381st Bomb Group (H)
Roll BO370: Frames 110-126
War Diary
September 1944
September began with a mission destined for the chemical works at Ludwigshafen, an objective which was to be the Division's favorite for the early days of the month. The Fortresses took off and got well into France before bad weather put a stop to the operation. Recall was ordered when the formations reached a point southwest of Paris and all the aircraft returned with their bombs.
Furloughs, recently re-authorized for Eighth Air Force took effect for the first batch of fortunate Group member September First and large contingent left base from each of the organizations. Those whose furloughs began then, however, were not altogether fortunate. For September 2 was a red letter day in the history of the station.
It was the anniversary of the opening of the Red Cross Club, and the celebration reached heights of entertainment. Despite the pouring rain, the celebration opened in the early afternoon with a USO show in Hanger 1. Bing Crosby, great American radio and screen star, was the leading member of the cast which also included comedian Joe DeRita, and songstress Darlene Garner and Jean Darrell. Some 600 wounded from neighboring hospitals were guests of the Group for the occasion. They were literally hanging from the rafters (not the wounded) when Crosby opened the show. It was the most successful of entertainment ever offered on the base.
The show was followed by a tea at the Aero Club and then by a dance for enlisted men in the hanger at Great Yeldam. With the Group members who purchased War Bonds voting, Pvt. Cynthia Burville, blonde and beautiful 19 year old ATS girl, stationed at Colchester, was chosen beauty queen by popular applause at the dance. She was presented with a bouquet of roses and her picture was taken, against the background of the crowd, with Col. Leber congratulating her.
The next day, with the Lord Lieutenant (pronounced "leftenant") and the High Sheriff of Essex County in attendance, Pvt. Burville christened a Fortress. The name, "Smashing Time", was selected in a GI contest to choose a title emblematic of Anglo-American relations. The winner, author of the name was S/Sgt. George A. Ranger, of the 533rd Squadron.
It is interesting to note the 533rd, with Lt. Gail Brewer, one time insurance salesman, as its sparkplug, finished first in the War Bond contest. With its associate organizations, it purchased $32,875 worth of bonds, more than $10,000 above its quota. All organizations went over the top.
Sept 3rd was also the date of the first completed mission of the month. The target was Ludwigshafen, and 37 of our aircraft participated with Capt. Douglas L.Winter in command. The formations hit a 6/l0 to 9/10 undercast en-route, and ran into a 10/10 coverage at the target. There was moderate but inaccurate flak at Karlruhe and moderate but accurate flak at the objective. There were no enemy aircraft. The formation made a PFF run and dropped their bombs in good shape. Results, of course, were unobserved.
We lost one aircraft. Listed as missing in action were:
2nd Lt. Omar P. Fulton, pilot,
2nd Lt. Robert B. Harrington, co-pilot,
2nd Lt. Robert X. Conley, navigator
2nd Lt. Richard G. Greer, bombardier, and the following gunners:
Sgt. Roger A. Martin
Sgt. Theodore L. Jefferson
Sgt. James C. Grubbs
Sgt. Carl J. Von Goeben, Jr.
Sgt. Franklin S. Berry
The aircraft was last heard of at 1255 hours chugging along behind the formation. The pilot called to say he had one engine out and another acting up, and that he would be forced to make a crash landing.
Subsequently, information was received that the men had landed near Rheims. Somehow, they were brought out by the 15th AF and all but Conley were said to be accounted for. Details were not available.
One man was wounded on the operation. He was Sgt. Jackie J. Nichols, a waist gunner, who suffered a relatively mild flak wound in the right leg. The abrasion was treated at the station hospital and he was out of action only a day.
There was no mission then until the eighth, although two attempts were made to get going on the sixth. Operations briefed for Berlin and for Bremen were scrubbed before take off in each case.
In the mean time, on September 4, in the effort to cut down the size of the now unwieldy squadrons to about 22 crews, each of the organizations shipped large groups of men to the 12th RCD.
Several groups of awards were received in General Orders from 1BD, in the early days of the month. Fifteen Air Medals and 12 clusters were included in GO 295, 1 Sept.; 32 more clusters were authorized in GO 297, 2 Sept.; and GO 301 of the same date authorized 73 more clusters.
