|
WAR DIARY OF THE 723RD BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (H)
1 FEBRUARY 1944 TO 1 MARCH 1944
February 1, 1944
There was
no mission scheduled for today.
February 2, 1944
Bad weather
prevented us from tacking the Budapest/Tokal A/D in Hungary today. The boys
seem anxious for a chance to get over the hump.
February 3, 1944
Our effort
to deal a crippling blow to German communications and supply lines bolstering
their bridgehead forces, was not wholly successful today. The intended target
was the Pontassieve M/Y and bridges. Due to weather conditions, however, the
two elements of 32 planes became separated, attacked various secondary targets,
the results of which were inaccurate. Six of our aircraft dropped their load of
demolition bombs, while two were forced to return early. There was no encounter
with enemy aircraft, but heavy flak holed one of our ships in the tail.
February 4, 1944
The bad
luck continues. Our crews were briefed this morning, and took off for the
submarine pens at Toulon, France, but the entire formation turned back on the
way to the target because of inclement weather.
February 5, 1944
The
weatherman kept us on the ground again today.
February 6, 1944
No mission
again today. Lakes of mud are all over the field. The men are spending their
time catching up on their sack time.
February 7, 1944
The lanes
are still unable to take off on account of the weather. The crews are showing
signs of fret and disgust.
February 8, 1944
At last, we
take to the air again. Nine of our squadron's planes joined the Group with the
purpose of bombing the main Viterbo A/D, but a 9/10 undercast forced the
formation to turn to an alternate, the Tarquinia A/D. Our nine planes dropped
20 120 lb frag bombs around the target area. No results could be evaluated because
of the obscurity of the photographs. Enemy resistance was nil, although a
formation of ME-109's was observed in the vicinity of the target just after
bombs away. Lt Gernand was forced to return early, jettisoned his load in
Taranto Bay.
February 9, 1944
A bit of
healthy tension and disgust seemed to pervade among the crews when they were
once more prevented from sallying into the Reich. Today, their first big chance
to strike at high priority targets in the heart of Germany was upset by
unfavorable conditions which forced cancellation of the scheduled operation
against the Regensburg Aircraft Plant.
February 10, 1944
A similar
story today. A complete cloud cover over the town of Valmontone forced Ύ of the
group formation, which included nine of our squadron's aircraft to return 98.5
tons of 500 lb bombs to the base. Enemy fighters failed to show themselves, but
accurate flak was experienced at the IP. The eagerness of our men to strike at
the enemy was apparent in the character of their talk when they came back that
afternoon. Lts. Conklin and Lane, piloting two of our planes, maintained that t
run should have been made on the target, that neither flak nor weather were
sufficient deterrents.
Lt.
Henderson suffered a small amount of flak holes in the right wing. We had no
fighter escort today.
February 11, 1944
Incessant
heavy rains and strong winds kept our White Tails on the ground today. The base
is just one big miry mess.
February 12, 1944
It looks
like the binning of another streak of bad weather. Impossible to do anything
again today. One of the boys remarked that "we'll never beat Hitler if this
kind of weather keeps up".
February 13, 1944
I guess
we'll have to call this "hard-luck" month. All operations cancelled because of
weather.
February 14, 1944
The Verona
M/Y was the specified target today. Our squadron sent out 8 planes, 3 of which
dropped 12 500 lb demos each on the target. Lt Isbell (AC #707) salvoed his
load on a target of opportunity near Leghorn and Lt Henderson (AC #752) hit a
factory and railroad at La Spezia with undeterminable results. Lt. Nilsson was
forced to jettison his 12 bombs 25 miles west of Naples Harbor. Lt Gernand,
piloting Lt Rickey's crew, failed to return form this mission. He was our
squadron navigator. Their plane was last seen over the target area under attack
by enemy fighters before friendly fighters could interfere, but there was no
report of what actually resulted because the e encounter was obscured by
clouds. This is the second crew we've lost since beginning combat operations.
The
dogfight that occurred over the target between out P-38 escort and 20/25
ME-109's was unobserved.
Heavy,
intense and accurate flak also appeared over the target area. None of our other
aircraft were engaged by the fighters nor did they suffer any damage from flak.
Sgt.
