398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association


S/Sgt. James Lafayette Holloway's Diary
Tail Gunner 601st Squadron

Holloway Mission No. 2

9 February 1945
Target Altenbeken, Germany

February 9, 1945 – Mission #2. We hit [Altenbeken], Germany, 6 1/2 hours, full cloud coverage, 22,500 feet, moderately accurate flack over Holland coast. Flack looks pretty when bursting, with no sound getting to us, just a puff of black smoke appearing out beside the plane. Not scary at all. ?????

Note: The orginal diary indicated the target was Paderborn, but after investigation, Mr. Holloway concluded the target was actually Altenbeken. Thus Altenbeken is used in the above text. This data then matches the official 398th listing of a February 19, 1945 mission to Altenbeken.

Notes:
  • S/Sgt. James Lafayette Holloway was the tail gunner on James Womeldurf's 601st Squadron crew.
  • The above transcription was provided by James Lafayette Holloway.
  • This transcription is a careful reproduction of the original except for occasional spelling and punctuation changes. In some circumstances, based on relevancy, some material may not have been transcribed.
  • Clarification of acronyms or special words or guesses of certain words are shown in brackets [ ].

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