Therman D. Brown mission December 4, 1942

Returning to base at night presented many challenges. One rarely had enough fuel to cope with an extended problem - like locating the base. Weather usually was not a problem in the desert but it could be - particularly in the winter.

On one occasion fog was. We landed one night as the fog was rolling across the airfield at Fayid and had covered a small portion of the runway. lf you didn't make the landing, there were no alternates within range of your remaining fuel. You had to bail out the crew and abandon the plane.

Lt. Dick Miller, pilot, and Lt. Mayfield, co-pilot, flew such a mission to Naples on December 4, 1942. They had some engine trouble, but managed to reach the target for a successful raid.

They lost #3 engine on the homeward trip. They transferred gas to start it only to have engine #4 go out. Near Gambut (LG-139) in the Western Desert~ they fired the colors of the day and flicked their landing lights but no runway lights came on. They went on to Cairo with the same results. With all hope gone~ Dick ordered the crew to bail out. They all did.

As Dick Miller was preparing to jump, he thought he saw runway lights. He was correct. He put his wheels down. The #2 engine caught on fire and then sputtered out as he landed with only one engine. It was a perfect landing. It turned out to be Fayid near the Suez Canal. The next morning all the crew members were located. There were no injuries. He said he felt lonesome, there all by himself and everything was so quiet - it was an eerie feeling.

376 ARCHIVES

The website 376bg.org is NOT our site nor is it our endowment fund.

At the 2017 reunion, the board approved the donation of our archives to the Briscoe Center for American History, located on the University of Texas - Austin campus.

Also, the board approved a $5,000 donation to add to Ed Clendenin's $20,000 donation in the memory of his father. Together, these funds begin an endowment for the preservation of the 376 archives.

Donate directly to the 376 Endowment

To read about other endowment donation options, click here.


My Trip to San Pancrazio

October 2019


Reunion

NOTE change in month !!!

DATES: Oct 26-29, 2023

CITY:Tucson, AZ

HOTEL: Double Tree Suites Airport hotel

7051 South Tucson Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85756

520-225-0800


Click here to read about the reunion details.

previous reunions


For Sale

The Other Doolittle Raid


The Broken Wings of Zlatibor


The Liberandos


Three Crawford Brothers


Liberando: Reflections of a Reluctant Warrior


376th Bomb Group Mission History


The Last Liberator


Full Circle


Shadows of Wings


Ten Men, A "Flying Boxcar," and A War


I Survived Ploesti


A Measure of Life


Shot Down In Yugoslavia


Stories of My Life


Attack


Born in Battle


Bombardier's Diary


Lost Airmen


Langdon Liberando