381st Bomb Group (H)
Roll BO370: Frames 127-141
WAR DIARY
OCTOBER 1944
The main topic on the station in the early days of October was the projected 200 mission party, scheduled to take place later in the month. First plans contemplated a dance at the officer's club, three or four enlisted mens' dances, free liquor and a two day stand down.
Higher headquarters were asked for a rake off of 2,000 pounds from PX earnings to take care of the cost. Capt. Samuel H. Dixon, new special services officer, was put in charge of the enlisted mens' end of the occasion and elaborate plans were a-borning.
Buzz-bomb activity began to get closer to the station with the opening of October. In the evening of October first, two of the doodle-bugs passed low over headquarters with RAF fighters on their tails. Lt. Leon Wagner, in the control tower, excitedly furnished a blow-by-blow description of the encounter over the Tannoy as the fighters shot down one of the P-planes. The other crashed near Birdbrook, only a few miles away with enough force to rock the station.
There was no mission on the first.
On the Second we put up 37 aircraft to participate in the attack on Kassel. Capt. Edward H. MacNeill was the commander and his formation encountered a 7/10 swelling cumulus undercast on the continent, building up a complete 10/10 coverage in the target area. Flak was moderate and fairly accurate at the objective. There were no enemy fighters. The formation bombed PFF methods, aiming for the briefed PFF target, the Henschel and Sohn factories, and results were, of course, unobserved. En route home, the formation was taken through the Ruhr, for some unknown reason, and there ran into intense flak. There were no losses, although 13 of our aircraft suffered battle damage, two of them of the "major" variety.
There was one snafu at takeoff. Two planes collided at taxi-time one's prop chewing up the other's tail.
The awards procession began with the first day of the month. GO 382, 1BD, 1 Oct., authorized ten Air Medals for the Group.
DFC's were awarded, in GO 381, of the same date, to S/Sgts. Paul C. Smith and Seely H. Wilson, both of whom had completed tours of duty.
Thirty more Air Medals came along in GO 384, Oct 2.
And, on the same date, a Cluster to the DFC was authorized for Lt. Col. John E. Fitzgerald, Jr., 532nd
C.O., in GO 385. The award was made for Col. Fitzgerald's outstanding leadership in the August 27 mission, when huge cloud banks made an attack against the primary target impossible Col. Fitzgerald selected a vital target of opportunity, courageously made a good run on it despite heavy flak, and secured excellent results.
1st Lt. Harvey G. Tidwell, 532nd bombardier and one of the first of the Group's returnees from leave in the States after completion of one tour of duty, received a Cluster to the DFC in the same order for the same mission for his superior work as bombardier on that occasion.
GO 384, Oct 2, brought nine Air Medal Clusters to the Group. And GO 387, 3 October, brought 20 more. Another 22 were added in GO 394, 4 Oct. and ten Air Medals were authorized in GO 397, Oct 5.
A mission intended for Cologne was scrubbed Oct. 4, but it was on, again, on the fifth. We put up 35 aircraft for the operation with Lt. Col. George G. Shackley in the lead ship, and our specific target was the station and goods yard in Cologne. It was 6/10 to 8/10 to the English coast that day, and although the weather broke to some extent over the Channel, it socked in to a complete 10/10 over the target. Visibility was poor. The bombing was done by PFF methods and results went unobserved. The high group reported meager and inaccurate flak at Cologne but the other two groups found the anti-aircraft fire moderate to intense and accurate. There were no enemy aircraft and there were no battle casualties. Two men were injured, however, as a result of the mission. S/Sgt. Walter J. Doremus, radio operator, and Sgt. Arthur P. Hafner, waist gunner, suffered an ankle sprain and concussions of the left leg, respectively, when the 533rd ship in which they were serving crashed on take-off. Nobody else was hurt.
A flock of Air Medals came through October 6, 34 of them, to be exact. They were authorized in GO 399, 1BD.
