Record of bombing missions flown by Charles J. Mellis, Jr. during World War II, based at Nuthampstead, England, 8th Air Force, 398th Bomb Group, 603rd Squadron.
Forward
This record was made by Charles J. Mellis, Co-Pilot, beginning just prior to his crew’s departure from the U.S. for England, and ending with his last mission flown before rotation back to the U.S. While most of his missions were flown with his assigned crew (Ross Howden’s crew), as a co-pilot he was occasionally “swapped” with the co-pilot of a new crew to provide combat experience for that crew. Notes from his pilot’s log book are appended where they occur.
List of Missions Flown:
- June 20, 1944, Hamburg
- June 21, 1944, Berlin
- June 23, 1944, Fiefs, France
- June 24, 1944, Belloy-sur-Somme, France
- June 25, 1944: Toulouse, France
- July 04, 1944: Tours, France
- July 06, 1944 Cauchie D’Ecques, France
- July 07, 1944 Leipzig
- July 11, 1944 Munich
- July 12, 1944 Munich
- July 13, 1944 Munich
- July 18, 1944 Peenemunde
- July 19, 1944 Lechfeld
- July 20, 1944 Dessau
- July 24, 1944 St. Lo, France
- July 25, 1944 St. Lo, France
- July 28, 1944 Merseburg
- August 01, 1944 Villaroche, France
- August 03, 1944 Saarbrucken
- August 04, 1944 Peenemunde
- August 06, 1944 Brandenburg
- August 09, 1944 Saarbrucken
- August 12, 1944 Versailles, France
- August 15, 1944 Ostheim
- August 30, 1944 Kiel
- September 03, 1944 Ludwigshafen
- September 10, 1944 Stuttgart
- September 13, 1944 Lutzkendorf
- September 17, 1944 Eindhoven, Holland
- September 25, 1944 Frankfurt
- September 26, 1944 Osnabruck
- September 27, 1944 Cologne
Diary of 2nd Lt. Charles J. Mellis, Jr.
Co-pilot, 603rd Squadron
May 13, 1944 – Saturday
Left Sioux City around 8 p.m. by troop sleeper.
May 14, 1944 – Sunday
Arrived in Kearney, Nebraska.
May 15 & 16, 1944 – Monday & Tuesday
Processing.
May 17, 1944 – Wednesday
Calibration mission.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Local at Kearney, Nebr.
Aircraft: B-17G #42-102977
Time: 3 hours
May 19, 1944 – Friday
Scheduled to leave at 0130, but flight was scrubbed due to bad thunderstorms enroute.
May 20, 1944 – Saturday
Took off about 0115. Thunderstorms persisted along route; altered course to South to miss storm centers, but still got extreme turbulence. Flew about 1_ hours in the soup with extreme turbulence. Got back on course & broke out about daylight. Flight over New York & New England was beautiful – “George” did the flying, & a lovely time was had by all – after daylight. Arrived at Bangor, Maine about noon, processed, & slept.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Kearney, Nebr. to Bangor, Me.
Aircraft: B-17G #42-102977
Time: 10 hours
May 21, 1944 – Sunday
Took off from Bangor about 11 a.m. local time. Very nice, uneventful 5 hour hop to Gander Field, Newfoundland.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Bangor, Me. to Gander Field, Newfoundland
Aircraft: B-17G #42-102977
Time: 5 hours 15 minutes
May 22, 1944 – Monday
Spent all day at Gander while they repaired some navigational equipment. Never expected they’d get it fixed in one day, but they did, & we took off about 8 p.m. local time – 11 p.m. GMT. Climbed thru the soup and flew on top at 17,000’ for 4 hours.
May 23, 1944 – Tuesday
It was rather cold at 17,000’ – we were glad to get down to 7,000’ shortly after daybreak. We still had an undercast & didn’t see the ocean more than a half hour all told. Landed at Prestwick, Scotland about 11 a.m. GMT – 1 p.m. British War Time. Spent the day there & boarded troop train about 11 p.m.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Gander Field, Newfoundland to Prestwick, Scotland
Aircraft: B-17G #42-102977
Time: 11 hours
Remarks: Trans-Atlantic flight
May 24, 1944 – Wednesday
Spent a miserable cold night on the train. Arrived in Stone at 10 a.m. Spent the rest of the day sacking.
May 25, 1944 – Thursday
Discovered Barney Hardy here at Stone & spent the evening with him – quite a bull session.
May 26, 1944 – Friday
Spent another evening with Barney – got our orders today.
May 27, 1944 – Saturday
Left Stone early. Had a pretty nice ride playing chess with Ross [Howden] all the way. Arrived at Bovington CCRC around 1:30 p.m.
May 28, 1944 – Sunday
Finally had a day of relaxation & rest. Chapel wasn’t much but enjoyed being able to go.
May 29, 1944 – Monday to May 31, 1944 – Wednesday
Nothing except school & more school. Also a bunch of practice alerts – these “gravel agitators” love to play soldier.
June 1, 1944 – Thursday thru June 4, 1944 – Sunday
More school and more playing soldier. No passes & morale was getting low until mail came – oh happy day (Sat. June 3).
June 5, 1944 – Monday
Carl Zytowski [a friend from high school] came to sing in quartette contest in the evening – had a swell time together.
June 6, 1944 – Tuesday
D-day and I missed the big show. Hard luck!
June 8, 1944 – Thursday
Left Bovington early. Had stop-overs at Bletchley & Cambridge, so we had our first look at English towns. Didn’t get to see enough of Cambridge, but did buy a transformer so we can use our electric shavers – no more scraping. Arrived at our group today about 5 p.m. – first impression was very bad.
