Target for Today...
200th Heavy Bombardment Group (virtual)
8th Air Force
United States Army Air Forces

Mission 1
Luftwaffe airfield at Abbeville, FR
12 October 1942

FIGHTER COVER EXPECTED

Flight Log Gazetteer

Middle Squadron

The first mission to enemy occupied Europe was a success overall. 13 aircraft of the group was assigned to bomb Abbeville, FR and 12 aircraft successfully completed this task. On average only 17% of our bombs hit within 1000 feet of the target and this will have to be increased to ensure effective coverage of the target area. Formations were not as tight as was hoped and this will have to be worked on. Defensive fire from the B-24s were adequate but will need to be increased as well. A noted lack of defensive fire from the front of the B-24s resulted in poor performance of gunners there. A single .50cal in the nose does not seem effective enough armament and the area of coverage of the weapon was noted as inadequate by several crews. Performance here will be tracked. According to 8 Bomber Command reports, the 200BG efforts on this mission was considered good overall with a score of 80.8 and considered a substantial victory that will help us win this war. Maintenance reports that it will take 3 days to repair all the damage to all aircraft.

Specific crew reports follow...

...AFTER ACTION REPORTS...

FLYING BUFFALO (Loomis crew)
Take off and group formation went without a hitch.  We saw a total of 6 enemy fighters the entire trip but they were all driven off by the P-38s. My crew's thanks to the pilots of the 1st and 14th Fighter Groups.

Flak was medium in intensity and a little accurate as we took 3 flak hits. It put superficial holes in the #3 engine and in the area right behind the flight deck. The waist gunner, Sgt. West, was hit by a small piece of shrapnel in his left leg but the wound was not serious. The flak hit ruined Lt. Mike Stackpole's bomb run but he was still able to put 10% within the impact point circle.

Again, the escorts kept the Luftwaffe away and the return trip home across the Channel was uneventful.  Arriving over the base, we waited until the bombers with seriously wounded aboard landed before we landed without incident.
Captain Rick Loomis

BLARNEY STONE (O'Neill crew)
The trip across the Channel was uneventful, whatever fighters were sent up to intercept us were dealt with by our fighter cover. The trouble only really started while on our bomb run. Flack hit us pretty badly, knocking an engine out. This is what put us off our aim, as we struggled to keep the aircraft in formation. I am sure we will do better next time.
Lt O Neill 

HIGH ROLLER (Carswell crew)
The mission was a pushover from the first. Take-off and forming up went smoothly. Safe in the middle of the formation, we didn't see any opposition until we were almost on top of the target, and that lone 190 was chased away by our little friends.

Flak was lighter than we expected, and we slipped through without as much of a scratch. And, damnest thing, Eddie (bombardier) missed the target despite the mission being a cakewalk.

Three 109s (another had to break off to avoid an escort) greeted us when we left the flak. They kept coming at us head on, each of them making at least two passes. They were good, but they didn't appear to have the yellow noses we were told to look out for. With only two gun positions pointing forward, our gunners could barely track them before they flashed by. However, they hit us all over. You could feel the plane vibrate with each shell. But other than Eddie's oxygen getting knocked out, no one could see any serious damage. Before we left the danger zone, a couple more 190s tried to make a pass but were intercepted.

I got permission from Major Poulos to take her down so Eddie could get some air. Luckily, no one jumped us on the short trip back. The landing was smooth as silk and Eddie seems none the worse.

The boys are wondering, however, why none of our guns could swivel far enough to shoot at a bogey that was coming at us level from about 1:30. It seems like a dangerous gap in our defensive formation fire that could be exploited by the Germans if they ever found out.
LT Carswell

BLOOMERS (Bozeman crew)
This was our crew's first mission, except for bombing some sheep back in Colorado. It took awhile to get airborne with the heavy load. No opposition in zone 2. Loose formation in zone 3 allowed some Me-110s to sneak through, but last minute intervention by P-38s drove them off. A FW-190 and Me-109 thought they could take advantage of the distracted P-38s, but got jumped by yet more friendlies. Four bandits and they didn't get one shot off. I hope the fighter jockeys stick to Bloomers like flies to crap the rest of our tour!

Flak was moderate over the target, and we took a minor hit in the tail. Still, 2LT Dallas put 30% of his ordnance on target. After the RP, we got jumped by three 110s: 6 Low, 12 Low and one in a vertical climb. SGT Cohen in the belly bagged the one underneath us, as SGT Spicoli did to the one behind us. The one in front missed, then dove away. A 190 followed up from 12 high, but the P-38s were again right behind him. No opposition in zone 2. Smooth landing!

I know not all our missions will be this easy, but it was a good way to break the crew in: Just enough excitement to keep minds concentrated, but no so hairy they had to clean their drawers.

