Lt. Robert H. Dee, Jr.'s Diary

398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association

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

Dee's Mission No. 8

**12 December 1944**
**Target:** **Oil Refinery, Merseburg, Germany**
No.8 Dec. 12, 1944 The target was Merseburg the most heavily guarded target in Germany. We carried 12X500 GP’s. The target was the oil refinery. The lead ship got 6 miles off course to the left, and we flew over Coblenz. We had two close hits in the horizontal stablizer, and one more in the no.3 nacelle. 10 hits in the horizontal stablizer. The target area was black with flak, but thank the Good Lord, they shot low. Two British Mosquitoes went in first to drop chaff which helped screw up the German radar. The colonel’s oxygen was shot out, so he had to descend. I saw some more V-2s near Frankfurt. We had to make an instrument let down from the Debden buncher. The visibility at the field was almost zero, but we made it. Editor's Note: The colonel referred to is Colonel Frank P. Hunter, Commander of the 398th Bomb Group. The Weidig Diary indicates that Colonel Hunter led the Division that day, so the 398th was pretty much up front.

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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