DIARY OF MEDICAL DETACHMENT – STATION #167

APRIL 1944

8 April – Thirty nine aircraft from this command took off in rain at 10.45 hrs and a 05.45 hrs briefing, for Oldenburg, Germany, an airfield being the target.  Bombing altitude was 20,000 ft, with outside temperature at minus 23 degrees Centigrade. The 91st BG led the Combat Wing and considerable flak was encountered over the target and in the Wilhelmshaven area. All aircraft returned safely to this base and the only event of the day was the crash landing of Lt Bond, because the landing gear would not come down. There were no casualties and the crew were sedated after the incident.

9 April – Easter Sunday and the longest mission of the war was scheduled for us with the target in Poland. The flight was to last 11 ½ hrs and everybody would have been completely exhausted, for the big party planned this evening. When a short way over the North Sea the mission was scrubbed because of weather. The party will probably go on OK now. This morning on take off, Lt Soeder, 535th, nosed up at the end of the runway. There were no injuries.

10 April – Approximately 30 aircraft from this command took off this morning at 06.30 hrs with aircraft to attack at airfield at Brussels, Belgium. The bombing altitude was 22,000 ft and first reports indicate that bombing was good. All crews returned safely to the base. There were no casualties. The monthly party was held Easter, yesterday, and seemed to be enjoyed by all.

11 April – Thirty five aircraft took off  from this command at 07.15 hrs and 07.45 hrs for targets south east of Berlin, factories at Cottbus and Sorau being the objectives. The total distance as 1,450 miles and the planes were in the air for 10 hours and 20 minutes which is indeed a long and tail wearying haul. The undercast was complete when the enemy coast was reached and was 6/10th from then on out. Bombing was done visually and results were good. One aircraft is missing, Lt Hesse, having lost two engines near the target area. It was seen to go down under control.

The aircraft returned to base about 18.00 hrs and the crews did not seem unduly fatigued. Hooch was served.

MIA 534th N/42-31497

Major Ernest Gaillard entertained Captains Wymer and Ralston and Mr Lawrence Smith, war correspondent, at their country home last evening. Also Major Kidd, S-2.

13 April – Thirty three aircraft from this command took off at 10.00 hrs with the target, for the fourth time in the history of the group, the ball-bearing factory at Schweinfurt, Germany. The 381st Group was led by Major Halsey and the Composite Group by Capt Franek.

Bombing altitude was 20,000 ft and outside air temperature was minus 37 Cent.  Weather was hazy on take off but good on the return although cloud was 6/10th over the target. Considerable fighter opposition was encountered by the wing ahead of ours on the way into the target. About 60 ME109’s took out seven Forts in that formation in one pass.

Lt Mullane lost an engine over the target and one shortly afterward and lagged behind the formation losing about 500 ft a minute. It was thought he had a windmilling propeller. Lt Sherwood had only two/three missions to complete his tour while navigator Lt O’Phelan had been nursed through several respiratory complaints.

MIA 535th N/42-31357

Lawrence W. Smith, artist war correspondent, departed this station yesterday after a three week stay. He was a nice type of individual and apparently well liked.

Captain Ralph M. Wymer is scheduled to go to the R.A.F. field at Wratting Common, about 12 miles north  west of here for a period of one week beginning tomorrow.

18 April – This command took off at 10.00 hrs with 33 aircraft, with the primary target designated as an airfield at Oranienburg, Germany, some 16 miles NW of Berlin. The secondary target was the Frederickstrasse railway station. Bombing altitude was 23,000 ft but the actual altitude was 22,500 ft. The weather was perfect and when at the target area their lateral visibility became stinky but the ground could be seen. The primary target was bombed successfully.

Lt Soeder and crew went down in the target area in control and apparently had lost two engines. The remainder of the ships landed safely  back at base. There were no killed or wounded, although there was one case of frostbite on the chin, the outside air temperature being minus 32 degrees C.

MIA 535th M/42-37733

19 April – Briefing was at the unholy hour of 03.45 AM with take off at at 06.45 hrs. The target was an airfield at Eschwege, Germany.  The group made a 360 degree at the target and the high squadron, the 534th, caught it from both flak and fighters. Lts Bond and Rayburn did not return and are presumably lost over enemy territory.

The wounded that returned were all 534th: 2nd Lts Edward  L. Hampton – 1. Wound, penetrating, rt. ankle, lateral aspect, wound entrance above, and medial exit below and lateral to lateral malleolus , mod. Severe,  caused by 20 mm fragments; Lee R. Hagen – 1. Fracture, skull, compound, comminuted. Caused by piece of 20 mm penetrating skull, ½” above rt. orbital ridge. 2. Wound. Penetrating, mod. severe, rt. cheek at opening of parotid duct. 3. Wound. Multiple, penetrating, rt. hand to forearm; S/Sgt William Pulmisano – 1. Wound. Penetrating, mod. severe, with haemothorax, posterior axillary to level of 7th  rib.

