Wednesday
 

Got up at 9 this morning when the C.Q. came around and told us of a practice mission briefing at 10:30. We went there, Col Harris gave us a lecture on the length of our operational tour, which might be lengthened. At any rate 25 mission men will be kept here in U.K. for a few months longer than 90 days, as has been the custom. I don't mind being stuck over here for the duration if I don't have to go more than 25 missions. Each time we go over we are taking a big chance. The least number of chances the better. We left + came back at 12:30 after chow. A skeleton crew P,CP,N,RO, we got off at 2, came down at 4:30. All the time Lt. Laz + I were listening to music. Ate supper, read for a while, then went over to Red Cross until 8:15. Gene + Mac had to go down and clean all the guns from 5-7:30, unknown reason. We are on the alert for tomorrow. Hitting hay instead of writing a letter to folks + Alma as I should.
 
 

March 2
Thursday
 

Got up at 8, as it snowed during the night cancelling the alert. Ate chow + went to roll call in the theater. T.W.G. + his skeleton crew, me included, were to fly in a practice mission in the morning. We had briefing at 10 in main briefing room; I went out to the ship soon afterward. Al Minor + Fred T. Hawley went up with us for the ride. All but the pilot + copilot listened to music all the time while up. We landed at 2:30, ate a late lunch and fooled around doing chores until 5, when I came back to the barracks and read and wrote letters until 8:30, skipping supper. B- 900

Odds + ends:

#724
March 3 Friday
 

Climbed out of bed at 245 for a mission Ate chow and briefing at 4 A.M. After the usual briefing, got out to the ship at 445, did the usual work and took off for Berlin at 7:10 as scheduled. Flew around England until 10:15 when we headed out over the North Sea. An hour and a half out we were at 27000 ft trying to go over some bad weather ahead + we had to put on flak suits. Fred was our bombardier, Henry McCowan was L.W. Fred told us to put on flak suits, all OK'd; five minutes later we started checking in Dill didn't answer Gene went back to check him + found him unconsious, checking his oxygen + couldn't get him to. I went back + gave him artificial respiration for 1/2 hr, Fred came back to relieve me. I went up + got 2 fixes to get home on as we had 2 engines gone from mechanical failure, At 27000 ft. Later they brought Dill to the waist + gave him art. resp. until we landed at a base near Norwich. The doc took him to the hosp, T.W.G. went with him + it was too late. Went to A.R.C. had tea and went to bed at 8:30
 
 

March 4
Sat.
 

Didn't sleep so well. We saw two B-17's collide yesterday, it just made a big black geyser, a terrible sight. Got up at 7 for breakfast. Met T.W.G. + officers at the A.R.C. We went out to the ship, got all our gear, took the guns out, dropped all the stuff off at the Flying Control and cleaned guns at one of the arm. shops. Got thro at 1 when we ate + slept until 4. A plane was supposed to come from Rattlesden to take us back, but it snowed 2 inches during the night + the field was closed so a truck came up, with our ground crew with it. All, Rudy, Whitey, + Don Lav. It was good to see them. We loaded up and left by 5:35, got to the base at 7:05. All the fellows helped unload the stuff. All of us ate in the combat mess + went to barracks, tired. T.W.G. took Dill's death harder than the rest of us, altho we felt awful bad. The supply had already got his stuff. Were going to try to get it + send it home for him. B- 10
 
 

March 5
Sun.
 

Got up at 9:45 this morning. Read until noon, Harris went over to get our rations. Instead of the usual candy bars he brought a pound box of Whitman's Chocolate back. They sure are good. At 2 PM, the whole crew went over to the officers barracks to tell Doc Bartos exactly what happened when on that last mission when Dill died. Doc is a personal friend to almost everybody in the squadron, he sure hated to hear that Dill was gone. I was awarded the Air Medal this afternoon. About time. Read most of the rest of the afternoon. Just after a chicken dinner T.W.G., Mamlock, Laz + I had to ferry a crew over to Honnington so they could bring a ship back. Two British Air Cadets went with us for the ride. Got back at 9. Everybody has to get up in the morning. B- 10:
 
 

