The Experience of War in Nazi Airspace
by someone who was there
by someone who was there
Mercy Missions 1 to 3,
Combat Missions 19 to 35,
Plus the Destinations & Targets
Combat Missions 19 to 35,
Plus the Destinations & Targets
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The nineteenth combat mission was preceded
by three mercy missions, done under orders.
______________________________________
First Mercy Mission: August 30 & 31, 1944
_________________________________________________
Editor's note: Mentioned in the following entry, is "a cargo
field and an A.T.C." In the language of World War II, ATC
stood for Air Transport Command.
_________________________________________________
This was the most interesting mission yet, although this one does
not count as a mission. Our whole wing is taking food and sup-
plies into France. Our cargo was 5,000 lbs of flour, and we
took it to Orleans, France.
This airfield is located about 30 miles south of Paris. This air-
field has just been occupied by the Americans. Everything on
it was bombed. Nothing left of hangars, barracks, an other
buildings. The runways, taxi strips, and fields are all bomb crat-
ers. The one runway that we used was replaced. The Germans
left bombs, ammunition, wrecked planes, and many other things.
This field looks very pitiful and gruesome.
The trip was started at our base at 1:35 pm. We landed in Rams-
burg, at 2:45 pm, to get loaded up. Ramsburg is located about
30 miles east of London. We stayed there overnight. I slept in
the plane.
This airfield is a cargo field and an A.T.C. We saw many, many
gliders and paratroopers getting ready for take off. We also saw
a bunch of C-47s bringing in the wounded from France. Many
of them were Germans. We took off from Ramsburg at 10:30
the next morning.
We left England at Portsmouth, where we saw many, many ships
of all kinds (about 1,000). We made landfall at Cherbourg, France.
There again, we saw many, many ships of all kinds (about 1,000).
The town is pretty well battered up.
From Cherbourg, we flew almost straight into Orleans. We saw
many towns and villages wiped out and leveled. Caen, in partic-
ular, was the worst one we saw. That is where the British made
a stand.
We saw many, many tanks and vehicles along the roads and in
the fields, all wrecked and burnt. I must have seen at least a mil-
lion bomb craters and foxholes. I saw a lot of wrecked planes.
Dead cows and horses were laying in the fields. There was evi-
dence of a battle everywhere along our route. We could even
spot a few wrecked ambulances along the roads, and also a few
hospitals.
We landed at Orleans at 1:00 pm. The field is a little less than
a mile from the town. The railroad and part of the town were
battered from bombings. The field itself was demolished. The
railroad cars at the marshalling yards were a mass of wreckage.
The Frenchmen unloaded the flour into Army trucks. They liked
our cigarettes. The whole trip, in both going to and coming back
from there, was flown at 1,000 feet with no gunners. Only the
pilot, co-pilot, navigator, engineer, and radio operator were on
board. I don't know what we would have done if we had been
attacked by fighters. We were so low that we could see the
French people wave at us. Also a few GIs.
We left Orleans at 2:15 pm and took the same route back, but
going back to our own air field this time. We landed back here
at 5:15 pm. In all, about 30 ships from our group went on this
mission. Three ships left every half hour from Ramsburg.
Flying time was 6:40 hrs.
_________________________________________________
Second Mercy Mission: September 1 & 2, 1944
This mission was also food and supplies. We took over 6,000 lbs
of biscuits and 40 lbs of coffee. This trip was taken through the
same route as the previous one. We left our base at 8:35 am
and arrived at Ramsburg at 9:40 am, in order to get loaded up.
We spent the night again at this field. And again I slept on the
plane.
We left Ramsburg at 3:25 pm, the next afternoon. We were
closed in by bad weather all morning. We took the same route
as during the previous mission, arriving in Orleans at 5:40 PM.
Some of our gun batteries and anti-aircraft batteries had moved
eastwards towards Germany. The night before our first mission
here, our boys were strafed by German fighters. The Germans
also dropped a few bombs that night. No damage that hadn't
already been done.
This time, I got some French money for a souvenir. The trip was
taken at 1,000 ft with no gunners. We left Orleans at 6:40 PM
and arrived at our base at 10:00 PM. Again, while on this trip,
I saw many gruesome sights. Flying time was 6: 40 hrs.