June 10 & 11, 1944 – Saturday & Sunday
More doggone ground school – almost entirely a repetition of Bovington. Sunday night got a Liberty run into Hitchins. Went to a Baptist Church & spent the evening (also had “tea”) with the pastor & family – the Browns.
June 12, 1944 – Monday
Some more ground school.
June 14, 1944 – Wednesday
Flew two practice missions – England looks very pretty from the air.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Local at Station 131, England
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
Mission: Local at Station 131, England
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 4 hours
June 15, 1944 – Thursday
Flew another practice mission this morning.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Local at Station 131, England
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
June 17, 1944 – Saturday
Scheduled for a short mission to France. I dressed & was going to fly Waist Gunner for another crew. Mission scrubbed just before we started engines.
June 18, 1944 – Sunday
Well, the boys got their first scrap this morning, but I missed out. Boy, I’d like to have seen that show, but maybe I was better off here. The veterans say it’s the most accurate flak they’ve ever seen. Fortunately no fighters. The raid was on Hamburg. The boys took about 3 flak holes in the plane but all they did was make small holes in the skin.
Notes:
- I believe my father was grounded by the Flight Surgeon due to a cold or other sinus condition and thus missed the mission. (Gordon Mellis)
June 19, 1944 – Monday
Once more the boys went off without me. This time to an airfield near Bordeaux (Cazaux), France. Opposition was nil. They saw a few bursts of flak, but all a good ways off. They saw 2 FW-190’s, but they didn’t attack. Got a run-away prop & were forced out of formation, but they dropped their bombs on the field, without a bombsight – pretty sharp! We were alerted this aft. & I would have gone on that, but they evidently scrubbed what they were planning.
Notes:
- See note for June 18, 1944. (Gordon Mellis)
- The Bomb Sight Was His Big Toe by Ross Howden - Pilot
June 20, 1944 – Tuesday [Mission #1: Hamburg]
This was it. I finally got my taste of fire & it was a pretty good taste. Hamburg was the target, & those boys popping the flak up at us were strictly master sergeants. We were only in the stuff about 5 minutes, but they sure knew where we were. One time we felt it hit right under us & pick us up a little, but we were still flying. When we got back we found 6 holes in the ship plus a nick on the ball turret. One piece of flak went thru both sides of the left wing. Another hit on the top of the leading edge. A third small one hit below the top turret, & another in the bottom of the stabilizer. A very large piece cut a nice size hole in the waist, & Newbrough got it for a souvenir.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Hamburg, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 7 hours 45 minutes
Remarks: Battle damage – 6 flak holes: 3 in left wing, one in left waist, 1 in right stab., 1 below top turret.
Notes:
- In several diary entries my father describes the accuracy of the anti-aircraft artillery fire (flak) by assigning a speculative rank to the gunners. Apparently the assumption was that greater accuracy was the result of higher rank & experience. (Gordon Mellis)
- Newbrough was S/Sgt.Kenneth L. Newbrough, Waist Gunner
- Mellis Diary Info on June 20, 1944 Results
June 21, 1944 – Wednesday [Mission #2: Berlin]
“Big B” today. Man, I was sure surprised when they unveiled the map at briefing. We were the third wing in & didn’t get any fighters. It was a little unnerving, tho, to see them drop like flies out of the second wing—just ahead of us. Got some heavy contrails from the IP [Initial Point] in, & they really messed up the works. We pulled military power from the IP past the target & how I hated to do it. After “bombs away”, everyone seemed to lose his head & also lose his lead ship in the contrails. I was doing the flying over the target as we were in #6 position. I managed to hang on to our leader, but the crazy guy after losing the lead element, wandered around & wouldn’t get in formation. We stuck with him until we considered it no longer safe, & then we tagged on a larger portion of the remnants. We finally reformed after a fashion & got out okeh. The only damage was one large flak hole in the leading edge. The boys say the flak gunners there were chief warrant officers, but I didn’t see much of it. The contrails hid most of it, & I was too busy flying anyway—it was really tough work. The worst of it was the word “retaliation”. I didn’t mind it being a rough mission—but we all hated the idea of using a statue for an aiming point. The fellows really griped about it. I hope they never try that again.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Berlin, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 9 hours
Remarks: Battle damage – one flak hole in leading edge. Broken expander tube in brake.
Notes:
- “Contrails” is an abbreviation for condensation trails. These are linear cloud-like water vapor formations that are formed when hot engine exhaust gasses come into contact with cold moist air at high altitude. Contrails were always bad news to the bomber formations. They not only tended to obscure visibility (both of the target and the surrounding formation) for those aircraft following behind, but they acted as giant “pointers” to enemy fighter interceptors, leading them directly to the bombers. (Gordon Mellis)
- IP (Initial Point) is the point at which the final bomb run to the target commences. Once the Initial Point is reached the aircraft must fly as “straight and level” as possible and at a constant speed to allow the bombardier to make all necessary adjustments to the bomb sight before reaching the aiming point and “bombs away”. (Gordon Mellis)
- Military power refers to maximum horsepower available from the engines. In piston-engine aircraft maximum power is generally used only for take-off, and then only for long enough to gain a minimum altitude – after which power is reduced somewhat for climbing and cruise. Use of maximum power for extended periods stresses the engines significantly and risks engine failure. Pulling military power from the IP past the target would mean maintaining maximum power for at least as long as required for take-off and possibly longer. Knowing they still had the long flight home ahead of them obviously caused some anxiety about having to use maximum power through the entire bomb run. (Gordon Mellis)
- Apparently my father had heard this mission described as a “retaliation” raid; and the aim point was to be a statue. Aim points were selected geographical or structural features that bombardiers would be able to easily recognize from the air. Since it is reasonable to assume that a statue large enough to be easily recognized from the air would not likely be located in the middle of a military target (e.g. armaments factory, oil refinery, etc.), the crew apparently believed that they had been ordered to bomb civilians as some sort of “retaliation” strike. My father’s comments indicate that while all were prepared to carry out strikes on military targets, they were extremely uncomfortable with what they believed to be a deliberate attack on a civilian target. (Gordon Mellis)
- The 398th was in the the First Combat Wing of the First Division of the 8th USAAF and was composed of the three Bomb Groups - the 91st, the 381st, and 398th. The tail insignias were as follows: the 91st was the Triangle A, the 381st was the Triangle L, and the 398th was the Triangle W. Various wings took turns in different places on different days. As referred to above, the First Combat Wing, was the third wing on 21 June 1944. (Dave Jordan)
June 22, 1944 – Thursday
They gave us a break & gave us a stand down today. The boys really needed it after 4 in a row. Two was enough for me.
