Planes I Flew In

B 17: #875

August 9. 1944

My first mission in a B 17. Our "briefed" target for today was a ball bearing plant in Nürnberg, Germany but we had to turn back because of the weather. It was our first mission to Germany -- the roughest to date. Lots of flak. Some planes decided to hit a secondary target near Brussels, Belgium. Our flight opted to bring our bombs back home. Thankfully, no losses today. But a lot of battle damage.

I flew as a navigator for the first time (and for most of the balance of my combat tour). It was also a new experience to fly with a different pilot and crew. I sure missed Fred. My pilot today was Wegener, and it turned out that we ended up flying quite a few missions together. He was a good pilot.

Plane #875 flew a total of 1 5 combat missions -- August 1 to September 5, when it was destroyed in a midair collision. By a coincidence, I flew the mission to Brest, France on that day and witnessed the collision. I later learned, through Robin, that the wreckage of one of the planes was discovered in a farm field not far from the coast. Unbelievably, there were survivors, and some evaded capture. It's stories like this that make you a "believer".

B 17: #031 Blue Grass Girl

August 11, 1944

Our target was an airfield outside of Paris. Flew with Wegener again. We had a rack malfunction and could not release all our bombs -- bringing fifteen of them back home. I looked down on Paris but couldn't see much from 23,000 ft.

Fred, and my original crew, led today's mission. Joe did his usual good job as lead navigator. Burkhart finished his combat tour today and "buzzed" the base before landing. His crew is the first in our squadron to finish. We all envy them.

"Blue Grass Girl" flew a total of 39 combat missions -- from August 6 to Feb. 3, 1945. The records report it as, "crash landed".

B 17: #292 “Baby Shoe II”

August 14. 1944

We hit an airfield outside of Manheim, Germany. Excellent results, but lots of flak and rockets over the target. Our tail gunner saw one plane explode behind us -- no sign of chutes. Our P 51 fighter cover was great. No losses today -- but they are getting a lot rougher.

Huff's crew finished today and "buzzed" the base before landing. More of the original group are finishing their tour of duty. I still have a lot more to go. (today was only my twelfth mission).

"Baby Shoe II" flew a total of 13 combat missions -- from August 3 to Sept. 9 -the record is not clear as to its fate. I flew my next three missions on it.

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