Uphoff, Tail Gunner on Lt. Henderson' crew (AC #752) froze his hands when all
the electrically heated suits failed to function. A lot of the boys are coming
back frostbitten and complaining about the malfunctioning of the heated suits.
February 15, 1944
There were
no operations today.
February 16, 1944
We rallied
forth on our own today, bombing alone and unescorted, attacking the Pontassieve
M/Y. Major Miller, our Squadron Commander, led the 2nd attack unit
and 9 of our aircraft accounted for 27 of the 96 tons of demolition bombs that
splattered the target area. Photo coverage showed concentrated hits on the M/Y
and on warehouses and barracks. No flak was seen and no fighter challenged the
formation. Our boys came back feeling quite satisfied, perhaps for the first
time this month.
February 17, 1944
Operations
today were of a tactical nature, involving direct support to our ground forces
on the Italian front. The target was a stores dump behind the enemy lines. We
had no rendezvous and no escort. Eight of our squadron's aircraft unloaded at
the target area with 12 500 lb demolition bombs each. One of our planes was an
early return. The target was fairly well covered. No enemy planes were
observed, but over the target we ran into heavy and very intense, accurate
flak. 2nd Lt Carl H. Huber, co-pilot on AC # 228 suffered flak
wounds and the aircraft was holed in 10 places. 4 other of our aircraft came
home battered and bruised by flak hits. Lt Loomis' ship had 20.
February 18, 1944
There was
no mission flown today.
February 19, 1944
Our planes
were supposed to go to Viterbo but the mission was cancelled.
February 20, 1944
We took off at 0900 to bomb the
Carrocatto area, but the mission was turned back by the formation leader due to
extremely poor visibility. Nothing untoward occurred while in the air.
February 21, 1944
There was
no mission flown today.
February 22, 11944
We ventured
in to the hart of Naziland today. The objective was to knock out the ME-109 plant
at Regensbur-Obertraubling. None of our planes managed to get through for bomb
run. Fro various reasons, seven of our aircraft were forced to turn back and
return early with their bomb load. Lt Conklin (AC #215) dropped 12 500 lb demos
through a solid overcast near Klagenfurt.
On the way
back, in the vicinity of Graz, 30 ME-109's made a head-on attack on the right
group. S/Sgt Glen L. Harper (AC #215) of Benkelman, Nebraska, claimed one enemy
fighter destroyed.
We lost
another crew in this battle with the Nazi fighters. The B-24 piloted by Lt.
Nilsson, our Asst. Sq. Operations Officer, was seen losing altitude and out of
control south of the target.
February 23, 1944
We
continued our assault on high priority targets in Germany today, joining with
the entire available strength of the 15th AF in an effort to wipe
out the Aero Engine Works factory at Steyr, Austria.
Major
Miller, our Squadron Commander, was leader of the 2nd attack unit of
the Group. He led his formation to the IP, Wels, Austria, made his turn and was
heading directly for the target when he was attacked by E/A. There were about
50 E/A in the area. Two waves of six abreast made nose attacks in co-ordination
with attacks by others from all directions. Major Miller's aircraft fell out of
formation in a steep dive. Lt Samsa and Lt Scanlon fell out of formation at
about he same time. The enemy attack was so heavy and all members of the returning
crews were so busy that they were unable to report many observations as to what
happened to the tree planes that fell out of the formation. It was generally
thought they were knocked down by the nose attacks. No one was observed bailing
out but returning crew members admitted that they did not have a chance to look
down to see what was happening to the falling aircraft. It was definitely
reported that Major Miller's ship left the formation in an unusually steep
dive. All three crews are reported missing in action. The crews are as follows:
Major Miller, W.A. 1st Lt Samsa, L.J. 2nd Lt Scanlon,
P.H.
1st Lt Whitney, R.M. 2nd Lt Getuan, L. 2nd Lt Davis, G.M.
1st Lt Smith, C.W. 2nd Lt Green, J.F. 2nd Lt Strong, G.C.
2nd Lt Flock, W.C. 2nd Lt Bublitz, F. 2nd Lt Forbes, D.A.
S/Sgt Shaw, J.E. S/Sgt
Breneman, R. S/Sgt Grogan,
J.H.
S/Sgt Squires, J.C. S/Sgt
Vorhees, R. T/Sgt
Lanteigne, A.