_________________________________________
Third Mercy Mission: September 7 & 8
This mission was also food and supplies. There were about 50
planes in all. We had a cargo of corned beef and Vienna saus-
age. Total load was 5,000 lbs. We took off from our base at
6:20 AM on Sept 7, and arrived in Beaulieu at 7:30 AM. Beau-
lieu is located about 40 miles southwest of London. We got
loaded up there and stayed overnight. Kidd and I slept in the
plane. On these trips we eat "K" rations.
The weather was bad all day long on Sept 7 & 8. We left Beau-
lieu at 7:00 AM, Sept 8, and arrived in Orleans at 8:45 AM. We
took the same route as before.
The Frenchmen unloaded our cargo into GI trucks. They wanted
cigarettes, so I got some French money as a souvenir for my cig-
arettes. We left Orleans at 10:05 am.
Incidentally, we brought back ten RAF flyers that were shot down
in France (on their way to Germany), during the early part of June.
They told us many interesting stories. They joined up with a British
paratrooper outfit. Our planes brought back the whole outfit. They
had been in France since the early part of June, doing dirty work
behind the lines.
We even took back one Nazi prisoner whom the British para-
troopers captured. He was just a kid of about 17 at the most.
We took them back to Middle Wallop, which is a fighter base
that has no runways. We landed there at 12:10 pm. The RAF
gave us our dinner. We could not take off until 3:30 pm, on
account of the weather. We landed at our base at 4:25 pm.
The route was the same, and once again, we saw some very
gruesome sights in France.
We went over a convoy going to France, as well as one going to
England, while we were crossing the channel. Our crew was pilot,
co-pilot, navigator, engineer, radio operator, and one gunner. In
going to France, the planes took off five minutes apart.
- The whole trip was flown at 1,000 ft.
- Total flying time was 5:55 hr.
____________________________________________
Ninteenth Combat Mission: September 10, 1944
The route took us down to London. We then crossed the chan-
nel, and entered France at Abbeville. We flew over Amiens,
towards Laon. We could see the airfields at Laon & Reims
that we had bombed before, on our 8th and 14th missions.
These fields were pretty well wrecked. From Reims, we flew
between Nancy and Metz, where we could see A-20s bomb-
ing some German-concentrated strong points.
We flew into Germany (a little south of Strassburg,) then to-
ward the south of Stuttgard. We went over the target, but
could not bomb it, because of the 10/10 cloud cover. Our
primary target was an aircraft plant at Gunzburg, Germany,
and this was to be visual bombing.
We flew up to Heilbronn, Germany and hit the marshalling yards
there, as well as part of the town. The marshalling yards were
well hit. We left the target and caught some flak over the Rhine
River. We then proceeded south of Ludwigshafen, over Luxem-
burg, then out the way we came in. While going in, a flak gun at
the Siegfried line shot down one of our planes.
This was a very pretty day over England and France. When we
flew over the Straits, we could see the White Cliffs of Dover.
- Our bomb load was ten 500 lb. G.P.
- Bombing time was 11:35 am.
- Bombing altitude was 20,000 ft.
- Temp. was -25 C
This mission was long, tiresome, and awfully cold.
- Take off time ........ 6:40 am
- Landing time ......... 2:45 pm
- Flying time ............ 8 hrs, 5 min
- Total bomb load ... 5,000 lbs
We had no serious battle damage. We had only one hole in the
No. 2 engine nacelle. We were heavily escorted by fighters.
____________________________________________
Twentieth Combat Mission: September 12, 1944
Our target for today was an aircraft component plant at Kiel,
Germany. Our route took us over the North Sea, then over
southern Denmark, across Denmark, to the I.P., and finally
down to the target. The bombing was visual, but they had a
pretty good smoke screen covering the target. The target
seemed fairly hit.
We got flak at the target. This was intense, but not too accur-
ate. We got one hole in our ship. It just missed our top turret
gunner by about three inches. We also got a little flak beyond
the target area. Our route back was over northern Germany
and over the North Sea.
- Bomb load was ........... Ten 500 M17 incendiary bombs.