Politz was the briefed target October 6 and Col. Leber, in person led the 37 aircraft assigned to the mission from here. Capt. Howard N. Kesley was his pilot. The formation took off in clear cool weather, but the clouds began building up when the Fortresses reached the continent. Col. Leber was unable to contact weather scouts because so many others were on the channel, but he heard a report indicating the primary and secondary were closed in. He therefore led his Wing to Stralsund, the last resort target, and made his run on the power plant there. The bombing was performed visually (the weather was reported as 5/10 to 7/10), and the results were reported as "good". There was no opposition at all at the target, but the formation did run into some moderate and very accurate flak originating from flak boats in Eckerndorfer Bay. There were no enemy aircraft. All our aircraft returned to base. There were no casualties.
Miss Ann Overton, from North Carolina, recently arrived from the States, became a member of the Red Cross Staff. Miss Mim Smith, scheduled to take off for home any moment, had resigned from the directorship, and Miss Celia Weinschenk, Miss Smith's assistant, became the new Aero Club director.
Brux, in Czechoslovakia, was the briefed target for Oct 7, but the 37 A/C assigned from here for the operation never got there, nor did the rest of the Division. Lt. Col. David E. Kunkel, Jr., commander for the operation, received a report from weather scouts that the target was open "with heavy haze". At the IP, however, it was discovered the target would be 10/10 and Col. Kunkel ordered a turn back to the secondary which had been observed as open. There was heavy haze, however, and the bombardier was unable to pick up the Zwickau objective, so the formation went over it again. The low group bombed this time, but the lead and high went on to Schneeburg and bombed a target of opportunity, the marshalling yards, there. The incendiary bombs were held and dropped on the Nordhausen airfield on the way home. The bombing was all done visually and strike photos show a good pattern on the secondary MPI [Mean Point of Impact] for the low group. The high group's bombs evidently landed in an open field, but the lead group hit the marshalling yards and the western end of Schneeburg. Flak was non-existent in the area bombed, but the formations picked up moderate and accurate flak at Osnabruk and meager flak at several other points along the route.
One of our aircraft got tangled up with a couple of Goering's new-fangled jet-propelled jobs.
1st Lt. John J. O'Conner unable to keep up with the formation, was ordered to jettison his bombs and meet the outfit again on the way home. The formation's change of course prevented meeting, but O'Conner did meet two Jetties [German jet fighters] and his gunners fought them to a standstill until some P-51's came along and chased them off. The Jerry fighters, ME163's were the first attackers the group had met in some time. The battle lasted five minutes and although the Jetties had scored a couple of hits, the Fortress, "Los Angeles City Limits", returned safely to base. It was the aircraft's 61st consecutive non-abortive mission.
There was one man MIA as a result of the mission. Sgt. Marion O. Heilman, O'Conner's gunner bailed out of his aircraft at 52-28 North 08-35 East, and has not been heard of.
Three men were wounded. 2nd Lt. Richard A. Mitchell, co-pilot was hit in the right arm; S/Sgt. Harlie H. Moore, waist gunner, suffered an abrasion of the left leg; and 2nd Lt. Stanley A. Milowski, navigator, received an abrasion above the eye. All are from the 535th Squadron.
The same day, Col. Kunkel's Cluster to the DFC, for completion of tour, was authorized in GO 403, 1BD, 7 Oct.
In the same order, DFC'c were awarded to 1st Lt. Norwood C. Durbin, Harold Wood, Billy W. Santos, Kenneth O. Lingenfelter, and Fred R. Jarvill and to S/Sgts. Moe Kluger, Robert Q. Pope and Charles A. Polito. All had completed their combat missions in this theater.
A mission to Bruz was scrubbed on the Eighth which was a big enough day anyway.
Morton D. Joyce, station administrative inspector, and Edgar C. Kurner, Group S4 and engineering officer, were promoted to Major; Earl M. Crawford, 532nd communications officer (who had just improvised a system of emergency lighting for the runways), Elbert E. Husted, 532nd armament officer, and George H. Robinson, 533rd combat officer, were promoted to Captain. The advancements were proclaimed in the October 8 bulletin.
Tommy Trinder, hailed as England's No. 1 comedian, with Monsewer Eddie Gray, Adelaide Hall, and other London variety stars, led by Producer Jack Hylton, did a stage show in Hanger No. 2 in the afternoon. Among the guests were some 600 wounded American and British soldiers, invited from neighboring hospitals.
The word came that the buzz bomb we heard the night before, which really rocked the camp when it hit (obviously somewhere near), smashed down in Little Yeldham, only a mile and a half from the base. The explosion broke a lot of glass in the village and left one woman suffering from shock, but as far as could be learned, caused no fatalities and did little other damage.