June 23, 1944 – Friday [Mission #3: Fiefs, France]
Talk about a dream mission! This was more like the glamour stories pictured it. Didn’t get up until 7 a.m. and then just a 4_ hour mission. Yes, it’s more of a gentleman’s war, now. As Arnold [bombardier] said, This is a more civilized time of day to wage war. We hit an installation just a few miles of[f] the channel coast of (Fieffe), France We saw a little flak, but the gunners were strictly P.f.c’s. One buck sergeant put 3 bursts off our right wing, but that was all that even came close. We had no holes – no fighter opposition. We went over as a single 18 ship group, & it really was nice flying. We never pulled more than 2300 and 38 inches. We had #3 in high squadron – pretty nice position.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Auchel (Fieffe), France and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Notes:
- “2300 and 38 inches”: 2300 RPM on the engines; and 38 inches of manifold pressure. (Gordon Mellis)
- Mellis Diary Info on June 24, 1944 Results
June 24, 1944 – Saturday [Mission #4: Belloy-sur-Somme, France]
Got another “no-ball” today, but it didn’t turn out so well. They got us up at 4:30 – that was a break. We were delayed in take-off & it’s a good thing as our bombs weren’t fused yet. We were the one ship in the group (12 ship group) to carry long delay fuses – they’re nasty customers – so we flew #5 in low sqdn [squadron]. We finally got off & after circling for hours, we finally went over to (Belley Sur Somme) [Belloy-sur-Somme] France only to find it overcast. Since we had no PFF ship, we were recalled. We dropped our bombs in the channel as you can’t defuse those babies. Now we’re sweating out whether we’ll get a mission or not for it. We probably will because they threw a little flak at us – it was light & very inaccurate, but we were shot at. They got one ship in another group, but they made it back on the deck.
Heard we missed our target yesterday.
Oh yes, forgot to mention that on Berlin raid we saw black smoke piling up thru the overcast over Hamburg – we evidently really hit home the previous day.
On Berlin raid they accidentally got a R.R. junction & an oil dump so maybe we can be partly consoled – also the Post Office at Berlin.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Poix (Belloy sur Somme), France and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 4 hours 45 minutes
Notes:
- No-ball was the code word for attacks on the V-1 launch sites. The V-1s were known by the Brits as 'Doodlebugs' and they caused a great deal of concern when that engine cut out and you had just a few seconds to try and decide where it was going to hit. They were launched from France mostly, but also the Netherlands. The launch ramp was designed like a ski jump and used a chemically produced steam in order to drive a pneumatic ram to get the V-1 in the air. Once a certain speed had been reached the V-1's engine would take over. The launch ramps were made of concrete and we had them spotted, but they were very hard to hit accurately. All V-1 targets were coded 'No-balls'. (Malcolm ‘Ozzie’ Osborn - August 29, 2007)
June 25, 1944 – Sunday [Mission #5: Toulouse, France]
Got hustled out at 11:45 last night just as I was taking off my shoes to get in bed. It’s a rough life. We took [off] at 4:30 for the longest job yet – 10 solid hours. Our Radio Compass was out & we had difficulty finding our formation. We finally caught them just as they were leaving the South Coast of England, but in all this roaming we had used nearly 700 gallons of gasoline & we really did some sweating over that fuel. We crossed the beachhead & it was quite interesting to see all the ships. We also saw a little artillery action. We crossed the enemy lines at 17,000 feet, & some uncharted flak guns really let loose at us. They were plenty accurate & one hit right under the chin turret, but didn’t do any damage except to Arnold’s nerves. Our target was a repair depot at Toulouse, France, about 40 miles from the Spanish border. The wing ahead of us hit the airfield & pretty well cleared the flak, so we got very little over the target. We came back over the Atlantic.
In the evening we went to Cambridge & met Carl [Zytowski]. Slept between sheets at the Officers’ Club in King’s College.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Toulouse, France and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 10 hours
Remarks: Battle damage – 2 small flak holes
June 26, 1944 – Monday
Awful dreary this morning, but we saw Cambridge. Came home at noon & slept all aft.
June 29, 1944 – Thursday
Rolled out at 1:30, & were briefed for Leipzig. Took off at 5:15 & climbed to assembly altitude of 20,000. There were clouds all over so they called us to 27,000. Then they changed the assembly point. By the time we finally got in half a formation, our gas was nearly gone, so they recalled it. I was plenty glad as I didn’t feel like sweating out that gas. Leipzig is a pretty hot spot anyway, but I hated going to all that work & not getting credit for a mission.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to The Wash, Eng. and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 5 hours
Remarks: recalled mission
July 4, 1944 – Tuesday [Mission #6: Tours, France]
Was in bed, but hadn’t gotten to sleep when the C.Q. appeared at 0045. We took off about dawn for Tours, France with a couple of bath tubs (2,000 pounders) to hit a R.R. bridge. Weather messed up again (darn their hides) & we had a 10/10 coverage, so we headed for the secondary. There were large holes here, but the leader seemed to be faint hearted, so we brought ‘em back. This stuff has gotta come to a whoa!
