Record of bombing missions flown by Crew B-12 (Bob Campbell’s Crew) during World War II, based at Nuthampstead, England, 8th Air Force, 398th Bomb Group, 601st. Squadron.
Forward
This record was made by Ben Core, Radio Operator, as the missions were flown between July 29, 1944 and October 26, 1944. There was a 24th Mission of which no record was made. It was flown on November 2, 1944. The target was Merseburg, the same target as the first mission for the crew. It was also the target for the last mission. The crew was shot down. All survived except the pilot. Reportedly, his body was found still in the plane. The surviving members of the crew became prisoners of war and were released when Germany was defeated and surrendered May 14, 1945.
Missions
- July 29, 1944 Merseburg
- August 3, 1944 Saarbrucken
- August 4, 1944 Peenemunde
- August 5, 1944 Dahlbergen [Doliberg]
- August 6, 1944 Brandenburg
- August 27, 1944 Berlin [Schoenfeld]
- August 30, 1944 Kiel
- September 3, 1944 Ludwigshafen
- September 8, 1944 Ludwigshafen
- September 13, 1944 Lutzkendorf
- September 19, 1944 Hamm
- September 22, 1944 Kassel
- September 25, 1944 Frankfurt
- September 27, 1944 Cologne
- September 30, 1944 Munster
- October 3, 1944 Nurnberg
- October 5, 1944 Cologne
- October 6, 1944 Neubrandenburg
- October 9, 1944 Schweinfurt
- October 14, 1944 Cologne
- October 15, 1944 Cologne
- October 22, 1944 Brunswick
- October 26, 1944 Munster
- November 2, 1944 Merseburg
1. Merseburg, July 29, 1944
Time - 8-1/2 hours
Take-off - 0552 B*
Return - 1500 B
Flak - Moderate, accurate
Flight interception - Light
Fighter escort - Good
Losses - 17 heavy bombers, 6 fighters
Bomb load - 18 - 262 pound bombs
Gas load - 2700 gallons
Bombing results - Excellent
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Leuna Synthetic Oil Refinery
No battle damage to our plane
Ship # 385, “Shady Lady”
Weather was bad when we got back to England so we landed at a B-24 base. After a couple hours the weather cleared and we came back to our base.
Editor’s Note: B stands for British Time
2. Saarbrucken, August 3, 1944
Time - 7 hours
Take-off - 1115 B
Return - 1830 B
Flak - Moderate, Accurate
Fighter interception - None
Fighter escort - Good
Bomb load - 12 - 500 pound bombs
Gas load - 2700 gallons
Bombing results - Good
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Marshalling Yard
Battle damage to our plane - Flak hole in cowling of #1 engine
Ship #338 C, “The Tarheel Lemon”
3. Peenemunde, August 4, 1944
Time - 8 hours 40 minutes
Take-off - 1000 B
Return - 1630 B
Flak - Heavy and very accurate
Fighter interception - Light
Fighter protection - Good
Bomb load - 5 - 1,000 pound bombs
Gas load - 2700 gallons
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Hydrogen Peroxide Plants
Bombing results - Excellent
Battle damage to our plane - One flak hole between waist window and waist escape door. The piece of flak went through one walk-around bottle, knocked the top off another, cut off the end of the engineer’s shoe and nearly went back out the top of the ship. The force knocked the waist gunner down. He saved the flak as a souvenir.
On this raid we lost crews B-13 and B-18. Carter’s and McArthur’s crews. We had buddies on both crews. One of them blew up, the other was forced down over the target. Probably Prisoners of War.
Ship # 338 C, “The Tarheel Lemon”
4. Dahlbergen [Doliberg], August 5, 1944
Time - 9 hours, 20 minutes
Take-off - 0830 B
Return - 1520 B
Flak - Meager
Fighter interception - Light
Fighter escort - Good
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Oil refinery near Hanover
Gas load - 2700 gallons
Bomb load - 10 - 500 pound bombs
Bombing results - Excellent
Ship # 338 C, “The Tarheel Lemon”
Targets in our area sure took a pasting today. It was possible to see smoke rising from five or six targets at a time. Over some targets it rose to approximately 20,000 feet. The right half of our bombs were about 5 seconds late in falling. We heard our fighter pilots calling the Luftwaffe trying to get them to come up.