October 9 was another big day - technically, at any rate. For the Group flew its 200th Mission on that day. Moreover, the target was Schweinfurt, the place where the outfit suffered its first big loss (11 aircraft and 10 crews in August 1943).
Actually, there was nothing to the mission. Our 37 aircraft, under command of Capt. Edward H. MacNeill, hit 10/10 weather all the way and did their bombing PFF method. Even the flak was hardly up to Schweinfurt standard. It was described as "meager and very inaccurate" when the formation went over the target. Rear elements reported that it increased to "intense" after bombs away, but we weren't there to catch it then. There were no enemy aircraft up. Our crews reported that our escort was outstanding. The Fortress men said they saw a number of planes from other formations, straggling for one reason or another, each with an umbrella of at least six fighters guarding it. All our aircraft returned safely to base.
It developed the 200 mission party was off. Higher Headquarters actuated by reported excesses and unfortunate occurrences at other stations, had put a stop to all-say-out celebrations. The thing simmered down, finally, to an enlisted men's dance October 21 and an officer's party the next day. We still hoped, however, to draw the 2,000 pounds we asked for from the PX funds.
Col. Leber proclaimed October 9 and 10 Federal Ballot Voting Days. Throughout the period specified and throughout the rest of the time the polls were kept open, only six men utilized in the presidential election. This did not mean, however, that there was no interest in the presidential election. As a matter of fact, postal representatives on the base indicated that the absentee ballot mail was very heavy. Probabilities were that a large percentage of the men voted.
GO 408, 1BD, 9 Oct., authorized 19 Air Medals for Group members. And GO 410, 10 Oct brought 14 more.
DFC's were awarded in GO 412, 1BD, 11 Oct. to 1st Lt. John P. Weidenbach and Eugeen P. Weisser;
T/Sgts. Henry Meier and Joe F. Stobaugh; and S/ Sgt. Rafael D. Esqueda. All had completed their duty tours.
More DFC's came through in GO 415, 12 Oct. for 1st Lts. Alger H. Clark and Harley L. Reed; 2nd Lt. John Rama; and S/Sgts Armando M. Castro and George W. Miller. They, too, had "finished up".
A Purple Heart was awarded to 2nd Lt. Richard A. Mitchell in GO 423, 1BD, 13 Oct. for the wound he received on the Oct. 7 mission.
And, the same day, the Group got seven Air Medals in GO 418 and two more in GO 421.
Col. Halsey started on his way home Oct. 11 and Major Isaac C. Taylor, rather recently transferred into the Group, took over command of the 535th Squadron.
Roger LaPierre, 533rd lead pilot, and Dean T. Larson, 534th Mickey navigator, were promoted to captain by announcement in Bulletin of Oct. 13.
A mission to Bremen on the tenth, one to Cologne on the twelfth, and another to Cologne on the thirteenth, were scrubbed because of inclement weather.
Despite the steady downpour of the twelfth, Maury Maverick, chunky one-time Congressman and Mayor of San Antonio, and presently head of the Smaller War Plant Corporation, who paid a visit to the base that day in his capacity as a member of the War Production Board, got out on the line and christened a new 535th Fortress. It was named "The Alamo". Maverick addressed a crowd of interested G.I.'s and a sprinkling of officers at the Aero Club in the evening, driving home the idea that the government would provide funds for opening a small business for returning service men after the war.
Friday the thirteenth M/Sgt. Clarence Bankston, crew chief of "Stage Door Canteen", with his crew, and member of the combat crew led by 1st Lt. Fred Davison (currently flying the famous bomber) were guests at Stage Door Canteen, in London. Col. Leber also made the trip, with Col. William J. Reed, ground Executive, Major Karl B. Greenlee, adjutant, and other ground officers. The visitors were treated to dinner in the canteen and to a stage show headed by Doris Hare and Gerald Frankau, well known British stage stars. The bomber had 76 consecutive non-abortive missions. In addition, it was the first ship in ETO to use parachutes for brakes after its hydraulic system had been shot out on a mission. It had been christened in April by Mary Churchill, daughter of the British Prime Minister.
