ETOUSA
USSTAF
EIGTH ARMY AIR FORCES
FIRST AIR DIVISION
(FIRST BOMBER COMBAT WING)
381ST BOMBARDMENT GROUP
AAF STATION 167
RIDGEWELL, ESSEX
ENGLAND
APO 557 – c/o Postmaster, N.Y.C.
J A N U A R Y
Transcribed by Scott Burris
Microfilm Roll: B0370, Frames 0165 - 0177
With perhaps an omen for the early victorious conclusion of the ETO war, the New Year dawned cold and clear. There was a mission on, and the briefed visual target was the aircraft plant at Magdeburg. The PFF target was Kassel.
The 37 aircraft making up our contingent took off in brilliant moonlight at 0730 hours with Major Issac n. Taylor in the lead ship. Flying weather was not too bad and reports from weather scouts said the target would be open. The formation made a visual run on Magdeburg and found it covered. There were so many formations over the city at the same time that coming off the run the high and low squadrons got separated from the lad. Under Capt. Ned W. Renick’s leadership, the high and low, using PFF methods went on to bomb Kassel, which was covered by a 10/10 undercast. Major Taylor’s squadron found itself unable to look at Kassel because the equipment in the lead ship had “gone out”. They went on, therefore, to Coblenz, which they bombed visually. Results were unobserved. One of the aircraft in the lead squadron, having lost two engines, left the formation and bombed a target of opportunity, believed to be Itzehoe.
Our formation experienced no air opposition but the ground defenses were tough. Flak was intense and accurate at Kassel and moderate but accurate at Coblenz. In addition, there was moderate accurate flak on the route in at both Brunsbuttelkoog and at Donetz. Major Taylor’s right wing got shot up a bit at the first-named place. Fourteen of our aircraft sustained battle damage of the 35 that returned to base. Nine of it was of the “major” category.
We lost two aircraft on the operation but both of the crews were safe. At first we feared we had lost one crew, returning airmen having reported that they saw a B-17 knocked down by an FW 190 attack. It developed later, however, that the crew of the ship piloted by 1st Lt. Vincent J. Peters bailed out safely, and that 1st Lt. William H. Clark crash-landed his bomber in France. There was one casualty among their crews. Sgt. Chris Gianacopulos, Peter’s radio operator, fractured his right leg in the bailout landing. He was subsequently transferred to a patients’ detachment.
There were two other casualties on the mission. 1st Lt. Peter Kowalski, 533rd bombardier, received a penetrating would of the right leg. And 2nd Lt. John E. Rice, 534th pilot, suffered a penetrating would of the right shoulder.
It is interesting to note that Lt. Peters bailed his crew out at Metz, or rather between Metz, and the front lines. Tail Gunner Sgt. Charles F. Knaus landed near an American engineers outfit. Some of the GI feared he was a Jerry paratrooper and shot at him as he was coming down. Fortunately, the missed.
Gerolstein, Germany, was the target for the Group’s 231st mission January 2. We put up 37 aircraft under command of Lt. Col. John E. Fitzgerald, Jr., who was flying his “finishing up” mission. The weather was good. There was low ground haze on the way in and heavy snow on the ground made identification of the target somewhat difficult. It was CAVU at the objective and the bombing was preformed visually with good results. There was little opposition. The Luftwaffe was not present and there was only meager flak at the target. The Group had two abortive, but had no losses and suffered no casualties.
We went back to Cologne Wednesday, January 3, hitting the PFF secondary, the marshalling yards, when 10/10 undercast made a r un on the visual primary, a bridge, impossible. There was moderate but inaccurate flak and there were no German fighters. Capt. Ewing S. Watson was in command of the 3 aircraft which made up our contingent, but engine failure forced him to abort after take-off. There was one other abortive. The remaining 35 Fortresses went on to the target with Capt Ackerman of the 534th Squadron taking over the lead. He reported hundreds of American heavies battering Cologne from the skies. The weather closed in solidly in the afternoon and the formation returned to base in the rain. There were no losses and no casualties.
Although it was clear and cold on January 4, there was no operation scheduled.