Editor's Note: The 398th official target for the day was Doliberg, Germany. Though Dollbergen and now Dahlbergen have been seen. Perhaps these are spelling variations. Hanover has also been mentioned at times.
5. Brandenburg (outskirts of Berlin), August 6, 1944
Time - 9 hours 5 minutes
Take-off - 0705 B
Return - 1530 B
Flak - Moderate, fairly accurate
Fighter interception - Light
Fighter escort - Good
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Aircraft assembly plant
Gas load - 2700 gallons
Bomb load - 42 -100 pound incendiaries
Bombing results - Good
No battle damage to our plane, Ship #337 C (no name)
Well, the father land took another sound heating today. Our target looks as bad as we hoped. Berlin proper was hit and Hamburg was pouring smoke up to 20,000 feet. Other targets showed some signs of U.S. Bombers, too. Twenty-one bombs stuck in the left side of our bomb bay. They dropped into a forest 25 minutes away from the target and were burning beautifully the last we saw of them. We circled Berlin, which was practically over-cast with a blanket of flak.
6. Berlin [Schoenfeld], August 27, 1944
Time - 7 hours, 15 minutes
Take-off - 0910 B
Return - 1730 B
On this mission the weather stopped us just as we reached enemy territory. We saw a barrage of flak from a target some wings had hit. We were looking for a target of opportunity when Division called us back.
Gas load - 2700 gallons
Bomb load - 8 - 500 pound bombs
Ship #172 (no name)
Editor's Note: The 398th official target for the day was Schoenfeld, Germany. Perhaps Schoenfeld is probably a more specific target.
7. Kiel, August 30, 1944
Time - 7 hours, 25 minutes
Take-off - 1210 B
Return - 1940 B
Flak - Moderate, inaccurate
Fighter interception - None
Fighter escort - Good
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Submarine docks and ship building yards
Gas load - 2700 gallons
Bomb load - 10 - 500 pound incendiaries
Bombing results - unobserved
No battle damage to our plane, ship #418 W
8. Ludwigshafen, September 3, 1944
Time - 9 hours
Take-off - 0745 B
Return - 1558 B
Flak - Moderate
Fighter interception - 7 fighters (all seven shot down by P51’s)
Fighter escort - Good
M.P.I [Maximum Point of Impact] - Oil research laboratories
Bombing results - unobserved (lots of smoke)
No battle damage to our plane, Ship #874 W, “The Georgia Peach”
We had a little excitement on this raid. The bombs had been sitting in the planes for a couple days and a lot of our planes had rack malfunctions. Our bomb bay doors wouldn’t open. We were on the bomb run only a few minutes from the target. The Engineer, Andrew Coatley, got out the crank and started cranking them down. As we neared the target it became doubtful if he would get them down in time. I was watching him and reporting his progress to the Bombardier. I was dividing my attention between him and throwing chaff. I glanced back to check up on him. He was sitting up straight on his haunches and looking at me with a bewildered expression. Then he started jerking and I knew we had an anoxia case. His oxygen mask hose had become disconnected from the ship’s hose and he had lost control of himself while trying to put it back. I called the co-pilot and told him about the engineer’s plight and he reached back and pulled him backwards and plugged his hose in to a walk-around bottle under the Pilot’s seat. The doors weren’t open, but the Bombardier hit the salvo switch at the target and the doors opened and out went the bombs only 30 seconds late. Then the doors closed again.
9. Ludwigshafen, September 8, 1944
Time - 9 hours
Take-off - 0751 B
Return - 1616 B
Flak - Intense, accurate
Fighter interception - None
Fighter escort - Fair
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Oil supplies
Gas Load - 2400 gallons
Bomb load - 6 - 1,000 pound bombs
Bombing results - Excellent
Losses - 20 B-17’s, no fighters
Damage to our plane - One flak hole in the gas tank between #1 and #2 engines.