- Total bomb load was ... 5,000 lbs
- Take off time ............... 8:00 am
- Landing time ................ 1:25 pm
- Flying time .................. 5:25 hrs
- Temp ......................... -30 C
- Bombing altitude .......... 25,500 ft
- Target time .................. 11:03 am
No serious battle damage. We were heavily escorted by
fighters. This was a very cold trip. We saw red, white,
& black flak. No ships were lost on this mission.
___________________________________________
A Flight that Received No Credit as a Mission
September 14, 1944
Today's mission remains in dispute as to whether it counts as
a mission or not. Our target was an ordnance depot (tanks
& trucks) at Ulm, Germany. We never got to Ulm, and we
brought our bombs back.
We flew over the channel and made landfall at Dieppe, France.
We went down over Amiens and then over the Marne river.
The weather was very bad, with heavy clouds. All the planes
made thick heavy contrails. At this point, a lot of the planes
got separated from their formations.
We flew near Nancy, France, but couldn't get through the heavy
front. The planes all turned back. We came out at Dieppe, went
up the coast near enemy-occupied Boulogne, then to Calais, and
finally over the channel near the White Cliffs of Dover.
- Bomb load ..............Ten 500 lb M17
- Total bomb load ..... 5,000 lbs
- Take off time .......... 6:35
- Landing time ........... 11:15
- Flying time .............. 4:50 hrs
- Altitude ................... 20,000 ft
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Twenty-first Combat Mission: September 26, 1944
(Editor's note: The "P.f.f." mentioned directly below, is
Pathfinder Force Technology, aka "bombing by radio.")
This is my 21st mission. Our target for today was one of
Germany's largest rail centers that supports troops in
Holland. We bombed by P.f.f., so I didn't know the results.
We were to hit the depot at the rail center at Hamm, Ger-
many. The whole 8th Army Air Corps was bombing in this
area today. (Over 1,000 bombers).
We flew over Holland and saw where the land had been
flooded. We went over the Zuider Zee and down to Ger-
many. We got flak as we entered the coastline. At the
target, we received a lot of flak, but it was not very accur-
ate.
- Our bomb load ........ 1,000 lb G.P. bombs
- Bombing altitude ...... 24,500 ft.
- Take off time ........... 11:40 am
- Landing time ............ 17:25 pm
- Flying time ............... 5 hrs: 45 mins
- Temperature ......... - 32 C
We were heavily escorted by fighters. No battle injuries.
Total bomb load was 6,000 lbs. The bombing results were
unobserved.
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Twenty-second Combat Mission: September 27, 1944
Our target for today was a tiger tank factory at Kassel,
Germany. The target was 10/10 cloud cover (100%), so
we bombed by Pff. The result was not seen. This was a
very long and cold trip. We got a lot of flak at the coast
going in, and some flak on our route going down to the tar-
get.
At the target, the flak was very heavy, but not accurate.
We made landfall in Holland, went over the Zuider Zee,
then into the Ruhr Valley, and finally to the target. While
coming out, we went over the extreme northern tip of
Luxembourg, over Belgium, and across the channel to
England.
As we got back to our base, two of the planes in our
Group crashed into each other and blew up. It was an
unbelievable sight. I saw the planes explode right off our
left wing and then hit the ground. No one got out alive.
The weather was plenty rough coming in. We lost an-
other plane in the channel.
- Take off time ........ 6:20 am
- Landing time ......... 12:50 pm
- Flying time ............ 6 hr: 30 min
- Bomb load ........... Twelve 500 lb M17 incendaries
- Total load ............. 6,000 lbs
- Bombing altitude ... 25,500 ft
- Temp .................. -38 C
- We had fighter escorts.
- No battle damage to our ship.
- Over 1,000 planes were involved.
- Target time was 9:35 am.
The Group behind us was attacked by fighters; about 100
of them in all. This bomber group's losses were heavy, in
spite of heavy fighter support. In all of the 8th Army Air
Corps, over 1,000 bombers joined in today's operation.
The losses were 42 bombers and 7 fighters.
This was a big air battle over the Ruhr Valley.
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Twenty-third Combat Mission: September 30, 1944
Our target for today was the marshalling yards at
Hamm, Germany. We hit this target on our 21st mis-
sion. We bombed by Pff, so I don't know the results.