There was a mission on the Fifth and the railhead at Heimbach was the briefed target. We put up 37 aircraft with Capt. William M. Cronin, assistant Group operations officer, in command. There were three abortive. The rest of the formation went on to the target, finding VACU weather on the continent to within four miles of M.P.I. There low cumulus clouds formed 10/10 undercast and forced the formation to bomb by instruments. No observations were possible. Enemy opposition was completely lacking. There was no Luftwaffe and there was no flak.
The OWI was hand with a sound truck when the formation came back and recordings, for propaganda purposes, were made on the mission. Major Blount was pressed into service to do a record on the work done by Cpl. Cazas in saving the life of Lt. Weynand, who suffered a virtual traumatic amputation of the left leg in the accident of Dec. 31.
We were out again on January 6 and our target was Cologne again. Col. Leber was in personal command of our contingent of 37 aircraft and the entire formation went to the target to find the weather completely closed in. There was moderate flak at Cologne but our formation, fortunately, appeared to find a free path right through the center of it. The bombing was done by Gee-H methods and results were unobserved. There were no enemy aircraft. All of our Fortresses returned safely to base and there were no casualties. It was the Group’s 234th mission. For Col. Leber it was his next-to-last combat flight.
That evening a V2 explosion rocked the station shortly before 2200 hours. Reports were the burst was near Halstead. No damage was done on the station but it was too close for comfort. The explosion was almost immediately followed by taps, indicating a stand down for the next day.
There was no operation on the Seventh. The weather couldn’t seem to make its mind up, winding up in the evening with snow.
We led the entire division the next day to attack an overhead bridge Alsey, Germany. We put up the usual 37 aircraft with Major George K. Sandman in the lead ship. The snow followed by the frost has put a slippery pat of ice over the roads and runways and utilities boys had been out most of the night salting and sanding the surfaces to make it possible for the trucks to haul bombs to the planes, and for the Fortresses to get off the runways. The formation had round a high 10/10 undercast all the way, but that was their only difficulty. There were no enemy fighters and there was no flak. All of our aircraft got out safely although two of them landed away from base.
There was a stand down on the Ninth. Roads were covered with ice and snow a a result of the fall throughout the night.
It was bitterly cold the next day and the ice was still all over the place. Snow began to fall again about 0845, but the mission was on, just the same. Lt. Col. George G. Shackley leading our contingent of 37 aircraft in an attack on the airdrome at Ostheim, near Cologne.
The formation took off in a snowstorm and ran into patchy clouds over the continent. Engine failure caused Col. Shackley to leave the formation and make an emergency landing at Ghent. The high squadron, led by Capt. Mack Stallings and 1st Lt. Fred Davison, took over the lead and the original lead squadron became the high squadron. The formation went on to the target where the clouds were broken. At first it appeared a visual run would be possible, but toward the end of the run the lead ship found a great patch of clouds sitting on the target itself. The run was therefore completed by means of the Gee-H equipment and the bombing was performed in good shape. After the run the high squadron (originally the lead) was separated from the first of the formation and bombed using its own Gee-H ship, piloted by Lt. Roush. Results were unobserved. The only enemy opposition experienced was at the target where the flak was moderate and accurate. Roush was shot up leaving the target and was forced to make a landing on the continent. Oddly enough he came down in the same already chosen for a landing by Col. Shackley. He had one serious casualty aboard.
S/Sgt. Arthur P. Hafner, Roush’s tail gunner, was hit by flak in the right leg just below the knee and suffered a traumatic amputation of the leg. He was rushed to the 77th British General Hospital, near Ghent, for treatment.
There were no aircraft in the skies, at least as far as we were concerned. Returning to base about 1530 hours, the formation landed in a swirling snowstorm. There was one other casualty. S/Sgt. Jackie J. Nichols, 533rd waist gunner, received a moderate perforating wound of the right leg.
Neither Shackley nor Roush had been heard from until late that night after the mission had returned and fears for their safety were current on the base. It is interesting to note that at the time Shackley was still missing, Ted Malone’s story of Shackley and his ship, “Rotherhithe’s Revenge” was being broadcast in the states.