Ship #126 J (no name)
Our group got hit hard on this raid. We were in intense flak for about 35 minutes. We had two runs over the target. We brought back two dead and five wounded and one plane is missing. That was the most flak I have seen and the most accurate. Nearly all planes were hit at least once.
10. Lutzkendorf, September 13, 1944
Time - 7 hours, 48 minutes
Take-off - 0710 B
Return - 1433 B (10 seconds after Bombs Away - 1118 B)
Flak - Moderate
Fighter interception -
Fighter escort - Excellent
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Synthetic oil plant
Gas load - 2700 gallons
Bomb load - 10 - 544 pound bombs
Losses -
Damage to our plane - slight. Dent and short cut between waist window and door, even with top of window, caused by flak.
Ship #172 P (no name)
Everything went swell. No complaints or comments.
11. Hamm, September 19, 1944
Time - 6 hours, 22 minutes
Take-off - 1001 A
Return - 1601 A
Flak - Intense, accurate
Fighter interception - None
Fighter support - Good
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Marshalling yards
Gas load - 2400 gallons
Bomb load - 12 - 500 pound bombs
Results - Good
Losses - 10 B-17’s
Damage to our plane - None
Ship #596 N, “Doodit”
On this mission I got my first introduction to the bends. I got them in my right knee and boy, I nearly had to holler Uncle. I’ve had things to hurt pretty bad before, but a good case of the bends is the worst yet. The flak gunners didn’t bother us much but they hit our lower squadron pretty hard. We bombed in a pretty thick cloud, flying instruments.
Article from the newspaper included with diary for this date:
8TH, 9TH FORCES BLITZ NAZI RAIL LINES TO FRONT
Up to 750 Fortresses of the Eighth Air Force yesterday attacked railway yards at Hamm and Soest in Germany, and north and east of the Rhine River, while British-based Marauders and Havocs of the Ninth Air Force pounded three key points on the Cologne-Aachen railway, one of the main supply lines for Nazi forces manning the Siegfried Line.
The B17s were escorted by more than 500 Thunderbolt, Mustang and Lightning fighters. The pursuits also continued their support of Allied airborne operations for the third straight day, dive-bombing and strafing Nazi anti-aircraft batteries in Holland.
Unopposed by enemy fighters or flak, the B26s and A20s dropped 200 tons of bombs on lines over which fuel, ammunition ...
12. Kassel, September 22, 1944
Time - 6 hours, 20 minutes
Take-off - 1033 A
Return - 1722 A
Bombs Away - 1422 A
Chaff - 360 units
Flak - Intense
Fighter interception - None
Fighter support - Good
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Marshalling Yards and ordnance depot
Results - Unobserved
Losses - 7 B-17s
Damage to our plane - None
Ship # 463 (no name)
Nothing unusual
Gas load - 2400 gallons
Bomb load - 6 500 pound bombs and 6 500 pound incendiaries
13. Frankfurt, September 25, 1944
Time - 7 hours, 24 minutes
Take-off - 0727 A
Return - 1414 A
Bombs Away - 1027-1/2 A
Chaff - 360 units
Flak -
Fighter interception -
Fighter support -
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Rail Road Yards
Results -
Losses -
Damage to our plane - None
Ship #565 M, “The Ugly Duckling”
Right half of bombs stuck for approximately 15 seconds. Bombardier dropped bombs approximately 45 seconds too soon. Pilot was very displeased.
Gas load - 2400 gallons
Bomb load - 12 500 pound bombs
Article from the newspaper included with diary for this date:
NEARLY 2,000 U.S. PLANES BLAST REICH THROUGH CLOUDS
After a weekend lull because of bad weather, more than 1,200 Fortresses and Liberators of the Eighth Air Force yesterday swarmed over western Germany to blast railroad yards and other military and industrial objectives. Bombing was done with the aid of special instruments through solid cloud.
