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Rear: Roeben, Walter J. (B); Mitchell,
Grover P. (CP); Johnson, James R. (P); Trout ,Jasper D. (TG); Roth, Jerome R. (N)
Front: Harrell, L. Curtis (WG),
Nobile, Joseph (BG) [KIA]; Jennings, William E.
(RO/G); DeGraaff, John L. (NG); Louis, Charles (E)
Combat Log of Radio Operator
William Jennings
Practice Missions
3- 4-44 Hellza-Prochin - 2:20 Southern Italy
3- 8-44 Battle Crate - 2:40 Low Alt.
3-11-44 Swee' Pea - 2:445 Low Alt
3-12-44 Swee' Pea - 1:20 Low Alt
3-19-44 Mister . - 4:20 High Alt - 3 turbos went
out, turned back
3-21-44 Swee' Pea - 2:35 High Alt. - Oil line or
cap broke, turned back
3-26-44 Swee' Pea - 2:05. Local
3-28-44 Swee' Pea - 06:00 High Alt. - Practice
bomb mission
Combat Missions
|
Sortie
|
Mission
|
Date
|
Aircraft
|
Bomb Load
|
Hours
|
Description
|
|
1
|
1
|
4-3-44
|
Hells-a-Prochin
(Hell's a Poppin?)
|
|
5:00
|
High altitude bombing mission on
Yugoslavia, the marshalling yards at Dnise. |
|
2
|
2
|
4- 6-44
|
Hells-a-Prochin
|
Fragmentation (20 Pounds) - 20 Cluster
|
6:00
|
High altitude bombing mission
on Yugoslavia, the marshalling yards, air field & ME-109 factory at Zagreb.
Target destroyed. |
|
3
|
3
|
4-12-44
|
Battle Crate
|
10/500 Pounds
|
6:00
|
High altitude bombing mission
on Yugoslavia, the marshalling yards, air field and ME-109 factory at
Zagreb. Target destroyed. |
|
4
|
4&5
|
4-13-44
|
Evil Weevil
|
9/500 Pounds
|
7:30
|
Got credit for 2 missions. High
altitude bombing mission on Hungary, the ME-109 factory at Budapest. Target
destroyed. |
|
5
|
6
|
4-17-44
|
Battle Crate
|
20 Cluster. Fragmentation Bombs
|
4:30
|
High altitude bombing mission on
Rumania, the air field at Brosav. |
|
6
|
7&8
|
4-21-44
|
Mister .
|
9/500 Pounds
|
8:00
|
Got credit for 2 missions. High
altitude bombing mission on Rumania, the round house and marshalling yards
at Bucharest |
|
7
|
9&10
|
4-23-44
|
No name
|
9/500 Pounds
|
08:15
|
High altitude bombing mission
on Rumania, the marshalling yards at Bucharest. Target destroyed. J.D.
Trout got credit for a possible ME-109 shot down. |
|
8
|
11
|
5- 2-44
|
Swee' Pea
|
10/500 Pounds
|
7:35
|
High altitude bombing mission
on Parma Italy. The marshalling yards. Milk run. Target
destroyed. |
|
9
|
12&13
|
5- 6-44
|
#8
|
9/500 Pounds
|
7:30
|
Hit marshalling yards at Pitesti, Rumania. The target was completely destroyed. Milk run, no flak and
no fighters. |
|
10
|
14&15
|
5-10-44
|
|
30 Cluster Fragmentation
|
8:10
|
Bombing mission on Weiner
Neustradt-Nord in Austria. Hit air field. Made a twenty minute bomb run and
the enemy threw intense flak at us for twenty-five to thirty minutes. |
| Today was the
saddest day since our crew was formed, for we lost our ball-turret gunner,
Joseph A. Nobile. He was hit by flak in the left leg just an inch or two
below his crotch at eleven thirty five. He had enough strength to point his
guns down & throw open his turret door, stand up and told us, "I'm hit. I'm
hit." We were being attacked by one
fighter after another, so no one could leave their guns.