DFC’s were awarded in GO 299, 2 Sept., to 1st Lts. Warren R. Johnson and Haven J. Williams; 2nd Lts. Raymond P. Kotkiewicz and Arthur S. Palmer, Jr.; Tehnical Sergeants Jerry C. Delligatti and Varnie R. Dyson; S/Sgts. Levett L. Bennett, William F. Gaddy and Edward G. Graybill, Jr. All had completed their tours of operation.
DFC’s were awarded, in GO 302, 3 Sept., to 1st Lts. William L. Bonar and Bayard A. Nelson; T/Sgts. August J. Cheminara and Louis W. Goc; and S/Sgts. John H. Combes, Joseph A. DeMaria and Stanley J. Lewandowsky. They, too, had completed their combat missions. Capt. Howard N. Kesley, 534th Operations Officer, who had risen in the Group from the rank of F/O, was awarded the DFC in GO 308, 5 Sept., for his leadership in the August 15 mission. His aircraft was severely damaged by flak on the target, and actually lying over on its side over the target with its No. 3 engine afire. Kesley skillfully righted his ship, led the formation unerringly to the target, performed a good bombing job, and then led his outfit home without losses.
1st Lt. Purvis W. Runyan, 534th Bombardier, also was awarded the DFC in the same order. Runyan was bombardier in Kesley’s ship. With only a minute to make his adjustments after Kesley righted the airplane, Runyan performed his task skillfully and coolly and led the formation to good bombing results.
Lt. Col. Conway s. Hall was awarded an Oak Leaf Cluster to his DFC in the same order. Col. Hall was Division commander for the August 15 mission, riding in the aircraft piloted by Kesley. He assisted the pilot in gaining control of the aircraft after the flak burst disabled it. He rallied the formation after the bombing and led the entire outfit safe home without losses.
DFC’s authorized in GO 310, 6 Sept., went to Capt. Thomas E. Barnicle, 535th lead pilot; 1st Lts. Alford J. Goodfellow, Normand E. Klare, James G. Manion and Joseph H. Myers, Jr.; T/Sgts. Joe F. Hendrickson, Heinz W. Huthmann, Joseph LaMantia, and J. W. Swafford; S/Sgts. Robert F. Irwin, Donald B. Olauson, John S. Patoki, Edward L. Vacek, and Robert H. Witt. All had completed duty tours.
The same day, in GO 311, 17 Air Medals and 37 clusters were distributed to Group members.
A courts martial sitting on Pvt. Marcos Ortiz, of the 7th Station Complement, Sept. 6, found Ortiz guilty of attacking Pfc. Paul J. Simmons with a knife and sentenced him to be dishonorably discharged and to be confined at hard labor for two years.
GO 312, 1BD, 7 Sept., awarded 18 Air Medals and 10 clusters to Group members. GO 313, of the same date brought a Purple Heart to 1st Lt. John W. Carson, who was wounded on the August 30 mission.
Capt. Ralph E. Freese, 534th pilot who acted as Group operations assistant in charge of training, received his DFC in GO 315, 8 Sept. He had finished his tour and was ready for shipment back to the States.
Ludwigshafen was the Fortress target again on Sept. 8 and 37 of our aircraft were assigned to the operation under command of Lt. Col. Charles L. Halsey. The formations encountered a solid undercast over the target and bombed PFF. Results were unobserved. There was a moderate to intense tracking flak at Ludwigshafen but most of it was below the formation. No enemy aircraft were visible. There was one casualty, 2nd Lt. Harold D. Wilker, a navigator, who received a piece of shrapnel in his skull. The wound was mild, necessitating grounding for only two days. S/Sgt. Herman H. Parrish, 534th radio operator, listed as injured in action, dislocated his left knee when he fell over an obstacle in the ship.
