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

Group Stats

Mission 4
Kreigsmarine U-Boat pens at Lorient, FR
18 November 1942
(Mission due 2 July 2004)

FIGHTER COVER EXPECTED

Flight Log Gazetteer

LADY JANET (Gott crew)
Target Bound:
Zone 4: Three 109s, One 110. One 109 picked off by fighter cover. The cheek guns prove their worth as navigator 2LT William Lawley deflects the 10:30 Level attacker at the last moment and sends him down, smoking. The other bandits miss on their first pass and disengage.

Zone 5: Two 109s. One 109 misses, the other pings the port aileron (still functioning, however) and comes around at 6 Level. Tail gunner SGT Raymond Knight connects and watches as an engine fire engulfs the rest of the aircraft.

Zone 6: It's our lucky day as formation fire distrasts attackers away from us. Pilot 1LT Gott gives his rabbit's foot a reassuring pat.

Bombing: Despite bad weather, we were 60% on target.

Home Bound:
Zone 6: Four 190s. We lucked out as all the attackers missed and broke off. One green 190 at 9 High was caught in engineer MSGT Addison Baker's sights but managed to limp away, missing part of his wing.

Zone 5: Two 110s. SGT Knight easily explodes the slow moving Zerstorer at 6 Level. The other, coming from 9 Low, dodges the weak fire and knocks out the tail turret still in SGT Knight's hands and holes the aircraft where waist gunner SGT William Shomo usually kneels to fire the starboard gun. SGT Shomo shifts over, eyeing the holes and hoping lightning doesn't strike twice, to target the 110 now coming in from 3 Level. He misses, but the 110 hits up and down the B-24, luckily with no appreciable damage. Coming in again from 3 Level, Jerry is finally exploded by MSGT Baker.

Zone 4: Five 190s. We enthusiastically greet our home-bound escorts who chase off two of the 190s. The others miss and decide to call it a day. No further bandits trouble us for the rest of the mission.
LT Gott

BLOOMERS (Bozeman crew)
After upgrading from the D to E model, by adding a pair of cheek guns, like the Fortresses, and a few weeks of training, we were itching to get back in action. Nah, who am I kidding? Mostly we wanted to get our 25 over with as quickly as possible so we could get back home. Talk about pipe dreams. Anyway, no resistance until we were over the Channel Islands. Two 190s made head on runs. The new cheek gun drove off one, the other gave us a few minor dings then called it a day. Though it made little difference, we need to tighten up our formation, because those two never should have snuck through the other squadrons. Two 110s attacked us as we crossed the Breton coast, one from 9 Low, the other from 6 Level. SGT Spicoli somehow missed the one at 6, and paid dearly as it chopped him up. When he came around for another run from 9 High, MSG Knoxville lit him up. Unfortunately, that is when a 190 in a vertical dive jumped us, walking hits down the fuselage. The 190 made another pass from 10:30, but was driven off by the port cheek gun.

Earlier, I had sent SSG Prideaux back to check on Spicoli, but then I didn't hear from Prideaux either. So I told Cohen, the tunnel gunner, to check them out. All he said was Spicoli was still breathing ... barely. As we approached the flak box, we were jumped by another three 190s, all due to the loose formation. Luckily they missed. Flak shook Bloomers pretty good, putting some holes in the starboard wing root. Despite the shaking, 2LT Dallas still managed to put 10% of his ordnance on target. Needless to say, the flak made the already bad formation even worse. We got sandwiched by three 110s after the RP. Cohen did the best he could, but the one in the rear got us good, knocking out the heat in the tail and putting some more holes in the starboard wing root. One of the 110s attacking from the front also tore up the top turret. Things were not looking up.

I sent MSG Knoxville back to help out in the waist. On his way, he reported that the rafts were shredded. The 110s came back from both sides and the rear. Cohen finally chased off the one at 6, but the other two got more hits on Bloomers, starting an oxygen fire in the nose. Luckily -- if you could call it that -- 2LT Dallas got it put out on his second try. The 110s came back for a final pass, both making runs from 6 o'clock. Cohen managed to chase off one, but the other added some insult to injury. Since staying in formation was critical, I told MSG Knoxville to return to the flight deck and SGT Cohen to his tunnel gun; then I had 2LT Onalaska move to the tail and 2LT Dallas help out in the waist. Onalaska was going to have to risk frostbite, as the tail, waist and tunnel guns were all we had left. We were helpless in front, so that's where a wave of four 109's hit us next. You see these blood stains on my shirt? That's what's left of my copilot 1LT Torrance. Now you know why I am bitter about the crappy formation. (Out of chararacter: I rolled probably 15 x6 wave rolls on this mission.)

