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

Group Stats

Mission 3
Kreigsmarine U-Boat pens at Brest, FR
23 October 1942
(Mission due 4 June 2004)

FIGHTER COVER EXPECTED

Flight Log Gazetteer

HELLZ-A-POPPIN' (O'Conner crew)
These big-ass aircraft are a bitch to get into the air at the best of times. With poor visibility and a full load on board, it's all about earning your pay! We rumbled we yawed and we wobbled slightly but we got airborne and, after a few anxious moments in the cloud with NO visibility, We couldn't get formed up with Wild Thing and Lady Janet because they had aborted on takeoff. We tucked in as best we could with everyone else.

We were still over the Channel when we were jumped. Frantic cries came from all over the ship of incoming bandits. Looked like 190s, and coming in FAST! Two of the bastards hit us from dead ahead and 9 high, putting lead into our starboard wing and tail. The aileron looked shot to hell, though it still seemed to be working somehow and the port rudder was a bit sluggish in responding. Sgt Lewis, our radio operator, reported that two rounds had gone clear through the bomb-bay without hitting anything! Lt Segal in the nose reported hitting one of them, and seeing him dive down trailing smoke.

We saw some light flak over the coast, most of it going wide of us. The target was a different story, though, and after seeing another 190 scream overhead, narrowly missing us, we were pounded by those 88s. One came real close, and must have hit our number one engine cause it suddenly started hiccuping. Lt Sweeney and I sorted that out, though, but we were bounced around by that stuff. Too much for Segal, too, cause reports from the waist said our bombs were way wide. We were glad to turn away from that hell and head home.

With the coast in sight we were hit by another 190 - don't they have anything else in that area? - who hit the port wing root and caused a few gray hairs. These wings don't hold up all that well with 20mm rounds in them! Landing was nerve-wracking with the crappy weather, but we got her down ok. I'm really tired, so can I go and have a drink in the OC?
Lt O'Conner
Hellz-a-poppin' (207th BS)
 

BOBBY JO'S BOYS (Poulos crew)
Take off while difficult was uneventful for us at least. I was very distressed to hear of the two aborts. The form up progressed nicely filling in gaps left by the aborts. Though we felt like we were just about wading to Brest due to the height, for us the trip there was hectic for others rather than us. We saw some fighters zoom by us to attack others in the squadron. When we got to the Target we were jumped by 2 waves. A 109 at 12 level put some holes in the nose plexiglass but then after squirting another burst at 1030 level, sped away to other targets. Then a 109 at 12 Level hit our #1 engine but it kept running ok. A 109 from 130 level holed the nose some more. Both 109s came around again. One at 12 level fired and missed the other at 1030 level. That one hit the port wing doing superficial damage. He came around again from 12 level and hit again this time on the flight deck. He hit our co-pilot, Wally square in the chest. He couldn’t have felt anything. The 109 flew off on his way. Then came the flack. The first burst made out tail jump as the turret was knocked out of commission. I had Rob stay in there and feed me info on how the rest of the squadron was fairing. He was telling me the flak was taking a toll on everybody else too. Two more bursts hit our starboard wing removing a foot or so of the tip and hitting the root.

Even with the wind whistling through the holes and getting bounced around a lot we still put about 40% of the load on target. Rob said over the intercom that not everybody did even that good though some did better. On the turn for home we were bounced by a 190 and a 109 from 12 level Our Bombardier, Stan got a piece of the 109 and Jeff in the top ripped the tail off the 190 sending it in a death dive.

The way home was uneventful for us at least but it was hard hearing from Rob how holed the rest of the squadron was and how Bitz N Pieces dropped out of formation after what looked to Rob like an awesome drop. We were all relieved to see them back.

Wally’s memorial service will be tomorrow at 1100 hours.
MAJ Poulos

LADY JANET (Gott crew)
Bad weather and the heavy bombload caused an accident on takeoff.  Crew is safe, but Lady Janet is irreparably damaged.

WILD THING (LaFevre non-player crew)
Bad weather and the heavy bombload caused an accident on takeoff.  Crew is safe, but Wild Thing is irreparably damaged.