The Navigator, Jerry Roth, came through the
bomb bay when the doors were open and the bombs falling, risking his own
life. We were at twenty thousand feet, on oxygen, and there weren't hoses
(oxygen) long enough to reach the ball turret, so we took off our masks.
Finally we got Joe out and laid him on the
floor. I cut his overalls, heated suit and underwear off. Then I went up to
the flight deck and got a first aid kit. Roth gave Joe a morphine shot, and
I put some sulfa drugs (paste) on the wound. Roth put four battle dressings
on his leg, and they didn't cover the wound, so I wrapped a roll of gauze
around his leg to cover the whole wound. We applied a tourniquet & covered
him with blankets & a suit of heavy leather clothing. About twelve fifteen I
felt his pulse, then pushed his eyelid back and I could see the film forming
over the eyeball. Joe had died from loss of blood & shock. His death had
more effect on all of us than anything we have ever known. |
5-11-44
Joe was buried today at 4:15 in the military cemetery just two miles
south of Bari. His grave is marked by a little white cross with his name,
serial number and grave marker on it. |
|
11
|
16
|
5-13-44
|
#8
|
10/500 Pounds
|
7:20
|
Bombing mission on Faenza,
Italy. We hit the marshalling yards. Target destroyed. Milk run, no flak or
fighters. |
|
12
|
17
|
5-22-44
|
Swee' Pea
|
40/100 Pounds Incend.
|
7:00
|
Bombing mission in northern
Italy, the industrial center at Carrara. Target destroyed. |
|
13
|
18
|
5-23-44
|
#10
|
10/500 Pounds
|
4:00
|
Bombing mission in northern
Italy. Hit a road block at Subiaco. Milk run. Target destroyed. |
|
14
|
19
|
5-25-44
|
Evil Weevil
|
10/500 Pounds
|
6:30
|
Bombing mission on M/Y at
Carnoulis, France. Milk run. Target destroyed. |
|
15
|
20
|
5-26-44
|
#10
|
8/500 Pounds
|
8:40
|
Bombing mission on the longest
trip this Group has ever made. (1200 miles) We hit the M/Y at Lyons, France. Our bomb strikes were the best in the Air Force, 96% to be exact. |
|
16
|
21&22
|
5-30-44
|
#10
|
30 Incend
|
7:10
|
Bombing run on the aircraft
factory at Wels, Austria. Lot of flak, no fighters. |
|
17
|
23&24
|
5-31-44
|
War Eagle
|
9/500 Pounds
|
7:20
|
Bombing run on the oil refinery
at Ploesti, Rumania. This is the second hottest target we have
hit. Weiner Neustradt rates first, with well over two hundred heavy
anti-aircraft
guns. Ploesti has about 190 anti-aircraft (heavy) guns. |
|
18
|
25&26
|
6-2-44
|
Stinky
|
9/500 Pounds.
|
7:20
|
Bombing Mission on M/Y at
Szolnok, Hungary. Light flak and no fighters. Target destroyed. |
|
19
|
27
|
6- 5-44
|
Evil Weevil
|
5/1000 Pounds.
|
7:00
|
Bombing mission on railway
bridge in Italy. |
|
20
|
28&29
|
6- 6-44
|
The One Eyed Jack
|
9/500 Pounds
|
8:30
|
High altitude bombing mission on oil
storage & refinery at Ploesti, Rumania. Boy, let me tell you, it was plenty
hot over there. Plenty of flak & the fighters didn't fool around. One ME-109
flew between our ship & the wing ship, almost taking our left wing. Boy, you
could have spit out that waist window right in that Jerry's face. |
|
21
|
30&31
|
6- 9-44
|
The One Eyed Jack
|
9/500 Pounds
|
8:30
|
Bombing run on Munich, Germany. We hit the M/Y. Target completely destroyed. |
|
22
|
32
|
6-11-44
|
#8
|
20/250 Pounds
|
5:40
|
Bombing run on Mise,
Yugoslavia. We were supposed to go to Rumania but had engine trouble and had
to turn back a half hour from the primary target. So we made a run on a
target all by our self. |
|
23
|
33
|
6-13-44 |
Swee' Pea
|
10/500 Pounds
|
7:00
|
Bomb run on Industrial center
on mainland just opposite Venice, Italy. Plenty of flak, no fighters. Target destroyed. |
|
24
|
34
|
6-22-44
|
Lazy Lady (#12)
|
20/250 Pounds.
