Lt. R.O. Steele as 603rd High Group Lead Returns from 14 February 1945 Mission to Prague
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Combat Photo No. 1: Lt. Bob Welty of the 603rd took this photo of the above A/C 44-8771 3O-B. On 14 February 1945, that aircraft was piloted by Lt. R.O. Steele. Bishop, rank and position unknown from the 398th Headquarters group was with Lt. R.O. Steele. A/C 44-8771 3O-B was the lead aircraft for the 603rd on this day though its markings are those of a 601st aircraft. Aircraft were swapped around as needed. Note that instead of a ball turret the aircraft was equipped with the Pathfinder radar.
Picture No. Welty 4009.
Input from Mike Dingus: Was likely taken on the Prague mission (146). The Tarr/Welty aircraft was flying as monitor on the lead left wing position. 30-B was the high group lead.
Input from Dave Jordan: Given the left side of the aircraft is sunlit, the direction of the photo would be toward the west or the return. |
398th Contrails Overhead - 14 or 15 February 1945
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Combat Photo No. 2: Lt. Bob Welty took this photo of several B-17 contrails through the front glass of his B-17cockpit. It is unclear what the vertical line is.
Mike Dingus suggest that the vertical line in the middle of this photo is a whip antenna which was located between the navigators bubble and the windscreen. Not too sure what the "rabbit ear" looking thing is in front of the bubble. Might be UHF communication antenna or maybe RDF antenna (since the chin turret is located where the old RDF antenna was.
The photos are in the correct time sequence. However, there is not enough information to determine whether this photo is from the 14 February 1945 mission to Prague or the 15 February mission to Dresden.
Picture No. Welty 5010. |
Various 398th Combat Elements Return from 15 February 1945 Mission to Dresden
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Combat Photo No. 3: Behind the Tarr A/C 43-38951 N7-B prop to the right, what appears to be a "7" can be seen on the fuselage of the large aircraft in front. The "7" is part of the insignia "N7", a 603rd aircraft. There is a good chance it is the same aircraft as aircraft N7-A in the next photo. Note the position of the guns in the top turret in both photos, and the sidewase facing of the ball turret guns in both photos. Special thanks to Lee Bradley for her input.
No A/C numbers can be identified on the other planes, but the highest aircraft to the left to the left is marked N8-M (600th) and the top plane to the right is 3O-W (601st).
Picture No. Welty 6011.
Input from Mike Dingus: I believe that this is mission #147 to Dresden. I've looked at every mission that this could be and if the Tarr/Welty aircraft were moved from center right to left left this is the view he would have had (refer to the "over target" formation chart). The unknown aircraft to the immediate right of Tarr/Welty would be N7-A. 30-W was not on the Prague mission. The take-off for this mission was delayed due to weather and only 7 or 8 of the high squadron made the mission, so there were a lot of holes in the formation to fill.
Input from Dave Jordan: Given the left side of the aircraft are sunlit, the direction of the photo would be toward the west or the return. |
The 398th Crosses the Rhine on Return from Dresden Mission 15 February 1945
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Combat Photo No. 4: Lt. Welty wrote on this one "The 398th crosses the Rhine". The A/C above is N7-A. See below for identification of location. Top of this photo is north.
Picture No. Welty 7012.
Input from Mike Dingus: N7-A was not on the Prague mission. I believe this photo is from mission #147 to Dresden. Just as above, if the Tarr/Welty aircraft were moved from where the "over target" formation chart shows to the left left position this is the view Tarr/Welty would have. N7-A would be left center and Tarr/Welty would off their left wing. I checked the river crossing point for the return flight and discovered that mission 146 and 147 both crossed the Rhine at nearly the same points. I also checked the Nurnberg missions, but they crossed the Rhine much further South.
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The 398th Crosses the Rhine on Return from Dresden Mission 15 February 1945
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Combat Photo No. 4: Lt. Welty wrote on this one "The 398th crosses the Rhine". The A/C above is N7-A. This is a repeat of the above Combat Photo No. 4, but with locations overlaid. The overlay was done by his son, Scott Welty in July 2007. His analysis is below.
Picture No. Welty 7012.
