398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association


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

Beckley's Mission No. 23

15 October 1944
Target: Marshalling Yards, Cologne, Germany

No. 23. Cologne, October 15, 1944:

7 hours 5 minutes flying time.

Bomb load 14 two-hundred fifty pound GP bombs and 4 five-hundred pound IB.

Back from our seven day pass we got back in the swing on quite a mission. Our target was the marshalling yards in the center of the city of Cologne.

Just after taking off my G-box started smoking, but I shut off the current in time to prevent any damage. We were fired on heavily at the target and our ship caught its share of flak, but none of us were hit, that is, hit hard. Ray Brokaw, our waist gunner, was scared to look at his leg when a piece of flak tore through his trouser leg. Luckily, the piece was pretty well spent for it only left him a little bruise on his leg.

Past the target we thought our worries were over, but the lead navigator was lost and took us over Frankfurt where they threw everything at us. We also blundered over Ludwigshafen, but for some reason or other, we didn’t draw any fire. On the way home we caught more flak over the lines in the vicinity of Trier.

When we landed we looked around the ship for battle damage and didn’t have to look far. There were about a dozen holes in the ship and we picked out four pieces of flak that hadn’t gone all the way through. One piece resembling part of an inch pipe about an inch and a half long had come through the waist and went down through the floor boards leaving a hole five inches in diameter.

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 [ ].

The above diary entry has been placed on the 398th Bomb Group Memorial Association web site to share our history with a wider audience. You may view, download, print, copy and link to our content as you wish as long as the uses are personal or educational. 398th Bomb Group Memorial Association web page content cannot be used for commercial purposes nor placed on other web sites whether commercial, personal or educational, unless authorized in writing by the 398th Bomb Group Memorial Association Official Board and/or the author.