We made landfall a little south of Antwerp. Going into
Germany, we headed directly into Flak Valley, but turned
just as they started shooting. They really threw up the
flak there, but no one was hit.
We flew to the I.P. and got some more flak. As we were
making our bombing run, from the I.P. to the target, we
got more flak. We released our bombs on the target, and
they were still shooting at us. We peeled away from the
target, and all the planes started making contrails. The
planes were all over the sky. We had very good fighter
protection from P-51s , P-38s, P47s.
We were all very much on the alert, because we were
expecting fighters. On our way out, we got a lot of flak
while crossing the Rhine River.
- Bomb load ............ Twelve 500 lb G.P.
- Total ..................... 6,000 lbs.
- Bombing altitude ... 23,500 ft.
- Temp .................. -20 C.
- Take off time ........ 10:30 am
- Landing time ......... 16:20 pm
- Flying time ............ 5 hr, 50 min
- No battle damage.
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Twenty-fourth Combat Mission: October 2, 1944
Our target for today was the marshalling yard and
town of Hamm, Germany. This was our third time
there. This is the largest rail center in Germany, and
I don't think that we will have to go back there again.
I could see the bombs hit right into the target.
After we peeled away from the target, I saw 3 more
groups drop their bombs. They smashed Hamm flat.
We got some flak at the coast, as we crossed the Zui-
der Zee. We also got plenty of heavy and accurate
flak at the target, much more than during our other
two times there.
We lost two ships at the target. One of them blew up
in the air, and the other one spun toward the ground.
No one was seen bailing out. After we left the target,
we got more flak at Munster and then at the coast go-
ing out. None of this came close to our squadron.
We didn't get any holes in our ship. No enemy fight-
ers seen. We had heavy fighter escort.
- Our bomb load was ten 500 lb GPs (total 5,000 lbs).
- Bombing Alt ......... 24,500 ft
- Take-off time ....... 10:45 am
- Landing time ........ 15:30 pm
- Flying time ............ 4 hrs, 45 mins
- Temperature ........ -32 C
- Target time ........... 13:45
About 600 B-24s participated.
____________________________________________
Twenty-fifth Combat Mission: October 3, 1944
Our target for today was an airfield near Ludwigshafen,
Germany. We expected fighters, but did not see any. We
were heavily escorted by P-51s, P-47s, and P-38s. We
crossed the English channel and made landfall at Dieppe.
From there we made almost a straight line across France.
We went into Germany a little south of Saarbrucken.
At this point we got some flak. We went on a northeast
course to the target. At Lugwigshafen, we got some more
flak. This field is outside and to the east of the city. All
the guns there were not in range. Going out of Germany,
we went a little north of Saarbrucken, taking the same
route out of France, and then back over the channel. We
didn't get any flak on our return trip.
- Our bomb load was twelve 500 lb M17 incendaries.
- Total bomb load ............... 6,000 lbs
- Take off time .................... 7:40 am
- Landing time ..................... 15:00 pm
- Flying time ........................ 7 hrs, 20 mins
- Temp .............................. -36 C
- The target was pretty well hit.
- Almost 300 planes went to this target.
- No battle damage to our ship.
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Twenty-sixth Combat Mission: October 6, 1944
Our target for today was an oil refinery plant in Ham-
burg, Germany. The target was left blazing and smoking.
The flak over the target was terrific; very heavy and very
accurate. We lost one plane in our Group. It was burning
as it headed towards the earth. We saw three chutes come
out of it. Our plane got three holes in it. Two through the
left aileron and one in the bottom of the tail turret. There
were a few other planes that went down over the target,
but none other from our Group.
Over 200 bombers struck this target, and we had heavy
fighter support. Our route took us over the North Sea
and the Frisian Islands. We made landfall at Bremerhav-
en. We got some flak there, when going in and coming
out. From there, we went near Bremen, and then turned
north, to the target. We followed the river out.
