B-17 Flight Log


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B-17 Flight Log

Compiled by David Barth, 11 January 2010.

By Joel Punches, B-17 Navigator.

Log from 5 September 1943 to 21 February 1944.
8th Air Force, 385th Bomb Wing.
Station: Great Ashfield, England.

Crew:
Pilot: Robert "Tex" Taylor
Copilot: Lapinsky
Navigator: Joel Punches
Bombardier: Clarence Soucheck

B-17s in flight
B-17s in flight
B-17 crew
B-17 crew
B-17 pilot, Tex
B-17 pilot, Tex
9/4/43 Took off from Grand Island, Nebraska for Maine. Buzzed Souchek's house in Chicago. Flew over Toronto, Canada, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan. Landed at 1745 [in Bangor, Maine]. Really cold. Sure pretty country. Lots of lakes, pine trees, etc. Bangor Maine.

9/5/43 Took off early, enroute to Goose Bay, Labrador. Compass way off. Flew by astro compass. Homed in. Desolate country. No towns at all. Colder than Bangor, Maine.

9/6/43 Bad weather. Have to go northern route. Swung compass before takeoff. Over ocean all the way. Pretty icebergs approaching Greenland. ETA [estimated time of arrival] to the minute from 20 miles left of course.

9/7/43 Took off downhill and with wind for Iceland. Climbed over ice caps at 16,000 feet. Bad weather. Snow, rain, hail. Good sun shots and ETA okay. 5 miles left of course. Northern lights really bright. Polaris [north star] overhead.

9/8/43 Weathered in. Raining. Went to Reykjavik (40,000 population). People all pro-Nazi, unfriendly, backward. Seems 30 years behind U.S. in civilization. Got 13 hours sleep. Beard beginning to grow.

9/9/43 Weathered in. Still raining. Came out to plane and arranged maps and the course to Ireland.

9/10/43 Took off from Iceland at noon. Got to Prestwick, Scotland O.K. Bad weather. ETA 1 minute off. On course all the way. Saw big convoy [ships] off Ireland. Prestwick look good from the air. Hope to get to Glasgow soon.

9/11/43 Stayed last night in old Scottish mansion converted to officer's quarters. People friendly. Their bitter beer tastes lousy. Their ale is good. Left on train for London - 400 miles.

9/12/43 Rode all last night on day coach. Really tired. Got off 20 miles north of London. Taken to temporary quarters. Barracks mixed in with civilian's houses. Well camouflaged.

9/14/43 Staying here today [London area]. The blackouts are really excellent. Can't see a foot in front of our nose. Went to "pub" and played darts tonight.

9/15/43 Moved to day school site. The "huts" are really cold.

9/16/43 Had 8 hours of lecture today. How to escape from Germany and France, ditching procedures, etc. Had coffee and doughnuts from American Red Cross truck. They seem to be doing quite a lot.

9/17/43 8 hours of class again. Went to dance last night. Four girls to every soldier.

9/18/43 All done with all this school. Leaving Bobington this morning. Assigned to 385th group north of here. Going up in G.I. trucks. Packing again. Glad to get settled permanently for a few months. Have 25 missions to fly before we get a rest. Wish they were all over now.

9/19/43 got to 385th OK and were assigned to 550th squadron, "The Red Squadron." Today a B-17 caught fire on the line and blew up with 600 pounds of bombs on and 23,000 gallons of gas. Blew the engines two blocks away. Killed on fireman. Went to 8 hours of class today.

9/20/43 Our squadron raided Paris today bet we went to 8 hours of class. Will go to classes for a few more days before we start to go with our squadron. Our squadron came in at 10:00 tonight and a B-17 ran out of gas while 500 feet up in landing. It crashed and burned. Nobody got out.

9/21/43 Went on a non-operational flight today. Hard to do pilotage. Towns close together and all look alike. Our barracks is 2 miles from mess hall. All I do here is walk all day.

9/22/43 Flew around England today and am flying again tonight. This new "Gee" box for navigation is really OK. Got 20 fixes today and all were good. Can get a fix in 1 minute. It is radar - three stations about 50 miles apart.

9/23/43 Today on the ground a gunner accidentally shot his 50 caliber gun and killed a mechanic nearby. Flew all over England on a practice flight - 3 hours.

9/24/43 Tonight in class, we saw a Short Sterling [British plane] about 10 miles north catch fire, spin, and crash. Saw it out the window. Don't know what the matter was. Don't know whether anyone got out. Won 4 pounds [British currency] on the slot machines tonight. Flew another practice mission today. Tex [Robert Taylor, pilot] is flying his first raid tomorrow.

9/25/43 Germans raided an airport 10 miles north last night. Saw the flashes. We will probably go on the next raid. Glad to get going. Tired of sitting around. Sooner we start the sooner we get home.

9/26/43 Today 3 squadrons went on a practice mission out over the North Sea. We were in the 2nd squadron. The lead navigator took us too far. We ended up 20 miles from Dutch coast - a practice mission, so nobody had any machine guns aboard. Three ME 109s [German fighter planes manufactured by Messerschmitt] attacked the rear squadron and shot down two of our B-17s before anyone knew they were there. The B-17s didn't even have any guns. One blew up in the air and we saw the other one ditch. Someone ought to be court marshaled for not putting guns in the ship or taking us out there. Two B-17s gone and no bombs dropped. Really a mess. had P-47 [American fighter-escort plane] escorts, too. The Germans could have got all 50 B-17s if they had known. Funny in a way - but not for those 20 guys who perished.

9/27/43 Classes, etc.

9/28/43 MISSION #1. Went to Rheims, France, 130 miles into France - an airfield. P-47 protection all the way. Complete undercast. Couldn't see the airfield, so didn't drop bombs. Flak on the way and 10 ME 110s [twin-engine German fighters] who did not attack us on the way back. Coming back over England, a B-17 on our left got out of control and came up under another and its props cut its tail off completely - clean as a knife. Tail went up and the rest of the plane went up, over, and down. They didn't have a chance. The other plane's wing came off and it spun down also. Just like a moving picture! 10 miles east of London. Just then our #2 engine caught fire and we came in on 3 engines. Good landing, however. 24 [missions] to go!

9/29/43 Yesterday we took a B-17 on a test flight. Last night we practiced black-out landings [landings without the benefit of runway or airport lights]. Got stuck in the mud before we took off. Landed at midnight. At 12:30 a B-17 came in and was attacked by a FW 190 [a German fighter manufactured by Focke Wulf] while in the pattern. [The Germans are] Getting bold again! Today it rained again.

