Planes I Flew In

Our crew was scheduled for the late afternoon mission. By this time the weather over England was getting worse. We took off, as scheduled, and almost immediately; Fred was flying on instruments -- climbing to over 20,000 ft. before we broke into the clear. Planes were scattered all over the sky and before we were able to form into our formation -- the mission was "scrubbed" and the pilots had to drop back down into that mess and find there way back to the Base. They all did a beautiful job of flying and every plane returned safely. Fred later told me that it was a lot rougher flying that day than on some of his later combat missions -- flak and all.

As for #300: it flew the first of its 23 combat missions on May 23 and on July 20, along with other B 24's, it was also transferred to the 2nd Division.

B 24: #567 “Queenie”

June 6, 1944

Our target was the airfield at Aureux, France. The 8th was still flying tactical missions in support of the ground troops.

For our plane, "Queenie", this was its first, of only 5 combat missions -- June 16 to July 5, when it was transferred to the 2nd Division.

B 24: #884

June 22, 1944

Today, our target was a launching site for the Buzz Bombs located in France. One week after D-Day they began firing them toward London and gave the British people another reminder of the "Blitz" bombing they had to endure earlier. From our high altitude, these small targets were very difficult to hit. The 9th Air Force, flying medium bombers at a much lower altitude, did a better job. It wasn't too long before our troops eliminated the launching sites. But in September, the resourceful Germans tried a new tactic.

They hung the flying bomb under the wing of their Heinkel HE 111, releasing them over the North Sea --aimed at London. It wasn't too long before our fighters patrolled the area and attacked them. But they were unable to prevent some of the "Doodlebugs" from reaching England. In December the Germans decided to build new launching ramps in Holland and fired them from there. But soon they were also eliminated by our troops.

As for #884: We flew our next four missions in it. It flew a total of 14 combat missions --from June 6 to July 19, when it was also transferred to the 2nd. Division.

B 24: #884

June 27, 1944

Another "Doodlebug" mission in France. Good results. We lead the Wing today and had a Colonel fly as Fred's copilot. Bernie flew in the tail turret position to keep our command pilot informed on how the formation looked.

Per "SOP"(standard operating procedure), while flying over the English Channel, the gunners proceeded to test-fire their guns. Bernie, in the tail turret, followed suit. But

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