456th Bomb Group
Crews and Men of the 456th

Page 3


The Watkins crew:

Back row, left to right - Lt. Howard Watkins, pilot; Lt. William Lenz,  co-pilot; Lt. Dan Sutherland, navigator; James Mayfield, bombardier. Front row, left to right : Frank Woodward, flight engineer; Keith Ritter, radio operator; Hank Lee, nose turret; Richard Snodgrass, ball turret; Ken Martindale, waist gunner; John Torrance, tail turret.

Courtesy Dr. Dan Sutherland, ID corrected by Judy Watkins


Another shot of the Watkins crew, with signatures added at a later date - see below.

Courtesy Dr. Dan Sutherland


A small crew reunion at Pima Air Museum, Tucson, Arizona, in October, 1995. From left, Dr. Howard Watkins, William Lenz,  Dr. Dan Sutherland and James Mayfield. This B-24 came from India as a gift in 1970. See the Bibliography page for a book with the entire story. 

Courtesy Dr. Dan Sutherland


One of the original crews, #6, 744th Squadron, with "Big Stud":

L to R, back row: Bill Neale, bombardier; John Dengler, co-pilot; Robert Miller,  pilot; Martin Bernstein, navigator. Front row: Robert Baskin, nose gunner; Joe Turner, flight engineer; Sam Thomas, top turret; Larry Jones, tail turret; Charley Van Buskirk, radio operator.  Jeffrey Teacher, ball turret, not pictured (KIA).


747th Sqdn., taken 24 Jan 1945. Back row, L to R: Bill Cooke, Reed Whitaker, Al Couture, Erskine Hatfield. Front row , L to R: Tom Frawley, Gene Platrich, Sam Kalser, Gil Maestas, Ross Campbell, Clayton Vickery. The aircraft is "The Lady Corrinne", a famous 456th ship. See related article here and painting here.


The crew of "Towney's Tavern"

The following is from Greg Graham, August, 2002:  

...I have reviewed that photo (above) with my father, Gordon Graham, and I would like to give you a more accurate description of the photo and the crew.

The picture was taken on April 23, 1944, the day Towney's Tavern was shot down.

In the photograph, the crew members on the back row, from left to right, are Capt. John Townsend (pilot), 2d Lt. Herbert Lindberg (bombardier), 2d Lt. Edwin Webb (navigator), and 2d Lt. Gordon Graham (co-pilot).

In the front row, from left to right, are T/Sgt. Leslie Kensinger (flight engineer and top turret gunner), S/Sgt. Glenn Duncan (normally tail gunner, but moved to waist for that mission), S/Sgt. Arthur Crow (nose gunner), S/Sgt. Louis Fuerstein (ball gunner), S/Sgt Douglas Marston (waist gunner), and S/Sgt (?) Leon Basham (tail gunner). S/Sgt. Richard Borland (waist gunner), a regular crew member, was grounded with an ear problem and was replaced by Basham for the mission.

Lindberg, Webb, Crow, and Fuerstein were killed when the plane was shot down (23 April 1944).

 

Click here to hear  SOUNDS of the times: Music and more


 

Back To Top of This Page

Home

Created 10/21/99 RJF
Last Edited 11/24/2006 RJF