Lt. Robert J. Beckley's Diary - 10 September 1944

398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association

**Lt. Robert J. Beckley's Diary**
Navigator, 600th/601st Squadron

Beckley's Mission No. 13

**10 September 1944**
**Target:** **Aircraft Parts Plant,**
**Stuttgart, Germany**
No. 13. Stuttgart, September 10, 1944: 7 hours 45 minutes flying time. Bomb load 12, five-hundred pound GP bombs. We bombed an aircraft parts plant in the north side of Stuttgart. The flak was damned accurate. Cookie remarked that they all must have master sergeants on the flak guns. One of our ships just ahead of us blew up with a direct hit. Our damage was only a couple of holes. I had expected to see much more because when part of a burst hit us it sounded as if someone had thrown a handful of gravel at the bottom of our ship. That burst gave us a lift of about fifteen feet. We had our crew picture taken after this mission.

Notes:

Lt. Robert J. Beckley was the Navigator for the Linn R. Rogers crew.
The above transcription was provided by Ann Collins, daughter of Phillip Collins, Ball Turret Gunner on the 601st Saul Marias Crew.
This transcription is a reproduction of the original. Spelling and punctuation changes have been made to improve readability. In some circumstances, material may not have been transcribed or was rewritten.
Clarification of acronyms or special words or guesses of certain words are shown in brackets [ ].

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