532nd Bomb Sq.
381st Bomb Group (H)
WAR DIARY
Submitted by Lt. G.T. Kelley
AUGUST 1944
1. The target for today was to attack the Melun/Villaroche airfield, five miles north of Melun, France. Led by Capt Moore in the low group 1st "B" Combat Bomb Wing, we furnished nine ships. The primary was not attacked due to 8/10th cloud cover, but a target of opportunity, the Etampes/Wondesare airfield was hit. No enemy air opposition was encountered, while flak was meagre to moderate. Those taking part were: Lts Bailey, Bendall, Sunderland, Nashold, Devenish, Klare, Reseigh and Copeland.
All the men that did not get paid as of the last day of the previous month were paid out today.
Another new crew were assigned: 2nd Lts Raymond LaPierre, Robert Armstrong, Ernest White, Gerald Maudlin; Sgts Harold Pendleton, Keith Jensen, Bernard Poorsher, William Coombs, John Hansen, Herbert Kuhfuss.
2. Today we were to attack the largest synthetic oil plant in France, situated at Harnes, but the mission was cancelled.
We received information on the Victory War Bond Drive for the 8th Air Force. The squadron goal is $22,000 in face value bonds. The contest will run from 29 July to 2 September. The prizes will be awarded as follows: 1st - A transatlantic phone call to the US; 2nd - A radio broadcast to be beamed to more that 120 stations of the mutual broadcasting company; 3rd - Dinner with Bebe Daniels in London.
Lt Miller's and F/O Worrells's crews were given an indoctrination lecture of one hour this afternoon.
3. Led by Capt McNeill nine of our ships took off to attack the marshalling yards at Mulhouse, France, close to the Swiss border, where bombing results were unobserved. We flew in the high group in the 1st "B" Combat Wing, no enemy air opposition was met and flak was meagre to moderate and inaccurate except in the Antwerp area, where flak was intense and accurate. Those who participated were: Capt McNeill and Lt Bryce, and Lts McGregor, Webb, Nashold, Rivett, Quinn, Bailey, Bendall and Berkley (533rd).
Lt DeSantis was a court member at a general court martial board today.
4. Bombing visually in clear weather over the target today, we bombed the experimental establishment at Peenemunde, on the Baltic Coast of Germany. burst were seen to hit in the target area with results reported as excellent. No aircraft were seen, but flak was moderate to intense. Capt Winter was up front with Col Leber, while Capt Moore and Lt Cupernall were deputy lead. Others taking part were: Lts Durbin, Webb, Quinn, Klare, Nashold, Rivett and Devenish.
Capt Moore and crew were forced to abandon ship shortly after take-off. The airplane caught fire while flying near the field and Capt Moore ordered all to abandon ship. He checked to see if all had left the plane then bailed out himself. Capt Francis Hawkins, the group photographic officer, was among the crew who bailed out with the others. However S/Sgt Harold Norris, tail gunner, failed to bail out and was killed when the ship exploded, hitting farm land in the village of Shalford, a few miles from base.
5. The mission for today was to attack the underground oil storage at Nieburg, Germany. The target was attacked visually with excellent results. No air opposition was met although flak was meagre and inaccurate. The nine pilots who took part were: Lts Bailey, Morgan, Bendall, Guy, Copeland, Sutherlin, Nashold, Devenish and Rivett.
1st Lt Baxter was hit on the shin bone by a piece of flak and hospitalized.
The regular Saturday morning inspection of all sites found the condition generally satisfactory.
6. The air armaments factory at Brandenburg was attacked visually with excellent results. Enemy aircraft were seen but there were no attacks on this formation. Flak was moderate and accurate in the target area. The pilots participating were: Capt McNeill and Lt McGregor led the low group of the 1st "B" Combat Bomb Wing, the others being: Lts Durbin, Nashold, Bendall, Sutherlin, Worrell and Webb, who is missing in action on #6020.
Webb's ship was hit by AA fire, he reported that one engine was lost, and were having trouble with another, requesting that fighters be contacted for support. It was last seen under control and that the crew might have landed in Sweden.
MIA crew: 1st Lt Allen W. Webb; 2nd Lts John W. Hayes, Earl S. Grossnickle, George Gomez; S/Sgts Ralph K. Murkin, Lendon L. Grisham, William C. Burt, Adolph M. Gonzales, Jack S. Patrick.
Four officers from the squadron went to the 121st Station Hospital at Braintree to visit the sick and wounded. The piece of flak that broke Lt Baxter's shinbone, meant he had a cast from his toes to above his knee. Lt Young had a cast on his leg because of a broken ankle, suffered when bailing out on 4 August. The other men in this hospital were there for ailments other than battle casualties. Capt Moore, Lts Cupernall, Hadley and S/Sgt Yankten were hospitalized at the base hospital to recuperate from the effects of bailing on 4 August.
