courtesy of Juanita Gibson, via Joe Kline.
No. 1 – Du Marche, France Aug. 2, 1944 Bombed no-ball target at Du Marche. Altitude – 23,000 ft. Bomb load – 10-250 lb. bombs. No flak - No fighters. No. 2 – St. Flourentine, France. Aug. 3, 1944. Our target was 1,500,000 gallons of high octane gas. We had to turn back before reaching the target on account of the weather. No flak - No fighters. No. 3 – Berlin, Germany. Aug. 6, 1944. Our target was the Daimler-Benz aircraft factory in the southern part of Berlin. We had good bombing results. Attitude - 25,000 ft. Bomb load – 10-500 lb. bombs. We had very heavy flak resulting in six holes in our ship. We were attacked by six ME-109s but we received no damage from the fighters. No. 4 – Dreux, France. Aug. 13, 1944. We were bombing the escape highways of the Germans that were attempting to escape from the trap on the Brest Peninsula. Altitude – 18,000 ft. Bomb load – 38-100 lb. frag. bombs. No flak - No fighters. No. 5 – Twenty Eschede, Holland. Aug. 15, 1944. German air base was knocked out in the support of the allied invasion of Southern France. Altitude – 20,000 ft. Bomb load – 20-250 lb. bombs. No flak - No fighters. No. 6 – Rechlin, Germany. Aug. 25, 1944. We bombed the research laboratories and the test base for new rocket planes and aircraft instruments. We had excellent bombing results. Altitude – 20,000 ft. Bomb load – 10-500 lb. bombs. Light flak - No fighters. This was our Air Medal mission. No. 7 – Brest, France. Sept. 3, 1944. We bombed gun installations which were preventing our troops from taking the town and its harbor. Altitude – 9,500 ft. Bomb load – 24-100 lb. frag. bombs. No flak - No fighters. No. 8 – Brest, France. Sept. 5, 1944. We bombed more gun installations in answer to General Eisenhowers statement: “Bomb them until they give up.” Altitude – 12,000 ft. – Bomb load – 14-500 lb. bombs. [Webmaster’s note: This was very near the limit of the B-17’s bomb bay capacity). No. 9 – Dusseldorf, Germany. Sept. 9, 1944. Our target was the armament factory in the heart of town. This was our first mission to the Ruhr Valley better known as “Flak Ally.” It was also our coldest mission to date. The temperature was 48° below zero. Altitude – 26,000 ft. Bomb load – 10-500 lb. bombs Moderate flak – No fighters. No. 10 – Ruhland, Germany. Sept. 11, 1944. We couldn’t see our target so we hit the last resort target at Fulda, Germany. We hit an automotive factory which produced a large percentage of Germany’s tanks. I had extreme pain in my stomach due to gas and had to be relieved of duty in the tail. [Webmaster’s note: The diet of airmen was designed to reduce intestinal gas] Altitude – 26,000 ft. Bomb load – 10-500 lb. bombs. Light flak – No fighters No. 11 – Magdeburg, Germany. Sept. 12, 1944. Our target was an oil refinery at edge of town. Altitude – 24,000 ft. Bomb load – 10-500 lb. bombs. Moderate flak. Heavy fighter attacks were made on our group. Three Fw-190s were shot down by the gunners in our group and several were shot down by our escorting P-51s and P-47s. I prayed today like I have never prayed before. No. 12 – Breda, Holland. Sept. 17, 1944. We bombed gun installations in connection with the allied airbourne invasion of Holland [Webmaster’s note: This was the start of Operation Market Garden]. We saw hundreds of allied planes and gliders carrying paratroopers and supplies for the invasion. Altitude – 17,000 ft. Bomb load – 30-260 lb. frag. Bombs. Light but very accurate flak resulting in about a dozen holes in our plane. No fighters. This was our 1st Oak Leaf Cluster mission. No. 13 – Coblenz, Germany. Sept. 19, 1944. Actual target was in Munster [Münster], Germany, but the weather was closed in over target so we hit railroad yards just south of Coblenz. Altitude – 26,000 ft. Bomb load – 6-1000 lb. bombs. No close flak – No fighters. No. 14 – Ludwigshafen, Germany. Sept. 21, 1944. Our target was a