S/Sgt O'Connor, L.J. S/Sgt
Papiernak, E. S/Sgt King,
K.C.
S/Sgt McGarvey, R.C. S/Sgt
Newman, T. S/Sgt Rulnick,
S.
S/Sgt Allen, C.E. S/Sgt
Hausen, L. S/Sgt
Heineggar, J.
S/Sgt Bernard, B. S/Sgt
Marinangeli, J. S/Sgt Dzurik,
F.J.
S/Sgt
Kellerman, B.
Lts. Loomis, Conklin, and Courtwright (Deputy Leader)
returned to the base. Lt Conklin had his #2 motor shot out completely and his
#1 propeller damaged so that he could use it only intermittently. Lt Courtwright's
right vertical fin was hit by a 20 mm explosive shell and returned to this base
without the use of his rudders. The above damage was done in the same
encounters that knocked Major Miller down.
February 24, 1944
There was
no mission scheduled the day after Steyr but the boys on the line had plenty
of work patching up flak holes and whipping the ships into shape.
A special
meeting of the entire squadron was held in front of the Orderly Room after
lunch, for the purpose of introducing the men to their new CO, 1st
Lt Kellman. It was a short and business like meeting no long speeches. Lt
Kellman didn't have very much to say. He knew that there was no necessity for
talk. Expressing a realization the tremendous job of stepping into Major
Miller's position on such short notice, he promised to try to do everything the
way he believed Major Miller would have wanted, and said that replacements for
the other missing crews would come in due time. Everyone in the Squadron seemed
to be hit pretty hard by the loss of Major Miller, who was extremely popular
with the men.
February 25, 1944
The
Regensburg raid of the 22nd had not resulted in serious damage to
the Prufening Aircraft Factory which was considered the more important of the
two. So today, in coordination with the 8th Air Force we were sent
back to Regensburg, and this time the target was almost totally destroyed. Five
of our squadron's planes smacked the target.
February 26, 1944
No mission
today the runway must be soft from last night's rain. Acting CO Kellman is
plenty busy filling Major Miller's shoes. "Kelly" is a good boy, well-liked and
capable.
Lt Templin
is busy gathering up the clothes and other possessions of the three crews lost
February 23 near Steyr Austria; Major Miller's, Lt Samsa's and Lt Scanlon's
crews.
Group
Bombardier "Hank" Kaeck and officer Chronister put on a class in "Priority
Targets". Lt Chronister showed photos of the swell job we did on the target at
Regensburg February 25, 1944.
We finally
got the roof on our new Officer's mess hall in the Squadron area, which has
been under construction for the last couple of weeks.
Not much
mail the last 3 days all man are "screaming".
February 27, 1944
No mission
today still raining. Runway is plenty soupy.
Many of the
boys attended church. Col Mills was going to talk to all enlisted men of the
group at 1330. It was postponed until tomorrow morning at 0900 on account of
the rain.
Gunners attended
class in enemy tactics. All are very interested, especially since encounters
with enemy A/C on last few missions.
Combat
crews are getting a big "kick" out of the German broadcasts of yesterday and
last night. The Germans speak of revenge for the way we plastered Southern
Germany that Regensburg raid must have jarred them so hard they could feel it
plenty in Berlin.
The British
Ack-Ack unit on this field paid us a visit this afternoon on invitation. They
were given a tour of the war room and treated to a news lecture by Captain
Bowman and Lt Ogazalek of S-2.
February 28, 1944
No mission
today. The sun came out but plenty of water all over the field.
Col. Mills
talked to all the men at 0900 passed on congratulations from General Spaatz
and General Atkinson for fine work done on Regensburg and Steyr. He mentioned
that the German radio had begun screaming out the "White Tailed Liberators". He
said "we will put more white on them and hit the Hun harder in the future." The
Colonel mentioned that our losses had been high, that we had lost one of the
best Squadron Commanders in the whole Air Force. (Major William Miller, our CO)
The first
of the matinee shows at Oria, regularly scheduled for Monday afternoon. With no
mission today, many of the crews attended.
February 29, 1944
No mission
today. It rained on and off all day. There are ponds of water all over the
field. They are beginning to call this "Lake Manduria".
Gale H. Gillan,
2nd Lt, Air Corps,
Squadron Historian.
|