For the first time since D-Day, both Eighth and Ninth fighters, numbering nearly 750 Mustangs, Thunderbolts and Lightnings, escorted the heavies. Part of the escorting force also strafed enemy supplies and reinforcement facilities in the Ruhr -- north of Marburg and in the vicinity of Pederborn.
Although no enemy pursuits were encountered and anti-aircraft fire was comparatively light, nine bombers and three Eighth fighters were lost.
The B17s and B24s pounded two railroad yards at Frankfurt, two at Coblenz and one at Ludwigshafen, as well as the Oopau chemical and synthetic oil plant. The railroad yards are important distribution points for German troops and supplies sent to the western front.
14. Cologne, September 27, 1944
Time - 6 hours, 48 minutes
Take-off - 0634 A
Return - 1243 A
Bombs away - 0934-1/2 A
Gas load - 2400 gallons
Bomb load - 12 500 pound bombs
Flak - Moderate to intense
Fighter intervention - None to heavy
Fighter escort - Good
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Marshalling Yards
Bombing results - unobserved
Losses - 42 heavies, 7 fighters
Damage to our plane - None
Ship #064 H (no name)
After we had cleared the flak over the target area, I took off my flak suit to get off my parachute, which was annoying me very much. We had trouble getting the bombs out of the left side of the bomb bay and this was finally accomplished while we were still in the flak in the target area. After clearing the flak and I had taken off my flak suit, we ran into more rather intense flak. I started dumping chaff again with no time to put my flak suit on again. I ran out of chaff and asked Hammonds, the waist gunner, to toss me up a box, but he wouldn’t leave his armor plating, so I had to transfer to a walk-around bottle, grab my parachute and go back to the tail wheel and get a box myself. We finally cleared the flak to my great relief. I threw out 576 units of chaff.
Article from the newspaper included with diary for this date:
1,100 HEAVIES BLITZ GERMANY 3RD DAY IN ROW
For the third straight day more than 1,100 American heavy bombers yesterday swarmed over western Germany to blast key rail and industrial objectives, while fighter-bombers continued their unremitting attacks on Rhineland communications and strongpoints in the path of the U.S. First and Third Armies.
The Eighth Air Force Fortresses and Liberators, escorted by upwards of 500 Mustangs, Thunderbolts and Lightnings, bombed with the aid of instruments through heavy overcast.
More than 100 Me109s and FW 190s singled out one group of heavies, while other groups reported no attacks by enemy fighters. Forty-two U.S. bombers and seven fighters were lost. Eighth pursuits shot down 31 Nazi planes and destroyed five more on the ground. The heavies’ gunners shot down five.
Like Grid Formations
2/Lt. Arthur Shay of the Bronx, N.Y., navigator on the Liberator Patty Girl, reported: “The Luftwaffe, well over 100 of them, picked us up several minutes after we had bombed our target at Kassel. They came in at 15 abreast and were strung out like a football forward wall.
“On every side Libs from our group were burning and exploding and men were bailing out, delaying the opening of their chutes until they had cleared the combat area.”
The B17s and B24s plastered a tank factory at Kassel, a chemical and synthetic oil plant at Ludwigshafen, an industrial plant at Cologne and an ordnance depot at Mainz, as well as railroad yards along the Rhine.
In giving constant support to the ground forces the Ninth Air Force fighter-bombers have flown more than 3,000 sorties in the past ten days, losing 29 planes against 18.
15. Munster, September 30, 1944
Time - 4 hours 45 minutes
Take-off - 1046 A
Return - 1642 A
Bombs away - 2347 A
Gas load - 2300 gallons
Bomb load - 12 500 pound bombs
Flak - Moderate
Fighter interception - None
Fighter support - Good
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Marshalling Yards
Bombing Results - Poor
Losses -
Damage to our plane - None
Ship #463 H (no name)
On this mission I flew the tail over the target. Jones threw out chaff for me. The flak wasn’t so bad. Visibility was excellent from the tail. The target was only about 4/10 covered [with clouds]. We missed our M.P.I. about 3 miles at 8 o’clock.