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Tours, France and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 7 hours
Notes:
- C.Q. (Charge of Quarters): the person in charge of quarters where military personnel are billeted – he came to wake the men up for the mission briefing. (Gordon Mellis)
- “10/10 coverage” – this expression refers to the ground area obscured by clouds, and is expressed in “tenths”. Thus 1/10 coverage means only one-tenth of the ground area is obscured by clouds, while 10/10 coverage means a solid layer of cloud completely obscuring the ground. (Gordon Mellis)
July 5, 1944 – Wednesday
Shot some practice landings this afternoon. I shot ten, Ross [Howden, Pilot] shot 4, & [C.A.] Arnold [Bombardier] shot 6.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Local at Station 131, England
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Remarks: shot 10 touch & go landings
July 6, 1944 – Thursday [Mission #7: Cauchie D’Ecques, France]
Up early again & down to briefing. They briefed us for Bremen, but scrubbed it before we got out of the briefing room & sent us back to the sack. Hit the sack at 4 & they got us up at 5 – I wasn’t even asleep yet. They sent us to a p-plane ramp in (Cauche D’Esques) [Cauchie D’Ecques] France. It should have been a no-ball, but we piddled around the target so long that they finally got a bead on us, & really put it in there. There wasn’t too much of it, but there was plenty & it was really in there. One large piece hit #4 prop & deflected against the cooling fins of a cylinder. Another very small in the right wing where it fuses to the fuselage – too close to me for comfort.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Aire (Cauche D’Esques), France and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
Remarks: Battle damage – #4 hit by flak – baffle plates damaged, small flak hole in right wing.
July 7, 1944 – Friday [Mission #8: Leipzig]
Went to Leipzig today on an 8 & _ hour jaunt. It was pretty rough over the target area for flak due to the fact that we twisted around so much. We missed the primary, secondary, and last resort, so we took a target of opportunity. Several ships including us dropped before that in the vicinity of the secondary, & Nelson says we started a big fire. We probably did more good than the group leader – he sure messed things up. We only had 3 small flak holes. Oh, incidentally, we led the division in today. A Brig. General was in the lead ship, & Col. Hunter flew as deputy.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Leipzig, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 8 hours 30 minutes
Remarks: Battle damage – two small flak holes.
Notes:
- Nelson was S/Sgt. Orville Nelson, Togglier/Ball Turret Gunner
July 10, 1944 – Monday
Supposed to bomb a bridge in France today, but they scrubbed it twice.
July 11, 1944 – Tuesday [Mission #9: Munich]
What a day! Man, I don’t ever want to live another one like it. Went to Munich, & it was a 9_ hour trip. The heater went out on the way over & my feet were stiff by the time we got to the target. That trip home at 23,000’ is one I’ll never forget. Even after we descended, it took awhile to warm them. We all but lost an engine just before the IP – a bad mag, no doubt. In order to catch up, we had to pull 52 inches on the other 3. It was really a rough shuffle. To top it all off, we had trouble trying to get thru a hole in a tremendous front, & it’s only by God’s grace we got thru alive. I was really glad to see the ground. Then they had a lousy supper of cold cuts. There is no justice in the ETO.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Munich, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 10 hours
Notes:
- “a bad mag”: a bad magneto would result in spark plugs failing to fire, thus causing loss of power in that engine. In order to maintain their place in the formation it was necessary to increase power in the three remaining engines to keep their airspeed up, thus the increase in manifold pressure to 52 inches. While this was hard on the engines, dropping out of the formation would have invited attack by enemy fighters, and their chances of making it back to base would have been drastically reduced; so they chose the lesser of two evils. (Gordon Mellis)
- “ETO” – European Theater of Operations (Gordon Mellis)
July 12, 1944 – Wednesday [Mission #10: Munich]
Munich again, only this time things went much better. Mainly we were warm all the way & the engines ran perfectly. We had a good wing leader & a good element leader, so flying was quite easy – flew all the way with the turbo dial. The flak which yesterday didn‘t even come close (tho it was quite heavy), was fairly accurate today, but didn’t affect us too much. One piece nicked the plexiglass nose, & one piece went thru the cover on the #3 booster pump – glancing off the pump itself; that was close. Had a decent meal tonight – first one in 2 whole days.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Munich, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 9 hours
Notes:
- “#3 booster pump”: the #3 engine is the inboard engine on the starboard (right) side of the aircraft, thus it is the engine mounted closest to the co-pilot. Anything that happens to the #3 engine is “entirely too close to the co-pilot”. (Gordon Mellis)
July 13, 1944 – Thursday [Mission #11: Munich]
This is getting monotonous, but once more we hit Munich. There wasn’t anything very eventful today, but we surely were tired when we started out. By the time we got back, it wasn’t so bad. In fact, in the evening (after sleeping awhile in the aft.) we took a 2 hour bike ride. It was really fun. No battle damage this morning. The flak wasn’t very accurate, but there surely was a lot of it – now I know what they mean about getting out & walking on it.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Munich, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 9 hours
July 14, 1944 – Friday
The flight surgeon grounded us today – said 3 Munich raids was enough for anybody. Then the field got a stand down – we never miss! We did miss a lousy practice mission, tho, for which we’re thankful. This aft. we pedaled into Royston & half-way back (got a G.I. truck). What’s more, we got sheets today. Life is looking up.