Analysis of Where Along the Rhine
Dave,
You asked me to take a look at my father's color photo of the Rhine and figure out where on the Rhine it could be. You're going to need the Google satellite maps again to follow this. I'm pretty sure of my findings but I could be proved wrong.
West of the Rhine
I have arrowed and labelled: Werlau, An der Lorelely, Urbar, and Oberwesel.
East of the Rhine
I have labelled: Lykerhausen, Dalheim, Prath.
This is based on the shape of light (pasture?) and dark (forest) color of the ground. When comparing Dad's photo to a modern day Google satellite photo this seems the most likely view. The difficulty in this is the view from Dad's photo is at an angle while satellite photos almost invariably looking straight down. Taking in the angle difference the light and dark ground shapes seem to match up.
I started with the west side of the Rhine. Werlau and Urbar are towns, of course, but I use them here to point out the entire light areas they are located. An der Lorelely is the fingery crook of dark color. Oberwesel is just the southern most point of the photo.
East of the Rhine, what anchors the photo is the near trapezoid dark patch. When you click on the Google satellite photos the three nearest towns are Prath to the south, Dalheim to the east, and Lykerhausen to the north.
Also if you look to the east (left) of this dark trapezoid patch, you come to another dark patch at river's edge, the shape of which conforms with the modern day photos.
Once I settled on these locations I pulled up a European map off the internet and looked to see where B-17s would cross the Rhine if they flew from Nuthampsted to Prague the destination that day. It appears to bisect the Rhine about where the photographer would have been. But someone with a real map should check. I unscientifically lined the route up by holding a pencil to the screen - not the most accurate way - but this rough eyeing seems to add to my conclusion.
Scott Welty
Let's See for Ourselves: I know you can't wait to see a current day satellite view to the above photo. So here's how.
- Go to Google Maps, then type in: Prath, Germany. When you click the link above, another web page will pop up for a side-by-side comparison.
- After you get both web pages open and situated side-by-side and zoomed out a bit, click Satellite Image for an aerial compare.
Comments to: 398th Photo Historian
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The 398th Crosses the Rhine on Return from Dresden Mission 15 February 1945
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| Analysis of Where Along the Rhine (continued)
Above is a straight down Google view showing the river crossing points for missions 146 - 14 Feb 1945 and 147 - 15 feb 1945 (groups A and B - Tarr/Welty were in the B group). The tacks are labeled and the two tacks for 147 are only about 3.5 miles apart.
Mike Dingus
9/5/2007
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603rd N7-L Aircraft Release over Munster 19 February 1945
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Combat Photo No. 5: Beautiful shot above the clouds of Tarr's A/C 43-38951 N7-B engine cowls and aircraft 603rd N7-L dropping their bomb load through the clouds. N7-L could be aircraft 43-38562 N7-L Kitty, Kay and Katy.
Picture No. Welty 8013.
Input from Mike Dingus: I believe that this must be a photo from mission #149 to Munster. The Tarr/Welty aircraft was flying right left and N7-L was right center in the low group. There are no other aircraft in the photo so they must be way out left.
Input from Dave Jordan: Given the left side of the aircraft is dark, the direction of the photo would be toward the east. |
Flying Through the Flak on Munster Mission 19 February 1945
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Combat Photo No. 6: Aircraft flying through flak.
Picture No. Welty 9014.
Input from Mike Dingus: I believe this is N7-L on the Munster mission #149. I tried everything Photoshop could do to this photo and as best as I can make out, the aircraft is N7-L (L on tail, anyway).
Input from Dave Jordan: Given the left side of the aircraft is dark, the direction of the photo would be toward the east, possibly just after the bomb run. |
398th Heading Home - Probably 19 February 1945
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Combat Photo No. 7: Since the photos were in sequence, this is probably the return from the Munster Mission - 19 Febraury 1945
Picture No. Welty 10015.
Input from Dave Jordan: Given the right side of the aircraft is dark, the direction of the photo would be toward the west or the return. |
Good night !
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Combat Photo No. 8: Lt. Welty wrote on this one "Good night !" They are back on the ground at Nuthampstead and most likely this was Lt. Welty's aircraft for the day, A/C XXXXXX for 19 Feb 1945.
Lee Bradley notes what appears to be a patch on the Plexiglas? Probably a flak hole repair.
Picture No. Welty 14019. |
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