398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association


S/Sgt. John Veenschoten's Diary
Radio Operator/Gunner, 603rd Squadron

Veenschoten Mission No. 25

14 February 1945
Target Prague, Czech

Target – Prague, Czech
Date - February 14, 1945

We bombed the city in support of the Russian offensive. The target was visual and there was light flak. Take off was at 8 am. Oxygen at 8.30. Dropped bombs at 12:15 pm and landed in France at 4:30 pm due to a shot out oil line and lack of gasoline. The mission lasted 8 1/2 hours and we were on oxygen for 7 1/2 hours.

We landed at Merville, France and spent two days there waiting for the plane to be repaired. We slept in a former German billet and ate in a German mess hall. The town and airfield were badly bombed and strafed; hangers and buildings were pock marked and full of holes. There were V-1 launching sites one kilometer from town. The French are nice but seem much older than they really are. Most have lost members of their families. Maybe not so nice, as we lost all our personal belongings that we had left on board.

Notes:
  • S/Sgt. John Veenschoten was a Radio Operator/Gunner on Howard W. Rehme's 603rd Squadron crew.
  • The above transcription was provided by Wally Blackwell.
  • 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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