July 15, 1944 – Saturday
Still grounded, & once more a stand down. We can’t win.
July 16, 1944 – Sunday
Still grounded, & they went back to Munich. Boy, I’m glad I missed that. Poor Gallagher got it today, tho. They all evidently bailed, so here’s praying for them.
Notes:
- Gallagher was 1st Lt. Raymond J. Gallagher, 603rd pilot whose aircraft and crew was shot down July 16, 1944.
July 18, 1944 – Tuesday [Mission #12: Peenemunde]
Back in the swing today. Went to Peenemunde up on the Baltic Sea. This was nice because we formed at low alt. & didn’t have to be at 20,000 until we got over the Danish peninsula. There was very little flak over the target – it was intense, but only for a minute. Evidently the bombing was really hot – some of the best we’ve done. We were after a hydrogen peroxide works at an experimental station. That’s a rough war when they start bombing morale targets like that. Poor German girls will have to let their hair get dark. On the way out we passed near Copenhagen, but I couldn’t see it.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Peenemunde, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 9 hours
Notes:
- “Morale Targets” – an example of wartime humor. Obviously the hydrogen peroxide being produced was a component of the fuel that powered the V-2 rocket (being developed and tested at Peenemunde), and was not being used in hair coloring. (Gordon Mellis)
July 19, 1944 – Wednesday [Mission #13: Lechfeld]
(Litchfield) Augsburg today. The flak wasn’t too bad, but it really got one ship. We were carrying those dern rubber & oil incendiaries & he evidently got a direct hit in the bomb bays. He was right ahead of us & directly in my line of sight. All I saw was a sheet of flame & then two large pieces of plane spinning lazily out of it. It was horrible – the poor kids didn’t have a chance. It really gave me a start, but the Lord gave me strength to go right on working hard to keep in formation.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Augsburg (Litchfield), Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 8 hours 30 minutes
Notes:
- “rubber & oil incendiaries”: an early version of napalm. (Gordon Mellis)
- If it was a 398th crew that was referred to, the Dallas L. Hawkins' 602nd crew was the only 398th crew to go down that day. (Dave Jordan)
July 20, 1944 – Thursday [Mission #14: Dessau]
Today was the Grand-daddy of all battle damage for us. We seemed to catch all the flak in the group – the others only got a few holes, but we got over 30 – caused by 27 pieces of flak. One went right in behind my seat & tore a big hole in the sleeve of my jacket hanging on the armor plate. When it hit I had my right knee leaning against the fuselage & I thought I was hit. Another piece went right by Arnold’s [Bombardier] nose – just missed him. Still another nicked Newbrough’s [Waist Gunner] pants & frayed them, but didn’t hurt him. The hole in the left flap was biggest – it was big enough to stick your arm through. Yep, the Lord really brought us thru this one & we praise Him for it.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Dessau, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 8 hours 30 minutes
Remarks: Battle damage – 27 pieces of flak hit the plane leaving more than 30 holes
Notes:
- Arnold was 2nd Lt. Charles A. Arnold, Bombardier
- Newbrough was S/Sgt. Kenneth L. Newbrough, Waist Gunner
July 21, 1944 – Friday
Spent all day getting to Glatton to see Ted. Got there at 8. Spent the evening & next morning there. Hitched back about noon. It was good to see Ted.
July 23, 1944 – Sunday
Had a stupid practice mission in the aft. to check out toggleiers. Saw the Isle of Man from low altitude. It’s really pretty.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Isle of Man and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 4 hours 45 minutes
Remarks: Practice bombing
Notes:
- “toggleiers”: these were crew members responsible for releasing the bomb loads in aircraft that did not carry a Bombardier and a bomb sight. It was their responsibility to watch a designated leader on the bomb run and release their bomb load when the leader released. (Gordon Mellis)
July 24, 1944 – Monday [Mission #15: St. Lo, France]
Boy, a dream mission – a real sure-enough tactical job. Bombing just ahead of our troops south of St. Lo. Went in at 16,000, but the clouds were so bad we didn’t drop any bombs. That was very discouraging, but not so bad as one of our sqdn’s [squadrons]. that dropped on our own troops. That was plenty bad! There was hardly any flak over the target – our artillery was engaging their batteries, & they really did a good job.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to St. Lo, France and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 5 hours 30 minutes
July 25, 1944 – Tuesday [Mission #16: St. Lo, France]
Same target exactly, only this time we really got it. We were second to last wing in – dropped our bombs at zero hour + 54 [minutes] (1254) and the ground forces were to strike at zero + 60. Some coordination! The weather messed up & forced us down to 12,500, but bless those wonderful artillerymen, still no flak. We wore our [oxygen] masks, but wouldn’t have had to. That was really a “first”. On the way out we passed [Isle of] Jersey & I was busy sightseeing. I saw some peculiar flashes of light on the ground & a few seconds later it dawned on me what they were. Still a few more seconds I saw not only black puffs, but the flashes in the puffs, too. That’s pretty close. We soon steered out of it, & it was only amusing (oh yeah?). No one got hit, tho.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to St. Lo, France and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 5 hours 30 minutes
July 26, 1944 – Wednesday
Day of rest. Went swimming in the afternoon in Royston.
July 27, 1944 – Thursday
Awakened at 12:15 – back to the early stuff. We really groaned when they raised the curtain [at briefing] – Munich. Boy, we hoped for that recent scrub flare, but there wasn’t much hope. A few ships had taken off – we were still on the hardstand – when the message came, “Stop take-off”. Then the flares. Man I really hit those mixture controls to “engine off” & let out a shout.