We finally got to fly again on the fourteenth and Cologne was the target. Lt. Col. George G. shackley, with LaPierre as his pilot, was commander of the Wing in which our 37 aircraft flew. It was 8/10 to 10/10 all the way and the undercast combined with a middle cloud at the targets to make visual bombing impossible. We bombed by squadron, using PFF methods, and results were unobserved. There was moderate to intense tracking and barrage flak at the target and there was more flak (accurate, though meager) at Rhine on the way home. We had no losses although one of our aircraft landed away from base.
There were three wounded, and all of them were concerned on one of the best combat stories the Group had turned up since D-Day.
Pella Tulip
They were flying in a Fortress called "Pella Tulip" two minutes before bombs away, the Tulip was hit by a flak burst which virtually shattered the nose and cockpit and knocked the bomber out of formation. 1st Lt. Charles W. Reseigh, the pilot, hit in both arms and in the face by flak bursts and suffering from a broken leg also caused by a flak wound, was too seriously hurt to pull the bomber out of its dive. 1st Lt. David R. Rautio, the copilot had also been knocked out by the blast. He regained consciousness, pulled the ship out of its dive when it was low enough to avoid anoxia difficulties (for oxygen system had been knocked out) and salvoed the bomb load. For the next four hours Rautio fought with the stubborn Fortress, despite the streaming cold of the open cockpit and despite his wound, nursed it back to England with both its right-side engines out. Rautio sustained injuries of the forehead and of the right arm. T/Sgt. John M. Nushy, the engineer and top turret gunner, put out a fire in the cockpit, helped remove the pilot to the radio room where the bombardier administered first aid, and then Nushy climbed into the pilot's seat where he acted as copilot for Rautio intermittently massaging Rautio's face and neck to minimize danger to the 21-year-old Rautio from frostbite. Nushy suffered mainly from conjunctivitis, caused by the flying plexiglass when the nose was shattered. F/O Maryan J. Winicki, the navigator was credited with excellent work throughout the grueling trip. He and Nushy narrowly escaped serious injury when Winicki stooped down for a flak helmet, at Rautio's order, and Nushy bent down at the same moment to check a flaw in his oxygen equipment. A flak burst slammed right past the spot their heads had been.
Pella Tulip Damage
It was to Cologne again on the fifteenth and this time Capt. Douglas L. Winter headed our formation of 37 aircraft. There was no change in the weather: it was 10/10 all the way. The bombing was done by squadrons using PFF methods. No enemy aircraft were in the sky and the flak was variously described for the lead group it was "meager to moderate and fairly accurate", for the low and high it was "moderate to intense and accurate". All our aircraft returned, but 17 of them brought battle damage back, nine of them of the "major" category.
One man was wounded: S/Sgt. Alex J. Pine, 532nd waist gunner, who was hit in the right thigh. Another suffered from moderately severe anoxia, Sgt. George H. Johnson, 534th tail gunner.
A new liberty run went into effect beginning Oct 16, and its destination was Chelmsford, now available to us because so many of the 9th AF groups previously stationed in its vicinity were now in France. It had several advantages, not the least of which was the fact that men taking the run could make the 659 train to London and be in the big city before 8 o'clock.
There was no mission on the sixteenth.
We went back to Cologne again on the seventeenth with Major Isaac N. Taylor, new 535th C.O., heading the contingent of 37 aircraft we put up for the mission. The weather was still unfavorable, building up to 10/10 over the target. The bombing was done by PFF methods, although, for a while, because there appeared to be a break in the clouds, visual bombing seemed possible. The flak was moderate and inaccurate. For a change the Fortress men saw three ME410's. The Jerries were coming in. There were no attacks, however. All but one of our aircraft returned safely to base. Lt. Rice landed in Brussels, five of his men bailing out, first.
Of these, the waist gunner Sgt. Marion H. Tschirhart, suffered a sprained ankle and was treated at a British hospital.
A mission to Kassel, on the eighteenth was scrubbed.
Awards kept coming in.
DFC's authorized in GO 424, 1BD, 14 Oct., were awarded to 1st Lts. Roger G. LaPierre, Wallace K. Bjorness, Willis J. Black, Edward B. Grazul, Donald D. Paynter, Joseph J. Pearce and David R. Rautio; T/Sgts. Ralph M. Miker and Orby K. Putman and S/Sgt. Frank V. Wassell.