We were headed for Ludwigshafen again the next day after a mission to Gaggenau had been canceled with a force of 49 aircraft commanded by Lt. Col. John E. Fitzgerald, Jr., who flew with 1st Lt. Harris Sluyter as his pilot. A 3/10 to 4/10 undercast, which started building up when the formation left this station, cleared when the Fortresses reached Belgium, but the weather socked in again and scouts reported that it was 10/10 over the target.
Ludwigshafen was therefore passed up, and the formation went, instead, across the river to Mannheim, which was the PFF target for the day. It looked for a while, as if the bombing would be visual, but the clouds stacked up, after a visual run had been begun and the instrument men took over to complete the job. Results were unobserved.
Four ME 163's were reported in the vicinity of the target but they made no attempt to attack. The flak, however, was fairly accurate, although it was rated as only "moderate", and 16 of our ships sustained battle damage. There were no losses, although Lt. Gardner had to crash land his Fort at Manston, in England, on the way home. There were two casualties: Sgt. Robert J. Sharp, 533rd toggleer, suffered a compound, comminuted fracture of the left leg; and Sgt. Gale H. Kay, 534th tail gunner, received a mild penetrating wound of the left shoulder.
In the mean time, several promotions were announced. Joseph M. Murray, former Group S2 executive officer, who had taken over the leading spot in the group intelligence office when Major Kidd left for the States, was promoted to major. George T. Kelley, 532nd S2, was promoted to captain, and became executive officer at Group S2. And Corbin J. Robertson, of the 535th was promoted to captain.
Final figures in the War Bond drive showed the team led by the 535th Squadron as high with a total of $39,550. Tied up with the 535th were the 1142nd MP Company and the Headquarters Squadron of the Bomb Group. The actual single high scorer, however, was the 533rd Squadron, which turned in a total of $32,875 dollars by itself. The 535th total was an even $31,000. The entire Group subscribed 155.3 percent of its quota, which was $88,000.
Sept. 9 brought more Air Medals/Clusters. Two were awarded in GO 316 and 15 more were included in GO 318.
The diesel lorry works at Gaggenau, reported to be turning out V-I and V-II weapons, was the briefed target for Sept. 10. Only 24 of our aircraft were assigned and Col. Leber was in personal command. The formation found the weather good over the target and made a visual bombing run with excellent results. There were no enemy aircraft in the sky. The Fortresses encountered meager inaccurate spotty bursts of flak at Metz and at the IP, and ran into moderate, accurate flak at the target. We lost one ship. Missing in action were:
2nd Lt. Ernest Germano, pilot
2nd Lt. James M. Gre, co-pilot
2nd Lt. Richard A. Tierney, navigator
2nd Lt. Edward J. Spaniel, Jr., bombardier
S/Sgt. John C. Diedrich
S/Sgt. William D. Shelley, Jr.
Sgt. Alexander Donaldson
Sgt. Harry Siders
Sgt. Cloyde I. Goody
The aircraft was last seen in the vicinity of Baden Baden with two engines smoking. It peeled off under control, and apparently headed for France. Five ‘chutes were observed coming out of it. A subsequent letter from Spaniel’s mother informed the Group that he was a prisoner of war. The others have not yet been heard of.
Dennis E. Murphy, 534th pilot, was promoted to captain. The announcement was made in the Sept. 9 Bulletin.
September 11 the Fortresses had the synthetic oil refineries at Mersburg as their target and 37 of our aircraft were assigned from here under command of Capt. Douglas L. Winter. The weather was not too good There were 2/10 to 3/10 swelling cumulus clouds most of the way, building to 7/10 to 8/10 over the target. Passing near Koblenz the crew men saw a barrage of flak, although it was not aimed at them. The flak appeared to cover a large fleet of barges in Rhine near that city. At the target flak was moderate and fairly accurate. The bombing was visual with a ___ and bomb bursts were observed in the target area. There were____, although Lt. Thornton was forced to land his bomber in____. There was one casualty: S/Sgt. Robert F. Irwin, who suffered a fracture of the big tow of his right foot as a result of a flak burst.
DFC’s were awarded in GO 320, 1BD, 11 Sept., to 1st Lts. Richard Wendt, Warren Miller, John D. Cochran and James H. Mattison; __ David Caldwell and Melvin Samuels. An Oak Leaf Cluster to the ____ to Capt. Phillip W. Gatznig, 535th operations officer. All had completed their combat tours and were preparing for shipment home. Capt.
