398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association


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

Dee's Mission No. 16

8 January 1945
Target: Speyer, Germany

No. 16
Jan. 8, 1945

The target was Germersheim. The formation was all messed up. The contrails and clouds were very bad, and we started out with 29 ships instead of the 38. We flew over Ludwigshaven and the flak just boiled up. It was terrific. The GH ship and the PFF ship went down. We were short of gas so we landed at A-70 an airstrip at Laon France. There were German fighters all over the field. We dumped the bombs in a field. On the way home, we buzzed the cathedral at Rheims. The field was socked in so we landed at Woodbridge a huge field, and then went to a fighter base to spend the night. We then came home today in a snow storm. The temperature was -52 degrees Centigrade. The coldest yet. No fighters hit us, but they were around.

Editor's Note

  1. The official target for this date was Speyer, Germany. Germersheim is about 10 miles south of Speyer. Perhaps the Magness crew went to Germersheim as secondary target.

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 [ ].

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.