- Take off time ......... 7:45 am
- Landing time ..........14:15 pm
- Total flying time ..... 6 hr 30 mins
- Bomb load .............Twelve 500 lbs GP
- Total ..................... 6,000 lbs
- Bombing alt ........... 14,500 ft
- Temp .................. - 32 C
- Target time ............ 12:05 pm
__________________________________________
Twenty-seventh Combat Mission: October 7, 1944
This was my 27th mission. Our target was an oil plant
at Magdeburg, Germany. Our route took us over the
North Sea, to the Zuider Zee, across Holland, between
Munster & Osnabruck, then south of Hanover & Brun-
swick, and finally to the target.
When we got to Magdeburg, the target was covered by
clouds, so we went to our secondary target which was a
chemical & high explosives plant at Clausthal-Zellerfeld,
(located about 15 miles south of Brunswick, and not very
far from Magdeburg.)
We dropped our bombs, and then circled the target, to
see what we did. By the looks of the place, it isn't any
good to the Germans anymore. The target was blazing,
as smoke was coming up to about 5,000 to 6,000 feet.
We didn't get any flak at the target, but we did get flak
at Munster, both going in and coming out. This flak was
not very bad. Our group did not lose any planes, but the
8th Army Air Corps lost 51 heavy bombers. Today, the
Army Air Corps had over 5,000 planes in the air; the most
planes that have ever been in operation at one time in the
history of this war.
The Germans put up some fighters today, but they didn't at-
tack our Group. We were well escorted by P-38s, P-47s,
and P-51s. Our route out was the same as it was coming
in. This mission was rather easy, but still we sweated it out
just the same. The bombing results were very good.
- Take off time ........... 8:05 am
- Landing time ........... 14:45 pm
- Flying time ............... 6 hrs, 40 mins
- Target time ............. 12:57 pm
- Bomb load .............. Six 1,000 lb GPs
- Total bomb load ...... 6,000 lbs
- Temp ..................... -32 C
- Bombing Alt ............ 25,000 ft
___________________________________________
Twenty-eighth Combat Mission: October 12, 1944
(Editor's note: The "Pff" mentioned directly below, as
well as in the entry for Mission 21, is Pathfinder Force
Technology, aka "bombing by radio.")
Today we hit the marshalling yards at Osnabruck,
Germany. This was our secondary target. Our primary
target was an airfield at Rheine, Germany, but the clouds
were pretty heavy. So, we went on to bomb the second-
ary target at Osnabruck, by Pff
Our route took us over the North Sea and the Zuider Zee,
then across the Netherlands, on to the target. The route
back was the same as going in. The only flak that we got
was at the target. It was moderate and fairly accurate, al-
though we didn’t get any holes in our ship.
The whole Second Division was in this vicinity. There
were enemy fighters in the area, but none attacked our
Group. We had heavy fighter support from P-51s and
P-47s. The bombing results were pretty good. No battle
damage to our ship.
- Take off time .......... 8:50am
- Landing time ........... 13:55pm
- Flying time .............. 5 hrs, 5 min
- Bomb load ............. Twelve 500 lb GP
- Total bomb load ..... 6,000lbs
- Bombing alt ............ 21,500 ft
- Temp .................... -29 C
- Target time ............. 11:57 am
__________________________________________
Twenty-ninth Combat Mission: October 17, 1944
Our target was a truck plant in Cologne, Germany.
This was a very important mission, because the Germans
were using the trucks to carry supplies to the front lines at
Aachen and other places. We didn’t hit the truck plant,
due to bad weather. But, we did hit the railway center at
Cologne, which was just as important. The railway center
was our secondary target. The flak at the target was pretty
accurate and intense, although we didn’t get any holes in
our ship.
Our route took us over the North Sea, and we made land-
fall at Dartmouth, Belgium. We went across Belgium and
into Germany, north of Aachen, and then on to the target.
We came out the same way. We got no flak on our route.
The bombing results were unobserved, due to cloud cover.
We had heavy fighter support from P-51s and P-47s. We
saw no enemy fighters.
Today, the 8th Army Air Corps lost thirteen bombers and
eleven fighters. No battle damage to our ship. Our bomb
load was 500 lb M-17 incendiaries. Total: 6,000 lbs.