Lt Martyniak landed at Framlingham with his 534th ship on fire, one enlisted man dead,  F/O Murray wounded also.

MIA 534th Q/42-30004

MIA 534th A/42-3525

We finally had the inspection that the base had been preparing for for the last two weeks at the expense of the war effort, and the inspecting generals were: Lt Generals James H. Doolittle, Carl A. Spaatz, John C. Lee, Joseph T. McNarney; Major Gen. William E. Kepner of Fighter Command, Brig Generals Robert S. Williams, Bartlett Beaman and another one I did not know, along with Colonels and Lt Colonels by the dozen. In addition all the heavy bomb group commanding officers were present to meet the generals.

The Assistant Secretary of War, Mr J. J. McCloy, was present and apparently out-ranked all the generals. They inspected our humble institution and Lt Gen Lee was kind enough to say it was the best dispensary of this type he has ever seen and a colonel, the chief engineer of this base section was of the same opinion. Tea was served at the lounge of the Officer’ Club and fortunately they did not stay too long.

The 121st Station Hospital at Braintree, was successfully bombed by the Germans yesterday, and nine wards were demolished, two of which were completely flattened. There was one broken leg and a few minor injuries, despite the fact that many of the wards are full of patients. The work of evacuating, re-registration and re-arrangement was carried out expeditiously by all hospital personnel and the officers have commented that the thing that impressed them most was the eagerness and willingness of all personnel to help, even patients.

20 April – Briefing was at 14.00 hrs with a 16.00 hrs take off for the rocket gun installations in the vicinity of Cocove, France, just across the Channel, with 35 aircraft dispatched. These missions are always considered milk runs but the flak is always intense and accurate. All the ships returned from this mission with a full bomb load because of poor visibility in the target area.

Lt Jones and Lt Wezowicz both landed without brakes but no damage or injuries. Lt Zapinski landed with two 532nd injured aboard: co-pilot 2nd Lt Othmer G. Widosh:- 1. Wound, perforating, arm, left, sub-deltoid area, caused by flak; radio operator S/Sgt George Pastro: 1. Wound, perforating, ½” below left shoulder, caused by flak. The #4 propeller was gone.

Others injured were: 2nd Lt Robert Van Buskirk, 532nd:- 1. Abrasion, mild, lower third, outer aspect, left thigh, due to flak; 2nd Lt James Hopkins, 534th:- 1. Wound, penetrating, mild, pin-point size, middle outer third aspect, right leg, caused by 50 cal. bullet.

Lt Widosh and S/Sgt Pastro went to 121st Station Hospital at Braintree, while Lts Van Buskirk and Hopkins returned to full flying duty.

21 April – Briefing was at 10.00 hrs this morning with the designated target and airfield deep in Germany, but poor weather caused the mission to be scrubbed at 15.00 hrs.

Luncheon this noon with the stars of stage and screen, high military figures and other dignitaries who were here to christen the ship, “Stage Door Canteen”. The dignitaries  included Major General Anderson, Chief of Eighth Air Force Operations. Air Chief Marshall Harris, the high mogul of the Royal Air Force, Mary Churchill, daughter of the British Prime Minister, Vivian Leigh, Lawrence Olivier, Alfred Lunt, but regrettably not Lynn Fontaine. The ship was christened by Mary Churchill and she had to take a couple of heavy left swings to break the Coca Cola bottle on the chin turret guns. Col Leber was christened on the second swing along with the ship!

Cameras were very much in evidence, and the most interesting scenes shot were pictures of people taking pictures. The christening party watched the take off at 13.45 hrs in weather that was becoming increasingly poor.

Comment: If we don’t quit having inspections and so many digified visitors I am going to wear out my Sunday pants!

22 April – Twenty nine aircraft from this command took off at 15.15 hrs with the designated target a huge marshalling yard in the vicinity of Hamm, Germany. The importance of this target which connects the Ruhr with eastern Germany was realised when the task force sent over to destroy it  consisted of 15 combat wings. 

Bombing altitude was 22,000 ft with outside air temperature minus 30 degrees, centigrade. No enemy fighters were encountered and flak was light. The ships landed at this base at 22.00 hrs which was after dark and this was the first time they have landed in quite some time at night. Just as the lead squadron was peeling off  we had an air raid warning and shortly down 20 miles from the airfield. No ships were lost and no one killed or wounded. Lt Carroll landed at Manston, Kent, because he had a couple of engines shot out.