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target of opportunity, dropping its bombs in populated area. The high group hit the last resort target, Plauen, aiming for factories there, and saw its explosives land in the southeast corner of the town. The formations encountered moderate, accurate tracking flak at the target. En-route to the objective, six ME 109's made a run on the formation at Pritzwelk, but fired no shots, Crew men said the Schmitts were being chased by P-51's. A little later the crews saw a formation of 15 to 30 single engine enemy fighters queuing up to make an attack on the Wing behind ours.
One of our aircraft, piloted by Lt. McMullen, made a safe crash landing in France. The rest returned to base carrying five casualties:
Sgt. Lydell A. Hayes, was killed in action. A ball turret gunner, he died of anoxia. Wounded were Sgt. Myres J. Baker, a waist gunner, who suffered severe frost bite of the right hand and had to have the member amputated; Sgt. Joseph J. Charkowski, who suffered a severe frost bite of the face and cheek as well as anoxia; S/Sgt. Alvan A. Bacon, who received a piece of flak in the back which penetrated to the pelvis; and 2nd Lt. Muray Hill, a co-pilot, who was wounded in the left shoulder.
There was no missions, then, until the Seventeenth, although attempts to set up operations against Genshagen and Eindhoven were scrubbed on the Fourteenth and the Sixteenth, respectively.
In the mean time the awards were pilling up. Thirty-four Air Medal Clusters were awarded in GO 324, 1BD, 12 September.
DFC’s were authorized, in GO 326, 13 Sept., to 1st Lt. James E. Nadeaux, Paul O. Schiemeyer, Frank L. Scurlock and Charles P. Stormer (who had been an enlisted navigator when he first came to the group); and T/Sgts. Erling A. Anderson, Willard C. Bessey and John O. Sheppherd. All had completed duty tours and were ready for shipment home.
Ten more DFC’s, also to men who had completed tours, were awarded in GO 328, 13 Sept., to 1st Lts. Edwin E. Baran, John M. McCollum, George H. DeVoe, Nicholas Fedak, Robert O. Long and Bruce L. Rivett; T/Sgts. Robert C. Huttlinger and Richard H. Miner; S/Sgts. Sigurd H. Esselstrom, and Arch J. McCabe.
The same order authorized a DFC Cluster for Major George K. Sandman, who was also now ready to take his leave back home.
Col. Harry P. Leber, Jr., Group Commander, was awarded an Air Medal Cluster in GO 327, 13 September, along with Brig. Gen. William M. Gross, Combat Wing Commander. Twenty-eight Air Medals were awarded to group members in the same order. And 51 Air Medal Clusters were awarded in GO 331, 15 Sept. Among the recipients was Capt. Winter.
Sept. 16 the news came that Airborne forces had begun the invasion of Holland. A 534th Fortress, "Passaic Warrior", piloted by a 532nd crew headed by Lt. Frank L. Scurlock, was assigned to fly Gen. Brereton to view the invasion from the air. In the ship, also was Courtney, of Colliers, who subsequently turned out a magazine story on the operation.
The next day we played our own part in the invasion. The Fortresses were sent to knock out troop and gun installations impeding the ground forces advance in the Eindhoven area. We sent 42 aircraft with Capt. Edward H. MacNeill in command and 1st Lt. Harris Sluyter as his pilot. It was overcast at 18,000 feet and somewhat hazy below, but there was no flak (except for a few bursts in the distance) and there were no enemy aircraft up. The lead group and the high squadron of the high group, made two bombing runs on the target. The rest caught their targets the first time over. Results were reported as good to excellent.
A DFC was awarded to 1st Lt. William F. Greene, 533rd bombardier, in GO 334, 1BD, 16 Sept. He had completed his tour of duty. The same day nine Air Medals and 13 Clusters (including one for Lt. Col. Fitzgerald) were authorized to Group members in GO 333, and seven more Clusters were awarded in GO 336.
