398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association


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

Holloway Mission No. 15

24 March 1945
Target Osnaberg/Achmer, Germany

March 24, 1945 – Mission #15, target Osnaberg. 6 1/2 hours, meager flack, 25,000 feet, clear as could be, target was an airfield. This was the second raid we made in support of General Montgomery of the English Army. He made the crossing of the Rhine River a few days before. On an earlier mission we could see the Rhine and smoke from smoke generators putting out a smoke screen. My cousin Edward E. Holloway crossed farther south with the American forces. My brother, Lewis R. Holloway served in the infantry in North Africa and Italy and another cousin was a tail gunner on a B-24, was shot down near Paris and killed.
Got a pass to London. The rockets have stopped but am getting tired of England. On an earlier pass to London a V2 rocket hit about 3 blocks from where I was sleeping and it woke me up real quick when it exploded.

Note: The diary indicates the target was Osnaberg, but the official 398th listing for 24 March 1945 indicates the target was Achmer. It is not known if Osnaberg was a secondary target or a specific location near Achmer. At this time the title will include both locations.

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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