398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association


Lt. Robert E. Weidig's Diary
Co-Pilot 603rd Squadron

9 October to 15 October 1944
Non Mission Day

Spangler’s “First” Mission as Co-Pilot

October 9th, 1944:
Schweinfurt (Indoctrination)

Sunday, October 15, 1944:
Khouri and 10 men killed on take-off. One bombardier killed by flak. Powell lost tail gunner (anoxia) - COLOGNE

Editor's Note:

  1. The first entry in the diary was before the date October 9 as shown above.
  2. On a crews first mission, the Co-pilot was bumped (in this case Lt. Weidig) and the pilot (in this case Lt. Spangler) flew with an experienced combat pilot. Thus one meaning of these initial entries is that Lt. Spangler went on an orientation flight on October 9, 1944. Lt. Spangler may or may not have gone with the rest of his crew.
  3. At a later time, the records can be checked to verify this.

Notes:
  • Lt. Robert E. Weidig was the Co-Pilot for the Harold F. Spangler 603rd crew.
  • The above transcription was provided by Ann Collins, daughter of Phillip Collins, Ball Turret Gunner on the 601st Saul Marias Crew.
  • This transcription is a reproduction of the original. Spelling and punctuation changes have been made to improve readability. In some circumstances, material may not have been transcribed or was rewritten.
  • Clarification of acronyms or special words or guesses of certain words are shown in brackets [ ].

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