Meanwhile other events were taking place on the Station. Robert L. Dewhurts, 532nd bombardier, was promoted to captain New Year’s Eve, his promotion being officially announced in the New Year’s Day Bulletin. Roy W. Lundgren and George J. Stone, 533rd squadron bombardier and navigator, respectively, were promoted to captain Jan 4.
The evening of Jan 3, the station basketball team beat the Station 165 representatives 45 to 37, with PFC. Bernie Davis, who registered 14 points, the scoring star for Ridgewell.
Official notification of the redesignation of the 1st Bomb Division to 1st Air Division was announced Jan 6.
Jan 9 the quartermaster moved from Communal Site 2 to WAAF Site 1. The quartermaster site became the home of the NCO club, finally organized after sixteen months of trying.
Fifteen Air Medals were handed down to Group members via GO 2, 1BD, 1 Jan.
The DFC was awarded (GO 6, 2 Jan) to Capt. Robert H. Kaurin, Capt. Dona J. LaCouture, 1st Lt. Raymond J. Wieloszynski, and S/Sgt. John H. Sather, all of whom had completed combat duty tours.
Five Air Medals, in GO 7, 2 January, and eleven more in GO 8, 3 Jan were awarded to Group members.
DFC’s were awarded to 1st Lts. Francis J. Mousseau and Joseph F. Slavik, both pilots, in GO 9, 4 Jan., upon completion of their tours of duty. In the citations, attention is called to the mission of 11 December when Lt. Mousseau adroitly took over the leadership of the formation after the leader was forced abort and commanded the formation through an excellent bombing run despite the adverse weather conditions. Several missions were cited in Lt. Slavik’s case.
42 more Oak Leaf Clusters to the Air medal were authorized for Group members in GO 11, 5 Jan. Two more were awarded GO 16, Jan 6. There were 18 more Clusters in GO 16, 6 Jan. Thirteen Air Medals and 43 Clusters came down to us in GO 19, 7 Jan. And there were 20 more Clusters in GO 20, Jan 8. We found 11 Air Medals listed for us in GO 25, 9 January and on Jan 10, in GO 28, we gathered 15 more Air Medals and a single Cluster.
We were non-operational Jan 11. There were two rather unusual visitors, Sir Oliver Sammonds, British M.P. and head of one of England’s largest aircraft components factory and his 16-year-old son. The stayed overnight, Sir Oliver spending a lot of the time with material and engineering officers, discussing, primarily, the Anglo-American conference with regard to post-war aircraft lines.
Friday, January 12, was also non-operational. Rain early in the morning made the ground slushy underfoot and the cold turned the slush to ice, making the going treacherous.
We finally got flying again on the Thirteenth. The target was a bridge at Germensheim (sp?). Our 37 aircraft were commanded by Major Winter who flew with Capt. Bordner as his pilot and Major Fullick as his lead bombardier. The weather, which was bad at take off, cleared to about 4/10 over the continent but there was a large 10/10 cloud patch right over our target. We bombed using Gee-H equipment and rear element gunners said they saw some of our explosives get the bridge. The lead team reported other formations bombing bridges up and down the Rhine, apparently in the clear, and apparently with good results. Flak was meager but accurate and there were no enemy aircraft. Icy mist, haze and heavy clouds made the landing back at base hazardous, but everybody got in all right with the exception of two Fortresses, both which landed away from base. There were no casualties.
The autobahn bridge, at Cologne, was our target Sunday January 14, Major Isaac N. Taylor led our contingent of 37 aircraft on the mission and the formation, finding the weather VACU did an excellent bombing job. Strike photos show a smoke pattern covering the center of the bridge. There were no enemy aircraft but the flak, which was meager and inaccurate over the enemy lines going in, thickened to moderate and accurate at the target. The flak cost us a ship, “Columbus Miss”, piloted by Lt. Roebuak. The crew bailed out near the battle line and two of the crew members, evidently landing with the German installations, are still MIA.
They are S/Sgt. Richard L. Shott, BTG, of Columbus, Ohio, and Sgt. Fred Lainer, TG, of Worcester, Mass. The two bailed out at approximately 50, 14N – 05, 46E after the plane had received a direct hit in the No. 3 engine. The remaining members of the crew subsequently returned to base. They reported one ‘chute falling into enemy held territory.
