A Bit-O-Lace
"Bates" Crew
Crew photos and memoirs.

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Lt. Warren F. Bates poses with Miss Lace,
leaning on #2 prop.

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Lt. Warren Bates first crew.
Before Lt. Dreyer was "traded" for Lt. Bauman

Miss Lace's"Bates" crew
co-pilot, was Lt. John Bauman, a fraternity brother of Milton Caniff.
Lt. Bauman sent Caniff a detailed sketch of the proposed artwork.
The sketch was returned with Caniff's annotation:
"A Bit-O-Lace for Lt. John H. Bauman, and the rest of the gang,
with my best wishes - Milton Caniff  NY, Oct. 1944"

PILOT:                    Warren F. Bates
CO-PILOT:             John H. Bauman
NAVIGATOR:        Luther "Ike" Eisenhart
BOMBARDIER:     William Rhoades
TOP TURRET:        Daniel De Tullio
RADIO:                   Harry Doung
BALL TURRET:      Robert Vogt
WAIST GUNNER:  Claude Cluck
WAIST GUNNER:  Beth Liss
TAIL GUNNER:      William Sonneborn

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"Photo taken sometime between June 1944 and February 1945.
Note all natural metal-finish.  Group markings of the all-yellow tail and
two green stripes were subsequently added at the beginning of February 1945.
Sent by Rob Kirkwood."

 
Miss Lace "Bates" crew flew 35 missions over Europe with no injuries. Although returning with a good many holes, at times. The closest call was when a piece of shrapnel came up through Navigator's table and "Ike" Eisenhart's arms, but missed him. A surprise souvenir for Ike, which he still has.

A Bit O' Lace VIDEO

These links will take you to the Videos taken from the 8mm color film shot by Lt. Bauman.
Reel #1 - London, Rattlesden, and Airborne
http://www.archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.604487.1

Stills taken from reel #1

Reel #2 Rattlesden Preflight and Over the Target
http://www.archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.604487.2

Stills taken from reel #2

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Lt. Bates - Pilot

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Mission Summary
Monday, 8 January 1945
(F.O.#545 - 198/787)

After our morning ablutions and the fresh egg breakfast, 38 crews assembled for the briefing at 04:00 hours. Our target was the marshalling yards at Frankfurt.

Captain Lefebrve started the takeoff at 06:32 hours. The last plane was off at 07:53 hours. When assembly was complete, we set course for the splasher beacon at Oxford Ness for Division assembly. As we headed for the continent, we continued our climb to a bombing altitude of 24,500 feet, which had been achieved by the time we reached the battle line.
The 88mm guns used at the cities were also used for ground targets. In Normandy, they were zeroed in on holes in the hedge rows.
There was cloud cover as we approached the target and there was a heavy cloud of black smoke from anti-aircraft shell bursts.
We set up for a PFF bomb run.
Over the target, Lt. Weeks plane was seen to explode from a direct hit. This was the last loss for the 710th Squadron.
On return, Lt. Jessen crash landed in Belgium. The plane was a wash-out. The crew returned to base.
Lt. Quist's crew bailed out over France. The crew survived and continued to fly missions.
Lt. Armstrong landed his plane on the continent. The plane flew back to base.

Captain Lefebrve landed at 14:45 to start the landing.

The 8th Air Force had 604 heavies, effective on the communications centers, rail targets, and bridges in Germany. Two B-17s were lost. Two hundred twenty seven P-51 provided escort and 29 P-51s flew on scouting missions without losses.