16. Nurnberg, October 3, 1944
Time - 8 hours, 57 minutes
Take-off - 0744 A
Return - 1600 A
Bombs away - 1202 A
Gas load - 2700 gallons
Bomb load - 5 1,000 pound bombs
Flak - moderate
Fighter interception - None
Fighter support - Excellent
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Tank Assembly Plant
Bombing results - Sorry, very poor
Losses
Damage to our plane - 1 scratch
Ship # 565M, “The Ugly Duckling”
We had a rack malfunction of the lead ship so we made the bomb run and never dropped a bomb. Later we dropped them at a supposedly secondary target but ours landed harmlessly in a field. No two planes dropped at the same time.
Article from the newspaper included with diary for this date:
NEARLY 2,000 U.S. PLANES RAID REICH WAR PLANT
The round-the-clock Allied aerial onslaught against the Reich yesterday saw more than 1,000 U.S. heavy bombers, escorted by upwards of 750 P38s, P47s and P51s, pound targets in southern Germany.
The Fortresses and Liberators of the Eighth Air Force attacked a tank works at Nurnberg, the Daimler-Benz heavy truck factory at Gaggenau, about 40 miles south of karlsruhe, and the Luftwaffe base at Gibelstadt, west of Nurnberg.
U.S. losses were 11 heavies and 13 fighters.
RAF Blasts Brunswick
In night attacks, RAF Bomber Command blasted the Brunswick area and other targets in western Germany.
Thunderbolt and Lightning fighter-bombers of the Ninth Air Force continued their dive-bombing and strafing of German railroads and rolling stock in the Aachen, Julich, Duren, Cologne and Euskirchen areas.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Ninth commander, announced that all combat planes of the Ninth Air Force are now operating from bases on the continent, including Marauders and Havocs, as well as the fighter-bomber groups, tactical reconnaissance groups, and P61 Black Widows of the Ninth Air Defense Command.
Within two weeks after D-Day Thunderbolts, Mustangs and Lightnings of the Tactical Air Commands began operations from Normandy bases. Soon after, the Ninth fighter squadrons began to transfer their activities from bases in Britain to airstrips in France.
17. Cologne, October 5, 1944
Time - 5 hours 40 minutes
Take-off - 0813 A
Return - 1305 A
Flak - Moderate, inaccurate
Fighter interception - Light
Fighter support - Good
Gas load - 2300 gallons
Bomb load - 12 500 pound bombs
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Railway Yards
Losses - 13 heavies, 5 fighters
Damage to our plane - None
Ship # 607 W (no name)
On this mission, both P.F.F. planes in our squadron had trouble with their “Mickies” and our squadron abandoned operations and returned to base with all our bombs. (See Research Section, FAQs about Army Air Force Terms in WWII, What is a Gee Box, P.F.F. and Mickey is explained there.)
Article from the newspaper included with diary for this date:
1,000 HEAVIES POUND RAIL, AIR TARGETS
Airdromes and railroad yards in the Reich yesterday were pounded by more than 1,000 Fortresses and Liberators of the Eighth Air Force. Upwards of 500 Mustangs and Thunderbolt fighters escorted the heavies.
The attacks on Luftwaffe stations at Hansdorf, Lippstadt, Padenborn and Munster-Loddenheide followed the recent announcement by Col. Walter E. Todd, Eighth Air Force deputy chief of staff, for operations, that “aerial reconnaissance has shown large numbers of enemy fighters on airfields in Germany.”
The B17s and B24s bombed the railway yards at Cologne, an important rail center behind the German troops along with Siegfried Line in the Aachen area, and the Rhein yards which service rail traffic from central Germany to Holland.
Thirteen heavies and five fighters were lost.
On the way home, the Eighth P47 group commanded by Lt. Col. David C. Shilling, of Traverse City, Mich., strafed an airfield near Paderborn, destroying 15 parked Nazi planes.
The Schilling outfit is now the top-scoring group in the Eighth Fighter Command with 721 enemy planes destroyed, 560 in the air and 161 on the ground.