BITZ N PIECES (Hope crew)
Report filed by Co-Pilot 1LT Paulus.
We had an easy trip out to Brest and the crew were getting edgy we could see other ships some seemed to taking it bad. Our luck seemed to be holding as we lined up for the bombing run we had not encountered a single enemy fighter. Then the flak hit us.

We were hit from tip to tail. A blast just below the port wing tore huge chunks out of the flaps and ailerons. The ship was taking damage the crew were all over the radio Capt Hope just called for a damage report when a piece of shrapnel smashed through the window and pierced his chest. I had to battle with the damaged ship alone while we tried to complete the bomb run. Lt. Bell claims to have been bang on the money with his eggs so at least we didn't loose the Captain for nothing.

As we turned for home and took account of our damage.Besides the Captain all the rest of the crew were ok but very shaken. The craft was a sieve.  The Port wing was shot to shit with both flaps and ailerons blown away. We had number 2 engine out following a fire which had left the props unfeathered. The pilots compartment window had been taken out by the same lump of metal that had killed the Cap and in the radio room Sgt. Bird was battling to repair the radio.

The unfeathered prop forced to fall back further and further behind the rest of the squadron.  Now we felt very alone and vulnerable.  Almost immediately we were pounced upon by 2 Me 109s and a Fw 190.  Sgt. Adams in the waist destroyed one of the 109s the other fired blind and headed for home.  The 190 was a different story.  MSG Pickford took a slug in the shoulder leaving him out of action. Then the enemy turned for a second pass from 6 level. Vic Meier in the tail didn't need asking twice and blasted  that kraut out of the ski. By now the bombardier Lt. Bell was at the stick with me as we struggled to bring her home.

Three more times waves of fighters came at us as we made our slow, crawling, way home. luckily none of them seemed too inclined to stay and fight. Most just seemed happy to fire burst and head for home.  They didn't hit us and we didn't hit them.  Except for one Me 110 that Lt. Wildman hit and drove off.

It seemed like forever before we saw the coastline come up ahead of us. Then there it was - Home.  Unknown to me the port landing was damaged and collapsed on landing destroying what was left of the port wing.
Lt. M Paulus,
Co-Pilot 'Bitz n Pieces'
(Ground crew reports this plane is to be written off as it was so severely damaged)

SWEET TARGET (Zaragoza crew)
Our first mission went better then we expected it to go. We meet almost no enemy fighters, until we were at the target. Over the target we were shaken by the flak, hit 4 times. Jeff Toth the bombardier got hit in the calf by the flak, but when it was checked by the Justin the navigator it turned out to be a light wound. Even though he was hurt Jeff hit the target with 20% of the bombs hitting the pens. On our way back we got attacked by a 110 who took out the nose wheel. The rest of the way was quiet again.

Our landing was pretty rough with out the nose wheel and the poor weather, but I was able to put her down with the crew safe, she will be repaired by the time the next mission comes around.
LT. Zaragoza

LITTLE MISS MICHIE (Williamson crew)
Takeoff of the Little Miss Michie was a little hairy.  It could be heard over the intercom from the rear of the plane  “ I think we clipped a few trees”.  The feedback from the cockpit was “that little tree trimming job appears to have done no damage.” The pilots did seem to age a bit on that takeoff.   “What is the deal with over loading these creates? Don’t the brass realize how crazy it is over here without having to cope with HEAVY loads” was heard over the IC.

The run seemed quiet until almost at the target when two 109’s jumped us from 12:00 & 9:00.  Sgt Lipscomp got off a lucky shot because that 109 from the 9:00 position went up in a ball of flames.  The one from head on passed us right on by with no apparent damage. 

Just as Brest was in sight a lone 190 came in from 1:30 high.  MSG Sgt Lowe nailed it good and it went down in flames.  We thought we were done for when the plane rock hard from a flak hit in the Bomb bay.  The report came up to the flight deck that we better not have to ditch in the water, we had no rafts left. Bomb run was right on target thanks to the concentration abilities of Lt. Tony Stutts.  30%.

The return flight was without incident.   With a text book landing back in England.
LT Williamson

BLARNEY STONE (O'Neill crew)
We got off the deck with a few feet to spare! (Note request runway extensions at  debrief.)  We formed up without any problems. The trip to the target was uneventful.