I flew in 085
March 6
 

Got up at 2:45 for a mission. Briefing at 4. Our crew was not supposed to fly today but I flew with Ruzmus, Fred with Socolofsky, Harris with Pauling, Mamlock with Morley. We took off at 0807, left English coast at 1025, got to the I.P. 13010, bombs away at 1320. We bombed an airfield and final assembly plant and electrical factory on the edge of Berlin Germany. We ran thro a lot of flak. At one time when the fighter escort was missing FW 190's and ME 109's made about 3 passes before some P- 51's got there + drove them away. Bob Johnson got one. The trip back was uneventful except for 15 minutes of flak. We landed at 1410. Lt. Socolofsky landed ship 227 after being hit in the bomb bay where the shell expolded. The ship theoretically should have broken in two. It flew Morse out, the roof + floor of radio room out, bomb bay doors off. We are to get credit for our first attempt to raid Berlin.
 
 

  To the Glossary!
 
 

R.
March 7
 

We climbed out of bed at 3:45 for a mission. Had hotcakes, sausage and mush for breakfast. Briefing at 5. Just after regular briefing and my radio op's briefing the mission was cancelled. Tossing everything back, I managed to get to bed again by 6:45, slept until 10:15 when a guy comes in + says all R.O.'s are to be down to main briefing room at 10. A R.O.'s cretite [critique], just a discussion by our new radio training officer, Lt. Sparks, a graduate R.O. 25 mission man. He seems to know his stuff and appears to be a swell guy. On our 1st Berlin attempt I got a QTF at 29000 ft, which is theoretically impossible because of the arcing of RF current is up to 4 inches accross open air + thro porcelin insulation. After lunch T.W.G. Laz, Mamlock, Keeler + I depart by truck to Norwich to bring 724 back home. Get up there in 1 3/4 hrs, get back in 10 minutes. Skipped supper, wrote a letter home + hit the hay. I'm 2nd spare R.O. for tomorrow's mission so I shouldn't have to fly.
 
 

March 8
 

Such luxury, stayed in bed until 9, got up, fooled around doing not much until noon when T.W.G. told me we were to test hop 724 at 1:30. Lts. Widstrom, T.W.G., Laz, + a couple bombardiers + 3 K.P.'s as T.W.G. calls groundhogs went up. We flew for 1 hr, never getting above 500 ft because of cieling. After getting down I read for awhile, went out to briefing room to sweat Mamlock, Mac + Kealer in (they went on a raid to Berlin today). Harris + I cleaned their guns for them, I went to A.R.C + sat in the theater for 1 hr to see comics + the short subjects: a lot of fun too. We are on the alert tonight. It is funny in a way, after going on quite a few missions a guy gets so that he isn't afraid to die; he just wants to get home again awful bad, that' all. When a friend goes down + is lost, we feel pretty bad for a while, but we try to forget it soon. B-10
 
 

March 9
 

Got out of bed at 2:45, ready and rarin' for a mission. Briefing at 4, T.O. at 7:25. We went to altitude fairly soon. The waist + ball gunners are getting so that they can sleep from starting engines until we get to 15000 ft, which is pretty close to an hour and a half. We don't talk much on interphone during that time. I can't sleep much, just 22 minute catnaps between the hour and half hour. When we got to altitude we just tagged along behind the formation as we were an airborne spare. At mid channel we turned back + came home. I got a weather report from QMS for T.W.G. The rest of the fellows went to Berlin. They had fighter protection all the way, we lost 3 ships, 2 ditched one crash landed at Honnington. Toporofsky's crew was one of the ones that ditched. Slept the afternoon away from 1 to 5. After chow read in Crew Library until 9. Cleaned my guns and got to bed at 11.
 
 

R.
March 10
Friday
 

I finally got up enough energy to get out of bed at noon. Went to chow two classes in the afternoon. Afterwards shot the bull in the radio equipment shack with Joe Foster for an hour and got half a dozen donuts at the A.R.C. Clubmobile, good ones too. Cleaned up a bit instead of going to supper. I got a small package of chocolates from the folks. They are sure good. Toporofsky's crew was picked up almost immediately upon getting into life rafts. Top is a good R.O., I've always thot so, this proves it. I'm sure I'd come out O.K. if I had to do the job, but I'd be a little afraid of pulling a boner, altho I didn't last time. The R.O. is a guy that is never needed except in an emergency, but if he fails its too bad for the whole crew. If the weather is O.K. tomorrow, we'll fly, with a lot of LaGasse's crew to complete ours. Fred got a 7 day pass 2 days ago, as he was pretty badly shaken up when 227 got hit + came back.