A mission was scrubbed on Monday the day was devoted to the christening of the “Fort Lansing Emancipator”, a new Flying Fortress, in the 533rd Squadron. Jack Parker, radio commentator for the Lansing, Mich., radio station, appeared on the base with a BBC sound truck to do the recording and emcee the program. Mary Brian, well known film star in ETO with USO State Shows, was drafted into service at the last moment to wield the coca cola bottle. An all-Lansing crew, with Capt. Renick as pilot, Lt. Nolan, co-pilot, Lt. Taber as navigator, and F/O Boomershine as bombardier, was on hand, the enlisted men having been flown in from other stations, some of them Second and Third Division bases to complete the line up.
Earlier in the day, Sir Ronald and Lady Storre were at the officer’s mess for luncheon. They were unable to stay for the christening because Sir Ronald was slated to leave for London the first stage of a return to the near East.
A two plan mission, with Lutskendorf as the aiming point for the “A” versions and Berlin as the objective for the “B” alternative, was scrubbed early on the morning of the Sixteenth. And all-day fog clamped a pall on the station. The liberty runs were cancelled. As an aftermath of the Lansing deal, Capt. Renick, Lt. Taber, and F/O Boomershine went to London to do another broadcast for Jack Parker.
Mission No. 239 went off on Wednesday, the Seventeenth. The marshalling yards at Paderborn, near Kassel, was the target and 37 of our aircraft were assigned to the operation with Lt. Col. Hall in the lead ship. The weather was bad most of the way and, although it broke for a while over Holland, it closed in solid at the target, where the bombing was done through a 10/10 undercast by PFF methods. There was no enemy opposition at all, the crews reporting no flak and no German fighters. Results, of course, were unobserved. There were no losses.
Mannheim was the target for the Eighteenth, but the operation was scrubbed. Mr. Hadow, on leave from the British legation, in Washington, visited the base and appeared to be particularly concerned about the question of the Anglo-American relations.
There was a stand down on January 19, a bitterly-cold, cloudy, windy day.
With Ludwigahafen as the target, 37 of our aircraft were dispatched January 20 with Capt. Ewing S. Watson in the lead ship. As a flying operation it was completely uneventful. There was a solid 10/10 undercast all the way to and from the target and although moderate flak was seen in the target area, none of it was directed at us. There were no enemy fighters. The bombing, a combination of PFF and Gee-H technique, was performed in good shape and the entire formation returned to base.
There was one unusual sidelight. As Lt. Malleus was taxing into position for the take off, Sgt. Homer L. Williams, his waist gunner, suddenly went berserk, burst out of the ship and bolted. He was replaced at once by T/Sgt. William E. Abbott, and the ship, after going to the foot of the taxi line, took off on the mission and completed it satisfactorily. Williams, a veteran of one combat operation, was consigned to the guardhouse.
In the meantime, several events were recorded on the station.
Melvin C. McBurney and Russel J. Hadley were both promoted to captain Jan 14.
McLendon M. Stallings and Frank T. Palenik, 535th pilot and bombardier, respectively, were promoted to Captain January 17.
The evening of January 17 was a big one for the station basketball team. The Five outclassed the highly-publicized “Traveling Circus”, 93rd Bomb Group and Second Division champs, 30 to 26. The 93rd had won ten straight games prior to the defeat. Schmidt with eight points, and Condit and Davis with seven each, were the scoring stars for our side. The results gave the base a feeling of extreme optimism with regard to the basketball team.
January 20, and military personnel on the station began talking sulfadiazine pills daily [editor’s note: Sulfadiazine is used to treat bacterial infections]. An order published in the Daily Bulletin required the taking of the daily dose.
We received 10 Air Medal Clusters in GO 33, 1BD, 11 Jan. There were 50 more in GO 31, of the same date; and 55 more in GO 41, 13 Jan.
2nd Lt. Albert D. Miller, Jr., received the Purple Heart in GO 44, 15 Jan., for wounds received on the mission the day before.
