May 24, 1944 Mission #5
Location of target: Berlin
Type of target: War offices and admiralty buildings

Load: 2700 gals of gas & 32-100 lb. incendiaries, ten-100 demolition bombs

Altitude: 25,500 feet
Flight Time: 9:30 hours

Escort: P-38s, P-51s. Very good, and covered us all the way

Force of raid: Thirty groups (540 B-17’s).

Position: No.2 plane of high element, high squadron, low group of the first wing

Opposition: Moderate to heavy flak, very accurate. Forty enemy fighters, hit lead group of lead wing that was directly in front of us.

Battle damage: Right wing tips literally shredded by flak. There were two holes in #4 gas tank. Flak went through the radio room. One piece of flak went up through the bomb bay and through the radio door. There was one bullet hole in #1 cowl flap into the engine. A bullet went through the dorsal fins. No one injured.

Results: Hit target as briefed:

Day's loses: 32 bombers, 13 fighters

Remarks:
This raid was the worst sight that I have ever seen. Flak did not bother me at all. After bombs away just north of the target, the fighters hit the lead group directly in front of us. I saw them rock their wings. I shouted in the interphone, but did not seem to work. Bombardier did not see them, so I pounded him on the back and pointed. Afterwards he said that he did not even feel me punch him, he immediately saw them about 1500 yards away, and started firing his gun like mad. I thought the interphone was out of order, so I abandoned it, and went to my guns. Ball turret, waist and tail gunners heard me say, "here they come", and so they were ready. Top turret gunner heard nothing (it is hard to hear up there). He saw them though, so everyone fired their guns except me. My gun stuck to the fuselage, and when I freed it, the B-17s below us were in my line of fire.

A German FW-190 with a P-38 on his tail shot up a B-17 directly in front of us. The P-38 had a collision with the FW-190, and both ran into a B-17, which exploded in a sheet of orange flames, no smoke at all. The right wing of the B-17 broke off, and floated toward us. A burning human body was tossed into mid air (25,000 feet up). Stan racked our plane up to miss the wing. Bestervelt on the left came in at us. Stan shoved the plane’s nose down, and got the blazes out of there. It was a beautiful piece of flying by Stan.

A B-17 on the left wing went down in a steep dive, smoking a little. I watched it go down about 5,000 feet. No chutes came out. It was going at a terrific speed. Later they told me the tail tore off, their wings folded up, and it exploded. At the same time, another B-17 went down in a flat spin at left level, smoking from all four engines. I thought it was a German JU-88 plane at first, but held my fire to find out, and am glad that I did. A plane below lost #3 engine, but he was OK, but losing altitude. I told the gunners to watch out for him. It turned out to be Ingram. He got home late, but he made it.

The 398th lost two planes, one of them was Major Gray who was the 603rd squadron commander. He was reported to have blown up over the target.

Fighters were dog fighting all around. My flak helmet was falling over my eyes, and bothering me so I had to take it off. Our gunners reported one B-17 was spinning in, two minutes before bombs away. Flak started up again after that scrape, and we headed for home. This is when I began to get scared, or maybe a little sick. Now after only 24 hours of thinking about it can I figure out what had happened. I have seen enough right now, just give me that campaign ribbon.