He needed it. B-9:30
 
 

Munster
March 7
Sat. #724
 

They got us up at 1:30 this morning for a raid. It looked as if it was going to be scrubbed as the weather was pretty bad. Briefing at 3:00, T.O. at 6:45. We were to bomb Munster, Germany. Our target was the railroad yards in the town, as these yards are the nucleus of railroads running to the Rhur valley. Munster is about 75 miles north of "Happy" valley. Ping was ball turret, Garlock was toggelier, Miller ("Murphy") tail, and a guy named Vinton was L.W. The rest of the positions were held by our own crew. We carried 42 incendaries, trained them out 200 ft up out at 19000 ft. It wasn't very cold. Bombed by P.F.F. The flak was heavy but inaccurate. Landed at 12:15, got back to bed at 2 after eating chow. Slept till 6, ate, cleaned guns with MacHugh, went to A.R.C. for 1 hr + hit the hay. Stand down tomorrow. B- 10:30
 
 

March 12
Sunday
 

We climbed out of bed at 8:10, in time to get breakfast. I didn't do anything all morning, except I did go up to the equipment room to sign for one of those heated suits, the green gaberdine cloth. They are supposed to be good. We had to go to an aircraft rec class in the afternoon. Afterwards I took code for an hour, then read in the combat library until suppertime. I worked for 2 hrs splitting a headset on my helmet, I was slowed up because the lights went out two times for half hr intervals. It is fairly definite that we fly 30 missions in a tour now, maybe coming back for a second tour after a six months rest. It seems like that would be tempting fate too much. Beautiful weather outside, raining hard. They say we're on standown because there are no bombs on the field. We're getting a good rest anyway. B 11:15
 
 

  To the Glossary!
 
 

March 13
 

Yeah, and they surprised us. The C.Q. came in at 4 waking us up for a mission for briefing at 4:30. Our crew rushed, like heck and made it by 4:35. They sent the gunners out to the ship without briefing, I went out after being briefed. Mac flew with Widstrom, Harris flew with Hughes, I flew with Hopla. The rest of the crew, Gene stayed on the ground, Fred isn't back from pass yet. We took off at 0810 with 12x500's, for a Nobal mission. We went over the coast at 20000 ft, went over the target but didn't drop bombs because of 10/10 cloud cover and we had no P.F.F. ships. Saw some flak, had fighter protection. We came back and landed at 1330. Very short interrogation, ate chow, cleaned my gun + slept until 6:30. B-29's are in this theater now, S-2 says. At the 18th mission we get interviewed to find out what we want to do after our tour. We're on standown, briefing at 10AM in the morning. B-10:00
 
 
 

T/Sgt. Harley Tuck 19192992
708 Bomb. Squadron 447 Bomb. Grp.
A.P.O. 634, c/o Postmaster
New York, N.Y.

3-13-44

Dear Folks:

I got your letter written by Mom and mailed by Pop the 22nd of February. It was a long letter and a swell one. Two of those boxes of Hershey chocolates have arrived, one addressed to the 407 Bomb Group. The candy sure is good. The box mailed the 21st of Feb. got here March 9th. The other one came yesterday.

I haven't got any suggestions as to help name that St. Bernard pup right now, maybe later. Oh, for a furlough to get a chance to see home! Instead of chewing gum, I've graduated to eating Hershey chocolates when dropping bombs, when I have the candy. It tastes better and when we get home we're not so dog tired.