We picked up 11 Air Medals and 66 Clusters in GO 46, 15 Jan., and 17 more Air Medals and another seven Clusters in GO 47, 16 Jan. There was a bumper crop of Clusters for us in GO 51, 17 January, a grand total of 83; and we found another Air Medal and 11 Clusters in GO 52, 18 January.
M/Sgt. James K. Hatton, Jr., of the Seventh Station Complement, of Station technical inspector’s office and M/Sgt. Harry F. Emans, of the Sub-Depot, were awarded Bronze Star Medals in GO 53, 18 January.
2nd Lt. George Kaluger and S/Sgt. Athur P. Hafner were awarded Purple Heart decorations in GO 58, 20th Jan. Kaluger was wounded Oct. 18, Hafner Jan 10.
DFC’s were awarded to 1st Lt. Irving Taxel, navigator, and 2nd Lt. Willis K. Griggs, bombardier, both of whom had completed duty tours. Lt. Taxel’s citation mentioned specifically the missions of 3 and 12 Sept. Lt. Griggs, the citation recounted, in addition to performing capably on all his missions, twice courageously cleared the bomb bays by hand, after explosives had been fouled.
There were 17 Air Medals and 11 Clusters for us in GO 58, 20 Jan.
Sunday, Jan 21, was a big day on the Station. Col. Leber, who led the mission, completed his tour of combat duty with the operation.
The target was Aschaffenburg, the M.P.I. consisting of the tank assembly plant near the town. Col. Leber flew with Major Winter as his pilot, leading our contingent of 38 aircraft. There was one abortive and the spare returned early; the remaining 36 aircraft encountered 9/10 cloud undercast all the way with occasional brief breaks. It was 10/10 over the target and the bombing was accomplished by Gee-H methods. There was no enemy opposition at all, not even flak.
Returning to base in haze and high wind, the formation suffered a tragic accident. Two aircraft collided in the traffic pattern and every member of the two crews was killed. Exact details of the accident will never be known. There were those, however, who said they saw a P-47 out in the traffic pattern and cause one of the Fortresses to wing up sharply.
One of the Fortresses was seen to cut the tail from the other. None of the crew members had a chance except for Sgt M. Swartz, tail gunner who was alive when he was picked up. He died very shortly thereafter, however, in the hospital.
Those killed in the accident, all of the 532nd Squadron were:
2nd Lt. J. E. Smith, pilot;
F/O W. A. Dernberger, co-pilot;
2nd Lt, C. F. Soper, navigator;
Sgt. B. L. McCudden, togeleer;
S/Sgt. P. J. Durban, radio operator;
Sgt. V. L. Gray, engineer;
Sgt. D. T. Wilson, ball turret;
Sgt. R. E. Campbell, waist;
Sgt. W. A. Streich, tail;
F/O N. F. Tauro, pilot;
F/O V. J. Crofts, co-pilot;
F/O S. L. Sobole, navigator;
S/Sgt. E. L. Jones, togeleer;
S/Sgt. M. A. Shapiro, radio operator;
S/Sgt. G. S. Panaccione, engineer;
Sgt. A. Taylor, ball turret;
Sgt. J. P. York, waist;
Sgt. M. S. Swartz, tail;
There was another crew MIA, but it was subsequently returned to base, having been forced to make a landing in France.
Immediately after the mission, Col Leber was presented with the Silver Star, awarded for leadership. Brig. Gen.
William N. Gross, 1st Bomb Wing CO, made the presentation. Lt. Col. Louis Ensign, rumored to be the next CO for this Station read the citation.
There was a stand down on the Twenty-Second and it continued through the Twenty-Sixth. Most of the time there was either snow or heavy frost. It was constantly cold and there were heavy clouds. So bad was the weather that the liberty run was cancelled two of the days.
We tried to get operational again on the Twenty-Seventh. A mission, with Bremen as its objective, was set up, but a scrub was ordered early.
