Target for Today...
200th Heavy Bombardment Group (virtual)
8th Air Force
United States Army Air Forces
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| Group Home Base Group Rules |
207th
Squadron |
214th Squadron |
221st Squadron |
228th Squadron |
Mission 11
FIGHTER COVER EXPECTED
Flight Log Gazetteer
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| Low Squadron (+1 to B-1 roll) (callsign "Dragon") |
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| Middle Rear Squadron (-1 to B-1 roll) (callsign "Thunder") |
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| High Squadron (callsign "Cufflink") |
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| ...AFTER ACTION REPORT... BIG, FAT, AND HAPPY (Rogers crew)
200 miles out a single 109 attacked but was
driven off by the fighter cover. As squadron neared the target and
the fighter cover left, the enemies really pressed on their attacks.
They swarmed around the 221st and the squadron leader, but few hit.
Not long after the squadron had left the target
area, a lone 109 came in from 6 o'clock. The gunners fired at him
but missed, and as he passed through the formation he fired a short
burst at Big Fat and Happy. He hit the fuel tank and the wing was
caught on fire. Nine parachutes was seen.
(Reported from escorting fighter pilot and other bomber crew members) TWIN TAIL (Libby crew)
Take off and rendevous went smoothly. Our flight
over Algeria was largely clear of enemy fighters, with our "little
friends" and fellow B-24s keeping them off of us.
Shortly after crossing the Tunisian border a lone
ME-110 got past the escorting fighters, coming in from 6 o'clock
low. Sgt Bristow severely damaged the 110 and forced it disengage.
As we approached Gadames a pair of 109s came in
from 12 o'clock. Our defensive fire was ineffective and one of the
Germans scored a hit on our nose rendering our Norden's Bombsite
inoperable.
Flak seemed very thick over the target site and
we received several hits that only seemed to jar the plane around a
bit. Lt. Malek was unable to get a clear view of the target and it
looks like most of our bombs fell short.
Our return flight was largely uneventful with
several enemy aircraft making ineffective attacks on us. My boys all
did their jobs well and by the book. I am sure what they learned on
their first mission together will insure our success in future ones.
1st Lt Gary Libby, Commanding "Twin Tail"
SATAN'S LITTLE SISTER (DeFilippo crew)
Our flight was uneventful until we were
half way across Algeria (Zone 3), then four Fw190s singled
us out for attack. Our fighter coverage stopped one of the
enemy fighters. Our engineer, SFC Povsic managed to pepper
the cockpit of the FW190 as it came in from 12 High and Sgt
Riffle reported he saw the pilot bailing out. 2Lt Willson
was able to drive off another 190 (FBOA). The remaining
fighter came around twice more shooting up our starboard
wing aileron, #2 engine (superficial damage) and superficial
damage to our port wing. Another wave of Me109s appeared and
one was hit by Sgt Riffle and the 109 was seen falling to
earth after its' port wing separated. Sgt Atkinson (FBOA)
drove the other off.
We continued on to the target without
encountering any more fighters. Flak was heavy as
advertised and we were struck four times, twice in the tail
causing superficial damage and lightly wounding Sgt Riffle
in the thigh. The port wing and waist also suffered minor
damage. Even with the bumpy ride due to the flak Lt Willson
was able to put 50% of our bombs on target. After leaving
the target area a two Me109s attacked. SFC Povsic drove one
off (FBOA) on the first attack and Lt Willson killed the
other 109. The remaining 109 decided to come back and SFC
Povsic destroyed him before he could complete his attack.
We headed home with the rest of the
formation and were attacked about 25 miles west of
Ferryville (zone 5) by three Me110s. Sgt Riffle destroyed
one as he attempted to attack from 6 o'clock low; Lt Marlin
(FCA) damaged another. We suffered damage to our port
rudder, a fire in the tail caused by the oxygen system and
superficial damage in the waist. They decided to give us
another go and came back around for another try. Sgt
Atkinson damage one of the Me110s (FCA). We suffered
additional damage on the flight deck knocking out our radio
and causing some minor damage. The loss of oxygen forced us
to drop down to 10,000 feet.
