The following history of the Nelson crew was contributed by Brent Nelson

The Nelson Crew
Sept. 1943 - Jan. 1945

The Wayne H. Nelson crew was formed in the fall of 1943 at Clovis, New Mexico.  Assigned to the 302nd Bombardment Group, the crew completed its Phase I crew training in mid-October, whereupon it transferred to the 34th Bombardment Group at Blythe, California for Phase II crew training.  The crew completed this phase of training in late December 1943.  Much to the surprise of crew members, it was not sent overseas for combat assignment, but was deferred to Will Rogers Field in Oklahoma City for reconnaissance training.  The crew was relieved to leave reconnaissance work in late January 1944; it returned to combat training at Langley Field where navigator Rex Blacker and bombardier Fred Staub received training in radar bombardment.

In mid-April 1944 the crew completed this training and flew the southern route to Italy.  Initially assigned to the 450th Bombardment Group (Manduria, Italy) where pilot Nelson flew five or six combat missions with an experienced crew.  The crew was then selected as an exchange crew with the 8th Air Force and left Italy in May 1944. Rex Blacker was reassigned to a unit in the 15th Air Force.  Arriving in England around the 1st of June, the crew waited for its new assignment at the Replacement Depot for approximately 10 days, whereupon it was assigned to the 458th Bombardment Group, 754th Squadron in mid-June 1944.  The crew flew its first mission with the 458th on June 23rd.  On its June 28th mission, gunner C. Eugene Danner was seriously injured by flak; he was replaced with gunner Villers.  On July 7th, bombardier Staub was alerted for a mission to fly as pilotage navigator with the deputy lead crew (Larson) of the 754th Squadron.  Larson's crew was shot down over Emden, Germany. Fred Staub's remains have never been recovered.  Thus, the two crew members trained in radar bombardment techniques were lost to Nelson and the crew never used its training as a radar crew in combat.  Bombardier William Cain flew with the crew for ten missions during July/August 1944. The crew flew without a bombardier for the remainder of their missions.  Nelson's crew also participated in the mid-September Truckin' missions - hauling gas to Patton's 3rd Army in France.

Pilot Nelson completed his quota of missions on October 5th (Paderborn, Germany), whereupon co-pilot Massaro took command of the crew.  The crew completed its combat tour of duty with the 458th on November 16th.  Massaro's crew was then assigned to the 434th Troop Carrier unit where it served for much of the winter of 1944/45.  Thereafter, the crew was disbanded and crew members returned to the United States.

The Picture:
The nine man crew pictured in front of "Elmer" only flew this aircraft on a combat mission, with this line-up, one time: September 11th.  Bill Steinecke wrote to his fiancée that the picture was taken after a mission to Germany.  Although he did not give the date of the photo or mission, the September 11th mission was to Magdeburg, Germany - consistent with what Steinecke reported.  At this time, the crew consisted of:

1 Lt. Wayne H. Nelson, pilot
2 Lt. Felix Massaro, co-pilot
2 Lt. Earl Q. Hagen, navigator
S/Sgt. Charles T. Nally, engineer/top turret
S/Sgt. William Steinecke Jr., radio operator
S/Sgt. Harlan E. Villers, waist
S/Sgt. Duncan L. Fringer, waist
S/Sgt Morris W. Lunn, tail gunner
Sgt. Louis J. Larkin, nose turret/bombardier

Date	Target	Pilot	Sqdn	Mission No.
23-Jun-44	Blangermont, France	Nelson	754	1
25-Jun-44	St. Omer	Nelson	754	2
28-Jun-44	Saarbrucken	Nelson	754	3
29-Jun-44	Aschersleben	Nelson	754	4
02-Jul-44	Coubronne	Nelson	754	5
12-Jul-44	Munich M/Y	Nelson	754	6
17-Jul-44	Remaisnil, France	Nelson	754	7
18-Jul-44	Troarn	Nelson	754	8
21-Jul-44	Munich	Nelson	754	9
24-Jul-44	St. Lo Area	Nelson	754	10
31-Jul-44	Ludwigshafen	Nelson	754	11
02-Aug-44	Mt. Louis, France	Nelson	754	12
03-Aug-44	Sylvester, France	Nelson	754	13
04-Aug-44	Msn1 Rostock, Germany	Nelson	754	14
05-Aug-44	Brunswick/Waggum	Nelson	754	15
08-Aug-44	Clastres	Nelson	754	16
09-Aug-44	Saarbrucken	Nelson	754	17
11-Aug-44	Strasbourg	Nelson	754	18
12-Aug-44	Mourmelon	Nelson	754	19
24-Aug-44	Hanover	Nelson	754	20
25-Aug-44	Msn1 Lubeck	Nelson	754	21
01-Sep-44	Pfaffenhofen (Recall)	Nelson	754	22
08-Sep-44	Karlsruhe	Nelson	754	23
09-Sep-44	Mainz M/Y	Nelson	754	24
11-Sep-44	Magdeburg	Nelson	754	25
05-Oct-44	Paderborn A/F	Nelson	754	26

Pilot Wayne Nelson also flew 5 missions in Italy prior to assignment with the 458th

Date	Target	Pilot	Sqdn	Mission No.
14-Oct-44	Cologne	Massaro	754	1
19-Oct-44	Mainz M/Y	Massaro	754	2
02-Nov-44	Bielefeld	Massaro	754	3
04-Nov-44	Misburg	Massaro	754	4
08-Nov-44	Rheine	Massaro	754	5
10-Nov-44	Hanau/Langendiebach A/F	Massaro	754	6
16-Nov-44	Eschweiler	Massaro	754	7

Compiled from 754th Sqaudron Records

Killed In Action 7 July 1944

Flying as Pilotage Navigator on Lincoln A. Larson's Crew

Photo: AFHRA

AN EIGHTH AIR FORCE LIBERATOR STATION, ENGLAND – S/SGT HARLAN E. VILLERS (PHOTO ABOVE) OF WARREN, OHIO, RADIO OPERATOR AND GUNNER ON “ELMER,” A B-24 LIBERATOR HEAVY BOMBER, WILL REMEMBER THE NUMBER “19” FOR A LONG TIME.  WHILE ON HIS CREW’S “19TH” MISSION OVER GERMANY AND ENEMY OCCUPIED TERRITORY HE NARROWLY MISSED BEING HIT BY A PIECE OF FLAK WITH NO. “19” STAMPED ON IT.  HIS LEFT LEG ESCAPED THE MISSILE BY JUST ONE FRACTION OF AN INCH.  EXACTLY A YEAR AGO SGT. VILLERS WAS INJURED IN THE LEFT LEG BY FLAK WHILE IN A B-17 OVER ENEMY TERRITORY.  AFTER RECOVERING HE WAS TRANSFERRED TO A LIBERATOR GROUP.

SGT. VILLERS IS THE SON OF MR. AND MRS. BURL E. VILLERS, RFD #3, WARREN, OHIO.  HIS WIFE, MRS. GRACE VILLERS, RESIDES AT THE SAME ADDRESS.  IN CIVILIAN LIFE SGT. VILLERS WAS IN THE PERSONNEL SECTION OF THE COPPER WELD STEEL CO., WARREN, OHIO.  HE WAS INDUCTED INTO THE ARMY 15 SEPTEMBER 1942 AND HAS BEEN OVERSEAS SINCE 16 JULY 1943.