|
5:45
|
Bombing run on oil dump in
northern Italy. Little flak, no fighters. |
|
25
|
35&36
|
6-23-44
|
Lazy Lady
|
4/1000 Pounds
|
8:20
|
Bombing run on an oil dump at
Rumania. The defenses of the target were supposed to be 18 guns (heavy), but
they must have moved more guns in. To top it, the Jerries had our altitude
right on the head. We have about fifteen or twenty holes in our new ship. If
Harrell hadn't had his flak suit on today, well, he just wouldn't be here. A
hunk of flak came through the side of the ship and bounced off his armor
suit, leaving a slight dent. |
|
26
|
37
|
6-25-55
|
Lazy Lady
|
9/500 Pounds
|
9:00
|
Bombing run on the M/Y at
Avignon France. No flak, a few fighters. |
|
27
|
38&39
|
6-26-44
|
Lazy Lady
|
8/500 Pounds
|
7:45
|
Bombing run on the oil refinery
at Korneuburg, Austria just six miles north of Vienna. Plenty of flak, and
it looked as though Germany put up every fighter available. 750 heavies hit
the area in & around Vienna, escorted by about five hundred fighters,
P-38's, P-47's and P-51's. |
|
28
|
40
|
6-30-44
|
Lazy Lady
|
8/500 Pounds
|
6:00
|
Start to the oil refinery near
Breslau, Germany, but ran into weather & turned back. |
|
29
|
41
|
7-12-44
|
Lazy Lady
|
9/500 Pounds
|
8:50
|
Bombing run on M/Y at Nimes,
France, plenty of flak, and lost four ships to fighters. |
|
30
|
42
|
7-14-44
|
Lazy Lady
|
4/1000 Pounds
|
6:25
|
Bombing run on Petfurdo,
Hungary, the oil refinery. Flak, but no fighters. |
|
31
|
43
|
7-15-44
|
Lazy Lady
|
9/500 Pounds
|
8:00
|
Bombing raid on the oil
refineries at Ploesti, Rumania. We didn't encounter any fighters, but as
usual we felt the blow of the 220 heavy guns surrounding the city. |
|
(TOTAL COMBAT HOURS - 223:15)
|
|
32
|
44&45
|
7-16-44
|
The One Eyed Jack
|
4/1000 Pounds
|
7:00
|
Bombing run on the aircraft
engine factory at Weiner Neudorf. Plenty of flak & probably the whole
German air force. |
|
33
|
46&47
|
7-18-44
|
Lazy Lady
|
5/1000 Pounds
|
7:45
|
Bombing run on aircraft engine
factory, and experimental plant at Friedrichshafen, German. No fighters, but
plenty of flak and it was damn accurate. |
|
35
|
48&49
|
7-19-44
|
Lazy Lady
|
4/1000 Pounds
|
7:40
|
Bombing run on aircraft plant
just outside of Munich, Germany. Plenty rough. Lots of flak that was as
accurate as hell. Louis finished his 50 missions today. |
|
36
|
50&51
|
7-22-44
|
Lazy Lady
|
4/1000 Pounds
|
8:05
|
Bombing run on Ploesti,
Rumania. This is my last mission and I came nearer to getting killed today
than I ever have before. Mucho flak but no fighters. Well, now to sweat out
the trip home. |
|
(TOTAL COMBAT HOURS - 259:25)
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