July 28, 1944 – Friday [Mission #17: Merseburg]
Down near Leipzig again today; Maresburg [Merseburg] was the town & we bombed a plant at an airport on the edge of town. Caught quite a bit of flak, but only had a couple holes. One fair sized chunk would have really torn up the tail gunner, but the armor plate came between. Fighters hit the wing just ahead of us, but didn’t knock any planes out.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Maresburg, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 8 hours
July 30, 1944 – Sunday
[No diary entry]
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Local at Station 131, England
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Remarks: Shot 2 landings – 1 simulated 3-engine off; 1 partially loaded take-off
August 1, 1944 – Tuesday [Mission #18: Villaroche, France]
Hit an airport near Melun, France. The flak was pretty accurate, but there wasn’t too much of it. One really got the Colonel, & I thought sure we’d lost him, but [he] made it back to South England & crash landed. We led the division today. Saw some fighters today pretty close (I didn’t, but the others did), but they didn’t attack – for which we’re really thankful. Didn’t get started until nearly noon – were scheduled for 9:30 TO [take off], but it was delayed twice – an hour each time. Played a little touch football on the hardstand during one delay. Fun!
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Melun, France and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 6 hours
Note:
- The Colonel is Colonel Frank P. Hunter, commander of the 398th during this time period.
August 3, 1944 – Thursday [Mission #19: Saarbrucken]
Target – marshalling yards at Saarbrucken. Had a new bombardier. Arnold was expected to fly lead, but they expected PFF, so he didn’t go. However, we got a visual run. The flak was accurate, but we only got it a short time. They put 2 holes in us. A correspondent interviewed us when we got back. I like this stuff – take off at 11:15 a.m.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Saarbrucken, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
Note:
- Arnold was 2nd Lt. Charles A. Arnold, Bombardier
August 4, 1944 – Friday [Mission #20: Peenemunde]
More new stuff today. They hit me for riding with a new crew & put their co-pilot with Ross [Howden]. They started calling me instructor-pilot right away & treated me that way. The pilot really leaned on me, so I had to show my stuff. I had to fly it a large part of the time – especially when things got hot. On the bomb run he got pretty unnerved & didn’t help much on the R.P.M. We really caught all the flak, too – our element was hardest hit of the whole wing. We only got 5 holes, but the element leader got plastered. The right wing man? I shudder when I think of it. It happened 30 seconds after bombs away – had it happened before that, I’d not be here. He evidently got hit in a main tank & exploded – I just got a glimpse of the burning hulk before it fell – it was horrible. The explosion rocked the ship & a burning part of the ship hit near our right wing. I thought we were hit & had a wing fire. Even as I glanced out, I was wondering what to do next, & then I saw that burning framework. It was awful. Only 2 other crew members saw it & I’m glad of that for their sakes – especially the bombardier whose best buddy went down with them. The target was Peenemunde.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Peenemunde, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 9 hours
Notes:
- The only 603rd crew that went down that day was the John S. McArthur crew. (Dave Jordan)
August 6, 1944 – Sunday [Mission #21: Brandenburg]
Today I rode with Jordan – a checked out co-pilot who picked up a crew. All went well until we reached altitude. Oh yes, we had to lead the low element (high group), as the element leader aborted and we were #2. The spare took our right wing. Then when we reached altitude & got over Germany, we lost all the boost on #3. All we could get out of it was 17 or 18 inches [of manifold pressure]. We kept in formation (so to speak) & went on to the target, dropped our bombs and stuck with the formation. It [#3 engine] went out an hour before the target which was Brandenburg, just south of Berlin. When we got to low altitude over the North Sea we heard the engine ticking, & figured a cylinder head had blown. We debated feathering up, but decided not to. I was a little afraid of it – I was afraid of getting the whole thing in my face. But we got back safely & found a piece of the exhaust stack a foot long had broken & was laying in the cowling, causing the rattle, or ticking noise. I was glad to be back.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Brandenburg, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 9 hours 40 minutes
Notes:
- See note from July 12, 1944 regarding the significance of the #3 engine location to the co-pilot.
- Jordan was 2nd Lt. Edward C. Jordan
August 8, 1944 – Tuesday
[No diary entry]
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Local at Station 131, England
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 1 hour
Remarks: Shot 3 landings – 2 3-engine approaches; 1 3-engine go-around
August 9, 1944 – Wednesday [Mission #22: Saarbrucken]
What a day! Supposed to go to Munich again & we were leading the whole 8th AF; i.e., the group we were flying with was – we only put up one group because they were so badly shot up the day before (that was the raid near Caen when Arnold went down). We ran into the briefed occluded front just as we entered the French coast. We went to 26,000 & couldn’t top it so we flew right thru it. When we’d gone thru it for an hour, the fighters reported no better to the south, so we turned around & dropped on Saarbrucken. After we turned around we ran right smack into two other wings within a couple minutes. With the bad visibility, this was really terrifying. We were in that stuff off & on for 2 hours & it was awful. We could usually see the group leader (we led the low sqdn.), but it was still rough as you lost your balance & couldn’t look at the instruments. Met Pete in Cambridge in the evening.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Saarbrucken, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
Notes:
- “occluded front” – occurs when a fast-moving mass of cold air overtakes a slower-moving mass of warmer air and forms a single “front” between the two masses. Flying through an occluded front you would experience significant changes in temperature and wind speed which would create turbulence. (Gordon Mellis)
- Arnold was 2nd Lt. Charles A. Arnold, Bombardier. Lt. Arnold was in the Hopkins lead aircraft on 8 August 1944 and was killed in action.