9/30/43 Ground school and sleep.

10/1/43 Went on practice flight today. Practiced formation let-downs through the clouds. Supposed to home on radio station near field and then peel off and let down. Five of us homed for 20 minutes. One back of the other in a line. 20 minutes was too long, but we let down anyway. Came out over water 10 miles from the Dutch coast. Germans had jammed our radio station and we were homing on a German station, [we were going] straight into Germany. Loaded our guns in a hurry and headed back for England. 5 minutes more and we would have been well over Holland with probably 50 German fighters waiting for us to home in to them. These Germans are plenty smart!

10/2/43 MISSION #2. Emden, Germany - transportation center in northern Germany. [We were in] 2nd group, high squadron, 23,000 feet. Bombed through clouds using pathfinder leader. 180 B-17s in the raid. P-47 protection at target - flak over target - big red bursts with black smoke, really accurate. Same altitude, on both sides, behind and ahead. None of our group was hit. 15 minutes after leaving target, enemy fighters picked us up after we left target. None got in our formation, however. This flak really scares you to death. Looks so pretty and harmless floating in the air. Tubby [a gunner on board] got a burst in at a 109 that barrel-rolled under us. Two B-17s dropped out of formation with engines feathered [not operating]. Old Tex was really sweating over the target.

10/3/43 Practice mission today. Practiced with the "G" box.

10/4/43 MISSION #3. Hanau, Germany. Frankfurt rubber works. Biggest rubber plant in Germany. 300 miles inland. Nine groups [of B-17s]. We were in the lead group. [Flew for] 2 1/2 hours. Over Germany and France. The lead navigator got lost and bombed St. Dizier, France. Looked just like Hanau, Germany. Fighters (ME 109's) attacked us at the target. Nine 109's attacked us head-on 30 minutes later. We hit a cloud of flak at the same time. We were hit by flak in the wing - a nice hole. The ME 109s peeled off, one by one, and came in head-on. I got some good bursts in at 10:00 [60 degrees left of the nose]. One B-17 feathered a couple of props and dropped down. The ME 109s lined up and took turns on him. They probably got him. 20 minutes later we ran into more flak. Nin more ME 109s attacked from head-on. Think we got a couple of them this time. We then hit the Dutch coast and [flew] across [the English Channel]. One B-17 crashed in England. Shot up too bad. All of the crew bailed out. When we landed we found four holes in our plane - one of which was beside me, just under the copilot's seat. We'll have to go back there [Frankfurt rubber works] again.

10/5/43 Crew went on leave. Short on navigators, so I didn't get to go.

10/6/43 I got my 48 hour leave today but couldn't find the crew in London. Got a good room in London at the Palace Hotel. Saw them bomb London at 10:30 at night. Bomb [landed] 1/2 mile away [and] blew up 6 houses. A.A. [anti-aircraft] guns make an awful noise. People seem quite calm. took a good Turkish bath and feel pretty relaxed now. got back today and my crew were on a mission, so I'm one behind. they went to Bremen, Germany. 10/8/43 Took a Major to London today and flew around London for an hour, trying to find the other airfield. Have to dodge too many balloons and visibility was only about 1 1/2 miles. Had tea at the RAF [Royal Air Force] field and then came home. We were "trailer" [last plane in the formation] this morning on the mission that went to Dieper, Germany. We couldn't get in though. 1900 mile round trip over Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. Not too far from Russia. On the "Alert" [an Alert crew must be ready to fly on very short notice] again tonight.

10/10/43 MISSION #4. Hottest one so far! Munster, Germany. Secondary target was Hamm, Germany. Got up at 0330. Took off at 1130. Left England at 1330. Flew over Rotterdam, Holland and Amsterdam on the way in. Fighters caught us 10 minutes before we hit the I.P. [initial point, a position where a bomber is set up for the bombing run] and followed and attacked us for 50 minutes after we left the target. P-47s picked us up after the excitement was all over. [We] entirely wiped out Munster. Clear and visibility good. [At Munster] Group ahead dropped demolition bombs on the business district and we followed with incendiary bombs. 20 minutes after we left, it was a mass of flames and smoke. Flak was thick. 2 minutes after [we hit] the target they got a B-17. We saw chutes open. 20 minutes later they got another one and 8 chutes opened. 20 minutes later a B-17 spun down. 5 minutes later the fighters got another B-17 directly under us. We saw 4 B-17s go down but think they got more. Saw four ME 109s explode and burst into flames. Marshall [a gunner on board] claimed one. Must have been at least 100 German fighters attacking us. Hitler must really be tearing his hair now. They seem to like to bomb on Sunday. Get them all together in the churches. Our bombs hit in a beautiful pattern - all concentrated and really worth the trouble for a change.

10/11/43 Classes today. Reports still coming in on the raid to Munster yesterday. The 100th bomb group took it [badly]. One B-17 returned out of 16. We heard that 100 B-17s have been lost in the last three raids. We lost two yesterday in our group.

10/12/43 Alerted this morning for a raid on Emden, Germany. Took off at 1030 and climbed to altitude and then they scrubbed the mission and we landed. Fog over England and visibility about 800 yards. Couldn't even see the end of the runway when we took off. Another "red alert" tonight [an alert for possible enemy aircraft raid]. All lights off. A few German bombers came over. They sent a few over every night as a nuisance just to keep us awake.

10/14/43 MISSION #5. Schweinfurt, Germany. Ball bearing works. How we ever got back from this one I still don't understand! Four hours over Germany and three hours under fighter attack. Flak over the target was like a cloud and very accurate. Exactly at our altitude. We were hit three times. Tail, wing, and glass nose broken. Kick off was at 1030. Left England at 1330. [Three hours required to get all of the bombers to take off and form up before flying to the target]. P-47 escort 20 miles inside Germany. When they left, the ME 109s started attacking and continued for four hours. We were "tail-end-Charlie" [the plane at the end of the flight] today, in "Purple Heart Corner" [a reference to the likelihood of being injured]. Carried incendiaries. Clear over target and when we left it was a huge mass of flames. The whole town was burning. Flames 500 feet high. Two B-17s crashed and burned in a forest. JU 88s [Junkers JU 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft] were sitting out and firing rockets at us. They had everything up today [every available German fighter was flying], JU88s, ME 109s, ME 210s. 30 minutes later, a B-17 dropped down and two fighters went down after him. 20 minutes later, he came out of a cloud with his engines smoking. They [the crew] all bailed out. Our number 1 engine ignition system was shot out, and it sounded like a washing machine. I'm afraid things are going to be tough from now on. No more "milk" runs. [Easy missions].

