Sgt William H Osborne Dustin Crew Page 1

Sgt William Henry Osborne
Eastern District Tokyo Kempei Tai Headquarters
Dustin Crew
Page 1

Return to Sgt Osborne's Main Page
Dustin Crew Page 1	Dustin Crew Page 2
Dustin Crew Page 3	Dustin Crew Page 4

JUG HAID II
499TH BOMB GROUP ( VERY HEAVY )
V SQUARE 2
42-24650

THE LT KENNETH DUSTIN CREW

source: 499th Bomb Group Unofficial History
No names
Possibly taken October 1944

Sgt William Henry Osborne was not an original member of the Lt Kenneth Dustin Crew.
Following completion of his Radar Operator training at Boca Raton AAF,
he was transfered to Pratt AAF, Kansas ( 497th Bomb Group ) in either June or July 1944.
This was followed by his transfer to Smoky Hills AAF ( SHAAF ), 499th Bomb Group, in the middle of July.

In my documents there is nothing to indicate when he joined the Dustin Crew.
The below table outlines the Dustin Crew composition from October 1944 through April 1945.

The 499th Bomb Group Flight and Air Echelons departed SHAAF for Saipan in the middle of October 1944.
The original Dustin Crew travelled by rail to Oakland / San Francisco and
then to Hamilton Field, Novato.
They then flew to Saipan on a C-54.

499th Bomb Group Morning Reports have Sgt Osborne
assigned to the Lt Col Alvis Mueller Crew.

It is unlikely that Col Mueller actually had a crew as
he was 499th Bomb Group Deputy Commander.
The men in Special Orders 288 followed the
same path to Saipan as the Dustin Crew.

A possible date when Sgt Osborne joined the Dustin Crew was at
the beginning of January 1945.

This is when Cpl Richard P Merriman, Radar Operator, was assigned on
Temporary Duty to the 3rd Photo Recon Squadron.

He was lost on 15 February 1945.
This is another possible date for Sgt Osborne to have joined the Dustin Crew.

There is unfortunately no information from any of
the material in my files concerning Sgt Osborne's flight status.

The Dustin Crew continues in Page 2

LEGEND

AC : Aircraft Commander	P: Pilot	N: Navigator	B: Bombardier
FE: Flight Engineer	ROM: Radio Operator	R: Radar Operator	OBS Observer
LG Left Gunner	TG Tail Gunner	RG Right Gunner	CFC Central Fire Control Gunner

13 OCTOBER 1944 SPECIAL ORDERS 287 SMOKY HILL ARMY AIR FIELD CREW NUMBER 11 AIR ECHELON 1st Lt Kenneth H Dustin AC 2nd Lt Robert B Merz P 2nd Lt Vernon L Repp N 2nd Lt Nicholas Vescia B 2nd Lt Jack M Danowitz FE Sgt Robert A Swantek CFC Sgt Robert F Ross ROM Sgt Elmer Corsi LG Cpl Richard P Merriman R SSgt William A Davis, Jr TG	13 OCTOBER 1944 SPECIAL ORDERS 288 SMOKY HILL ARMY AIR FIELD UNIT REPLACEMENT CREW CREW NUMBER 21 AIR ECHELON Lt Col Alvis Mueller AC Capt James L Hamilton P 2nd Lt Eugene E Lewis N 2nd Lt Edward C Kuchenbecker B 1st Lt Donald K Meuser FE Cpl Adrian B Runkle, Jr CFC Cpl Edward S Orden ROM Cpl Wilber H Powley LG Cpl John C Hieb TG Sgt William H Osborne R SSgt John W Alverson Passenger	31 OCTOBER 1944 SAIPAN 877TH BOMB SQUADRON MORNING REPORT 1st Lt Kenneth H Dustin AC 2nd Lt Robert B Merz P 2nd Lt Vernon L Repp N 2nd Lt Nicholas Vescia B 2nd Lt Jack M Danowitz FE Sgt Robert A Swantek CFC Sgt Robert F Ross ROM Sgt Elmer Corsi LG Cpl Richard P Merriman R SSgt William A Davis, Jr TG
1 NOVEMBER 1944 SAIPAN 877TH BOMB SQUADRON MORNING REPORT 2nd Lt Edward C Kuchenbecker B 1st Lt Donald K Meuser FE Cpl Adrian B Runkle, Jr CFC Cpl Edward S Orden ROM Cpl Wilber H Powley LG Cpl John C Hieb TG Sgt William H Osborne R SSgt John W Alverson Passenger	30 DECEMBER 1944 SAIPAN 877TH BOMB SQUADRON MORNING REPORT Cpl Richard P Merriman R From Duty to TDY 3rd Photo Recon Squadron ************************* 15 FEBRUARY 1945 SAIPAN 877TH BOMB SQUADRON MORNING REPORT Cpl Richard P Merriman R Missing in Action	2 APRIL 1945 MISSING AIR CREW REPORT 1st Lt Kenneth H Dustin AC 2nd Lt Robert B Merz P 2nd Lt Vernon L Repp N 2nd Lt Nicholas Vescia B 2nd Lt Jack M Danowitz FE Sgt Robert A Swantek CFC Sgt Robert F Ross ROM Sgt Elmer Corsi LG SSgt William A Davis, Jr TG Sgt William H Osborne R