chemical plant in the edge of town. Target was 3 miles long and ¾ mile wide so although we bombed through the clouds we could hardly miss the target. Altitude – 26,000 ft. Bomb load – 6-500 lb. bombs and 6-500 lb. incendiaries. Moderate flak – No fighters. No. 15. Cologne, Germany. Oct 15, 1944 Our target was the railroad yards in the heart of Cologne [Köln]. We bombed through the clouds. Altitude – 25,000 ft. Bomb load – 16-250 lb. bombs and 4-500 lb. incendiary bombs. Moderate heavy flak. No fighters. No. 16. Merseburg, Germany Nov. 2, 1944 Our target was the oil refineries in Merseburg but we had to turn back on account of engine trouble. We left the formation just before they reached the target and we started back and dropped our bombs on the marshalling yards at Brunswick [Braunschweig], Germany. Just after that we had to feather No. 4 engine and also No. 2 was spurting oil. We had to feather No. 2 and we flew all the way back with no fighter escort at all. [Webmaster’s note: A very lucky crew!] We flew over the most heavily defended part of Germany without any of our own fighters near us. We arrived back at the base and made an excellent landing on two engines. This was our toughest mission to date. We were commended on our bombing of the yards at Brunswick, in which we had excellent bombing results. This was also the Groups 100th mission since they came overseas. Altitude – 20,000 ft. Bomb load – 20-250 lb. bombs. Light flak, No fighters. No 17. Saarbrücken, Germany. Nov. 9, 1944. We bombed some forts on the front lines in support of General Patton’s 3rd Army. As a result, Patton’s Army gained 20 miles on this sector of the front. Altitude – 25,000 ft. Bomb load – 6-1000 lb. bombs. No flak – No fighters. No. 18. Wiesbaden, Germany Nov. 10, 1944. We bombed an airfield in this area today and our crew led the high group into the target. The high group was the only group to get direct hits on the target. This was the coldest mission to date. The temperature was 54 below zero. Altitude – 29,000. Bomb load – 38-100 lb. bombs. Medium but very accurate flak. No fighters. This was our 2nd Oak Leaf Cluster [mission]. No. 19. Merseburg, Germany. Nov. 25, 1944. Our target was the oil refineries at Merseburg. Merseburg is the toughest target in Germany for the 8th Air Force. It is always defended heavily by fighters and very heavy flak. Today the fighters didn’t come up at all. I saw more planes in the air today than I have ever seen before. Altitude – 28,000 ft. Bomb load – 12-500 lb. bombs Very heavy flak – No fighters. This was my 1st mission with Lt. Bellanger. [Webmaster’s note: On clear days, only 29% of the bombs aimed at Leuna landed inside the plant gates; on radar raids the number dropped to 5.1%. During the first raid of the Oil Plan, 126 Leuna workers were killed. However, after defenses were increased, only 175 additional workers were killed in 21 subsequent raids. Leuna bombing from May 12, 1944 to April 5, 1945 cost the Eighth Air Force 1,280 airmen. In three separate attacks by the Eighth, 119 planes were lost and not one bomb fell on the Leuna works. The Eighth Air Force dropped 12,953 tons of explosives on Merseburg.] No. 20. Bingen, Germany. Nov. 27, 1944. We bombed the railroad yards at Bingen in support of allied armies on the Western Front. Altitude – 25,000 ft. Bomb load – 34-100 lb. bombs and 2-500 lb. incendiary bombs. [Webmaster’s note: The small bombs would have been dropped first. These caused not only structural damage, but vented buildings to allow the incendiaries to have more oxygen to burn.] Very light flak – No fighters. No. 21. Merseburg, Germany. Nov. 30, 1944. We bombed the oil refineries at Merseburg. Today the flak was the roughest the 8th Air Force has ever seen. The losses were the greatest that the 8th Air Force has ever had due to flak alone. Attitude – 27,500 ft. Bomb load – 20-250 lb. bombs. Very heavy and accurate