398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association


Lt. Robert H. Dee, Jr.'s Diary
Co-Pilot, 601st Squadron

Dee's Mission No. 2

10 November 1944
Target: Metz, France

No. 2
Nov. 10, 1944

Bombed at 27,000 ft. The target was at Cologne - a large fighter field just north of Cologne. The flak was moderate and accurate. We got 35 holes. We were reported as missing because somebody saw a shell explode in our bomb bay. The no.1,3, props ran away and we were forced to fall back out of formation. After bombs away our no. 2 prop governor was hit by flak and we had to feather the engine. I saw Magness (my crew) get a burst under no. 2, and, and fall back, He never came back, and is probably down in Germany. (He showed up 3 weeks later).

We flew formation back on 3 engines. When we landed the hydraulic oil ran out of no.2 engine, and we had no brakes. We tried everything, and then tried to ground loop, but it was too late, and we went through a fence, and crashed into a ditch. Nobody was hurt, and we only had one prop blade damaged. I was glad to get back. I wasn’t quite as scared this time even if it was a rough mission. Magness and the rest of my crew except Danny O’Connell were the only ones lost. We were on the rear end of the 8th AAF, so we should have caught it. I flew with Hunt. He later went down in the North Sea.

Editor's notes: The pilot called "Hunt" that is referred to is Mack J. Hunt.

Notes:
  • Lt. Robert H. Dee, Jr. was the regular Co-Pilot for the Byron L. Magness 601st Crew. On occasion, he flew with other crews.
  • The above transcription was provided by Marty Dee, brother of Robert H. Dee, Jr.
  • 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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