398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association


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

Veenschoten Mission No. 26

21 February 1945
Target Nurnburg, Germany

Target – Nurnburg, Germany
Date – February 21, 1945

We bombed a steel works through 10/10 cloud cover. There was very little flak over the target, but on the way in we got a little to close to Frankfurt and caught some very accurate 155mm flak. I was flying as tail gunner and the flak was bursting right along side of me and much to close. Each burst left a towering column of gray smoke with a small ring at the top. I could hear the roar of each burst. It lasted a very short time, but the ship picked up ten holes, all in the tail assembly. There were two holes just above my head and several more on my right. Jerry sent up some flak over Dunkirk and several ships were caught in it. The mission lasted 8 1/2 hours.

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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