More DFC's, GO 431, 17 Oct, went to 1st Lts. Robert W. Devenish, Hugh A. Evans, Ernest F. Guy, Jr. William F. Letson and Lloyd E. Sunderland; 2nd Lt. George I. Van Leeuwen; T/Sgts. Karl C. Beard, Eugene G. Gay, Charles W. Gilberts and Howard W. Seeds, Jr.; and S/Sgts. Edwin A. Anderson, Harry Brown and Thomas H. Cavanaugh. All had completed their duty tours.
We received 11 Air Medals and 19 Clusters in GO 432, 17 Oct.
DFC's for extraordinary achievement went to Capt. Irving Moore and 1st Lt. Bruce L. Rivett in GO 437, 18 Oct. Capt. Moore was decorated for his excellent work in holding the plane while his crew and observer bailed out after the ship caught fire on takeoff in the August 4 mission. Rivett was awarded the medal for bringing his Fortress home on one engine, plus, on the August 8 mission.
Purple Hearts for Rautio and Resigh came along in GO 442, 19 October. The same day brought us four Air Medals, GO 441; and DFC's, GO 440, for 1st Lt. William E. Bigham, Jr.; T/Sgts. Maurice J. Kelly, Wilbur R. Lund and William S. Rump; and S/Sgts. Charles T. Chochren, Walter J. Dormeus and Bert M. McCraw, who had finished up.
T/Sgt. Edward M. Wood, of the 534th, and S/Sgt William J. Grospitch, of the 535th won the Division horse-shoe pitching championship, October 17.
We went to Mannheim on the nineteenth, with Capt. MacNeill leading our 37 aircraft contingent. It was an uneventful mission. The weather was still bad; 9/10 at the target, and completely closed in on the trip home. The bombing was done by PFF methods and went unobserved. Flak was meager to moderate and inaccurate. There were no enemy aircraft and there were no losses. S/sgt. Daniel D. Hernandez, 534st waist gunner, suffered from anoxia and mild frost bite on the wrist. There were no other incidents.
There was nothing doing from the combat point of view until the twenty-fifth. A mission intended for Ludwigshafen was scrubbed on the 24th.
The enlisted men's and officers' 200th mission dances went off as scheduled, on the 21st and 22nd.
DFC's were awarded, GO 446, 1BD, 21 Oct. to T/Sgts. Gordon A. Fortney, Herbert A. Goldberg, Charles F. Hodges and Robert R. Moore; S/Sgts Arnold A. Gangloff and Arthur E. Nolte. More were authorized, GO 449, to 1st Lts. John E. Johns, James R Lang, Robert E. Relke, James C. Schomburg, Carl Stein and Dale P. Winsor; T/Sgts. Fred D. Bare and Donald L. Couldtrip and S/gts Richard L. Snyder and Charles Valine. A Cluster to the DFC went to Capt. Dean P. Larson in the latter order. All had completed tours of duty.
Five Air Medals came to us in GO 450, 22 October.
GO 456, 25 Oct., brought DFC's for 1st Lts. Harold E. Asay and Robert A. Douglass who had completed their tour.
Word came to us, Oct. 25, that Major Gen. Williams had left for the States and that Brig. Gen. H. M. Turner had taken over the command of the First Division.
Hamburg was the target Oct. 25 and the Blohm and Voss aircraft factory the specific objective. Lt. Col. Shackley led the outfit to which we contributed 37 aircraft and crews. The weather was still 10/10 over the target and the bombing was done by PFF. The flak was moderate to intense, but it was inaccurate for us. There were no enemy fighter attacks although crewmen reported they saw two unidentified single engine planes go down in flames some distance behind the formation that followed ours. There were no losses.
We started out for Munster the next day, with Capt. Douglas L. Winter in the lead ship of our 37 aircraft formation. We got to Munster, all right, and found 10/10 again. We didn't bomb, however, because of an instrument failure, carrying our bombs, instead, to Bielefeld, where it was also 10/10. The instrument worked there, and we dropped our bombs using PFF methods of course. There were no observations of bombing results. Flak was moderate and inaccurate at Munster, and meager and inaccurate at the target of opportunity. There were no enemy aircraft. There were no losses.