We encountered some fighter opposition over the target, a Fw190 managed to put a few holes in us but nothing serious, this same fellow came around again thinking we were an easy kill. Hamish our engineer blasted this kraut out of the sky.

The flak was heavy and although we were tossed about a bit by a few near misses, and a couple of hits by shrapnel we came through unscathed. We were on target and drooped our bombs to good effect. The trip home was quiet with little fighter opposition.

The weather over base was lousy, visibility was down to 800 yards with a low cloud base and a nasty cross wind, of course the extra holes in my flying surfaces didn't help either. It was a HEAVY landing but I managed to bring the bomber down without breaking anything or anyone.
LT O'Neill

BOUNCING BETTY (Schneider crew)
What are you kidding me LT? JUST go over there and look out that window and you'll see my plane or what's left of it ! Ever tried a belly landing with the landing gear knocked off? No I didn't think so. I'll be brief then.

Clear to the coast then we got strafed from nose to tail to tail by a 190. Hit Lt Danridge in the head, badly, could have aborted but stayed with the formation. Heavy flak gave us multiple hits over the target, a lot of damage over the ship. The tail gunner got a Fw190. Then intercom went out, the waist gunner got hit by flak in the thighs. We bombed blinded but some of our bombs hit. Coming out of the bomb run we were strafed from nose to tail by another fast moving 190, killed Danridge ,wounded the top gunner, took his arm off.

The way back we were lucky and they went after stragglers instead of us. Good belly landing but the planes a write off. Our new plane going to be called "Cloud Cricket " so they tell me. There are only three of us left now out of the original crew after three missions me, co-pilot, and navigator.
Major Schneider

BLOOMERS (Bozeman crew)
Token resistance as we approached the Breton coast, then light flak that 2LT Dallas characterized as "Adolf with a Luger". Good thing we went in so low, or Dallas wouldn't have hit the target. Got 30% though. In that World War I movie, Gary Cooper would have called it "Kentucky windage". "Adolf" must be a good shot, because he put some holes in the radio room after we turned for home.

Then a 110 snuck up on us from 6 low, out of a cloud. Sergeants Cohen and Spicoli were on him right away, but at that range neither side could miss. He dove away belching smoke after filling us full of holes. Spicoli said he didn't know how he didn't get hit, and that he was doing a novena when we got back to base. Cohen said he'd join him. Cohen had seen Zanardi get hit, so I sent 2LT Onalaska and SSG Prideaux back to man the waist guns. When he got to the waist 2LT Onalaska reported that the rafts had been shot up. Then two more 110's came in, one from 6 low, the other from 3 low. Cohen and Spicoli shared credit for a kill, but 2LT Onalaska missed the one coming in from the side. The 110 looped around and made another run from 1:30, getting a few hits. We, of course, couldn't shoot back. He had a final go at us from another blind spot, 10:30, but missed.

We saw a few bandits circling the formation about mid-Channel, but none of them had a go. Smooth landing, despite the crappy weather. Good thing it's so damn cold in the bird, because it kept Zanardi from bleeding to death. He'll be back for the next mission. Crew Chief Report</u>: Rudder and about a dozen surface holes patched; replacement rafts on order. (69 Peckham Points) S-1 Addendum: SGT Zanardi awarded 1st oak leaf cluster to Purple Heart.
CPT Bozeman

FLYING BUFFALO (Loomis crew)
Last time Germany, this time bombing at 9000 ft.  Will a bomb run at 5000 ft be next?  Takeoff with 6th cloud cover and the new cheek gun modification was a little bit dicey but it wasn't as bad as expected.

No enemy opposition was encountered until the group neared the primary target.  Prior to the bomb run a single Fw-190 appeared and disappeared without either side scoring any damage.

Flak bursts erupted all around the squadron but by some miracle none hit us.  Lt. Stackpole's bomb run was unimpeded and good results were scored.  We were hit with light flak fire to both wings leaving the target area.  The most serious damage occurred to the starboard inner fuel tank causing a slow leak.  Unlike the last mission, the ship would have enough fuel to make it back to Polebrook.