Ninth Air Force Thunderbolt fighter-bombers ranged up and down the Marne-Rhine Canal, knocking out a lock and bridge, as well as sinking eight barges and damaging five others.
Near Nancy, the P47s gave close support to the U.S. Third Army by attacking fortified buildings. One fighter-bomber is missing.
RAF Bomber Command Lancasters yesterday morning attacked the great naval base at Wilhelmshafen.
Four submarines, three in floating docks, were hit in the previous day’s attacks by the Canadian group of Bomber Command on Bergen, Norway, now the enemy’s main U-boat base.
In addition to machine shops and main engineering and boiler shops, submarine pens under construction were blasted.
18. Neubrandenburg, October 6, 1944
Time - 9 hours 49 minutes
Take-off - 0802 A
Return - 1710 A
Bombs away - 1251-1/2 A
Gas load - 2700 gallons
Bomb load - 10 549 pound bombs “RDX”
Flak - None over the target
Chaff - 312 units
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Airfield and Aircraft Assembly Plant
Bombing results - Excellent
Losses - 19 heavies, 10 fighters
Damage to our plane - none
Ship #064 H (no name)
We went in at 20,000 feet. We didn’t get more than 10 puffs of flak so I stopped the chaff long enough to take a long look through the bomb bay. I saw the target clear as a picture. The bombers of the group ahead of us were on their way down when I first looked out. I watched them hit all over and around the target. They made bright flashes and big holes in the runway and blew the buildings to smitherens and set them afire. Afterward I watched our bombs away but we passed over the target before they hit. I looked at the target after we passed over and the runway was dotted thickly with holes and the buildings were burning furiously. A woods nearby was also very much afire. Some of the planes were carrying incendiaries. I manned a waist gun for about 3 hours. We were expecting fighters but they didn’t come. They hit the 3rd division which went to Berlin.
Article from the newspaper included with diary for this date:
1,250 U.S. HEAVIES BLAST REICH FACTORIES AND AIRFIELD
Industrial objectives and airdromes over a wide area in the Pandau/Berlin area were plastered yesterday by more than 1,250 Fortresses and Liberators from the Eighth Air Force. Almost 1,000 Thunderbolt and Mustang fighters that accompanied the heavies, which reported “good to excellent” bombing results in the good bombing weather.
The B17s and B24s blasted for the first time the Tegel tank plant, the Spandau ordnance and tank depots and an aero engine plant in the Berlin area. The Klockner aero engine plant and Glinde ordnance depot in the vicinity of Hamburg also were pounded for the first time by the Eighth heavies.
In addition to airdromes at Stargard, Neubrandenburg and Wenzedorf, other targets include the Rhenania and Ebano oil refineries at Harburg.
19 Bombers Reported Lost
Early reports said 19 bombers and ten fighters were lost. Eighth fighters shot down 17 enemy craft, while the heavies’ gunners bagged three.
Returning bomber crews reported heavy Luftwaffe opposition in the Berlin sector.
S/Sgt. Jerry Weinstein, of the Bronx, N.Y., waist gunner on the Fortress Uninvited, said: “There were 80 to 100 fighters up there waiting for us. When they jumped us, I saw two P51s go right into the swarm and taken them all on. Several Forts went down.”
19. Schweinfurt, October 9, 1944
Time - 8 hours 15 minutes
Take-off - 1032 A
Return - 1811 A
Bombs away - 1459-3/4 A
Gas load - 2700 gallons
Bomb load - 10 532 pound bombs
Chaff - 360 units
Fighter interception - None
Fighter support - Excellent
Flak - Intense
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Marshalling Yards
Bombing results - unobserved
Damage to our plane - None
Ship # 064H (no name)
Before we got over the target the flak looked imprenetrable, it looked like a black blanket every bit as bad as Berlin but while we were over the target it ceased almost entirely except for a few spent puffs. Then after we cleared the target area it came up as thick as ever. More reason for faith in the Divine.
Article from the newspaper included with diary for this date:
1,100 HEAVIES BOMB REICH THROUGH FOG
More than 1,100 Eighth Air Force Fortresses and Liberators yesterday resumed the aerial assault against Germany by attacking Fog-obscured targets in the Schweinfurt-Coblenz-Mainz areas.