7. Lt Herrington and Lt McGregor led the squadron today to attack a fuel depot at Bourren-Marlot, France, some 40 miles south of Paris. Hits were seen in the target area, while no enemy air opposition was encountered and flak was moderate. Other pilots were: Lts Worrell, Bailey, Sunderland, Reseigh, Miller, Devenish, Durbin and Copeland, all of whom returned safely.
8. The mission for today was in direct support of the ground troops in France. The area around Cauvincourt about 10 miles from Caen on the coast, was attacked with good results. AA fire was intense and extremely accurate as the bombing was done from 12-14,000 ft. Taking part were: Lts Reseigh, Rivett, Worrell, Copeland, Miller, Davis, Bailey and Morgan.
All personnel carried their gas masks from 08.00 to 17.30 hrs today and wore them from 09.00 to 09.30 hrs.
9. The briefed target Munich, was not attacked due to bad weather, however Saarbrucken was bombed with excellent results. Due to severe battle damage to our planes on yesterday's raid only five aircraft flew today: Lts Sutherlin, Miller, Sunderland, Bendall and Reseigh.
11. The mission for today was to attack a coastal battery protecting the harbour at Brest. Our squadron was led by Capt McNeill leading the 1st "C" Combat Bomb Wing, and strike photos showed a concentration on the MPI. We encountered no flak or air opposition and all ships returned safely. Participating were: Lts Nashold, Bailey, Sutherlin, Devenish, Bendall, Davis, Reseigh and Quinn.
There was a meeting of the Supply Officers and Supply Sgts at Group S-4 to decide what each unit needed to be ready to move at 48 hrs notice.
12. The unit had a showdown inspection of all the listed men to determine what they were short of in equipment. The job took the whole day with the assistance of Capt DeSantis, Lts Kelley, Bannon, Husted, Maloney, Bryson, Emmert and Markert.
13. Today we bombed tactical targets in Rouen, France, with good results. Moderate to meagre flak was encountered by no enemy air opposition. Capt McNeill led the low group in the 1st "C" Combat Bomb Wing, with: Lts Morgan, Copeland, Reseigh, Rivett, Quinn, Nashold, Durbin, Bendall and Bailey.
14. The target designated for today was the Metz/Frescaty airfield, three miles from Metz, France. Bombing results were reported as excellent, there was no flak or air opposition. The squadron was led by Lt Herrington, along with: Lts McGregor, Reseigh, Sunderland, Nashold, Copeland, La Pierre, Scurlock, Bendall and Quinn.
15. Today we went to the Ostheim airfield near Cologne. Bombing results were excellent and strike photos showed a good concentration of hits on the assigned MPI. No enemy air opposition was encountered although flak was moderate to intense in the target area. Taking part were: Lts Scurlock, Bailey, La Pierre, Davis, Nashold, Reseigh, Quinn, Klare, Bendall and Copeland.
Finished showdown inspection of equipment of all men that were not present yesterday. The ground men had a few shortages, while combat men were short of several items of equipment chiefly because it wasn't issued to them prior to coming overseas.
16. The target for today was the airfield at Halle, Germany, the "B" Combat Bomb Wing was led by Lt Col Fitzgerald. Bombing reports were excellent, no enemy aircraft were met although flak was moderate to meagre at the IP. The pilots who participated were: Lts Sluyter, Morgan, Reseigh, Sunderland, Nashold, Devenish, Klare, Worrell and Miller.
17. Non operational. Lt Guy's crew returned from the rest home. S/Sgt Formby was taken sick while at the rest home and was hospitalized. The report from the hospital stated he had old malaria an anemia. S/Sgt Formby spent some time with the 19th Bomb Group in the Pacific Theater before joining this unit.
18. Non operational. Usual camp details.
19. Non operational. Usual Saturday morning inspection, the latrines in Site 1 are being painted white and green.
20. Non operational. The men are reporting to the hospital to donate a pint of blood.
21. Non operational. Commitments are being taken for the purchase of war bonds on the 31st of the month. $1,500 worth of bonds have been sold in this manner.
22. Non operational. Received word that this squadron is authorized 24 combat crews. All combat men over and above a total of 240 are to be transferred to an Replacement Crew Depot.
23. The mission scheduled for Russelsheim, Germany was scrubbed. An additional $1500 worth of bonds were sold through commitments to raise the total for the squadron to $10,500.
24. The mission for today was to bomb an armaments factory at Weimar, Germany. Bombing visually, the results were reported as excellent, with no air opposition encountered. There was moderate to meagre flak of accurate to continuous, following fire encountered from Naumburg to Weimar. The nine pilots who took part were: Lts Devenish, Quinn, Bailey, Worrell, Guy, Durbin, Herrington, Copeland and Miller.