- Take off time .................. 6:50 am
- Landing time .................. 12:30pm
- Flying time ...................... 5 hrs, 40 mins
- Target time ..................... 9:47 am
- Temp ............................ -29 C
- Bombing alt .................... 23,500 ft
___________________________________________
Thirtieth Combat Mission: October 19, 1944
This was my 30th mission. Our target for today was the
marshalling yards at Mainz, Germany. The weather
was terrible, and it was plenty cold (-42 degrees.) There
were contrails all over the sky, especially over the target.
Two of our ships were caught in the prop wash and col-
lided into each other. One man was seen jumping out.
Both planes went down. The flak was really heavy all
the way from the I.P. to the target, and even past the tar-
get. I was sweating it out, because a four gun enemy
battery was barely missing our left wing.
The bombing results were not seen, due to the heavy
clouds. Mainz is located about five miles from Frank-
fort; between Frankfort and Mannheim. Our route took
us across the North Sea, over Belgium, and on to Ger-
many. The route back was the same. We had no flak
except in the target area. We had heavy fighter support
from P-51s & P-47s. No enemy fighters were encount-
ered.
The 8th Army Air Corps lost 11 bombers and 11 fighters
today. One crew in my hut was reported missing, but they
soon came over the field with #4 engine out. They lost #3
as they were circling the airfield, and they crash-landed in
a nearby field. No one was hurt badly. We got two small
holes in our ship today.
- Bomb load ................twelve 250 lb GP
&
six 500 lb M17 incendiaries.
- Bombing altitude ....... 25,000 ft.
- Target time ............... 13:30 pm
- Landing time ............. 15:50 pm
- Take off time ............. 9:20 am
- Flying time ................. 6 hrs, 20 mins
- Temperature ............ -42 C"
___________________________________________
Thirty-first Combat Mission: October 25, 1944
This was my 31st mission. Our target for today was the
marshalling yards at Munster, Germany. The weather
was very bad, so we had to bomb through the clouds by
Pff. Our route took us across the North Sea to Haarlem,
Holland, then across the southern tip of the Zuider Zee,
and onward to the border of Germany.
We made our bombing run to the target, dropped our
bombs, and made a sharp break to the right. We then
flew left, passing near Osnabruck. From there, our exit
route was about the same as when coming in.
We got some flak at the coast when coming in, but it didn’t
hurt us. At the target, the flak was pretty heavy but not too
accurate. We got a lot of flak at Osnabruck (which was
just to our right), and very heavily so. They shot at us for
a long time, but didn’t do any damage. This target was
very important, due to the fact that it was being used to
carry supplies to the front lines.
The weather was very bad when we got back to the base,
but we made a very good landing. The bombing results
were unobserved.
Bomb load ..................... Twelve 250 lb GPs
&
six 500 lb M17 incendiaries.
Total bomb load ............. 6,000 lbs
Landing time .................. 15:30 pm
Take off time ................. 10:00 am
Total flying time .............. 5 hrs, 30 min
Target time .................... 13:27
Bombing alt ................... 24,000 ft
Temp ........................... -27 C
____________________________________________
Thirty-second Combat Mission: November 1, 1944
Our target for today was a synthetic oil plant at Gelsen-
kirchen, Germany. There were about 300 bombers and
250 fighter escort out today. There were enemy fighters in
the area, but none attacked us. Gelsenkirchen is located
about six miles from Essen.
Our route took us over the Zuider Zee and Holland, then
in a southeasternly direction into Germany, and onward to
the target. Our route out was about the same. At the tar-
get, the flak was pretty thick. We also got flak at the coast
when going in. It wasn’t so heavy at the coast. We had
10/10 (100%) cloud cover all the way. The bombing was
done by GH. The bombing results were unobserved.
- Bomb load ........................ Twenty-four 250 lb GP
- Total load ......................... 6,000 lbs
- Take off time .................... 10:30 am
- Landing time ..................... 16:05
- Flying time ......................... 5 hrs, 35 min
- Bombing alt ....................... 24,000ft
- Bombing time .................... 13:54
- Temp ............................... -33 C
No battle damage to our plane.
