already had a crew when he came into the Group and had a couple of personnel changes during training at Alamogordo. Two of his men came from the Loose Crew and another from the Earleywine crew. See the Training links. His crew was assigned to the 859th BS, designated as Crew 915.
Lt Roads signed out for a B-24, 44-40153. To our knowledge, they didn't give thier plane a nickname. In April of '44 they flew their assigned ship to England via the southern route. Lt Green, the Squadron Assistant Operations Officer, went with them as acting co-pilot. The Crew's co-pilot, F/O Higgins, went on the Queen Elizabeth to supervise the personnel of the 859th. Lt Alexander, the Squadron Bombardier Officer, also tagged along. Neither roster for the flyover or the Queen Elizabeth list Sgt Devine. We don't know how he got to England. The assumption would be that he took the boat.
By our count Lt Roads served as aircraft commander for Crew 915 on 13 missions. Other records say 11, but we aren't finished researching yet. We haven't confirmed who was on each of the missions, as substitutions are possible as well as the bombardier missing some of the Pathfinder-led missions. At some point Lieth was replaced by Becker.
The Roads Crew was shot down three times. The first time was on 13 May 44. They weren't actually shot down, but damaged such that they couldn't land. They had to crashland their plane when they returned. The second time (date being researched) they took a hit in their left wing fuel tank and had to make an emergency landing at a British fighter base near Dover. They had to leave their craft there as the runway was too short to take off.
The third time was fatal. On 18 Jun 44, they were hit by Me-109s while attacking an airfield near Luneburg. The Germans added insult to injury by hitting them again by flak as they were limping back to England. They got within 12 miles of the English coast when they were forced to bail out. Their ship exploded when it hit the water. The British Air-Sea Rescue responded quickly, but could only save two men and recover the body of a third. 8 KIA, 2 RTD, MACR 8235.
More Info
Loose CCT 1099
Earleywine CCT 1100
44-40153
44-40068
UMBRIAGO
44-40156
41-29489
44-40053
SWEAT 'ER GAL
Links to missions
flown by the
Roads Crew 915
are below in their
Mission Record
Original Roster for
Roads Crew 915
Position / MOS Name Rank Serial # Notes
Pilot
MOS 1024
Roads, Carl B Jr
"Dusty"
2nd Lt O-675120 29 May, promoted 1st Lt
KIA, 18 Jun 44, MACR 8235
Cambridge, Wall of the Missing
Co-Pilot
MOS 1024
Higgins, John M F/O T-061853 Arrived to the UK via the Queen Elizabeth
KIA, 18 Jun 44, MACR 8235
Cambridge, Wall of the Missing
Navigator
MOS 1034
Knight, Lester W 2nd Lt O-711424 KIA, 18 Jun 44, MACR 8235
Cambridge, Wall of the Missing
Bombardier
MOS 1035
Taylor, Robert E 2nd Lt O-606528 Obtained from Loose CCTS crew 1099
KIA, 18 Jun 44, MACR 8235
Cambridge, Wall of the Missing
Engineer
MOS 748
Leith, Sidney
"Scotty"
S/Sgt 20113708 Obtained from Earleywine CCTS crew 1100
Replaced by Becker
Radio
Operator
MOS 757
Kuhn, Howard C Sgt 35412101 15 May, promoted S/Sgt
1 Jun, promoted T/Sgt
KIA, 18 Jun 44, MACR 8235
Cambridge, Wall of the Missing
Waist
Gunner
MOS 612
David, Morton E
"Morty"
Pfc 15391989 1 Jun, promoted Cpl
15 Jun, promoted Sgt
RTD, 18 Jun 44, MACR 8235
1 Jul, promoted S/Sgt
Waist
Gunner
MOS
Devine George H Sgt 32752185 1 Jun, promoted S/Sgt
KIA, 18 Jun 44, MACR 8235
Cambridge, Wall of the Missing
Nose
Gunner
MOS 612
Polzin, Gerald A Sgt 39204835 1 Jun, promoted S/Sgt
RTD, 18 Jun 44, MACR 8235
Tail
Gunner
MOS 611
Brown, Jack R
"Clyde"
S/Sgt 14054449 Obtained from Loose CCTS crew 1099
Promoted T/Sgt
KIA, 18 Jun 44, MACR 8235
Cambridge, Wall of the Missing
  Others Who Flew with Roads Crew 915
Staff Officer
MOS 2161
Green, Frank R 1st Lt O-6959373 Squadron Assistant Operations Officer
Flew to England as co-pilot with the crew
Transferred to the 467th BG
Staff Officer
MOS 2161
Alexander, Edwin J 2nd Lt O-6686692 Squadron Bombardier Officer
Flew to England with the crew
Promoted 1st Lt
Promoted Capt
Engineer
MOS
Becker, George
"Red"
S/Sgt 12190346 1 Jun, promoted T/Sgt
Replaced Leith
KIA, 18 Jun 44, MACR 8235
Roads Crew 915
492nd BG Mission Record
859th Bomb Squadron
Crew
Mission
Number
Group
Mission
Number
Group
Mission
Date
Aircraft
Serial
Number
Primary Target Mission Notes
01
 Link to Mission 01 page 01
11 May 44 44-40068 Mulhouse, France Target: Marshalling yard
02
 Link to Mission 03 page 03
13 May 44   Tutow, Germany Target: Airfield
03
 Link to Mission 05 page 05
19 May 44 44-40153 Brunswick, Germany Target: Marshalling yard
04
 Link to Mission 07 page 07
23 May 44   Avord, France Target: Airfield
05
 Link to Mission 11 page 11
28 May 44 44-40153 Zeitz, Germany Target: Oil refinery
Bombed Saalfeld
06
 Link to Mission 13 page 13
30 May 44 44-40156 Rotenburg, Germany Target: Air depot
07
 Link to Mission 15 page 15
2 Jun 44 44-40153 Berck-sur-Mer, France Target: Airfield
08
 Link to Mission 17 page 17
6 Jun 44 44-40153 Normandy, France Target: D-Day invasion coast
09
 Link to Mission 20 page 20
8 Jun 44 44-40153 Angers, France Target: Railroad junction
10
 Link to Mission 21 page 21
10 Jun 44 41-29489 Boulogne, France Target: Airfield
11
 Link to Mission 23 page 23
11 Jun 44 44-40153 La Possonniere, France Target: Marshalling yard
12
 Link to Mission 26 page 26
14 Jun 44 44-40153 Emmerich, Germany Target: Oil refinery
13
 Link to Mission 31 page 31
18 Jun 44 44-40053 Luneburg, Germany Target: Airfield
Lost: 8 KIA, 2 POW, MACR 8235
492ndBombGroup.com — an Arnett Institute project
Page last modified Tuesday, October 4, 2011.