A Cluster to his DFC was awarded to T/Sgt. Franklin M. Glover, top turret gunner and engineer, for heroism as published in GO 332, 15 Sept. On the August 8 mission, flak disabled the No. 3 engine and punctured the No. 3 gas tank of the aircraft in which Sgt Glover was flying. Another burst short circuited the electrical bomb bay system, causing some bombs to drop and some to become fouled in the bay. A fire started alongside the bomb bay and Sgt Glover immediately began to fight it with an extinguisher. A flak fragment tore the extinguisher out of his hand. He tried to find another but there were none. He notified the pilot as soon as the fire got out of control (he was still trying to fight it with an extinguisher with a hole in it) and the entire crew bailed out behind Allied lines.
Purple Heart decorations were authorized (in GO 337, 1BD, 17 Sept.) For 2nd Lt Maury Hill, S/Sgt. Robert F. Irwin and S/Sgt. Alvin A. Bacon. Irwin was wounded on the Sept. 11th mission, the other two on the operation of Sept. 12.
An Oak Leaf Cluster to the DFC was awarded to Lt. Col. Charles L. Halsey, 535th Squadron Commander, in GO 338, 17 Sept. Col Halsey had finished his tour and was ready for shipment home.
Lt. Col. George G. Shackley, 533rd CO, and Major James A. DeLano, Group navigator, who left for leave in the States last June, returned to the Group Sept. 18, both resuming their former positions.
There was a stand down on Sept 18.
The target for Sept. 19 was Hamm. The marshalling yards in that city were the objectives. Under the command of Lt. Col. David E. Kunkel, Jr. Group Operations Officer, 37 of our aircraft were assigned to the operation. It was 10/10 to about 5 degrees East that day. The weather cleared, then, as far as the IP, where swelling high clouds built up to 10/10 at the target. The formation started a visual run, but when the weather socked in the instrument boys took over and the bombing was by PFF. Results, of course, were unobserved. The flak was of the moderate, tracking variety and very accurate. Ten of our aircraft sustained battle damage, five of them listing their damage as "major". No enemy aircraft were encountered, and there were no casualties.
A Purple Heart was awarded in GO 67 USAFE, 18 Sept., to F/O Frank A. J. Champ, who was wounded in the mission 15 June, in which his aircraft was shot down. He was an evader.
Fifty-four Oak Leaf Clusters to the Air Medal were awarded Group members in GO 340, 1BD,
18 Sept.; and ten more were authorized in GO 342, of the same date.
James B. Linsky, 535th Armament officer, was promoted to Captain, according to announcements in the Daily Bulletin of Sept. 20.
DFC’s, upon completion of tour, were awarded in GO 345, 1BD, 20 Sept. to 1st Lts. Harry R. Carroll and Harris Sluyter; T/Sgts. Jack F. Crumley and Johnny T. Davis; and S/Sgts. Delton W. Carpenter, Henry W. Harris, Ralph L. Hooper, Kenneth R. Howard and Fred W. Johnston.
Six Air Medals and ten Clusters were authorized in GO 346, 1BD, 21 Sept. to Group members.
A mission intended for Kassel was scrubbed Sept. 20 after briefing.
Sept 21, 37 of our aircraft were assigned to the operation against Mainz, with Capt. Douglas L. Winter in command. There was a heavy fog layer up to 2,000 feet when the ships took off and there was a 4/10 cloud undercast below at the beginning of enemy territory. It was about 8/10 at the IP and the lead ship started a PFF run. About ten miles from the target the weather broke a little to about 3/10 to 5/10 and the bombardier was able to see the objective. A smooth change was made to let the bombardier take over and the Group bombed visually. Results were unobserved because the clouds socked in again after the Group passed the MPI. Strangely enough, the high group started a visual run and wound up bombing PFF and some of the men were able to see something of the results. They reported the bombing was "good". The low group bombed off of the lead group’s smoke markers. There was meager to moderate flak at the target, generally inaccurate. One ship failed to come back with the formation. It was discovered later that Lt. Bailey had landed in Brussels, forced down because one of his engines was out and another was afire. All of the crew were safe and subsequently returned to duty.