________________________________________
Thirty-third Combat Mission: November 2, 1944
Our target for today was the marshalling yard junction
at Bielefeld, Germany. We had trouble with our plane
before takeoff, and we were about a half hour late in tak-
ing off. We never caught our Group's formation, so we
strung along with the 93rd Bomb Group, going all the way
over and back with them.
Today, the biggest air battle of all time took place.
- There were 208 enemy fighters destroyed.
- Out of 1,100 bombers and 900 fighter escorts, the
8th Army Air Corps lost 41 bombers & 28 fighters.
- We saw a few jet-propelled enemy fighters.
Our route took us over the North Sea and the Zuider Zee,
across Holland, then into Germany (near Osnabruck), and
finally to the target. Bielefield is located just a little to the
southeast of Osnabruck.
In coming back, we flew almost the same route, except
we came a little too close to Osnabruck, where we got
quite a bit of flak. There was no flak at the target, or if
there were, any of it was very meager. We got no flak
the rest of the route. We had about 6/10 (60%) cloud
cover all the way. However, the bombing was visual.
The bombing strike seemed pretty good.
- The bomb load ......... Sixteen 250 lb GPs
&
four 500 lb M17 incendiaries.
- Take off time ............ 9:25 am
- Landing time ............. 14:10 pm
- Flying time ................ 4 hrs, 45 min
- Bombing alt ............... 23,000 ft
- Bombing time ............ 12:27 pm
- Temp ....................... -29 C
____________________________________________
Thirty-fourth Combat Mission: November 5, 1944
This was my 34th mission. We were supposed to hit some
gun positions at Metz, France, to help out our ground men
there, but we hit the secondary because of heavy cloud
cover at Metz. Our secondary target was Karlsruhe,
Germany.
We left England at Dover and made landfall a little south of
Boulogne. From there, we went on a southeasterly head-
ing to Metz. When we got there, the clouds were solid
over the target. We didn't drop our bombs, because there
was too much danger in hitting our own troops. We went
a little south of Saarbrucken, and hit the mashalling yards
at Karlsruhe, Germany.
At the target, we made a right-hand turn and came out.
We came back past Metz. We left the coast of Belgium
at Ostend. When we left the target, we could see the
peaks of the Alps protruding through the clouds. They
looked very pretty, but I did not want to hang around
and look at them.
At the target, the flak was pretty heavy, but it didn't hit us.
We were flying in the high right squadron, and they were
shooting a little too low. As we peeled away from the tar-
get, I saw a B-24 blow up in mid-air. No chutes came out
of it.
This was the co-pilot's last mission. He was a very happy
man, and flew very good formation. We were flying on
Chamberlain's left wing, with Gruber on the right. At times
you could almost walk across from one ship to the other.
The bombing results were unobserved. No battle damage
to our ship.
- Take off time ............. 7:30 am
- Landing time .............. 14:30
- Flying time ................. 7 hrs
- Target time ................ 11:32 am
- Bomb load ................. Three 2,000 lb GP
- Total bomb load ......... 6,000 lbs
- Bomb alt .................... 24,000 ft
- Temp ........................ -35 C
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Thirty-fifth Combat Mission: November 6, 1944
This was my 35th and last mission. It was plenty rough
and I really sweated it out. We woke up at 3:30 am and
started to get ready. We finally took off at 6:50 am. It
was still dark, and the weather was bad. On top of all
the other troubles, we had to sweat out a new co-pilot.
He only had two missions, so naturally, he wasn't as good
as our old one. We were going to the heaviest defended
area in Germany. We were hitting an oil refinery plant at
Sterkrade, Germany.
Sterkrade is just on the outskirts of Duisburg. This is
right in the Ruhr Valley. In this area, the Germans have
over 900 flak guns. So, you can see why I was sweating.
We left England and made landfall just south of Flushing,
where a big ground battle was going on. We went through
Belgium, to the IP. We turned towards the bombing run
and headed for the target. The Gerries really had our alti-
tude today, and I think they threw up everything that they
had; even the kitchen sink.
Long before we dropped the bombs, (though after the IP),
flak was hitting all around us. We dropped the bombs and
made a left-hand turn. The flak was so close that I could
see the red flashes as it burst. We finally flew out of the
flak and I really felt much better.