There was a Mannheim mission scheduled for the 27th, but the operation was scrubbed after briefing.
Ten/Tenths
We went back to Munster on the 29th with Major Taylor in the lead ship. For a change, our 37 aircraft formation found the weather better than briefed. In fact, it was almost good enough for a visual bombing run, patchy clouds giving rise to a description of 3/10 to 10/10 coverage. The bombing was done on PFF, however, and, because the lead squadrons instrument ship was "out", the low squadron's lead ship took over for the bombing, which was performed in good shape. Crews reported that they aw our bombs hit the city. There were no enemy aircraft up, but the flak was tough. It was described as moderate, but very accurate at the target. There was other flak, meager and inaccurate, at Zwolle on the way home. One of our aircraft crash landed in Brussels. Twenty-two other Fortresses suffered battle damage. We had three wounded: Sgt. John J. Sladek, 535th ball turret gunner, in the left ribs; S/Sgt. Walter L. Doremus in the right elbow; and Sgt. Ward A. Freeman, in hte face, neck and arms. Besides, Sgt. John F. Watson, 534th ball turret gunner, suffered anoxia.
The final mission of the month, Oct. 30, had Gelsenkirchen as its target and our 37 aircraft were under command of Capt. MacNeill. The weather was 10/10, again, keeping the record intact for the month. Moreover, dense, persistent contrails bothered the fliers. The formation bombed the marshalling yards at Hamm, the secondary target using PFF methods. There was meager and inaccurate flak seen at the target, but none of it was near us. We saw no enemy fighters. Here was no battle damage, for a change. Yet, strangely enough we lost two men. The two, both members of Lt. Berkley's crew bailed out over the English Channel on the way to the target when the No. 1 engine caught fire and the bomber went out of control. Lt. Berkley eventually righted his ship and brought it back. Missing are: 1st Lt. Harry L. Delaplane, Jr., bombardier, and S/Sgt. Frank K. Gunderson, tail gunner.
There was another casualty as a result of the mission, but it was only a record. The Fortress "Stage Door Canteen", on its 80th consecutive non-abortive mission, was charged by Engineering with an abort. Lt. Clark, the pilot, nursed the ship home with one engine out and the propeller wind milling. On landing a blade of the propeller crashed into the radio hatch. Nobody was injured, however, except M/Sgt. Clarence B. Blankston who picked up the abort.
DFC's were awarded, GO 467, 1BD, 28 Oct., to 1st Lts. Stan L. Smolen and William M. Stewart, T/Sgt Herbert A. Dubberstein, and S/Sgts. Kenneth R. Clark and Harold G. Witmer, who had completed their duty tours.
Fourteen Clusters to the Air Medal came to us via GO 459, 25 Oct. GO 472, 29 Oct., DFC's went to 1st Lts. Clarence E. Johnson, William R. Jones and Floyd W. Kirby, T/Sgt Meyer W. Johnson and Joseph E. Malsberger, S/Sgts. Wayne C. Leeth, Theodore E. Matthews, Oliver F. Orris, Louis F. Starr and Charles C. Tsouros, who had completed their tours of duty.
2nd Lt. William H. Boyce, who lost two engines over the target on Oct. 5, and subsequently feathered a third over the Channel to bring his bomber safely to base on one power plant, received a DFC in GO 476, Oct. 30.
Fifteen Air Medal Clusters were included in GO 477, 30 Oct., and 35 more were published in GO 481, 31 Oct.
DFC's were awarded, GO 475, 30 Oct., to 1st Lt. Arthur W. Bailey, Caleb G. Baxter, T/Sgts. Eldon E. Bauman, William P. Chin, Marvin W. Ford, Joseph A. Held and Robert A. Suplick, and S/Sgts. Vere D. Clair, Jr. and John A. Gulp. All had completed combat duty tours.
The only incident of October 31 concerned a DFC which was not awarded. S/Sgt. Harold W. Hofer, 535th gunner, who completed his tour the day before, was the first man in the group to "finish up" without receiving the DFC. He was the first affected by the new order which requires that the award be given henceforth, only for achievement upon recommendation of the Group commanding officer.
END OF OCTOBER 1944 HISTORY
> November 1944