Two new combat crews were assigned, and joined the squadron at 17.00 hrs: Lts William F. Seeley, Erwin H. Gehret, Leo Vigars, Conan D. Cash; Sgts James Fenns, John M. Chahomin, Roy T. Fees, Bennie Iverson, Wallace C. McClair, Edmund E. Palko.
Lts Victor G. Lazar, Garland A. Weynand, Herbert J. Winter, Dean D. Sant; Cpls Rafael C. Larson, Cleo Weist, John J. Fitzpatrick, Karl B. Hornbaugh, Ernest W. Matlock, Robert M. Turgeon.
25. The airfield at Nuebrandenburg was today's target, as nine ships of our squadron led by Capt McNeill took off at 09.00 hrs. Bombing results were reported as good. No opposition was met, but flak was accurate and continuously pointed. Our other pilots were: Lts Morgan, La Pierre, Devenish, Worrell, Miller, Sunderland, Copeland, Nashold and Scurlock.
26. The regular Saturday morning took place at all sites. Those EM that did not pass the inspection were to be on detail for the squadron party.
One of the three largest synthetic oil plants in Germany was today's target, situated at Gelsenkirchen, but bombing results were unobserved. The only flak observed was over the target and described as intense and inaccurate. Our pilots were: Lts Davis, Nashold, Bailey, La Pierre, Worrell, Miller, Reseigh, Scurlock, Quinn and Durbin.
27. Col Fitzgerald led the Wing today in which nine of our ships took part. The briefed target was the bomber aircraft assembly factory at Schoenfeld, ten miles southeast of Berlin. Because of bad weather, a target of opportunity was hit, Emden, with very good results, plastering the docks and marshalling yards. No air opposition was encountered, although flak was moderate to intense over the target. Taking part were Col Fitzgeral and Lt Sluyter in the lead ship with: Lts Quinn, Bendall, La Pierre, Davis, Devenish, Bailey, Sunderland and Morgan.
Lt Maloney is in charge of decorating and getting the station theater ready for the squadron party this date. All available personnel assisted in this detailed work. The cooks prepared sandwiches, cakes and cookies. There were 12 full barrels of beer, 15 cases of Coca Cola and 50 gallons of ice cream. We had two cases of oranges which were enjoyed very much by the lady guests. The refreshments were all gone by 23.00 hrs.
The station band supplied the music and did an excellent job of furnishing entertainment. Cpl George Frame and S/Sgt Harvey Reeves shared the vocal honors with the band while S/Sgt Fett played trumpet. It is a 12 piece band under the manager-ship of Capt Silva. Col Leber, Lt Cols Hall and Reed, Majors Greenlee and Wilcox, all from Group HQ attended the party as well as all squadron commanders. The party was a big success as there were quite a few members of other squadrons present that were not invited. S/Sgt David arranged for the girls to be present among the 300 that attended. Lt Emmert took care of the transportation and did an excellent job of co-ordinating the vehicles. Lt Durbin played the base fiddle with the orchestra towards the end of the evening. At about 23.45 hrs the orchestra played the last set of dances and all left shortly afterwards.
28. Non operational. 1st Sgt Gosma placed in charge of the detail to clear the station theater and returned all the borrowed equipment.
29. Non operational. War Bond drive still in progress and additional commitments have been received. It is gas mask day.
30. The naval establishment at Kiel, Germany, was the target for today. Bombing was done by PFF and results unobserved. Moderate and inaccurate flak was encountered at the target. Our pilots were: Lts Copeland, Klare, Miller, Durbin and Sunderland, who all returned safely.
31. Non operational. It was pay day for all enlisted men. A special War Bond table was set up and Lts Kelley, Emmert and Machinis were in charge of same. They collected £1,100 for the purchase of War Bonds.
During the month 17 officers exchanged old bars for new. 2nd Lts Grazul, Kleinwechter, Morgan, Quinn, Reseigh, Richmond, Weston, Bromander, Dewhurst, Roberts, Bailey A.W., Bendall, Devenish, Weidenbach and Lewis were promoted to 1st Lt.
F/Os Van Leeuwen and Sherman were promoted to 2nd Lt.
The strength of the squadron stands at 483 enlisted men and 118 officers.
The following is a list of combat crew members and awards they received for participating in combat missions:- two Distinguished Flying Crosses went to: 2nd Lt Leonard L. Loper, S/Sgt Earl T. Yankten; three Purple Hearts went to: 2nd Lt Caleb C. Baxter, 2nd Lt Raymond L. LaPierre, S/Sgt John A. Dufek, while 48 Air medals and 49 Oak Leaf Clusters were presented.
> September 1944