As we left the target, the top turret gunner said he had
two holes in his turret. They just missed his head. As
we came out over Holland, we could see some P-51s
dive bombing a railroad yard. They were really getting
shot at, but I didn't see any of them go down.
We finally left the coast and what a feeling. I was glad.
Then too, I felt funny. On the way home we led the
whole division. We finally landed, and boy did I feel
good. We had two holes in the top turret, one big hole
in the right wing, and one in the left wing.
- Take off time ..... 6:50 am
- Landing time ..... 12:25 am
- Flying time ........ 5 hrs, 35 mins
- Bomb load ........ Three 2,000 lb GP
- Total ................. 6,000 lbs
- Temp .............. -33 C
- Bombing alt ...... 23,000 ft
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Destinations & Primary Targets of the Crew
July 6 Kiel, Germany
The Krupps Armament Works
July 7 Aschersleben, Germany
JU-88 Fighter Assembly Plant
July 8 Paris, France (did not drop bombs)
Two Parisan Railroad Bridges
July 12 Munich, Germany
Marshalling Yards
July 13 Radio Trouble (returned to base)
no credit given to the crewmen
July 16 Saarbrucken, Germany
Marshalling Yards
July 17 Dieppe, France
Buzz Bomb Installation site
July 21 Kempten, Germany
Messerschmitt Component Plant
July 23 Reims, France (Juvincourt)
German Aerodrome
July 25 St. Lo, France
Enemy Troop Stronghold
Aug 1 Rouen , France
Storage Tanks
Aug 3 Belloy sur Somme, (Pas De Calais) France
Buzz Bomb Site
Aug 4 Wismar, Germany
Jet Propelled Aircraft Plant
Aug 11 Saarbrucken, Germany
Marshalling Yards
Aug 12 Laon, France
German Airfield
Aug 16 Magdeburg, Germany
Oil Plant
Aug 25 Rostock, Germany
Heinkle Aircraft Plant
Aug 26 Ludwigshafen, Germany
Chemical & High Explosives Plant
Aug 27 Oranienburg (35 miles north of Berlin)
Airbase at the edge of the city
Aug 31 Orleans, France (charity mission I)
5,000 lbs of flour
Sept 2 Orleans, France (charity mission II)
6,000 lbs of biscuits, 40 lbs of coffee
Sept 8 Orleans, France (charity mission III)
5,000 lbs corned beef & vienna sausage
Sept 10 Heilbronn, Germany
Marshalling Yards
Sept 12 Keil, Germany
Marshalling Yards
Sept 14 All Aircraft Turned Back - weather
No credit given to any flight crew
Sept 26 Hamm, Germany
Rail Center
Sept 27 Kassel, Germany
Tiger Tank Factory
Sept 30 Hamm, Germany
Marshalling Yards (2nd time)
Oct 2 Hamm, Germany
Marshalling Yards (3rd time)
Oct 3 Lachen-Speyerdorf, near Lugwigshafen)
Nearby Airfield
Oct 6 Hamburg, Germany
Oil Refinery Plant
Oct 7 Magdeburg, Germany
Oil Plant
Oct 12 Osnabruck, Germany
Marshalling Yards
Oct 17 Cologne, Germany
Truck Plant
Oct 19 Mainz, Germany
Marshalling Yards
Oct 25 Munster, Germany
Marshalling Yards
Nov 1 Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Synthetic Oil Plant
Nov 2 Bielefeld, Germany
Marshalling Yards
Nov 5 Karlsruhe, Germany
Marshalling Yards
Nov 6 Sterkrade, Germany
Oil Refinery Plant
Flight Hours: 216 hrs, 15 mins (credited missions)
245 hrs, 45 mins (total flight hours)
The shortest flight was four hours.
The longest flight was nine hours.
(Doesn't include the Orleans missions.)
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Posted directly below is the link to the Orientation Page,
where within are numerous educational notes about the
8th Army Air Force:
http://www.8tharmyairforce.com
Missions 1 to 18 can be accessed through the link
posted directly below:
http://www.8tharmyairforce.com/part2.html
The photo page can be accessed through this link:
http://www.8tharmyairforce.com/photos.html
The interview page is located here:
http://www.8tharmyairforce.com/interview.html
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