August 12, 1944 – Saturday [Mission #23: Versailles, France]
Went to (Versailles) Paris today. This time we hit the front over England & had trouble forming. Flew in the soup an hour & finally formed on the South Coast. Most of the ships got off okeh, tho, & we did our bombing. Flak wasn’t too bad & so it turned out to be a good mission except for the assembly. Flew a lot over friendly France today, but couldn’t see any action on the ground as we crossed the lines.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Versailles, France and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 7 hours
August 15, 1944 – Tuesday [Mission #24: Ostheim]
Yep, we’ve been sweating out “Happy Valley” for a long time, & today we got it. We hit an airfield 4 miles East of Cologne. Boy, am I glad we didn’t have to fly right over the city of Cologne! It was just off to the left of us on the bomb run, & such a flak barrage I’ve never seen. Boy, they sure had the stuff there! We got a little over the target, but it wasn’t too bad. Our group lead had trouble getting his bomb doors open & the deputy had to take over. He didn’t do it according to S.O.P. [Standard Operating Procedure] and we were past the deputy before we realized it. It was a rough bomb run, but we got ‘em out all right. When we got back to England there were no clouds, & about 40 miles visibility; when that happens over England, brother it’s news.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Cologne, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 7 hours 30 minutes
August 17, 1944 – Thursday
[No diary entry]
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Local at Station 131, England
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 3 hours
Remarks: Shot 6 landings – checked out as 1st Pilot, B17G
August 29, 1944 – Tuesday
[No diary entry]
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Local at Station 131, England
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Remarks: Shot 2 landings
August 30, 1944 – Wednesday [Mission #25: Kiel]
Hit Kiel today. It wasn’t as bad as I expected. We bombed thru 10/10 & the flak wasn’t too accurate. Led the high element for the first time – it wasn’t too bad. Ross flew over the target & I had a good time clicking pictures. We didn’t get close enough to the flak to get a good picture. (We later ruined the pictures in developing them.)
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Kiel, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 8 hours
September 1, 1944 – Friday
Headed for Ludwigshaven [Ludwigshafen], got about 30 miles west of Paris & turned back due to weather.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to 30 miles west of Paris and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 5 hours
Remarks: recalled mission
September 3, 1944 – Sunday [Mission #26: Ludwigshafen]
Hit Ludwigshaven [Ludwigshafen] today. Had a new pilot leading the group (Steve flew with him) & they really messed things up. The turn off the target was the worst. Steve salvoed while we had a 150 ft. interval; consequently, we couldn’t turn as quickly as he could, & we had an awful mess sliding under #3 who had the same trouble. We were behind the lead group when we dropped, & to make the matters worse, we got caught in their prop wash as we turned. We all thought we’d “had it” for a moment, but the boys really used their heads (to say nothing of the Lord’s protection) & everything turned out okeh.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Ludwigshaven, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 9 hours
Notes:
- “prop wash” – also known as wake turbulence is encountered when flying directly behind another aircraft. Formation positions were normally staggered both horizontally and vertically to avoid the wake turbulence generated by the aircraft in front, but bomber formations during World War II tended to fly as “tight” a formation as possible because of the greater protection against fighter attack that the massed fire power of the bombers’ defensive armament afforded. Wake turbulence can cause violent buffeting and loss of control. (Gordon Mellis)
- If "group" in "leading the group" above means High Group, as opposed to the 398th Bomb Group, then Steve could be Captain Steven P. Cullinan who was the 603rd's CA that day with pilot Vince F. Moore. See 3 September 1944 Formation Chart. On the other hand, Steve could be 2nd Lt. Steven R. Quinn, Navigator, the regular Howden Navigator. (Dave Jordan)
- Possibly the A/C in the number #3 position was 1st Lt. Edward C. Jordan (Dave Jordan)
September 6, 1944 – Wednesday
Got us up at 2 this morning, and was I ever tired. TO [take off] was around 7, but just before we got in to start engines, they fired stand-by flares. This didn’t make us at all mad as we figured they’d scrub it – always welcome for such a target as Big “B” [Berlin]. They told us to hit the sack & they’d call us out. So we got in bed at 7, & up again at 9:30. Reported to briefing at 10, & they told us to come back at 11. This time it was Bremen. But when we got 2 engines running, they told us to “hold your position all ships”. We started the other two, & just got #4 going when they fired the rocket [to scrub the mission]. Boy, what a day; from 2 a.m. to 1 p.m. & no mission. That’s a rough shuffle.
September 10, 1944 – Sunday [Mission #27: Stuttgart]
Well, it was nice & clear over the continent today, but our target, Stuttgart was just under a layer of clouds. We did a lot of evasive action as we crossed the Siegfried line, & it’s a good thing because they had a lot of flak. Once we turned just in time to miss running into a few bursts. On the bomb run I was flying, saw something unusual in the corner of my eye, so I looked forward just in time to see a ship in the lead group plunging toward the earth in a violent dive. I just saw it a moment, & then saw some debris fly over our formation. He evidently got hit amidships and lost his control cables, as the ship (including tail) was intact. The other fellows say he blew up after he dropped several thousand feet. It was an awful sight to see him plunging down helpless like that. Got a little very accurate flak on the way back over the line, but no one got hit.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Stuttgart, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 7 hours 15 minutes
Note:
- The only 398th crew to go down that day was the Parke Wright the 3rd's 600th Crew. (Dave Jordan)
September 12, 1944 – Tuesday
[No diary entry]
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Local at Station 131, England
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
September 13, 1944 – Wednesday [Mission #28: Lutzkendorf]
Went just outside of Maresburg [Merseburg] to Lutzkendorf today. Weather wasn’t as predicted, & we had to climb to 30,000 feet to bomb. That was really tough flying up there when the air speed got low, & we pulled an awful lot of power, but we managed it. We were on a wing today for a change. The flak was intense, concentrated, & accurate as all get out. We felt two hits, but only got 2 holes (rather large ones). I never did see flak come so fast as this did – it seemed like they were firing at us with a machine gun. Boy, there just wasn‘t a pause between bursts. On the way back we got caught in clouds at 16,000 & lost our element leader. Finally we pulled up & got on top. There we found our element leader, so we tacked on him, & he started looking for the group. We got back in formation a half hour later, & went over the Rhine about 10,000 feet – it’s a wonder we didn’t get blasted out of the sky, but they didn’t shoot at all. So we came back in one piece with many things to be thankful for. Oh yes, I did practically all the flying today. I was feeling good, but got tired by the end of the flight. (P.S. One piece of flak cut along the main gas line to #3, but didn’t penetrate. We’d have had to feather if it had.)
