January 1, 1945
Mission: Kassel, Germany
We bombed a ME-109 airplane factory at 24,000 feet. The temperature was –41 degrees. We were airborne 10 hours and 50 minutes, and on oxygen 5 hours. We encountered no flak, but lost 3 planes before reaching the target. One plane from another Squadron exploded over the North Sea. No one got out. Pinner who was flying off our left wing had his #1 engine explode, and caught on fire. I was watching from our left waist window. Pinner put the plane in a dive, trying to extinguish the fire on the wing. He was at 5,000 feet, and could not extinguish the fire at that low altitude. He ditched the plane in the North Sea about 200 miles from the English coast, and the plane split in half when it hit the water. Cline, the tail gunner and Ferrow [S/Sgt. John E. Furrow, Jr.], the waist gunner both drowned. Schofield, Huey, and Ike came back to the barracks, being rescued by Air Sea Rescue boats. Lt. King, the navigator, bailed out at 3,000 feet, and has never been heard of since. He is reported as “Killed In Action”, probably drowned in the sea within 30 minutes in those icy waters. Pinner and Tebbs, the pilot and co-pilot were each awarded the DFC. The mission to the target was a “milk run”, although enemy fighters were reported in the area. It was a pretty poor New Years Day for all.
See also:
- The Staff Sergeant John E. Furrow, Jr. entry in Stevin Oudshoorn's Allied WWII Casualties in The Netherlands Remembered.