Five and a half hours after the ships landed there was another briefing so most of the crews averaged about two hours sleep. Fortunately the mission was scrubbed right after pilots’ meeting.

24 April – Twenty aircraft from this command and two PFF ships attacked an airfield in the Munich area, by name, Erding, Germany. There were no losses, killed on wounded.

25 April – Take off was at 06.15 hrs for 31 aircraft of this command with the designated target and airfield at Metz, France, which is north east of Paris. Bombing altitude was 20,000 ft and although there were no strike photos taken the bombing results were said to be good.

One ship, Lt Claytor and crew, are missing. He was last seen about 15 miles inside France on two engines and the ship was smoking. It is thought he landed in France. He was under fighter escort and no report was made of ditching. The remainder of the ship returned safely to base.

MIA 535th N/42-3511

Major Gaillard and Capt Wymer went to Nuthampstead to lecture to the 398th Bomb Group on first aid. This new group seemed ready, will and able and were ready for combat.

26 April – Briefing was at the unholy hour of 02.15 hrs, with take off at 05.15 hrs, the target designated as an airfield four miles north of Brunswick, German for our 31 ships dispatched. The 381st led the combat wing, with Col. Harry Leber leading and Lt Col John Fitzgerald leading the composite group, which consisted of two squadrons. The target was overcast and was bombed by pathfinder method. All aircraft returned safely to this base.

However there were a couple of flak injuries, both 535th: 2nd Lt Joseph R. Scott, navigator:- 1. Wound, penetrating, scapular region, lateral, right, moderate severe, 3cm x 5cm, who was sent to the 136th Station Hospital, and T/Sgt Arthur P. Andrzejewski;- 1. Wound, penetrating, mild, mid scapular region, left, and who was returned to full flying duty.

There was not one aircraft lost on this mission by the Eighth Air Force and 500 heavy bombers were dispatched.

27 April – This was the 100th mission for the 381st. It does indeed seem a long cry from the first raid on Antwerp, Belgium on 22 June 1943. The early raids to France are characterized by small B-17 formations and intense hostile fighter attacks and little, if any, fighter support. It certainly seems  as though the Eighth Air Force has accomplished a tremendous amount now that it can raid almost any point in Germany with impunity and without the losses being too severe. The increasing number of crews, friendly fighter support through a mission and the huge formations that are now being sent over Germany has lessened the mental strain on the combat crew members and we do not see as many instances of clinically manifested fear as we did formerly. The trend is favourable.

Some 20 aircraft were dispatched today with the secret weapon installations on the coast of France as the target for the 100th mission of the group. It was led by Major Jones and the composite leader was Capt Armstead. Bombing altitude was 20,000 ft and the target was in the Cherbourg Peninsula, right in the center of a heavy flak area. The weather was good, and the ships made one pass at the target without dropping their bombs and returned to their base. There were five ships with feathered props and many of the ship had been hit by flak. There were no killed or wounded.

28 April – Twenty seven ships from this command took off at 08.15 hrs, the target designated as an airfield at St Avord, France. It is just about due south of Paris. Bombing altitude was 14,000 ft. Major Jones was leading the group, and received a direct 20mm flak hit in his #2 engine. The engine twisted, caught fire, and fell out of the nacelle. The ship pulled up and careened off to the left and went down through the low squadron and was seen to break up. The most accurate report would indicate that the tail gunner got out but his chute fouled on the tail and he was carried down with the ship. It is believed three our chutes came out.

MIA 535th T/42-38061

The loss of Major Jones is keenly felt in the group. On a previous raid to the southern coast of Norway, on 24 June 1943, Major Jones was forced to land in Sweden. He spent a number of months there and returned to this group on an operational status. He was Operations Officer the 535th.

Major Gaillard gave a lecture to new combat crews of the 398th BG at Nuthampstead.

29 April – The group this date attacked the city of Berlin, with Col Kunkle leading and Major Halsey up front of “B” group. Bombing was by pathfinder method from 25,000 ft. The flak was intense to moderate and bombing results, were of course, not observed, from the 29 aircraft from this group along with the two PFFs. There were no losses, none killed and a few minor injuries, i.e., three slight cases of burns, one of frostbite, one slight abrasion and one case of anoxia.

Lt Zapinski landed late because of engine trouble. Lt Gnatzig landed elsewhere after an awful long haul on two engines. In the over all picture, 63 heavy bombers were lost on this operation, so we were very fortunate in not losing any.

30 April – This date saw 13 ships from this group attack an airfield at Lyon, France, with briefing at 03.30 hrs. Bombing altitude was 20,000 ft, with the weather beautiful and results were good. There was no killed or wounded and all ship returned safely to base.