398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association


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

Beckley's Mission No. 26

28 October 1944
Target: Marshalling Yards, Munster, Germany

No. 26. Munster, October 28, 1944:

7 hours flying time.

Bomb load 12 five-hundred pound GP bombs.

Back again to the marshalling yards of Munster. Clouds formed by a cold front were predicted to be at bombing altitude over the target so we were briefed to drop the load from beneath the clouds at 23,000 ft. which didn’t turn out to be too wise. To get beneath the clouds we had to drop to 22,000 ft. which isn’t a long way up from the flak guns. The flak was rough. Over the target we saw a ship ahead of us in the haze go into a steep dive when its tail assembly was blown off by a direct hit. Dale Brown’s ship was hit so his crew bailed out 15 miles south of Munster. One other ship was unaccounted for made three ships of our group lost in this raid. We also caught flak in and out over Tessel Island at the Dutch coast, and also at a point ten miles north of the target. We were damn lucky to get through it all without a hit. Fighters were reported in the area, but we never saw them.

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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