S/Sgt Roger W. Danner
S/Sgt. Roger W. Danner served with the 495th squadron of the 344th Bomb Group as an Engineer/Gunner in various squadron B-26 medium bombers.
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Danner flew with 1st Lt. E.P. Foote in position 1-1-2. Flying in Y5-C, Danner was right next to Norgaard and Witty’s lead plane. Since the 344th BG was the first to bomb on D-Day, that made Danner a member of the second plane to bomb on D-Day overall!
On the mission to Utah beach, Danner served as the Engineer-Gunner. The plane was 42-95898 named Merry Jerry or Y5-C. They took off a 3:55 AM and landed at 7:45 AM. The BOMB LOAD was 16 – 250LB bombs. The hope was to create fox-holes on the beach and take out enemy defenses.
Two days later, Danner and crew were assigned to destroy a railway bridge in Lessay, France. The plane, piloted by 1st Lt. Foote was in position 1-2-4, again in Y5-C.
S/Sgt. Danner served as the Engineer-Gunner. The plane was 42-95898 named Merry Jerry or Y5-C. They took off a 7:15 AM and landed at 11:05 AM. The bomb load consisted of 8 – 500lb bombs. The group received only light flak.
On August 28, 1944, Roger Danner and crew were sent to bomb a fuel dump in Hamm, Germany. Danner was again flying in a plane (Y5-K) piloted by Lt. Foote in position 2-3-1.
The above in a hand-drawn map of the August 8, 1944 mission.
Danner and crew flew in 42-95911 Mary Mae Y5-K that day. They took off at 2:05 PM and landed three hours later at 5:05 PM. The crew consisted of; pilot: Foote, co-pilot: Fitzsimmonds, Bombardier: Cole, Navigator: Armstrong, Engineer: Danner, Radio: VanOverberghe, Tailgunner: Smith.
Roger W. Danner passed away on September 13, 1997.