Col. Leber was in the lead ship for the next day’s mission, flying with 1st Lt. Howard R.Yates as his pilot. The target was Kassel, the marshalling yards there constituting the main objective. We put up 37 aircraft and found the weather 10/10 all the way. The formations got meager and inaccurate flak from the Rhine and Moselle region both going in and coming out. At the target the flak was also meager and inaccurate, although the rear of the formation experienced a little rough treatment from the ground batteries.
There were no enemy aircraft in the sky. The bombing was done by PFF methods and the results were unobserved. We had one casualty: Sgt. Henry J. Ianni, 534th top turret gunner and engineer, who was severely wounded in the left shoulder by flak.
Col. Leber ordered a two-hour-a-week course in military courtesy for all personnel of the Group on Sept. 22.
There was a stand down until the 25th, because of weather.
In the mean time, Harris Sluyter, 532nd lead pilot, was promoted to Captain. The announcement was made in the Sept. 23 Bulletin.
In GO 350, 1BD, 22 Sept., 29 Clusters to the Air Medal were authorized for Group members; GO 353, 23 Sept. brought five Air Medals and a Cluster. GO 356, 24 Sept. authorized 34 more Clusters.
DFC’s were awarded in GO 358, 1BD, 24 Sept. to Capt.s Irving Moore and Dennis E. Murphy; 1st Lts. Oscar E. Myerscough, Nelson F. Rekos, Alexander Stepanich, David J. Gardner, Larance B. Hamilton, Edward V. Huber, John Krc, Jack A. MacGregor and John A Martyniak; and T/Sgt. James C. Vaughn, all of whom had completed operational tours.
DFC’s were also awarded GO 351, 1Bd, Sept. 22 to Capt. George W. Reese; 1st Lts. Hanley G. Cupernall, Chester E. Hudson, Charles W. Nevius, Emil A. Pane, Albert I. Singer, George B. Ward; T/Sgts. Ronald P. Founds, Alfred I. Haugen, John E. Hubbard, Mack B. Melchor, William G. Seymour; and S/Sgts. Earl W. Berneking, Lloyd L. Daffern, Daniel F. Flicek, Albert F. Lang, and Yonan D. Yonan. All had completed their tours of duty.
Most noteworthy of those listed are Lt. Nevius and Sgt. Haugen, both of whom were original members of the Group, prior to ETO. Flying with 1st Lt. Osce V. Jones (later Major Jones), they made a crash landing in Sweden and were interned there throughout the winter of 1943-44.
Although many members of the crew had performed deeds worthy of publication, a secret edict, promulgated by higher headquarters, kept the names of all members of this crew from publication.
The 24th was the occasion of a visit by four American naval officers who were to study tactics in use here to prepare for operations in the South Pacific.
The stand down was lifted on the 25th and the target for the day wad Frankfort. The marshalling yards were the objective. With Lt. Col. John E. Fitzgerald in the lead ship, 37 of our aircraft took off for the operation. Two returned early. The weather was 10/10 all the way, the clouds socking in to above 20,000 feet. There was meager flak, of the barrage type, at the target and it was reported as inaccurate, mainly low. There were no enemy aircraft. The formation used PFF methods for the bombing and the results were unobserved. We lost one aircraft and its crew. Those reported missing in action were: 1st Lt. Oscar W. Gills, pilot; 2nd Lt. Charles R. Prenatt,
co-pilot; 2nd Lt. Donald E. Adams, navigator; 2nd Lt. William P. Hudisill, bombardier; and the following gunners: S/Sgt. Minor P. Stone, S/Sgt. Paul E. Parke, Sgt. Shelby W. Cook, Sgt. Leo V. Krainz and Sgt. Harold A. Mourning.
The aircraft was last seen with two engines smoking, below the formation and dropping back to the left. The left wing appeared to be afire but the ship was still under control. Five ‘chutes were reported seen. All members of the crew were subsequently reported prisoners of war.
T/Sgt. Fred E. Stanford and S/Sgt. Robert L. Hansen were awarded DFC’s in GO 365, 1BD, 26 Sept. Both had completed tours of duty.