10/15/43 Alerted but the mission was scrubbed. Ground school in the afternoon. Report from Wing headquarters. About the Schweinfurt raid was that 60 B-17s were lost. Highest loss on record so far for a single raid.

10/16/43 Ground school today. Tubby and I went to Stow Market to the show, and of course while we were there, the Germans raided close by.

10/17/43 Went to a dance at the Officer's Club. Got to bed at 0100 and they got us up for a raid on Durben, Germany. Climbed up to 25,000 feet and clouds still above us. Solid all the way. Couldn't see a thing before dawn. Our plane wouldn't climb any more and stalled so we had to come back. raining when we got back and visibility about 500 feet. When we got on the ground, found out they had scrubbed the mission on account of weather so that rest also had to come back.

10/18/43 MISSION #6. Durben, Germany. A town of 50,000 people. Not much military importance. Just wanted to wipe out the town. Morale raid, I guess. Got up at 0600, took off at 1000, climbed to 27,000 feet. Left England at 1330. Minus 44 degrees below zero. The nose [glass] was completely frozen over. Couldn't see a thing. My electric suit really worked well. visibility poor and clouds all the way. Weather got worse and worse, and when we were 20 minutes from the target they scrubbed the mission and turned around to come home. Might as well have gone on to target. Pretty risky flying formation in clouds. Counted as a mission even though we didn't drop our bombs. Just as hard as a mission. Really getting anxious to raid - weather or no weather. Robby and crew went to the "rest home" last week [after] 13 missions.

10/19/43 Ground school and "red alert" tonight. Germans bombed field north of here.

10/20/43 MISSION #7. Duren, Germany. Someone was praying hard for us today. Left England at 1230 - 28,000 feet - minus 44 degrees below zero. Spit [British Spitfire fighter airplane] escort. 20 minutes before the target, our number 4 engine ran away and we couldn't feather it. Couldn't hold our altitude or stay in formation. We dropped down and turned back. 3 minutes later, four ME 109s picked us up. We dove down to 12,000 feet, trying to get away. Got into all the clouds we could. [We did] vertical back, dives, climbs, etc. the fighters came in at 5, 6, and 7 o'clock on our tail, making several passes. Riggs said he saw one explode and another go down in smoke. Couldn't get much speed having only three engines and a head wind. We dropped all our bombs in a field near Arras, France in order to get more speed. We zig-zagged for the coast. Flak picked us up and followed us for 2 or 3 minutes, but did not hit us. We finally hit the coast and 20 minutes later hit the English coast. Our tail gunner, Faber, was wounded. A 20mm [machine gun bullet] hit the tail. [Faber had] bullets in his leg, buttocks, and side. Not much bleeding, so no first aid necessary. Turned north up the coast for home, but our number 4 engine was burning, so we landed at the nearest field, Dettling, and RAF Spitfire field, 5 miles south of the Thames River near London. When we stopped rolling on landing, the engine was really spurting out fire. Tired to put it out with fire extinguishers that we had, but couldn't. The field fire truck finally put it out. One tire was flat when we landed - bullet through it. Plane was riddled with holes. Must have been 200 to 300 holes, 20mm [mostly] and cannon holes, (maybe 7 or 8) in it. Can't see how the tail and waist gunners got back alive. Holes within inches of them - dozens of them. One 20mm [round] went through our bomb bay with our 12 incendiary bombs still there. Nose was not shot up much as they all attacked from the tail. "Skinny" Frier turned back 10 minutes after we did and evidently went down as they haven't heard from him. He was in our squadron. Three gunners in our group died on the raid from anoxia [oxygen deprivation]. Their oxygen tubes came loose and they didn't know it. Moral: stay in formation, even if you have to get out and push.

10/21/43 Called our base, Great Ashfield, and they said they would pick us up today. English really treated us well. Tea in bed in the morning, tea at 1000, lunch, tea at 1600, supper, coffee after dinner. Fireplace in every room. They think the "Forts" [B-17 Stratofortresses] are really O.K. Showed about 50 guys through our plane. All the clothes I had were my electric suit and boots.

10/22/43 Today they sent a plane down for us. Took off, buzzed the field, and came home.

10/23/43 Rained all day. Practice mission today. Got our rations today.

10/24/43 Went to dance at club last night. No alert so we danced until 0200. Big time was had by all. Slept to noon today. Presentation of awards at 1300. Practice mission at 1530. Took some English air cadets with us for the ride. All passes cancelled starting tomorrow. Something big in the air. Been having it too easy lately.

10/25/43 Slept till 1000. Practice mission this afternoon. We bombed in the North Sea. Group of 24's [B-24 Liberator bombers] with us. Tubby wasn't with us so I was navigator and bombardier, both. Toggled then out OK [released bombs successfully]. Tubby learning some navigation also, everyone restricted to base, no leaves or passes. Something is going to pop soon. Everyone can feel it in the air.

10/26/43 Had a lecture today on security. Told us that the Germans knew 4 hours before the Schweinfurst raid that we were coming. Leak somewhere. Accounts for the high loss. Went to show tonight. No alert.

10/27/43 On alert, but they cancelled it. Fogs are really here now. Can't see 50 feet ahead.

10/28/43 Had a good bath today. Doesn't feel right. Too clean! Stand-by alert, but scrubbed it so we slept until noon. Heavy fog. Went to Bury St. Edmonds to the dance.

10/29/43 Ground school today. Intelligence tells us German morale is cracking. I haven't seen any sign of crack yet. Fog again and no flying. Fog hangs right on the ground.