I've been thro London, about a week ago. One of my crew and I had to go thru London to get to his uncles place. Of course we didn't see much of the city but what we saw was enough. Talk about Yanks being in a hurry, heck, I was bowled over a couple times, (pretty close to it anyway) by some of these Londeners in their hurry. Some guys can talk about Yanks being in a hurry, but not me. From now on I can honestly talk about these Limey's and their continual rushing. The subway system is something really fine, fast service to almost any part of town and I'd bet they can carry a heck of a lot of people in rush hours. Of course we were all mixed up and bewildered and had to ask for a lot of directions from civilians, bobbies, soldiers and everybody else. Most of the directions were good and given willingly. Other that this I can't tell you much of London. After this mess is over, I think I'd like to take over some of the work on the ranch in Yakima. And, from Tad's letters, he has something of the same idea. I'm sure that if I got back there I'd like to do all the work on the place that I could, orchard and all. It seems to me that most of us worked too much and too long of orchard work + I'm king of tired of it; but if I ever get back there I'd be glad to do any and all work.

I've got 16 missions now, really on the down hill grade.

Now I'm out of things to write about. I'll write again soon. Love Harley P.S. Please send some candy.
 
 

R. March 14
 

I got up at 7:20 in time to get breakfast and go to a briefing for a practice mission at 9:30. For once out of 7 crews from this squadron T.W.G. didn't have to fly. We came back to the barracks 'till noon, ate chow. I went over to Special Service to see about a correspondence course in ag + math. I've got the forms ready + I'll write to U. of Wisconsin + see if I can get an ag course from there. Wrote letters and fooled around barracks until 9. B-9:15

From a T'Sgt. I met on the way back from London on my pass Mar 19 who worked on Link trainer for the 3rd Division I learned that there are some B 24's in the 3rd Bomb Div + more coming in.
 
 

March 15

The C.Q. came around at 2:15 to get us out of bed. We ate chow and briefing at 3, which made us really step to get there on time. After briefings we went out to 724 and got ready. T.O. was 6:58. We were loaded with 4 100 lb. demo's, and 38 100 lb incendaries, 400 gals in the Tokyo's, total 2100 gals. We bombed Brunswick by P.F.F. Our primary was an airfield NW of the city, but as there was a 9/10 - 10/10 cloud coverage we bombed the center of Brunswick proper at 20000 ft. There was a little flak at the coast going in, just before + at at the target, mostly meager, red white + black flak. Some of the groups saw a lot of action from ME 109's + FW 190's, but our escort of P47's + P38's kept most of them out of range. Landed 1400. After briefing I cleaned my gun which was very dirty after shooting 300 rounds trying to get the hatch to pull down. It won't. London pass tomorrow.
 
 

March 16
 

We got up at 7:15 this morning. After breakfast we started getting ready for town. Ricco came in at 9 inspecting the barracks for Sgt. Terry. We had spent quite a bit of time cleaning up so it passed O.K. Terry had our passes ready; + seemed almost human for once by 9:30. We took the 10:20 train from Ipswich to London getting there at 2. After getting a room at the Imperial Hotel we walked around for a while getting our bearings around Picadilly Square. Harris and I went to a show together. A staff car with 4 stars on it was parked in front of a theater playing "Lifeboat" + "Tunisian Victory". It was Isenhower's. Gen Montgomery was in there with him according to the paper next morning. They wouldn't let us in until he came out so we went to another show. B-12 in a swell bed + 2 sheets.
 
 

  To the Glossary!
 
 

March 17
 

Yesterday our group went to Augsburg Germany. They lost no ships and it wasn't too tough. I got up at 8:15, met Harris in the dining room. The cost of breakfast was included in the 13 shillings a night. Did some shopping during the morning, didn't buy anything tho. Went to two shows from 2 to 9 alone. I saw "Life Boat" + "Tunisian Victory", and "The Desert Song". I preferred the last as it was a musical based in N Africa. A good show. After 9 I went to a Cannuck Service Club + talked with a R.A.F. guy until 11. He was pretty nice + was interesting. Got to bed at 11. The fellows on the base headed for Munich but was scrubbed. There was an air raid last night that lasted about an hour. Everybody slept in the subways. B-12:00
 
 

