Missions Completed
On September 15, 1943, ten American airmen from around the country were assigned to the Joe Noyes Crew flying with the 95th Bomb Group (H), Mighty Eighth Air Force. The table below is my effort to organize all the USAAF combat missions they flew during World War Two. As you can see, the men didn’t always fly together, nor did they always fly on the same plane. They often flew in the B-17 Blondie II, though. This data is helpful if you are trying to see how many missions each airman completed and what role they were flying in. Sometimes, a Waist Gunner would fly a mission as a Tail Gunner. Frank Roth was only on his first mission when the B-17 Sittin’ Bull went down over the English channel. I didn’t initially realize that. Everyone was counting missions, because at 25, the crew could complete their combat tour and go home, as portrayed in the 1990 film The Memphis Belle.
| Name | Date | Target | Aircraft | Pilot | Co-pilot | Navigator | Bombardier | Radio Operator | Top Turret | Ball Turret | Waist Gunner | Waist Gunner | Tail Gunner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph H. Noyes | 05-13-1943 | St. Omer, France | B-17F Silver Queen | Harry M. Conley | Joseph H. Noyes | Elias J. Bacha | Wayne R. Fitzgerald | Edgar A. Lajoie | Howard D. Medford | Thomas R. McArthur | John L. MacNeil | William L. Cochran | Floyd C. Hoover |
| Joseph H. Noyes | 05-14-1943 | Antwerp, Belgium | B-17F 42-5795 | Harry M. Conley | Joseph H. Noyes | Elias J. Bacha | Wayne R. Fitzgerald | Edgar A. Lajoie | Howard D. Medford | Thomas R. McArthur | John L. MacNeil | William L. Cochran | Raymond L. Provost |
| Joseph H. Noyes | 06-11-1943 | Wilhelmshaven, Germany | B-17F Blondie | Harry M. Conley | Joseph H. Noyes | Elias J. Bacha | Wayne R. Fitzgerald | Edgar A. Lajoie | Howard D. Medford | Thomas R. McArthur | John L. MacNeil | William L. Cochran | Raymond L. Provost |
| Joseph H. Noyes | 06-25-1943 | Bremen, Germany | B-17F Blondie II | Joseph H. Noyes | Elmer E. Bockman | Elias J. Bacha | Byron F. Miller | Edgar A. Lajoie | Howard D. Medford | Thomas R. McArthur | John L. MacNeil | Willard E. Buss | Raymond L. Provost |
| Joseph H. Noyes | 06-29-1943 | Le Mans, France | B-17F 42-30219 | Joseph H. Noyes | Elmer E. Bockman | Elias J. Bacha | John E. Welles | Edgar A. Lajoie | Howard D. Medford | Thomas R. McArthur | John L. MacNeil | Jesse S. Burleson | Raymond L. Provost |
| Joseph H. Noyes | 07-04-1943 | La Pallice, France | B-17F Blondie II | Joseph H. Noyes | Elmer E. Bockman | George H. Loring | Rex A. Rice | Edgar A. Lajoie | Howard D. Medford | Thomas R. McArthur | John L. MacNeil | Donald C. Jenson | Raymond L. Provost |
| Joseph H. Noyes | 07-14-1943 | Le Bourget, France | B-17F Blondie II | Joseph H. Noyes | Elmer E. Bockman | Elias J. Bacha | Rex A. Rice | Raymond A. Loija | Howard D. Medford | Thomas R. McArthur | John L. MacNeil | Willard E. Buss | Raymond L. Provost |
| Joseph H. Noyes | 07-24-1943 | Trondheim, Norway | B-17F Blondie II | Joseph H. Noyes | David F. Prees | Nathan Datlow | Rex A. Rice | Edgar A. Lajoie | Howard D. Medford | Thomas R. McArthur | John L. MacNeil | Jesse S. Burleson | Raymond L. Provost |
| Joseph H. Noyes | 07-25-1943 | Kiel (Warnemunde), Germany | B-17F Blondie II | Joseph H. Noyes | David F. Prees | Elias J. Bacha | Rex A. Rice | Edgar A. Lajoie | Howard D. Medford | Thomas R. McArthur | John L. MacNeil | Jesse S. Burleson | Raymond L. Provost |
| Joseph H. Noyes | 07-28-1943 | Oschersleben, Germany | B-17F Blondie II | Joseph H. Noyes | David F. Prees | Elias J. Bacha | Rex A. Rice | Edgar A. Lajoie | Billie E. Clapper | Robert H. Willis | John Gallagher | William L. Cochran | Raymond L. Provost |
Last updated in February 2025