flak. No fighters. No. 22. Merseburg, Germany. Dec. 6, 1944. Again we bombed the oil refineries at Merseburg. This time the flak was just as thick as it was the last time but it wasn’t very accurate. We were told that if we didn’t knock out this target pretty soon, we would have to go over at about 500 ft. to knock it out. Altitude – 27,000 ft. Bomb load – 20-250 lb. bombs. Very heavy but not accurate flak. No fighters. No. 23. Coblenz, Germany. Dec. 10, 1944. We bombes the railroad yards in Coblenz [Koblenz] in support of ground forces. Altitude – 23,500 ft. Bomb load – 34-100 lb. bombs and 2-500 lb. incindiaries. No flak – No fighters. No. 24. Giessen, Germany. Dec. 11, 1944. We bombed the railroad yards in support of ground forces. Altitude – 23,500 ft. Bomb load – 12-500 lb. bombs. No flak – No fighters. This was our 3rd [oak leaf] cluster mission. No. 25. Darmstadt, Germany. Dec. 12, 1944. Again we bombed the railroad yards in support of ground forces. Our ground forces are beginning to move now since we started bombing the [German] supply lines. Altitude – 25,000 ft. Bomb load – 10-500 lb. bombs. and 2-500 lb. incindiaries. Very little flak – No fighters. No. 26. Stuttgart, Germany. Dec. 16, 1944. Again we hit the railroad yards in support of the ground forces. This time it was Stuttgart, Germany and we bombed it visual and completely destroyed the target. Altitude – 23,000 ft. Bomb load – 8-500 lb. bombs. And 2-500 lb. incindiaries. Very light flak. No fighters. [Note: The Battle of the Bulge started on the 16th] No. 27. Karlsruhe, Germany. Dec. 24, 1944. We bombed the railroad yards in Karlsruhe in support of the American 1st Army which is being pushed back by the new German offensive. Today was the largest aerial operation in history. There were over 2,300 heavy bombers, 900 fighters from the 8th Air Force. The 9th Air Force was also up in full strength and the R.A.F. sent up over 1,000 planes. Altitude – 23,000 ft. Bomb load – 7-250 lb. bombs and 4-500 lb. incindiaries. Medium flak. No fighters. No. 28. Coblenz, Germany. Dec. 26, 1944. We bombed a railroad bridge just north of Coblenz. I think our bombing is slowing down the German drive against the American 1st Army. This was my last mission with Lt. Belanger. Altitude – 25,000 ft. Bomb load – 6-1000 lb. bombs. Medium flak. No fighters. No. 29. Coblenz, Germany. Dec. 28, 1944. We bombed the railroad yards in the southern part of Coblenz. It was the one of the easiest missions that I have flown. Altitude – 25,000 ft. Bomb load – 16-250 lb. bombs. And 2-500 incindiaries. Meager flak which was very low. No fighters. No. 30. Mannheim, Germany. Dec. 30, 1944. We bombed the railroad yards in Mannheim. These railroad yards are the second largest in Germany. Altitude – 26,000 ft. Bomb load – 12-500 lb. bombs. Very light flak. No fighters. No. 31. Frankfurt, Germany. Jan. 8, 1945. We flew as a chaff ship today. We didn’t carry any bombs. Instead we carried about 3,000 pounds of chaff. [strips of aluminum to confuse German radar] At the I.P. we left the formation and went ahead throwing chaff all over the sky. Today was the coldest mission to date. 68 below zero. Altitude – 26,000 ft. Moderate heavy flak. No fighters. I flew the mission with Lt. Estersohn. Jan 3-45 Aschaffensburg, Germany. Jan 7-45 Hamm, Germany. No. 32. Karlsruhe, Germany. Jan. 10, 1944 [1945]. We bombed the railroad yards in Karlsruhe. It was a visual run and the flak was very accurate. I flew as bombardier and our high squadron had 75% hits on the target. [Webmaster’s note: He probably meant “togglier” since he was an enlisted gunner and had no training on the Norden Bombsight.] I saw the burst of flak that got Eakin, one of the swellest pilots and one of the swellest guys I have ever known. Altitude – 26,000 ft. Bomb load – 12-500 lb. bombs. Moderate but very accurate flak. No fighters. 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