March 18
 

All of us got up at 9. After breakfast Harris headed for camp; Gene Mac + I hired a taxi + saw all the places of interest in the town. Visiting Westminster Abby, House of Commons, London Tower + Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral; saw the change of the guards at Buckingham Palace and most of the sights of the city. In the center of London there were blocks on blocks of buildings that had been blasted down in the blitz of 42. Then we went up to Oxford Square, 5 blocks off Picadilly Sq. and I did some shopping. Mac + Gene went back to Picadilly + I fooled around shopping some more. Bought some music, and headed for Liverpool St. by tube. Caught the 2:22 train, sitting with 2 ATS + 3 other girls. I had a good time all the way to Ipswich where I changed trains. In Stowmarket I met Mac + Gene. We took a taxi to the base + got to bed by 9:30 Alert
 
 

Sunday March 19 44
 

They broke the alert early this morning when it started to rain. Rained until 8. We got up at 9, in order to go to a meeting where they presented medals, I got an oak leaf cluster. As they've raised the tour to 30 missions I get credit for an extra mission since I had 17 on Mar 15. After awards Col. Harris + all training officers had a sort of critique with the gunners lasting until 12:15. I had a hurried meal + went out to 092 the Col's ship as Crew #5 skeleton crew was to test hop it. We went to altitude, buzzed Stowmarket; a P47 tried to break his pedo tube on our R. wing but didn't make it. For 15 min he was from 4 in to 12 in from our wing. He was a hot pilot. Landed 4, shot the bull with Joe Foster in Radio Eq. shack till 5:30, ate chow + saw the show with Fred + M.D.-"So Proudly We Hail." B- 9:30 Alerted.
 
 

March 20
 

I got up at 2:45 for a mission. Hotcakes for breakfast. Briefing at 4, T.O. at 7:30 for the rest of the group. We were no 1 ground spare. A ship aborted at 8:30 so we took off then to take his place. After going to splashers 5 + 6 where the group was supposed to be and hunting all over we went as far as mid channel looking for our wing but turned back when we failed. Worley is our tail gunner now, the toggelier for today was a guy named Shock. The rest of the crew was intact. Landed at 12, ate lunch and went to bed at 1. M.D. Harris is getting a bit quarrelsome, I believe it's combat fatigue. The ball turret is hard on a fellow on those long trips. Slept until 5, went to show, "Forever and a Day"; very good. Afterwards Fred + I cleaned our guns. The last bunch to use them left them dirty. Our whole group had to turn back because of bad weather. Returned at 2. They won't get credit for the mission. It's been raining this evening: Standown, B- 11:15
 
 

March 21 1944

Tuesday
 

After getting up at 8 we had dried eggs with burnt bacon, mush, grapefruit juice, bread, butter + coffee + spuds. Role call at 9 when I learned skeleton crew #5 had to fly a practice mission at 10. There were 6 ships, we buzzed the field at 200 ft in formation, never flying over 800 ft the 2 hrs. A P47 + P51 were flying wing to wing with us about 5 ft off the wing. The 51 had its 2 wing tanks. Landed at 12, wrote letters and washed clothes most of the afternoon. We are on alert for tomorrow and some of the fellows are saying they can't sleep a wink waiting for the C.Q. to come in. It doesn't bother me that way. Some of the B-17 crews are landing in Switzerland on deep penetrations if they know they can't make the coast on the way back. Acording to Maj. Newman the 447th is the hottest group in E.T.O. highest bombing record, least casualties, most enemy ships + highest veneral rate according to Col. Harris who agrees with the rest what Maj Newman says. B- 900
 
 

March 22
 

Got up at 300 this morning for a mission. Briefing at 4:30. We have Worley as our permanent tail gunner and a bombardier now. At the last minute we had to get a L.W. gunner and put Fred up front as bombardier, which he didn't like very much. T.O. at 0900, loaded down with incindaries that were left in the ship from day before yesterday. We didn't leave the English coast until 10:15 heading out over the North Sea at 7000 ft altitude. After getting up by the Friesian Is. we climbed up to 20000 ft. Passed over near Kiel, and struck S.E. for Berlin. Our target was an airfield 4 miles from Berlin but 7/10 clouds made us bomb the city proper. A lot of fires were started. #9864 had left horizontal stabilizer blown off, it came back O.K. There was a lot of flak all the way in and out it seemed. Some heavy stuff too. Flak holes near LW + T.G. These incendaries are gasoline + rubber with a charge of tetrol to spread the stuff. B-8:45 as we are alerted.
 