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Maresburg (Lutzkendorf), Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 8 hours 30 minutes
September 16, 1944 – Saturday
Got us out at 11:30 for briefing at 12:30, but they scrubbed it just before we started engines.
September 17, 1944 – Sunday [Mission #29: Eindhoven, Holland]
Our usual mission day, so we got the same target as yesterday. Flak & artillery batteries around an airfield in (Eindhoven) Holland. We knew we were right ahead of the troops (British), & thought it was for an advance they were going to make. We flew high, high element lead under this new setup. That was a rough spot, but we managed. Dropped down to low element for the bombing run. The leader’s racks hung up, so we made 3 passes at the target. The 3rd time the deputy took over & we got them out. There was no flak close to us, so we were okeh. By the time we got thru, the group was gone, so we went home alone – this made it easier for us as we stayed in the hole. Just as we were letting down over the base, we saw planes all over the place, & then we noticed they were pulling gliders. Boy, I never saw such an air fleet before. They were all over the sky. And they were using anything for tugs – 4 engine bombers as well as transports. It was some sight. So we weren’t surprised when we heard about the landings in Holland. It was a big thrill, tho, to hear that they landed at Eindhoven – our target – among other places. We dropped those new frags today – man, I’d hate to be near when those things went off.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Eindhoven, Holland and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 6 hours 15 minutes
Notes:
- The gliders mentioned were part of Operation Market-Garden, which was an attempt to capture a series of bridges over rivers and canals in Holland by airborne assault. The story of this operation is the basis of the book and movie A Bridge Too Far. (Gordon Mellis)
September 24, 1944 – Sunday
Eighteen months ago I arrived at San Antone. It rained that day, too. It’s a long way from San Antone, tho. I hated the place then – I guess a guy never knows when he’s well off. Today it looks like winter is really set in. I hope we get out of here soon. Friday night we had an alert, but no buzz bombs [V-1 flying bombs], except the ones I dreamt about. Last night we had another alert & two hit near us. The first one was really close. We watched what we thought was the second one skimming the horizon. We saw the flash, but it was a long way off, & the explosion was faint. The fellows say one went just over the barracks early this morning, but exploded a long way past us. I slept right through it. I dreamt about them again, though.
September 25, 1944 – Monday [Mission #30: Frankfurt]
Back in the saddle again. We found Frankfort [Frankfurt] wasn’t as tough as it’s reputed to be – that was due to circumstances (high group & first wing), though. We had a little excitement, tho, when #4 started squirting oil at the IP. We feathered half-way down the bomb run when the pressure dropped, & got a little behind. Our wing men left us, but we reassumed our position after bombs away, & came on back. We left the formation at the Belgian coast, & headed straight home; being first to land.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Frankfort, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 7 hours
September 26, 1944 – Tuesday [Mission #31: Osnabruck]
Went clear up to 28,000 today to bomb Aansbruck[Osnabruck], Germany, & I nearly froze. It was only supposed to be 33 below, but it was more than 40 below. I didn’t wear my boots & nearly froze my left foot. To make matters worse, my oxygen hose or mask smelled & I nearly got sick on it. We flew on a wing today so I did most of the flying. Outside of the cold & oxygen it wasn’t bad, tho. Oh yes, they didn’t get us up until 7:45. I had 9 hours sleep & it was wonderful.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Osnabruck, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
September 27, 1944 – Wednesday [Mission #32: Cologne]
Finished up on Cologne. I thought it would really be rough, but the new deal they worked on formation really confused the flak gunners. We got shot at, but they didn’t really know where to shoot. Today I wore gloves for the first time and then the tips of my fingers got awfully cold anyway – especially on the bomb-run. We had an easy position today – flew #3 lead element. The only rough thing was the awful prop wash we got in so often. Once it nearly cost us our navigator – his oxygen hose pulled loose at the regulator & he went out. Nelson got him just in time & revived him. He got some bad frostbite on his hand, but it’ll be okeh. He had a plenty close call.
[Pilot Log entry]
Mission: Station 131, England to Cologne, Germany and return
Aircraft: B-17G
Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
Remarks: Total combat time – 239 hours 25 minutes
Notes:
- “prop wash” – see note from September 3, 1944. In this case, the navigator was evidently not strapped in securely enough to keep him from being thrown about by the buffeting from the wake turbulence – to the extent that his oxygen hose pulled loose. At high altitude he would have “passed out” quickly from lack of oxygen. (Gordon Mellis)
September 28, 1944 – Thursday
Boy, what a glorious feeling to be all done. It’s really wonderful, & to God be all the glory and praise.
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