Finally, on January 28, we flew our 242nd mission. The target was the Hohensollern bridge at Cologne, but we didn’t bomb it, at least not on force. Our contingent, 38 aircraft, was led by Major Taylor. We found at 4/10 to 6/10 clouds all the way and that, with ground haze, made an instrument run necessary. The formation made a Gee-H run on Cologne, but both the Gee-H and PFF equipment in the lead ship went out so the commander decided to abandon the run and head for a target of opportunity. The navigator saw the objective after the run had been abandoned, but they were too far off course, then, to do anything about it. The lead squadron changed planes with the high, because the high lead ship’s instruments were in working order, and they went on to a target of opportunity, first believed to be Bielefeld, but later found to be Guttersloh. Where they made a visual run on the marshalling yards and reported excellent results. Five of our aircraft had previously bombed at Cologne dropping on a smoke marker of a group that preceded us over the target. There was little opposition. The crews reported moderate and accurate flak at the target and some meager and inaccurate flak on the way home. Capt. William F. Carpenter was in the high squadron lead ship.
There was another mission on the Twenty-Ninth, Mission No. 243, despite the snow and freezing weather. The target was Niederlahnstein, just south of Coblenz, and Major Sandman was in charge of our contingent of 37 aircraft. The weather was good until the formation reached the bomb line, and there it closed in to a 10/10 undercast. The bombing was done by means of the Gee-H equipment and the aiming point was the marshalling yards. The meager flak was inaccurate and there were no enemy aircraft to molest the bombers. All our aircraft returned safely to base.
That was the operational end of the month. There was a stand down the next day, a day which saw the heaviest snowfall of the year. Although a mission was set up for the Thirty-First, with Berlin and Misburg as alternate targets, the mission was scrubbed.
On the Station in the last ten days of the month, things were happening.
January 22, Fred Davison, 535th pilot; Walter L. Ritchey, 535th communications officer and one of the senior first lieutenants in the outfit; Edward Godlewski, 534th communications officer; and George Steidl, Jr. 534th engineering officer, were all promoted to captain. And, the same night, the Station basketball team soundly trounced Station 103, 61 to 41, with Butler, who registered 26 points, taking his place as our high scorer.
Two combat men, Edward N. Miller, of the 532nd, and Donovan L. Chamberlin, of the 535th were promoted to captain on the Twenty-Sixth. And Charles W. Bordner, 534th lead pilot, got his promotion to major on the Thirtieth.
But the non-operational event of the month was a stag party, held at the officer’s mess on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 25. There was a dinner, given to Col. Leber, with Gen. Gross and all officers of the field grades as guest. After the dinner there was a show, featuring a strip tease dancer, who just about the homeliest, the least graceful, and the most evil-smelling woman in England. It was a hilarious occasion, however, with Capt. Schwartz as impromptu master of ceremonies.
There was a private party in Col. Leber’s quarters later that evening, after the women had left the station.
From the party came the news that Col. Hall had be designated by Gen. Gross to succeed Col. Leber, a move hailed with delight all over the base. The change was made possible by the loss at Nuthampstend of Col. Hudson, the CO. Col Ensign was sent to Nuthampstead to take over there.
The only other events worth recording were awards.
A DFC for S/Sgt Paul W. Hege, toggelier, was issued in GO 59, 1BD, 21 Jan. The citation mentioned, specifically, two occasions in which he administered prompt and effective fist aid on missions. He had completed his combat tour.
We picked up 49 Air Medal Clusters in GO 63, 21 Jan; six Air Medals in GO 65, 22 Jan; three more Air Medals and 32 more Clusters in GO 67, 23 Jan; and an Oak Leaf Cluster to the Air Medal for Col. Leber in GO 72, 24 January.
A DFC was awarded to S/Sgt Rufus R. Frazier, waist gunner, in GO 73, 25 Jan. Sgt. Frazier, who had “finished up” was cited for a number of missions, but notably for the operation of August 14 when he saved the ball turret gunner from anoxia.
There were ten Air Medal Clusters for us in GO 75, 25 Jan; 11 more in GO 83, 29 Jan. twelve Air Medals in Go 83, 30 Jan; and 72 more Clusters in GO 90, 31 Jan.
Largest award of the month was published in GO 9, ETO Hq, 30 Jan. Major Edgar C. Kurner, group engineering officer, was given the Legion of Merit for his work in the period from 22 June, 1943 to 8 June 1944.
END