Crew Chief Report: A flak hole in the tail that took less time to patch than it took me to type this report. (5 Peckham Points)
Cpt Bozeman

HELLZ-A-POPPIN' (O'Conner crew)
Take-off was uneventful, though I know some of the other guys in the Group will have had sweaty palms! These babies are tough to get into the air! We had good fighter cover the whole way, and apart from some distant tracer and shouts from some of the other crews, we had nothing to do but watch the show. Shrapnel pinged against the fuselage once or twice over the target, but nothing serious. The only excitement was the loss of Meat Hound, though the crew all seemed to have got out ok. Where to next, skipper?
Captain O'Connor

BOUNCING BETTY (Schneider crew)
A good take off. A pleasant trip soon to interrupted over the channel after we had achieved formation when a couple of Me110 did a run at our ship. Our tail gunner blew the port engine off the fellow sneaking up on our six sending him into a death spin. Well done Sgt. Van Hosen. The other fighters missed us and the mission continued.

Over the target area we were met by some fast FW190's That attacked us continually. Causing a fire and loss of oxygen in the nose. They badly damaged the port wing and would have killed the radio op if he had been at his station instead of in the waist area.Then we were raked by a 190 from the tail with 3 long bursts of 20mm. The ship was riddled with 10 major hits....land gear damaged, wings damaged, heat and oxygen out in the tail, a oxygen fire in the tail. Luckily excellent gunnery by our waist gunner shot down one of these fighters on his second pass and the other was badly damaged.

The bomb run was bad. Heavy flak which hit us causing a fuel leak in the port wing and plenty of holes in Betty. We hit the airfield pretty good but then had to drop down below 10000 feet because of lack of oxygen for three crewmen. A few P38 little friends stayed with us and drove off the many enemy fighter swarming betty.We Thank them mightily they saved us from repeated attacks. The engineer Sgt Hofffman downed his FW190 at this point thank god. After some light flak we hit the channel and saw the white cliffs over Dover and knew we were safe. However the landing brakes had been shot away and as I landed I lost control of the aircraft and ending up ramming a replacement B-24. Luckily no injuries and damage was minor.
Major Schneider

BAD PENNY (Radee crew)
Take off was eventful and we almost hit Weasel God while forming up. Staying tight is hard to do and takes total concentration. I am not sure how we are going to do this with battle damage and fear!

Our group went smoothly over the channel. A couple of Jerries made some passes at us but nothing serious was hit. Our big wings took most of it.

Flak was heavier than expected around the target area. We were pinged several times and we momentarily lost flap control but SGT Reed took a pair of pliers and wrapped the broken cable back together in jiffy. Our only serious damage was a solid rudder hit. We didn't lose them but I told the ground crews to take a good look at that when they do their once over. Our bomb run was on target and LT Allen felt good over the bombsight he said.

Back over the Channel we saw nothing but clear blue sky. We thought landing might be a little hairy due to rudder and that flap cable damage but it went like a dream. Here's to 24 more like that one!
LT Joseph Radee

STEEL RAIN (B Haygood crew)
Ground check was thorough and uneventful. SGT Timmers' ground crew did a good job with Steel Rain. Our spot in the high squadron just right of Major Schneider made me feel very comfortable.

We took no damage getting to the target and actually got a couple of German shoot downs for our trouble! Top and tail gunners got a 190 diving from up 6 High and was last seen on fire falling through the formation. This should be shared as both gunners claimed it. Moments later the tail and the tunnel gunner got a 190 from below. Again a shared kill. Then SGT Shaw got a clean kill on a 110 from dead astern. Both of those men jumped from the plane as its engine was blown off the wing.

Flak was nothing to speak off and either all below or to the left of us. We hit the target pretty hard and turned for home. The Channel was passed with no enemies in sight, only Spitfires. Landing was as easy as pie.
LT Ben Haygood

WEASEL GOD (E Haygood crew)
It started as a beautiful day to be flying. Reminded me of training back in the States. We took off and tucked in tight with Major Schneider. Bad Penny was flying erratic and almost hit us when we left the cloud layer at 18,000 feet. We shouted harsh language at them!

A couple of 109s and a 190 made several passes as us but they did nothing to us. We winged a couple of them but no shoot downs.

The flak was very intense over the target. A large piece of shrapnel hit our #3 engine and the cowling blew off. The propeller choked in the wreckage and locked at a weird angle. We got it feathered but not before the grinding metal caused a flash fire in the oil system. The engine extinguishers got it snuffed out thankfully. I did ring the warning bell to let the crew know just in case it had gotten worse.

We were so busy with the engine we never passed control to the bombardier until we had left the initial target area. Because of our engine damage we dropped out load anyway in some fields just north of the target area to stay in the formation.