10/30/43 Got up at 0500. Briefed at 0600. Took off at 0800. Target was Ludwigshafen, Germany in "Happy Valley" outside of Berlin - the most heavily protected area in Germany. A mass of flak guns. Climbed through the fog and clouds. 1 hour later they scrubbed the raid. Our field was closed, so they directed us to a field 50 miles north - Docking, and RAF field. We split up and we went out in the North Sea and dropped our bombs. We came back to Docking and landed. Sod field and short. got down O.K. with about 500 foot ceiling. three forts came in before us and all three cracked up. Two went into the ditch at the end of the runway, and one couldn't get his wheels down and had to make a belly landing. plowed up a good row. Nobody hurt. We all got in the radio room on landing [the safest place in the plane during a crash] but it was a good landing and got stopped in time. Landed at 1400. Lucky we didn't go to Germany as none of us would have had enough gas left to look for a field when we got home. Those lucky enough to get home, that is. Target was a large oil works. Those lucky enough to get home, that is. Target was a large oil works. Went in to the town of Docking in our flying clothes and went to the local Saturday night dance. Stayed in a "well house" for officers. RAF really have it nice. From now on, I'm going to take clothes and shaving gear [on missions].

10/31/43 Slept until 1130. The W.A.F.E.'s (girls) woke us up, shined our shoes. Could hardly get out of bed for their running in and out of the room. Took off for home at 1430 and landed at Great Ashfield at 1500. Went to show tonight.

11/1/43 Squadron chicken feed tonight. 1 pound apiece! I ate 7 legs and 9 thighs along with 6 beers, 3 cups of coffee, 5 pieces of bread, and 2 cigars. Slept until 1130. Swung a flux-gate compass. Played volley ball and tough football. Went to the show and then to the chicken feed.

11/2/43 Practiced on the G box [new navigation device] this morning. Shot skeet after dinner and then went to matinee show. Had ice cream for supper. No alert tonight. Have to get used to this combat all over again if we don't go on a mission soon. Haven't seen the sun in ten days.

11/3/43 MISSION #8. Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Target was submarine pens and sub construction docks. Pathfinder mission [bombers are led by a plane that shows them the way] through clouds. Briefed at 0730. Took off at 0930. Left England at 1130. G box cut out at 0480 feet. P-47 and P-38 escort all the way. 500-600 B-17s on raid. Also a group of B-24s. First raid the B-24s have gone on. Biggest raid so far in the ETO [European Theater of Operations]. Over 1,000 planes involved. Saw only a few German fighters and were not bothered much by them. Flak over the target was not too thick, but very accurate. 1 minute after bombs away a Fort [B-17] in the group above us was hit by flak in the gas tank and dove straight down, burning. Just before it went into the undercast, it exploded into a million pieces. Nobody got out. 1 minute later another B-17 went down through the clouds with a German fighter on its tail. 90 miles from the English coast we found out our gas line to our number 1 engine had been hit by flak and was losing gas fast. About 10 more miles, the engine quit, so we had to drop out of formation. Lucky we were over North Atlantic and not Germany. Number two engine was spitting smoke. We made it home O.K. along with the three engines. It was a good show. Flares, AA guns, etc. Just like 4th of July display. We saw 6 German bombers burn and go down. They must have had a lot of bombers over tonight. They got the power supply, so we had no lights here. Went to the dance at the club after the red alert was over. Good punch to drink.

11/4/43 Alerted and got up at 0530. Target was an oil refinery in the Ruhr Valley in Germany. Happy Valley mission was scrubbed though on account of weather. P/W [Pratt & Whitney?] lecture this afternoon. On alert tonight.

11/5/43 Briefed at 0600 for Gilshenkirchen, Germany, in the Ruhr Valley. Oil refineries. Took off at 0830. Left England at 1130 in the composite group. Poor formation and couldn't find a spot. Number 2 engine was acting up at 29,000 feet. Got to the Dutch coast and we lost all our oil in number 3 engine. Had to turn it off and abort. Came back on 3 engines, alone, and landed at 1400. We had a hole in our wing. Don't know where it came from as we hadn't hit flak or fighters when we aborted.

11/6/43 Class in the morning. Got our 48 hour pass at noon. Went to London with crew. Got a swell room in the Russell Hotel. Went to Esquire Club with Tubby, Lap, and Tex.

11/7/43 Went to Watford at noon. Back to London and to dance at the Paramount. Tex had a date with a girl named Anne. Saw the change of guards at Buckingham Palace in morning. Last night the Germans dropped a bomb on a large dance hall here in London and almost 100 people were killed. Might have been their new radio-controlled dive glider as no one heard the plane.

11/8/43 Got up at 1030. Went to stage show "foolish, but it's fun." Caught 1800 train to Ipswich and got back to base at 2230.

11/9/43 Went on practice bombing range today, west of London. Shot skeet and played touch foot ball this afternoon. "Old 662" [tail number of B-17] is back in shape. Two new engines and two new superchargers. $60,000 was the cost. Have to sell a few more bonds in old U.S.A. Alerted tonight.

11/10/43 Ditching procedures this morning [Classroom subject]. Practice formation mission this afternoon at 20,000 feet. Alerted tonight. Good radio program tonight from Calais. German war news, etc.

11/11/43 MISSION #9. Munster, Germany. Town of 40,000. Railroad center and civilians. Took off at 0930. Left England at 1205. We were #2 position in the lead group. Carried thirty-eight 100 pound incendiary bombs. Our lead ship called us up and told us to take over as their instruments were out. We took over the lead then. Munster had a large cloud which completely covered the town. However, we identified the town by tracks and roads coming out from the north. Finally, with 3 minutes to go, we leveled out on our bomb run and Tubby toggled [released] them out when he thought we would be over the town. the entire wing behind us dropped their bombs on our lead. We couldn't see the town, but could see a few houses to north of town. Flak was fairly heavy and very accurate. Our ship was hit 10 times by flak. Flak hit behind me about 2 feet and tore up my jack box and interphone [communications panel]. Enroute back to England, our P-47 escort left us at Rotterdam, Holland and 9 German fighters attacked the group behind us. In one pass they got two forts [B-17 Stratofortresses]. they caught fire and exploded. Two chutes came out from one. A few minutes later they got two more forts from the same group. One blew up and the other dove down. Got to English coast O.K. and landed at 1630. Really sweating it out as to whether it was Munster that we bombed. However, pictures tonight showed it was Munster. Hope we hit the M.P.I. [target] Will find out tomorrow at wing critique. Will be a good break for Tubby if we did.

11/12/43 This morning Tubby and I got to go to wing critique. The colonels, majors, etc. were very well pleased. They said our crew as evidently very much on the ball to be able to take over on such a short notice, with the target only 5 minutes away and still hit the target, even though it was 10/10 covered by clouds. tomorrow we go to division critique and tell the general how we did it. Tubby may get the DFC [Distinguished Flying Cross medal].