An Oak Leaf Cluster to the DFC was awarded to Lt. Col. David E. Kunkle, Jr. Group operations officer, in GO 363 1BD, 26 Sept. The award was made for exceptionally good leadership in the mission of August 9.
1st Lt. Robert H. Angevine, mickey navigation, was awarded the DFC in the same order for his work on the same mission.
GO 361, 1BD, 26 September, authorized 39 Air Medals and 27 Oak Leaf Clusters for the Group.
The marshalling yards at Osnabruck proved to be the target Sept. 26 and again we put up 37 aircraft, this time under command of Lt. Col. George G. Shackley. There was a 5/10 to 7/10 undercast, with tops at about 15,000 feet, all the way and it was reported 6/10 at the target. The formation made a visual bombing run, with PFF assist, and the wet strike prints showed good coverage on the lead group’s MPI. The other two MPI’s were obscured by smoke. The Fortresses encountered meager to moderate, inaccurate flak at the target as they went over, and the crews reported variously that four to thirteen rockets were seen to explode near the formation that preceded us. After we left the target the flak increased in intensity. There were no enemy aircraft. All of our aircraft returned safely. There were no casualties.
Cologne was the target for Sept. 27. Under command of Capt. Douglas L. Winter, 37 of our aircraft participated in the operation. It was 8/10 to 10/10 over the target and light, persistent con trails made the task more difficult. There was little opposition, however. No enemy aircraft appeared, and the flak was meager and inaccurate both at the IP and in the target area. The bombing, performed by PFF methods, produced unobserved results. There were no losses for the day. Two of our aircraft aborted. One, piloted by 1st Lt. Nelson C. Schein, landed in Brussels to permit immediate hospitalization of a gunner, Sgt. John B. Keffer, who suffered from anoxia. Keffer was under treatment at a British 8th Army hospital for several days before he was returned to base. He was taken off flying status.*
[*Note added - Earle L. Bassett writes the following to correct the record here:
I was the radio operator on that flight with lst Lt. Nelson C. Schein. What happened was that our belly gunner William Dangerfield passed out in the ball turret from lack of oxygen. The waist gunner (Keffer) and I cranked him out but we could not get him revived with oxygen so the Lt. broke formation and we landed in Brussels. Dangerfield did not return to our base with us (about 4 hours after we landed in Brussels) and I don't remember if Keffer did or not but Keffer definately was taken off flying status..." ]
The target for the 28th was Magdeburg and Capt. James L. Tyson, 535th Operations officer, was the commander of the 37 aircraft assigned to the operation from here. There was one abortive in our Group. The rest went on to find the weather 9/10 to 10/10 over the target. There was moderate flak at the IP and it was accurate. At the target, the flak was moderate and although it was at our altitude it was not on our formation. There were no enemy aircraft. The formations bombed PFF and results were unobserved.
The Magdeburg operation, the Group’s 195th mission, was the last for the month. The only other events worth recording were the awards.
Twenty-six Air Medals came to us by way of GO 366, 1BD, 27 Sept. DFC’s were awarded in GO 368, 28 Sept., to 1st Lt. Benjamin W. Ploch and S/Sgts. Charles S. Bullions, Jr., Gerald M. Hickman, George H. Robben, Jr. and Nicholas M. Rotz. All had completed their duty tours.
There were 22 Air Medals and 19 Clusters for us in GO 372, 29 Sept. Capt. Howard R. Yates, 535th lead pilot, was awarded a Cluster to his DFC in GO 373, 1BD, 29 Sept. The same order authorized DFC’s for 1st Lts. Leonard A. Frank, Arnold G. Gittleman, Edward T. Landman; T/Sgts. Darrell E. Longley, and George D. VanBuskirk; S/Sgts. Henry R. Augustine, Wayne M. Coffey, Daniel D. Hernandez, Alexander McCool, Jr. Nicholas VanWieren and Marvin J. Walters.
Twenty-six Air Medals were awarded to 381st combat men in GO 366, 1BD, 27 Sept., and 8 Air Medals and 23 Clusters came to us in GO 374, 30 September.
> October 1944