The heavies, escorted by between 750 and 1,000 P38s, P47s, and P51s of both the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces bombed by means of instruments.
Reports of specific target were not available last night.
Photographs taken during Saturday’s large-scale bombing in favorable weather disclosed, meanwhile, that heavy damage had been inflicted on industrial objectives in the Reich.
Two of Hitler’s largest tank production plants were blasted Saturday when Liberators at Kassel laid down concentrations of high explosives and incendiaries which covered every building but one in the Henschel Werke III plant, believed to be manufacturing nearly all of Germany’s heavy Tiger tanks.
Other B24s hammered the big Krupp Mark IV tank works at Magdeburg, placing almost every bomb in the plant area and hitting 21 of the 23 large factory buildings.
The RAF’s attack on the Kembs Dam, two miles north of Basle, caused a drop of more than ten feet in the level of the Rhine River, which paralyzed the electrical supply in the Baden province and crippled Rhine traffic from Switzerland to Germany.
A direct hit with a six-ton bomb is believed to have been scored on the lock gate supplying water to the turbines of one of the largest hydro-electric stations in Europe.
Up to the end of September, RAF Bomber Command alone, operating from bases in England, had dropped 609,863 tons of bombs (equivalent to 683,052 American tons) on targets in Germany, Italy and occupied Europe. On targets in the Reich, 328,173 tons were dropped.
The first 100,000 tons were dropped in the first 3-1/2 years of the war, between September, 1939, and May, 1943.
10,000TH FORT BUILT
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 9 -- The American Association of Aircraft Manufacturers announced today the completion of the 10,000th Flying Fortress. No. 100,000 was built in Seattle by Boeing Aircraft Co. No. 10,001, turned out the same day, came off a Lockheed assembly line at Las Vegas, Cal.
20. Cologne, October 14, 1944
Time - 6 hours 32 minutes
Take-off - 0838 A
Return - 1433 A
Bombs away - 1143-1/2
Units of chaff - 432
Gas load - 2400 gallons
Bomb load - 4 500 pound incendiaries; 14 250 pound bombs
Fighter interception - None
Fighter escort - Good
Flak - Intense, accurate
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Marshalling Yards
Bombing results - Unobserved
Damage to our plane - 1 hole in elevator, 1 in vertical stabilizer and 1 in left bomb bay door
Ship # 670 W, “Lady Luck”
On this mission we had two 500-pound incendiaries stuck in the bomb bay. The Bombardier came back and tripped them out using the ropes that line the cat walk in the bomb bay. He hooked the snaps on the hooks, holding the bombs, then came into the radio room and pulled the ropes thus tripping the bombs.
21. Cologne, October 15, 1944
Time - 7 hours 9 minutes
Take-off - 0621 A
Return - 1310 A
Bombs away - 0927-1/2
Units of chaff - 504
Gas load - 2400 gallons
Bomb load - 4 500-pound incendiaries, 13 250-pound bombs, 1 100-pound smoke bomb
Fighter interception - None
Fighter escort - Good
Flak - Intense, very accurate
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - City of Cologne
Bombing results - unobserved
Damage to our plane - One flak hole the size of a dime in the left wing flap.
Ship # 121 Q (no name)
On this mission we ran into many barrages of flak. It was everywhere and thick. One plane in front of us had the nose completely blown off. The togglier was blown to pieces and the navigator got only minor scratches. Delancey was the pilot. It was his 18th mission. He kept very good control of his plane. He came up and over us and fell behind to the left. We slid to the left and lost altitude to give him room. Then when he was clear, pulled back into position. He brought the plane back and all the crew bailed out over England and he and the co-pilot landed the plane o.k. He is to get the Silver Star.
The flak was bursting so close it was throwing our plane around from the concussion. It felt like we were getting hit.
More proof of the power of the Lord and reasons for loving faith in Him.