 
 

March 23
Ship 154
 

The C.Q. came in at 1:30 getting us up for a mission. Briefing at 3. We flew 154 with an E.M. bombardier. After going out to hardstand 41 + went thru the usual preparations we took off at 6, got to altitude at 7 and left English coast at 8. headed for Brunswick. We didn't have fighter protection around, fighters, FW 190's started coming in at the groups behind us + off to one side before we really caught hell from the IP on; we had a ringside seat. One ship went down in a vertical dive, another got a direct hit in no 2 engine which caught on fire, 8 crew members bailed out, the pilot + copilot pulled the ship away from formation + then jumped. At the target we dropped 5x1328 demo's on the city of B. An oil cooler sprang a leak, T.W.G. managed to feather the engine + we came back on 3 engines, tacking onto formations when we fell behind. Had fighter protection about 30 minutes but saw plenty of FW 190's. Ball + tail got some long shots. R. at 1350. Cleaned guns + went to bed until 9, got up for a while + to bed again. Standown tomorrow.
 
 

R. March 24
Friday
 

The C.Q. came in at 7:15 waking us for a 9 oclock briefing. We got up, ate chow and found out that we could have slept until 10 or 11, + we were dead tired from yesterday's mission. A practice mission was scheduled for 1045, but was cancelled because of bad weather. I was going to be lead operator too! We got back in time to go to chow. A class in aircraft rec 2:30- 3:30, Wiggiwitz, Wiggi for short Harris Fred + I took test for others. I took one for T.W.G., M.D. for Kealer + Worley the rest for themselves. Lt Gailliard is a swell guy, the S-2 officer that gave the check. Coke came in yesterday but was gone before we got to it. A week ahead of us with no coke. Some fun. Gene is going over to some field tomorrow to see a B-29. Wrote letters in combat library after chow until 10. Standown. B-1015.
 
 

  To the Glossary!
 

R. March 25
Sat.
 

Crew 5 got up at 7:30, cleaned up a little bit for the Saturday inspections. We got to messhall for breakfast at 750, ate and went to briefing at 9. Afterwards the whole crew went to "Dear M.O.M." and practiced ditching procedure until 10:10 when Capt. Richards told us of a practice mission briefing at 10:45. Gene Keeler went to some other field with Don Law to see a B-29. T.O. at 12, I didn't do anything except callibrate the Xmitter on 4.M/F D/F. stations and listened to music from radio compass + liason rec; until landing. P47's + Spitfires attacked our wing formation + came in close For 45 min. I was in the ball turret tracking those ships as they came thro the formation. It was the first time we've ever seen Spits from the air. They are nice ships. Landed 1615, went to sq. operations to check on my missions, chow, shower, diary + bed. B 0800 -Alerted, nine crews from this sq. us of course.
 
 

March 26
 

We got up at 2:50, the C.Q. said briefing was at 3:05. After breakfast we hurried down to briefing room and got there at 3:20. The E.M.'s of this crew missed briefing because they woke us up late. After getting ready, they cancelled the mission to Leipzig. We came back + went to bed until 10:15. Briefing at 11, we took off at 12. A Noball raid on the Brest Penninsula. A lot of flak, very heavy for a while. We used chaff. It was Lt. Wiggi's 1st mission, he was expecting flak, fighters + everything. He says that flak wasn't heavy, but he'll learn different. Returned at 1700, ate cleaned guns and hit the hay. From the air we can see concentrations of trucks, tanks ammo + equipment on the roads near Dover + south coast. Small says that there are very few soldiers of any kind in London on the week days, all are out drilling + practicing invasion I guess. After our tour of duty we don't go home, we stay here in E.T.O. for future reference. B- 9:30 Alerted
 
 

March 27
 

We were routed out of bed at 245 this morning. Briefing at 3:45 but when we got there it was put off an hour because of the ground fog that had sprung up. After sleeping in hot news room we were briefed at 0515 for an airfield near Bordeaux, France. Getting out to the ship they made us stand by to take off until 10 when we got off. T.O. at 1012. Over the channel + Brest Penninsula we flew at 13000, going up after leaving Brest. All the way down we were in sight of French coast. Bombs away at 1350, 36 clusters of 6 frag bombs were dropped. We met very little inaccurate flak, some flak from Ger. cruiser that tossed a lot of heavy stuff up as we went over it. We didn't get back to the base until 6:30, 1st plane down, 1st to be briefed + 1st to bed. When we took off in morning the fog was just as bad as it was at 7; regular instrument take off. One ship crashed a few miles after T.O., + it blew up, loaded with demo's.
 