11/13/43 Slept till noon. Went to dance last night at club. Early this morning the group went on raid to Bremen, Germany. Only two crews out of squadron had to go. First raid since we have been here that we did not have to go. Weather was bad and nine out of our group aborted. Only about 40 forts finally left and when they got near Bremen, about 200 German fighters ran them off. They didn't hit the target. Jennings flew our ship, "662" and aborted over Germany, so got shot up pretty bad. 52 below zero today at altitude. They seem bound and determined to send us on raids no matter what the weather. General Arnold said over radio that there were plenty of replacements in U.S. in case of heavy loss of crews here. Nice! This afternoon we test-hopped a plane. Lap and I flew and Tex did the navigation in the nose. Had a lot of fun. Going to start dropping time bombs on Germany. [They] go off from 15 minutes to 36 hours after dropped.

11/14/43 Ground school and went to division critique. Reviewed the Duren, Munster, and Bremen raids. Munster raid was the only on that hit the target. The 385th led it!

11/15/43 Ground school and we went on practice flight.

11/16/43 Woke up at 0200. Briefed at 0300 and took off at 0600. for a hydrogen plant in Norway. Assembled over Splasher before it was light. Just as we got to assembly point, our #3 engine went out and it ran away [uncontrollable high speed operation]. A few minutes later it caught on fire. Not too large a fire, so we stayed with it headed for home and started letting down. About 6,000 feet, we hit a thunderhead. the plane went out of control. Diving at 2,000 feet per minute and still stalling at 110 miles per hour. Almost went over on its back at 1,000 feet. Tex and Lap got it level for a minute and rang the bell to abandon the ship. tubby and five of the gunners bailed out of the waist [emergency exit hatch at the middle of the fuselage]. I got to the escape hatch in the nose, got on my hands and knees, and tried to dive out. Almost got out but my winter helmet caught on the side of the hatch. I climbed back in, screwed by nerves up again, took off my helmet, and dove again. This time my head and arms and shoulders got out but my backpack caught on the side of the hatch and I stuck. I climbed back in, looking at the altimeter and since were were still at 900 feet, I tried once more. This time I hit my head on side of hatch and cut it, so I climbed back in and gave up. Lap and Tex seemed to have the ship fairly well under control by then, so Foster and I stayed. The burning engine could have exploded any minute, but it didn't. We flew 10 miles out in the channel and dropped our six 1,000 pound demolition bombs, then couldn't close our bomb bay doors afterwards. Hunted for 30 minutes for an open field and finally found a P-47 field near Ipswich. Landed and jumped out and put out the fire in the engine. Received word later that all that bailed out were safe. Their chutes had hardly opened before they hit the ground. Tubby and Riggs sprained their ankles. Lap and Tex did a good job in keeping the ship [flying] in that thunderstorm.

11/17/43 Curtis and I went to club last night and then to Stowmarket. Classes this morning. Jennings and crew went to rest home [rest and relaxation site] today.

11/18/43 Ground school and practice mission. Alert tonight.

11/19/43 MISSION #10. Gilschencherk, Germany, in the Ruhr Valley. Rail junction and business district of town. 1,000 flak guns there. Took off at 0830. Left English coast at 1200. Three divisions. Thirty-six 1,000 pound incendiary bombs. Followed pathfinder plane [a plane with special navigation equipment to guide bombers]. 10/10 undercast over Germany. Flew for an hour over Germany and pathfinder ship couldn't find the target, so we dumped our bombs on a small town and came home. The town we dropped on turned out to be a town in Holland. Not so good! P-47 escort. No fighters and little flak. Tubby and Lap did not go with us. Arthur was on his first mission in nose with me and pretty nervous.

11/20/43 Swung compass this morning. [A "compass rose" has major compass points painted on the airport. The plane sits over the center of the compass rose, pointed along one of the compass lines. The compass inside the plane is adjusted to match the direction.] 2 hour practice mission this afternoon.

11/21/43 Slept till 1030. Swung D.R. [dead reckoning] compass this afternoon and at 1800 they told us we had a 48 hour pass starting at midnight. We got ready and went to Stowmarket and stayed all night to get off the base.

11/22/43 Went to London from Stowmarket and got rooms at the Bonnington Hotel. Went to stage show this afternoon, "Strike a New Note," danced tonight at a dinner dance at the Piccadilly Hotel.

11/23/43 Went to the zoo this morning and to show this afternoon, "For Whom the Bell Tolls." Caught train at 1800 from Stowmarket.

11/24/43 Classes this morning. Last night the boys said they were briefed yesterday morning for Berlin, Germany, but the mission was scrubbed. M.P.I. [target] was the Air Ministry Building in the center of Berlin. That's the raid we have been expecting for a long time, but not exactly looking forward to it.

11/25/43 Thanksgiving! I'm thankful we didn't go to Berlin as we all expected to do. After our two-hour practice mission this morning had wine, turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie, etc. for dinner. Raining tonight. The British do not celebrate Thanksgiving. Seems strange. These Germans are really clever to attract British listeners. Best swing music I've heard since leaving the USA.

11/26/43 MISSION #11. Paris, France. Another ball bearing works in the center of Paris. Carried six 1,000 pound demolition bombs. Only one wing going. Our group led. We flew in #2 position in lead squadron. Rest of the wings went to Bremen, Germany. Briefed at 0300. Took off at 0630 and left England at 1030 at 23,000 feet. 35 degrees below zero and an 85 mile per hour tail wind. Supposed to have escort P-47s and Spits [British Spitfire fighter plane]. Got to I.P. [initial point for final bomb run] at 1115 and Paris was completely covered by clouds. Only thing visible was Eiffel Tower sticking up through the clouds. Did not drop our bombs and headed home. 150 German fighters picked us up. We had 80 P-47s at the time which helped a lot, but the Germans were eager, determined, and plenty smart today, so got in plenty. Flak hit one fort at Paris which then dove down and crashed into another. 2 minutes later, fighters knocked a fort out and followed it down. 2 minutes later another fort went down burning with no chutes out. About 5 minutes later another fort went down burning and exploded in a forest. Saw 3 chutes float past and farther on another B-17 burning on the ground. I got 3 good shots from right nose gun. Hutch [pilot of another B-17] dropped out at the French coast with two feathered engines but got back to England OK. We got to England at 1200 and home at 1245. Germans seem to have as much or more than they had three months ago. Planes looked new and pilots were plenty smart coming out of the sun, etc. Saw some good dog fights between P-47s and ME 109s.