Article from the newspaper included with diary for this date:
COLOGNE RAIL LINES HIT
While bad weather curtailed activity by British-based U.S. heavies yesterday, reconnaissance photographs taken after the weekend attacks on Cologne by Eighth Air Force Fortresses and Liberators indicated considerable industrial damage and rail lines severed throughout the city.
Nearly 5,000 ton of high explosives and incendiaries were dropped on the Ruhr city within 24 hours in the two daylight assaults.
RAF Lancasters and Halifaxes in great strength hammered the big German naval base of Wilhelmshaven Sunday night, while a force of Mosquitoes bombed objectives in Hamburg.
Night fighters escorted the bombers, and attacked a number of airfields.
A German radio report yesterday announced that U.S. bombers had raided Salzburg, 25 miles northeast of Berchtesgaden, Hitler’s mountain retreat, but there has been no confirmation from Allied quarters.
22. Braunschweic (Brunswick), October 22, 1944
Time - 8 hours
Take-off - 1038 A
Return - 1810 A
Bombs away - 1436 A
Units of chaff - 300
Gas load - 2700 gallons
Bomb load - 6 500-pound incendiaries, 6 500-pound high explosives
Flak - Meager
Fighter escort - Excellent
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Communications Objectives
Bombing results - Excellent
Damage to our plane - None
Ship # 670 W, “Lady Luck”
On this mission all but one bomb stuck in the right side of the bomb bay. The Bombardier came back and tripped them out one by one with the ropes lining the cat walk in the bomb bay. When he had all the bombs out except one outside and the high inside, I tried to indicate that the high one would hit the lower one if he tripped, but apparently he thought it would be o.k. so he let out. It hit pretty solid and the bomb he tripped went out end over end while the other was nearly knocked out but not quite. He tripped it and all was well.
Article from the newspaper included with diary for this date:
HEAVIES POUND 5 REICH CITIES
After two days of inactivity because of bad weather, more than 1,100 Eighth Air Force Fortresses and Liberators yesterday hammered industrial and communication objectives in the Hamm, Munster, Hanover and Brunswick areas of Germany.
Over 750 Thunderbolts and Mustangs escorted the heavies, all of which returned safely. Two fighters were missing, but were believed to have landed in friendly territory.
One group of strafing P51s reported the destruction of 13 locomotives and 25 railway cars.
The B17s and B24s bombed through solid overcast by means of instruments. There was no enemy fighter opposition.
Meantime, RAF Lancasters, escorted by fighters, carried out a bit attack on the German inland port and railway center of Neuss.
Saturday night, Mosquitoes were out over Holland and the Reich, bombing and strafing road and rail crossings.
Ninth Air Force fighter-bombers flew more than 550 sorties Friday, slashing enemy communications and destroying 18 enemy planes in the air and two on the ground.
In addition, about 40 Marauders attacked two enemy-held bridges southeast of Rotterdam in support of Canadian and Polish forces.
Lightning Pilots shot down ten Nazi craft over Cologne, two over Hamm and six over Coblenz. Nine U.S. fighters and no medium bombers were lost.
23. Munster, October 26, 1944
Time - 5 hours, 36 minutes
Take-off - 1050 A
Return - 1556 A
Bombs away - 1359 A
Units of Chaff - 288
Gas load - 2400 gallons
Bomb load - 6 500-pound incendiaries, 6 500-pound high explosives
Flak - Intense
Fighter support - Poor
M.P.I. [Maximum Point of Impact] - Marshalling Yards
Bombing results - Unobserved
Damage to our plane - None
Ship # 670 W “Lady Luck”
The flak didn’t come up until we cleared the target area, then it came up just like a black cloud. We were first over the target and I sure feel for the fellows who came behind.
Editor's Note: This diary ends with no entry for Ben’s 24th mission because on November 2, 1944, the Campbell crew was shot down bombing Merseburg.
Additional information about Robert Campbell and the crew is recorded in The Story of “Campbell Falls”, Forest Service Named Falls For 398th Pilot by Allen Ostrom, Flak News Editor in our Flak News Articles section.