 

March 28
 

We got up at 2:45 this morning, ate chow, briefing at 4. We got out to the ship 724 hardstand #46 at 4:45 got ready for takeoff when they delayed the start engines until 10 oclock in the morning. I spent the time burning flares, chewing the fat and listening to the radio reciever. The fog was pretty bad all morning, even at T.O. at 10. We climbed to 1700 ft on the way across the Channel + headed south for the target, an airfield in southern France. Bombs away at 1405, 10x500 lb demo's. We hit the hangars machine shops + barracks in an almost perfect bomb pattern. We had good fighter protection all the way in + out, very little medium flak at the target, not at the coast in or out. Going on oxygen at 12000 it wasn't bad, we didn't get tired. English coast back 1525, over field 1607 landing at 1630. Cleaned guns, ate supper, went to a show + hit the hay. standown tomorrow. B 1145
 
 
 

March 29
 

I had the sleep of my life last night. I didn't get up until 11:30 + was asleep to 10:45. That bed really felt good. One of Mac's old friends that he knew in Binghamton, N.Y. has been here yesterday + this morning. I gave him my blankets to sleep in. Nice fellow. Capt Dalzell gave Mac a 2 day pass to get to visit longer with his friend. Capt. Dalzell is a swell fellow. At 1 P.M. T.W.G. Dalzell and two other officers wanted me to drive them to town. I did, the first time in a jeep + first time to drive in E.T.O. Once I started to drive on the right hand side of the towns main drag but I reformed in a hurry. We went to Quartermaster + got some clothes. T.W.G. got 10 pr wool sox for me. Came back, wrote letters until 700 visited the officers barracks to get crew picture censored + visited them + hit the hay. All crews but crew 2 are alerted. B- 9:15
 
 

March 30
 

We got up at 745 this morning for chow. Pancakes + mush for breakfast. Got to the theater at 9 when Capt. Dalzell read the ground school schedule for the day. The people of our crew checked out headsets that hadn't yet afterwards, I went in and talked with Joe Foster until 10 when we, Chase Pritchett + I went in and took code checks with the rest of the R.O.'s of 708 until 11. After lunch I went back and worked with the one + only bug until 3:30 + talked. Went to crew library until 5. Pork chops for supper. T.W.G. and the rest of the crew went buzzing in 724 shooting landings, giving H.E.M. a workout. Walt Fleming went to. He's done a lot of work getting the crew pictures for us. I ought to write letters to Pop, Alice, L.L. and Tad but there is an alert on so I won't. I'm supposed to be interviewed by operations officers to find out what I want to do after my tour. I'm having a heck of a time deciding. Maybe the interview doesn't count too much. B 9:00
 
 

March 31
 

The C.Q. came in at 3 waking us up for a 4AM briefing. We were briefed for a target- Ludwigshaven. Getting out to the ship at 5, just as the usual fog started setting in. In the month of Apr fog is very prevalent early in the mornings. T.O. was scheduled for 7:30 but was delayed an hour. Just as we were gunning engines for T.O. on the runway at 8:45 they cancelled the mission. After getting all equipment put away I went over + talked with Lt. Sparks, radio school-+ asked him about my chances for going back home. Not much. He believes + I do too, that my best bet is to stay with the group as instructor in radio school for 3 or more months, then go home. If I go home now I'll probably be classified and sent to another theater. I had a 5 min. interview with Capt. Dalzell at 1:45. Couldn't learn much Went to a poor show and to bed at 7:30 Alerted.
 
 

Go back to WWII main page

 Go back to  Diary main page 

Keep reading