11/27/43 Ground school. Had a bad cold. Feels like the flu.

11/28/43 Slept until noon. Ground school this afternoon. Club tonight. Raining and mud is knee deep everywhere.

11/29/43 Slept till noon. Tested a ship this afternoon at altitude with Robby. Big alert tonight. Had a raid today on Bremen. Our squadron did not fly. They lost two crews from our group today. Fighters downed them.

11/30/43 MISSION #12. Briefed at 0300 for Solenger, Germany. Town of 150,000. M.P.I. [target] was business district. Took off at 0800 in the rain and climbed for 12,000 feet before we broke out of clouds. Assembled over #7 at 19,000. Capt. Smith's ship caught on fire. Their flares started it and 6 gunners bailed out. One jumped without his chute and was killed. Two officers couldn't get out and crashed. Smith jumped but was burned badly. 10 ships from our group aborted. We finally flew to the Dutch coast and only had four ships, so came home. 44 degrees below. Bomb bay door frozen, guns frozen. Clouds clear up to 30,000 feet over Germany. Two of our ships went down in yesterday's raid. One ran out of gas and the other [was] shot down. Everyone pretty much beaten tonight. Losing some good crews and not hitting anything.

12/1/43 Slept till noon. Bought clothes from travelling PX [post exchange] this afternoon. Sat around stove tonight.

12/2/43 Classes.

12/3/43 Classes then got 48 hour pass. Got to London at 2100. Went to Orchard Club. Stayed at Strand Palace [hotel].

12/4/43 Stage show and ran across Tommy Majors.

12/5/43 Went down to Jew Street. Went to Stowmarket at 1430 and back to base.

12/6/43 No classes or flying. Rain and fog.

12/7/43 No classes or flying. Rain and fog and mud.

12/8/43 Got Air Medal today. Rain and fog. Went to Stowmarket last night. Maryonovich and crew from our squadron went down in last raid. Classes this morning. Rain and fog.

12/9/43 Classes this morning. Clear tonight with a full moon. Germans came over about 2000 and bombed all around us. They dropped flares which lighted up the countryside. One plane was shot down in flames about 6 miles from there. Exploded when it hit the ground. Everyone cheered, but an hour later we found out it was a British Beaufighter that was shot down. One man got out. Alert tonight.

12/10/43 The group went to Emden, Germany today. Jennings and crew was the only one in our squadron to fly. He went down over the target. Nobody saw any chutes. However, they might have got out. First crew in our barracks to go down. We thought we might all get through together. The crew that went down: Jennings - pilot; Stragglon - navigator; Barger - co-pilot; Kemp - bombardier.

12/11/43 Full moon and clear. On alert tonight. Test hopped a ship today. Robby's ship.

12/12/43 MISSION #13. Kiel, Germany. Germany's north sea fleet's harbor. City of 250,000. Submarine pens, etc. Took off at 0830. Left England at 1045. Our group led our division. We carried ten 500 pound demolition bombs. Three divisions went to Kiel and two went to Bremen 20 minutes ahead of us. [We flew] 350 miles over the North Sea. Germany was closed over so the pathfinder was used. Went by Hamburg which had a cloud of flak but we were out of range. Dropped our bombs on pathfinder [when pathfinder aircraft dropped its bombs] over Kiel. Flak was lighter than we expected and we only saw 7 or 8 JU88s who attacked our low squadron. Got back to base at 1530. Got off easy considering it was Tubby and my 13th raid on the 13th day of the month [sic].

12/13/43 Ground school and helped Slade swing a compass. Alerted for Berlin, but it was called off.

12/14/43 Target identification [class] this morning. Alerted tonight.

12/15/43 MISSION #14. Bremen, Germany. Rail center and manufacturing center. Pathfinder mission with mixed load of incendiary and demolition bombs. Wing 394 leading our wing. We were "tail-end-Charlie" in number 6 position of high squadron. Briefed at 0500. Took off at 0845 and climbed through 5,000 feet of fog and clouds. Assembled over Splasher number 7 and left England at 1030. Had a 30 minute delay over North Sea and circled to kill time. Got back on schedule and left again. Hit a high layer of cirrus clouds near Germany and had to go around it. Came back and made landfall O.K. Went over Bremen at 1310 and dropped bombs through clouds. Were in flak for 8 minutes. [Flak] tracked us along complete undercast the whole trip. Saw few fighters. Had no attacks. German fighters couldn't get off the ground, evidently. Hit flak at Frisian Islands in Holland on way out. Let down through fog and clouds over [Splasher] number 7, individually, and came home along with none too much gas left. Landed at 1530.

12/16/43 Ground school. Bad weather. Fog, rain, low ceiling.

12/17/43 Ground school. Bad weather.

12/18/43 Rain. Bad weather. Practice mission was scrubbed.

12/19/43 MISSION #15. Bremen, Germany. Carried 36 incendiary bombs. M.P.I. [target] was the business district. Bremen is second biggest inland port of Germany. Briefed at 0400. Couldn't get old "662" started so had to change to Piccadilly Queen [another B-17] at the last minute. Took off at 0830. Left England at 1030 at 20,000 feet. 35 degrees below [zero]. Clouds cleared up over the continent. We had number 6 position in lead squadron. The low squadron kept coming up under us so close that we had to leave the group on the I.P. [initial point of bombing run] and go over the target behind our group. Bremen was clear except for a smoke screen they put up too late. Every division hit Bremen square in the city. Our group bombardier synchronized on a large church. When we left, the city was burning amid a cloud of smoke. Two of our bombs failed to drop and were lying in the bomb bays with the pins out. Tubby went back and put the pins back in and we dropped them in the North Sea. G box [a navigation device] and radio were out. Went in straight over Germany with ground speed of 300 miles per hour and 80 mile per hour [tail] wind. Came back over North Sea against wind with ground speed of 130 miles per hour. Landed at 1530. Clear today and on another alert tonight.

12/20/43 Went on practice mission this morning. Lap flew the ship with a new co-pilot. He did O.K. Flew over clouds and let down on way back over the "wash." Came home under the clouds at about 100 to 200 feet which really had us sweating at times, especially in the rough air.

12/21/43 Our group raided Munster, Germany today. Red squadron did not fly. However, they got our crew up to fly the weather plane. We took off two hours before the group did and sent back weather reports until after they had gone. Climbed through the clouds and broke out at 5,000 feet and went down to Splasher number 7 and reported weather there. Let down at Ipswich and came home.