We managed to meet up with some fighters
for the remainder of the journey home.
1Lt Arthur DeFilippo
MYSTERY LADY (Langtot crew)
Just before we commenced our run
on the target we heard the call the Langtot’s
“Mystery Lady” that their Oxygen was out and she was
dropping down to 10,000 feet. And did she ever
attract the krauts. It looked as if she was getting
shot up pretty bad, but she kept soldering on. I
guess Langtot figured they had come all this way out
he might as well fly her in to the target. We lost
sight of the “Mystery Lady” shortly after she
dropped down. I hope, for her crew, she can make
the long trek back!
(Report Filed by crew of the
“Bobbi Jo’s Boys” piloted by Maj. Alex Poulos)
About 400 miles out of base my wingman and I came across a lone Liberator being harassed by a group of four Messerschmitt fighters and the old girl didn’t look good. We swooped in chasing off a few of them for her. After the fighters scooted away we followed the crippled Liberator for about an hour when the Sgt. Ibizan radioed us they were going to land. With one engine smoking and feathered and a stream of fuel, Bill and I new she wasn’t going home today. Once the old girl touched down we waggled our wing to bid them luck. The number on the tail was 43-00203 and the old girl had the name of “Mystery Lady” on her nose. Also, a swell looking babe painted there too.
(Reported from two escorting
fighter pilot)
ACES HIGH (O'Neill crew)
Despite the hostile conditions we
are forced to operate in, our aircraft flew superbly
well, the ground crew are doing an excellent job.
We were hammered by flak over the
target. We are fourtunate the the B24 is such a
sturdy aircraft or we would have been gonners for
sure. Unfortunately we lost our radio operator the
dependable Jose Perera over the target. Jose was
killed instantly by a piece of shrapnel through the
chest. My co-pilot and I were also slightly wounded
by flak around the same time Jose was killed. It was
a close call to be sure that both pilots were hit,
(I will make sure in future to teach our engineer
the intricacies of flying and landing a B24.) Number
4 engine was also put out of action over target. We
managed to feather the prop and luckily there was no
fire. Our flaps and control cables were also
damaged, and although this made flying difficult we
managed to get back to base.
Despite being hit by flak our
Bombardier managed against all odds to get a few
bombs on target.
Most German fighter attacks were
beaten off by our fighter cover, the few that did
get through were mostly ineffective.
TERRI G (Gerber crew) BOBBI JO'S BOYS (Poulos crew)
Our fighters kept the
Luftwaffe away from us most of the way in
except for a few 109's that kept after us
from 6 high. Jeff got one from the upper
turret and Robby nailed two on the way in. Another 109 scooted in
from 130 and knocked out the starboard cheek
gun and put an annoying whistling hole in
the nose in zone 5.
In the target zone the
Germans must've been tired by he time they
got to us. They missed but Jeff and Robby
didn't they each added another 109.
Then came the flak.
There seemed to be enough jagged metal
flying around to make a whole other plane.
That's where our waist and tunnel gunner
bought it. So much blood so much blood.
Tore Murph's arm off at the shoulder and
went through Jeff's Chest. Another piece
put a hole in number One, but it kept
running and just about tore off our
Starboard empennage. Several holes were added
in both wings. We just couldn't hold her
steady enough for Norm to put any eggs in
the basket.
On the way off the target
there was just a 110 at 6 low that Robby
killed and a 109 at 6 high that Jeff knocked
down w/ his twin 50's
On the way back once
again we were blessed by little friends till
we got near the base and three 109's from
1030 and 130 high and 6 high all converged
on us. we all missed!!!! they didn't.
We lost number one and
they hit Don pretty bad in his left leg.