Spitfires formed up with us and gave us a good close escort back home.
LT E Haygood

STORM RIDER (J Haygood crew)
We were looking forward to a good mission. Our last instrument flying test was a failure and we crashed the simulator on take-off. It took an hour for the instructor crews to get the cockpit back on the air bellows. We got a good talking to about that. Hopefully we fly better than we simulate!

P-38s took us over the channel. I think they were from the 1st Fighter Group by their markings. We didn't see any Germans until the P-38s tangled with them as we neared the target. A couple of 190s slipped through and made a run at us. We broke a couple of their attacks up with some good shooting.

Flak was accurate in my opinion. We took several hits in the tail and SGT Profitt had to leave his gun and come to the waist to get back on oxygen. His lines were severed and even his portable bottle was hit. A piece of heavy hardware came up from the bottom of the aircraft and obviously entered the cockpit instrument area. We lost all our intercom and I had to keep LT Juzinski running forward and aft carrying messages to the crew.

We turned for home and the Germans left us alone from there. Spits picked us up soon enough and we landed easily.
LT J Haygood

BUFFALO GAL (Martin crew)
Buffalo Gal, the last B24 in the takeoff line received the green light and started to follow her mates down the runway. She struggled under her heavy load of bombs and gas reaching liftoff speed after a very long takeoff roll. She finally rotated the nose wheel off the ground then seemed to slow perceptively. The pilots aborted the take off and the nose wheel slammed back onto the runway. The front tire exploded under the stress and with sparks flying Buffalo Gal ground to a stop 150 feet from the end of the strip. The nose wheel and strut are repairable and the crew suffered nothing more than a few bumps and a bad scare.
LT Martin

BOBBY JO'S BOYS (Poulos crew)
Take off was uneventful.  I don't think any of the crew really wanted to head back to Abbeville after their last mission there in August.  I was very pleased with the speedy way the group formed up as we circled.  I was also concerned with losing 1/12 of our group before we got into the air.   When my tail gunner reported the group looked good.  We headed out. 

Zone two  we were jumped by a few 109's. p-38s drove off two but one at 12H didn't flinch.  Our top turret took a piece of him but he pressed the attack anyway.  He managed to do some superficial damage to our #2 engine, and superficial damage to the nose.  He decided not to try for another pass.

In the target Zone we were hit by two waves.  Fighters drove off all but 1-109 12H  in the first wave.  He killed our bombardier, destroyed our nose gun and jammed our our bomb bay doors.   He missed on his successive attack. Then 2 more 109's were driven off by the 38's leaving a  a 109 in a vertical dive and another at 12H.   The one in the dive put yet another round in the bombardiers corpse making our navigator puke, and did some more superficial damage to the nose.   His successive attack was at 6 Level and our tail gunner shredded his starboard wing, a good kill. 

The one from 12 High holed our port flap and aileron.  But we still had some control.  he came back for more at (level and our Top Turret got him.

Flak missed us entirely but our tail gunner reported some of the group wasn't as lucky. We couldn't drop due to inoperable doors so we carried our eggs back home.  As the group turned I was happy to see some of the groups bombload scored some hits.

We were then jumped by a 109 at 12H and a 190 at 12 Low.  The fighters were too busy driving off fighters from the rest of the group. The 190 missed and our top turret got his second kill of the mission on the 109.

Then all heck broke loose as 5 109s came in from the front and a vertical dive.  Top turret got his third kill at 12 H.  The good Lord was with us as three out the four left missed.  The vertical dive holed the nose yet again with superficial damage.  Our navigator reported it was more than difficult keeping his charts and papers from blowing all over the place, it was rather cold and the wind was making quite the noise as it rushed in through a glass nose that was resembling red tinted Swiss cheese.   The Jerry then came at us from 3H.  No one but the 109's pilot was more surprised than our waist gunner when his tracers connected with fighter.  It's engine began smoking heavily and the prop seized as it spun out of sight trailing fire and smoke.  He bailed out.  Good chute.

Zone two a 110 was driven off by Spits.  However a 109 at 12H managed to hole our right rudder pretty good, and knock out our O2.

Our landing was uneventful.  We're glad to be back.
MAJ Poulos

MEAT HOUND (Dollins crew)
Nothing until the target zone. Empty skies as the fighter boys kept everyone away from us. And then the FLAK! 3 Hits. Only 3. And that was the ballgame. #4 took a superficial, the Starboard wing root sparkled in the sunlight, and the Port inboard tank lit up like a Xmas tree streamer. We still managed to hit the target and then legged it for home.

Dove down to 10 000’ to try and extinguish our central heating but it just did not work. Got bounced by a couple of 190’s but Javier sorted them out and they scrammed. Hit the coast and bailed. Everyone made it okay but hell, what a walk. Some MP’s picked us up after a couple of miles of soggy farmland and here we are.

The skip reckons we got a new crate so here’s to Silk’s A-Popping and I’ll buy in the O-Club.
1LT Bremmer