12/22/43 Classes.

12/23/43 MISSION #16. Germany's new secret weapon. The long range rocket guns. Our [target] gun installation was in a patch of woods a few miles south of St. Omer, France, 20 miles from the channel. Carried sixteen 200 pound demolition bombs. Briefed at 0830. Took off at 1130. Left England at 1330. At I.P. our group peeled off by squadrons and went over target in squadrons. Had plenty of fighter support and therefore saw no German fighters. Didn't find the woods the first time over, so had to circle around and make another bomb run. The second time over, the flak was getting awfully accurate. We got a nice hole in our tail. Dropped bombs on target the second run and were sure we destroyed the rocket gun if there was one there. Got back to base at 1600 and visibility was about 1 mile. Had to circle the field while Robby landed. He had his rudder controls shot away and landed on A.F.C.E. [?] Could hardly see runways so had to circle until 1730 and then landed by flares, fires, etc. Thought this one would be a milk run, but it didn't turn out to be so.

12/25/43 Christmas! Can't understand why they didn't make us fly. Went to Stowmarket.

12/26/43 No flying. Sure go in for mistletoe here on Christmas.

12/27/43 Classes. On alert tonight.

12/28/43 Practiced landings with some B-26 pilots that Tex flew with this morning. This afternoon we flew on practice mission for 3 hours.

12/29/43 Went on 48 hour pass. Went to Duxford, a P-47 base near Cambridge. Stayed with Tom Majors. He is supply officer. I got leather boots, leather jacket, flying suit, and a RAF helmet.

12/30/43 Went to Ipswich to shows.

12/31/43 [Went to] Stowmarket.

1/1/44 Back at base. Got haircut. Got paid and am packing up to leave for rest home tomorrow at Bournemouth, England on south coast.

1/2/44 Rest home at Bournemouth. Looked like an American city. New buildings, wide streets, etc. Went to "This is the Army" [movie], tea dances, shows, swimming, sunning on the beach, etc. Ran across Kornman at Ambassador Hotel. Slept until 12 every morning. Got back to base today, minus 30 pounds, but it was worth it, I hope. Morris and crew crashed taking off last week. All were killed except tail gunner who is half-dead. Proctor was flying with them as navigator.

1/3/44 Group went to Brunswick, Germany. We did not go. Half of the groups were called back when near the target and half went in. Some got lost and it's rumored that some went over Berlin. As a result, 59 forts [B-17s] were lost. Plenty of German fighters were over there. Colonel Bowman, our former C.O. [commanding officer] in the phases at "wash" went down. It was his second mission.

1/4/44 Slept until noon. Helped Slade swing compass on his plane. Got two oak leaf clusters tonight at awards presentation.

1/5/44 Slept until noon. Took bath. No classes. Raining and cold.

1/6/44 Classes.

1/7/44 Alerted at 0230 for Halberstack, Germany. Mission scrubbed during navigation briefing. Went back to bed at 0600. At 1030 we got up for practice mission. Mission scrubbed. Heavy fog.

1/8/44 Classes. Heavy fog.

1/9/44 Classes. Cleaned guns, etc. Raining and on alert.

1/10/44 Mission scrubbed last night at midnight. On another alert tonight. Bell got back from Sweden tonight. The other nine members of crew are "P.W." [prisoners of war]. He crash-landed in Denmark. Was his fourth mission. Came over with us.

1/11/44 Briefed at 0730. For same installations in France. Got out to ship and just got guns in ship when the mission was scrubbed. On alert.

1/12/44 MISSION #17. Briefed at 1000 for same installations in France. Left England at 1400. Got to I.P. [initial point on bombing run] okay and peeled off by squadrons. We were low squadron. Target was an orchard. 12,000 feet and twelve 500 pound demolition bombs. Missed target the first time. Covered by clouds. We made five bomb runs and couldn't find the orchard. Germans were shooting rockets at us from the ground. The third time around we saw two forts [B-17s] go down. [From one B-17] one chute opened, one [B-17] hit the ground and exploded. Fourth time around two B-24s went down [shot down] by German fighters. No chutes opened. Saw no friendly escort. After the fifth run we figured it was time to get out, so we left and brought our bombs back. No squadrons in either of our groups dropped their bombs. Landed at 1700.

1/13/44 Ground school. On alert tonight.

1/14/44 Ground school. 48 hour pass at noon. Went to Stowmarket and Ipswich.

1/15/44 Got us up at 0200. We were briefed for Frankfurt, Germany in the Ruhr Valley. Carrying 36 incendiary bombs. Mission was scrubbed half an hour before takeoff. Was O.G. [?] tonight and had to take liberty run to Stowmarket. Went to show while there.

1/16/44 Got some link trainer time this morning. Worked in gym this afternoon and played touch football. At 1230 a gas truck blew up on the line. At 1430 a B-24 crashed a few miles from here. They found 5 bodies in the wreckage. [I] think four jumped out. Never a dull moment.

1/17/44 Ground school. Clear and warm today. On big alert tonight.

1/18/44 MISSION #18. Frankfurt, Germany. M.P.I. [target] business section of town. City of 500,000 people. Carried 38 incendiary bombs. [We] were number 2 in lead squadron in high group. Pathfinder mission [squadrons were guided by a navigation plane to the target]. Briefed at 0230. Took off at 0630 in the dark and had to climb through clouds and assemble at 18,000 feet. Left England at 0900. got to I.P. and we threw out the carpet (aluminum filings to throw off the radar), dropped bombs using the pathfinder, and pretty sure we hit the city. Got past before they could get the flak up. Were attacked by at least 100 German fighters from target on [way back to England] for about one hour. No escort showed up. A ME109 head-on with a fort [B-17] over target. Fighter blew up and fort went down. 5 minutes later Bostwick went down. 5 chutes opened. 10 minutes later a fort broke apart. A few minutes later a fort went over on his back and went straight down. 15 minutes later, in the group next to us, on fort came up under another and cut its tail completely off. We saw two bodies fly out. It spun down and one chute finally got out. The other plane tore its wing off and went down. Didn't see any chutes. A while later a fort pulled out a little and one chute came out. It struggled along and finally came back. Couldn't figure it out. P-47s finally arrived. Got back to England at 1330. Let down through the clouds on our splasher [radio beacon receiver]. We lost 3 planes from our squadron. German fighters sure looked new and all painted up red and black. Came straight through the groups, also.