They think they saved it but he's headed back
to Utah. They knocked out the radio as
well.
On their subsequent
attacks, they knocked out Robby's tail guns
and tore chunks out of the starboard wing
root and bomb bay. Jeff knocked one down and
they went back home.
We were glad to get back
on the ground. I'm wondering If the ground
crew can manage to patch her up this time.
Maj. Poulos
THIRD TIME LUCKY
(Phillips crew) First enemy aircraft we saw was a Me110(Zone 4) which was driven off by one of our little friends. Entering zone 5 we were bounced by 2 Me109's. One was intercepted by our escorts again, and Sgt. Zalinski in the Top turret sent the other home with a smoking engine(FBOA-2). Just after our escorts headed for home (Zone 6) we were jumped twice by lone Me109's which both failed to hit us and we did the same to them. As we started our bomb run we saw how thick the flak was. We took 4 hits from flak but the one that caused us the greatest danger was on the flight deck where the heating for the whole compartment was knocked out. I took the decision to finish the bomb run and then dropped out of formation to stop us from freezing. We completely missed the target although that wasn't surprising given the hits we had taken. As we headed for home on our own we were absolutely swamped by enemy fighters. We managed to hold our own until both our Top turret and Tail guns were made inoperable by enemy action. Prior to this we destroyed 1 Me110(Sgt. Hughes (Tail Guns)), and damaged a Me110(FBOA-2(Sgt. Sharpe, Waist)), and a Me109(FBOA-2( Lt. Howith, Navigator)). During the flight home Lt. Howith received a light wound to his upper right arm. If it wasn't for the
sterling cover from our little friends on
the way home we would have suffered a lot
more than we did. They saw us right back to
the base before leaving us to land safely. FLYING BUFFALO (Loomis crew)
Take-off and
formation went as planned. We
encountered no enemy resistance
until our fighter escorts reached
the limit of their range, between
the Tunisian/Libyan border (first
half of zone 5 outbound). We came
under attack by two waves consisting
of a single fighter each which
caused superficial damage to the
fuselage while SSgt. Crawford shot
down the FW-190.
As we neared the target (second half of zone 5 outbound), enemy attacks knocked out the top turret and the intercom. Flak was thick and accurate as the Buffalo took two close flak bursts that disabled the port aileron, damaged the starboard wing root and rudder, and shrapnel shook up the Lts. Stackpole and Norendale in the nose compartment. Despite the flak, Lt. Stackpole reported he hit the target. Leaving the target area, two FW-190s attacked but all they received for their troubles were two damaged aircraft while we escaped unscathed. No further enemy action occurred until the group was about an hour away from home (second half of zone 3 back). A trio of ME-109s attacked but the Buffalo suffered no damage while Lt. Norendale and SSgt. Crawford shot down one e/a apiece. Within minutes of safety (second half of zone 2 back), a pair of FW-190s were preparing to circle around the group but the escorts arrived in time and took care of those jokers. Our landing was the best kind: routine and uneventful. The host base mechanics reported the damage was light (108 pts according to the Peckham
scale).
Captain Rick Loomis BATTLEWAGON (Hughes crew)
The
battered and scarred B-24
lurched to the end of the
turn off, medical vehicles
surrounding her quickly. The
experienced life savers
quickly off loaded 2 crewmen
and began tending to their
wounds. The pilot, the last
man off the ircraft,
descended from the belly of
his charge, dropped to his
knees, and puked his guts
out. His entire upper torso
was soaked red with blood.
This reporter later found out that his co-pilot was cut in half by an attacking German fighter. This brave American boy not only continued to fly, but put his plane over the target, and then got his crew home after dropping out of formation on the way back to base. Wave upon wave of demented Nazi bastards attacked them, but couldn't bring the Battlewagon down. His crewmates surrounded him and led him to the debriefing tent. Just
another day in the life of a
B-24 crew. We can only pray
that for these brave boys it
can't get worse than today. |