The enemy fighters returned and Lt. Blunder managed to hit one with the new cheek gun, while the pair of 109s slightly damaged the waist gunner's oxygen system.

Everything was quiet until the group reached the area where the little friends were to meet us.  Unfortunately, the Luftwaffe was there and our little friends weren't.  Three Me-109s attacked with only the one from 6 o'clock causing 6 hits to the wings before Sgt. Crawford (tail gunner) drove him away with heavy damage.

No further attacked occurred the rest of the mission.  Flight engineer Gaydos calculated we had just enough fuel to reach Polebrook but not enough fuel to stay in a holding pattern while the planes with the seriously wounded landed first.  We broke formation after passing Southampton and landed at the B-17 training base at Bovingdon, NW of London to refuel before returning to Polebrook.

In addition to the waist oxygen system and the fuel tank hole in the starboard wing, post-mission examination revealed one wing root hit each on both wings and 6 other non-critical holes had to be patched. 

It would appear the Germans have quickly learned about the blind spot at the 10 and 2 o'clock level positions of the B-24D.  From the reports made by the ship's navigator, Lt. Blunder counted no less than 6 attacks coming from these positions.  Acquiring more field modifications kits should be made a priority as well as more gunnery practice for navigators converting from the 'D' to the 'E'.  It is also recommended the runways be extended 200 feet or more to take into account the additional weight for takeoffs.
CPT Rick Loomis
 

STORM RIDER (JHaygood crew)
This was as easy a mission as it could be. We got hit one time in the port rudder for a little damage. The engineer and the waist gunners each got a FW-190. Our bombardier LT Hawk dropped every bomb we had on the target! Major damage! (Bomb Damage Assessment:97%). I am putting LT Hawk in for the Air Medal.
LT Jacob Haygood
 

WEASEL GOD (EHaygood crew)
This was an easy mission. Almost a milk run. Our navigator and tail gunner was lightly wounded but nothing serious. Our bomb controls were shot out by enemy attacks but since we were so low, we hit 30% on target anyway. We had our brakes shot away on the run as well and when we got back home it took every inch of the runway to stop. But we made it.
LT Erik Haygood
 

BAD PENNY (Radee crew)
A sweet run. Although the light flak got a piece of us over the target, we dodged the big stuff. We put 60% on target and only saw 3 enemies target us all day. I want 22 more missions just like this!
LT Radee
 

SILKS-A-POPPIN' (Dollins crew)
Very peaceful form up and flight out after a routine take-off in crappy weather. Ain't this country heard of sunshine? Uneventful 'til Zone4 when we got bounced by a couple of 109's. The little friends shook one off and Javier, the Engineer, greased the other before he could get a shot off. Smooth flight into the target zone when we got 5 109’s come screaming down on us. 2 got winged by the Bombardier and the Tail Gunner and the only single shot that got left off at us hit the Norden. Smashed it to pieces. Should have heard Nelson going off about that one and how close those chunks went to his face. Anyways, the flak then got us. Hit the control cables, the Prot rudder and put a few holes into #2 engine and the Port aileron but nothing critical. And that was our lousy bomb-run. Two in a row off target. This stinks.

2 190’s jumped us in zone 5 on the way home but Javier winged one as he put a couple into us and the other scrammed after blowing holes in the sky. That’s when Kurt, the Radio Op, got clipped in the shoulder and the Port cheek gun was smashed. Then silence except when Kurt bitched like hell when he put some Sulfa on his wound and taped it up.

Smooth landing back at base. Conflicting emotions were had – disappointment at being off target and wild elation that Dollins managed to get home in one hop.
 

OUR MAVEN (Twomley non-player crew)
We dropped 30% of our bombs on target. We landed with 36 damage points on the airplane. We got bounced around by flak some but otherwise this was a milk run.

