Crew 75 received their crew training at Tonopah, Nevada in the fall and winter of 1943.  They flew the Southern Ferry route to the ETO in January 1944.  They flew on the February 24th diversion mission to the Dutch Coast in support of the Eighth Air Force's "Big Week".

The crew's first combat mission was on March 3, 1944.  The target was Berlin, however the group was recalled due to weather.  Mattson and crew were forced to abort this mission prior to the recall due to a leak in the pilot's oxygen regulator.  They were not given credit for this mission.  2Lt Frank Herzik and crew from the 755th Squadron were lost on this mission, presumably down in the frigid English Channel as nothing of plane or crew was ever found.

On March 6th the Eighth Air Force once more headed for Berlin.  The 458th's target was the Daimler-Benz Motor Werke near Genshagen.  This was the first time that the Eighth Air Force had attacked Berlin in force and the Germans extracted a heavy price by downing 70 B-17's and B-24's.  The 458th lost five Liberators and crews, the highest single mission loss the group would suffer while flying combat.  Crew 75 flew a B-24H name "Last Card Louie" on this mission.  At debriefing the crew reported no battle damage to their ship, but commented on seeing three B-24's going down and reported attacks on their three ship element by a yellow-nosed ME-109. 

All of this was apparently too much for John Mattson.  According to John Woodworth, navigator, he [Mattson] "went from the plane directly to the base hospital and from there to the 'Flak House'.  He was grounded and never flew again.  Colonel Isbell kept him there for the rest of the war, doing some kind of office duty.  Jim Olney [co-pilot Crew 61] was then assigned to our crew and he moved into the room with me that I had shared with Mattson."  Matson did remain with the 755th Squadron and eventually became the squadron supply officer and adjutant.

There is a gap of one month between the time of Mattson's removal from flying status and Olney's first mission as pilot on April 5th.  Records do not indicate the reason for this, but the flight record of Wilbert Abshire [missions listed below] indicate that at least some of the crew were still flying missions in this period, although it is not currently known who their pilot was.  After April 5th, the crew's missions can be tracked by Olney's record.  Olney took them on 23 missions between April 5th and June 4th when the crew flew their last mission.  On 20 of these missions they flew B-24H-15-CF 41-29359 named "Tail Wind".  This aircraft was lost on August 5, 1944 when the Prevost Crew ditched in the Channel.

The pictures below show the crew upon their return from Berlin on April 29, 1944.  2Lt Virgil K. Boyum, bombardier, was credited with destroying an FW-190 from his nose turret, one of four aircraft shot down by the 755th Squadron alone on this date.

All but one member of Crew 75 completed their combat tour.  On May 27, 1944, a scratch crew of enlisted was needed for a mission to Neunkirchen, Germany.  S/Sgt Roy L. Cassady and S/Sgt Wilbert Abshire were represented from Crew 75 and they were both assigned to fly with 2Lt Lester C. Martin on a B-24J named "Briney Marlin".  This was Martin's first mission as pilot.  During assembly over the North Sea, about five miles north of Cromer, while making a left turn, Martin's ship collided with another 755th Squadron B-24 piloted by 2Lt Howard J. Lobo and crew on their second mission.  The entire tail assembly of Lobo's ship was ripped off and they went spinning down into the under cast.  All ten men were killed.  The impact bent 8-10 feet of the right wing of Martin's ship down at a 90° angle and put the ship into a spin.  Martin rang the bail out bell and S/Sgt Chester R. Carlstrum (Crew 74), flying as engineer, opened the bomb bay, salvoed the bomb load and bailed out immediately.  Abshire in the tail turret also bailed out, despite the urging of fellow crew members to wait.  After losing several thousand feet, Martin and his co-pilot were somehow able to bring the plane under control and the bail out order was rescinded.  Martin made a safe landing back at Horsham without further damage to the plane or injury to the crew.  Carlstrum and Wilbert Abshire were never found.

                                                                                          Mission list compiled from 458th BG records

2Lt John P Mattson (left) was the first pilot of Crew 75.  After the March 6, 1944 Berlin raid he turned in his wings and was reassigned in the 755th Squadron.  2Lt James E. Olney (right) was the copilot on Crew 61.  His first mission as pilot of Crew 75 was on April 5, 1944.