1/19/44 MISSION #19. Braunsweig, Germany. City of 500,000 population. 100 miles west of Berlin. Carried twelve 500 pound demolition bombs. Pathfinder mission with colonel Van leading. Got up at 0200. Took off at 0800. Left England at 1000 from Clacton-on-the-sea. Got to Dutch coast and encountered a large bank of clouds which was had to detour around to the north. Picked up P-47s and P-38s half way in. Ran into cloud banks which we had to fly through. Went over target at 1215 while still in clouds. Flak was light, mixed in with the clouds. During the bomb run, the high squadron was directly over us and we had to move around to prevent their dropping on us. Scared us plenty. We broke out of clouds about 10 minutes later. One fort dropped down on the deck and 5 German fighters jumped him, but P-38s came to the rescue before the got him. 30 miles out from the Dutch coast, we saw an air sea rescue boat heading east to pick up some crew. Landed at 1430. We lost one plane. He dropped out over Braunsweig and didn't come back. On alert tonight.

1/21/44 Alerted and briefed for Frankfurt, Germany. Got up at 0200. They scrubbed the mission after we were out in the plane and only 30 minutes before takeoff. Got paid today! On alert tonight.

1/22/44 Briefed for Frankfurt, Germany. Got up at 0200. Briefed at 0300. Got out to plane and mission was scrubbed half an hour before takeoff. Glad it was as there were three layers of clouds which went up to 16,000 feet.

1/23/44 Swung compass on our ship, old 966. Wing reported on Frankfurt raid that we lost 32 planes. Killed approximately 6,000 German civilians. 30 crew members came back dead and 300 injured.

1/24/44 MISSION #20. Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Got up at 0200 and briefed at 0330. Took off at 0730 and climbed through clouds in the dark. Joined wrong group. Left it and finally found our own group. Target was center of town. We carried ten 500 pound demolition bombs. [We] were in number 2 position of lead squadron. Assembled at 22,000 feet over the field. Left England at 1005 and were over target at 1120. Flak was inaccurate and no German fighters. had P-47, P-38, and P-51 escort. Flew at 28,000 feet and 45 degrees below zero. Did not go over North Sea far enough after leaving target. Turned west too soon and picked up flak from the Frisian Islands. There were three layers of clouds up to 30,000 feet. We let down through clouds on way back in formation and two planes in our "B" group collided. [I] think one [plane] got back. Came back last 100 miles at 1,000 feet over the sea. Landed at 1415. Rather have [German] fighters and flak than to sweat out this weather.

2/4/44 MISSION #21. Frankfurt, Germany. Got us up at 0300. Briefed at 0400. Took off at 0800 and made a clear assembly [good organization of planes in squadrons in preparation to leave England and fly to target]. We carried ten 500 pound demolition bombs. [We] were in number 2 position in high squadron and the second wing over target. M.P.I. [target] was the old business district of town. Left England from Clacton-on-the-sea again at 1004. On the way in we got north of course and went over the Ruhr Valley. We were in heavy flak for 6 minutes. One fort [B-17] on our left got hit and went down, burning. It exploded just before it hit the clouds. A few minutes later another fort got hit and burned. It flew straight for a few minutes and then spun down. Over the target the flak was heavy and accurate. 10/10 undercast [solid clouds, below] so we dropped on the pathfinder plane [dropped bombs when the pathfinder plane dropped its bombs]. [The pathfinder planes had special navigation equipment, perhaps radar, that enabled them to navigate and find the target in cloudy conditions]. On the way back, the group ahead again got to the right of the course and led us directly over the Ruhr Valley once more. We were in it for 5 minutes this time. It was more accurate this time, and at exactly our altitude. [We] came out 10 miles south of Rotterdam and got back to England an hour later. Landed at 1500. Let down over our splasher [navigation radio beacon] through 2,000 feet of clouds. We lost one plane. He aborted about 50 miles inland and didn't come back. Had P-38, P-47, and P-51 escort and didn't have any enemy attack.

2/5/44 Our squadron did not fly today. The group went to a Focke Wulf factory in southern France. Easy raid, so, of course, we didn't get to go! They had no fighters and no flak. We lost two crews in yesterday's raid, instead of one, as we had thought. Selby finished today. Soubart finished his 25 mission yesterday. Good for them!

2/21/44 We were bombing Hamburg on my next to the last mission, number 24, at 25,000 feet. Over the target we were hit by flak from the ground which knocked two engines out. We had to leave the formation and drop down and back. 10 minutes later, two German fighter planes spotted us and attacked us head-on. They knocked one more engine out. We then were at 6,000 feet and going down 1,000 feet per minute with one engine on fire. The German fighter planes were circling and getting ready for the kill, so we decided that if we kept flying we would never make to back to England and would have to ditch in the channel, which in the winter is suicide. We all bailed out through the bomb bay. I was fairly sure we were over Holland and not Germany.

I hit the ground and hid my parachute, opened my escape kit, got my compass and silk maps out and started walking southwest. I walked to the nearest farm house and the lady there showed me where I was on the map. I then walked for four hours and met a Dutchman on a bicycle who I stopped and when he finally realized who I was put me in a ditch to hide and came back for me at 10:00 PM. He then took me into a town to a house where I stayed one week. While I was there, they gave me civilian clothes and a false I.D. card. I was a druggist from Amsterdam.

I was told to go to Spain where I would be free. I traveled by train following a Dutchman. I stayed at night with Safe Dutch people. I had to walk across the Holland-Belgium border and stayed one week in a haystack. I got as far as Liege, Belgium when the Allied Invasion started so they told me to stay put and wait for the U.S. Army to arrive. I stayed in Liege for two months waiting for the U.S. First Army to arrive. Then I was free.

I had many interesting experiences while traveling around. At one train station I ate dinner with two German soldiers, and I never said a word. Crossing river bridges was always an experience. They had German guard houses on both sides and every 10 to 15 people were pulled in and interrogated. I finally figured it out so I timed it so I was always the first or second to go by the guard house. I stayed in many towns in Holland. Roemont, Venlo, Endhoven, Ermelo. In Rooermond I stayed one month in a house without looking out of a window for the whole time.

From Liege, I rode an Army truck to Paris where I was flown back to London. In London I was promoted one rank, given $1,500 in back pay, a new uniform, and put on a boat to New York.