JERSEY BOUNCE (Wiggins non-player crew)
We got the hell beat out of us this mission. Everything went well until we got over the target area and started on our initial run. Fighters swarmed everywhere and even the light flak hit us. We got a 109 for our trouble in exchange. Our co-pilot was hit and was thought to be dead. Our radio operator also was hit and he too was thought to be dead. Somehow we still managed to put 30% on target but then the big flak almost dropped us to the deck. We were hit again and the pilot lost control and we fell from the formation. Somehow he recovered the aircraft at less that 500 feet. We were skimming the trees! With two engines trailing smoke we were pounced on by no less than 20 enemy fighters from above. We scrambled out over the water and their attacks slacked off. We were at wavetop level until we saw England. We got up just enough to land at an emergency field. It was a very, very rough landing with all the damage but it rolled to a stop. Our co-pilot will somehow recover and fly again from that nasty chest wound but the radio operator is going home, at least not in a body bag. Poor old Jersey Bounce had 229 damage points and somehow the ground crews feel they can repair her.

MISS RUTHIE (Jackson non-player crew)
First real mission out and we felt good about our squadron and group. We took out lumps and gave out some as well. We shot down a 109 and damaged another and dropped 20% of our bombs on target. Flak was thick and I think everyone took some flak damage. The formation was ragged coming in from the ocean (random event roll) but we formed it up once we left the target area (random event roll again). We will need to work on formation flying it would seem. We landed with 32 damage points. Major Jackson himself was lightly wounded by enemy action.

FIGHTING IRISH (Lee non-player crew)
We shot down a 109 on the mission and dropped 40% of our bombs on target. We landed with 72 damage points on the airplane. Our waist gunner was severely wounded during the mission and will be sent home. Otherwise a milk run.

COALBURG EXPRESS (Nickerson non-player crew)
Everything went to hell during the mission with our waist gunner getting lightly wounded for his effort on the way back. We kept getting hit from our right with 109s. Funny Face behind us took the worst of it but we did get some damage overall. We dropped 40% of our bombs on target. Our landing was less that good and we broke up pretty bad. Our left wheel was flat due to enemy fire and we veered on landing off the runway. Our nose wheel then broke and we went nose first into the dirt damaging the nose, bombardiers station, navigators station, left wing, and #1 and #2 engines. Everyone got out ok and I hear the ground crews feel good about getting Coalburg back up and running again soon. We ended up with 273 damage points. Lets hope it goes better next time.

LADY VICTORY (McCarty non-player crew)
We didn't see much of anything the whole way there and back. We did damage a 190 as he made one pass but no shoot down. We put 50% of our eggs on target. Flak was heavy but we didn't get hit much. But our #2 engine did fail on the way home (random event roll) and we had to feather it. It was reported to the ground crews. Otherwise we landed with 41 damage points.

SLEEPY TIME (Brown non-player crew)
We drew the tail end charlie slot and we were not looking forward to it. The group's bombing looked good. I hope we pounded the Jerries well. We damaged a 190 that took some time with us but we just couldn't shoot him down. He hit us hard but we stayed with the group. We put 40% of our bombs within 1000 feet of the target I guess. We landed with 116 damage points and I hope we never get tail end charlie again!

BARNEY'S BOAT (Lownders non-player crew)
We stayed close to everyone else and put 40% of our bombs on a sub pen. Flak hit us once but otherwise everything was quiet. We landed successfully with 38 damage points.

FUNNY FACE (Buff non-player crew)
Leading the 3rd element out on this mission. Lets hope we never have another like this. A large number of 109s kept coming at us from the starboard side of the group. We shot down 1-109 but not before they killed our waist gunner and severely wounded our engineer who is being sent home. The tunnel gunner took a light wound as well. Then the heavy flak found our range and we took a big one in the wing. We missed the target completely as we were way out of formation after all that. We got home and somehow landed with 169 damage points.

SUPPER TIME? (Gordon non-player crew)
We got jumped by a group of 109s near the target. They kept coming at Funny Face ahead of us and we just tried to help. We were out of formation for the bomb run trying to keep formation with Funny Face but as some adjustment by the bombardier we succeeded in getting 40% on target. We got home with only 34 damage points.

GILMORE'S SINNERS (Gilmore non-player crew)
Tucked in behind Funny Face the whole time kept us safe. We damaged one of the 109s that harried Funny Face but didn't shoot him down. We got 40% on target and landed well. 40 damage points to the plane according to the crew chief.