By the time the 109s were done done with us, both he and SGT Zanardi were dead. Still not out of the target zone, we got hit by a third wave. Four more 109s; same tactics. That's when 2LT Onalaska got killed, and I got hit as well. We'd already lost three guys in the tail, two killed, one seriously wounded, and there was no heat, but MSG Knoxville volunteered to go back and man the guns. Over the Breton coast, formation no tighter, we got hit by two more waves -- a total of four 190s, all from the front. They killed 2LT Dallas in the waist. Over the Channel Islands, two 109s attacked Bloomers from the front, but were eventually chased off by the cavalry. Three 190s made a last ditch attempt to bring us down over the English coast, but were chased off by Hurricanes. I landed at the first available airfield, somewhere near Portsmouth.

Crew Chief Report: Starboard control cable, rubber rafts, top turret MG and tail heater need to be replaced. Starboard wing needs to be remounted. Nose section needs complete rebuild. Numerous surface holes need patching. It's the colonel's call if we do the work, or scrap it. (310 Peckham Points) S-1 Addendum: Purple Hearts awarded to CPT Bozeman, 1LT Torrance, 2LT Dallas, 2LT Onalaska, SSG Prideaux and SGT Spicoli. 1st oakleaf cluster to Purple Heart awarded to MSG Knoxville. 2nd oakleaf cluster to Purple Heart awarded to SGT Zanardi. Distinguished Flying Cross awarded to CPT Bozeman. Air Medal awarded to MSG Knoxville.

SWEET TARGET (Zaragoza crew)
Take off was fine. Bomb run on target, 20%. 20 enemy aircrafts attacked our B-24. Just 2 were destroyed and 4 were damaged. Waist Gunner Ray Burns, from Oklahoma, was hit in the chest. He died on the spot. Tail Gunner Robert Langdon, from Oregon, got a serious wound in the upper part of his head, and DOW on the operating table.

Damage: Nav. equipment-10, bomb-bay raft-10, 2 fuel tank hits, starboard wing inbound, outbound-50, Starboard check gun taken out-10, Starboard wing root-25, S.W.-5,KIA-5=140DP

We got hit, in zone 2 on our way to the target, in starboard wing fuel tank outbound and caused a leakage. We ran out of fuel in that tank over the target. In zone 4 we get hit in the starboard wing inbound fuel tank, and it also caused a leakage. The fuel lasted enough to bring our B-24 to the English channel and in zone 2 we were on our port engines. We had to drop to 10,000 ft. And spend a longer time in zone 2. Lucky we met no fighters since the french coast. We landing with out a hitch. And our plane should be fixed by the time the next mission comes around.

It was one hell of a mission.
Lt. Zaragoza

TWIN TAIL (Groenoset crew)
No problems during take off, and joining formation went smoothly. Even the first few zones outbound was like flying any exercise in formation flying. The Spits looked real good as they zig-zagged above us. A pair of them came close enough for the waist gunner to get a better view of them, yelling on the intercom they had the letters "AH" on them,indicating the all Norwegian 332 Squadron based at North Weald. The crew of Twin Tail, all having Norwegian ancestors, stretched their necks and strained their eyes to confirm this, but the Spitfires were gone in a flash.

A little later, as the French coast was getting closer, we were jumped by several 109s. Our sides P-38 did a good job, but let some of ze Germans through. This resulted in the top-turret guns being knocked out. (All in all they were to be knocked out a total of three times during the mission..) The ship also received some superficial damage here and there.

We got to Lorient during constant fighter opposition, but remarkably mostly getting the bullets and shells at convenient places on our plane. Flak didn't bother us, and 40% of our 50 lbs fire-starters hit within a reasonable area. Not easy to spot them all as weather was not the best.

Heading home, we were jumped by three ME-110 Zerstörers. Big and sluggish compared to some of their colleagues, but deadly if they hit you... Luckily, they didn't hit anything vital, and neither did we. But the war ain't over, so both sides will get the chance to exchange some shots in the near future...

Just before rendezvous with our escorts, some 109s came in from 12 o'clock, knocking out the brakes on the landing gear in our port wing, supposedly making the landing more challenging. Anyway, we met our little friends, and later landed safely at our base. After a walkaround of Twin Tail, we counted 17 holes in the fuselage and other structures needed for flying... To this must be added all the hits in the top turret guns and wing root and rudder and...But we got BACK!!!
LT Groenoset

BOBBI JOE'S BOYS (Poulos crew)
Take off for Bobbi Jo’s Boys was fairly smooth.  Once we were up some of the crew were making comments on becoming a Roman Candle since we were loaded down w/ incendiaries.  The value of having the cheek guns was put into play pretty early.  In zone 3 we were jumped by two 109’s.  P-38’s drove off the one that was attacking from 12 level which left one at 1:30 high.  Our navigator fired and flames and smoke came pouring out of the 109 as it passed over us and spiraled down to its demise.  In zone 5 we were jumped again by 2 109’s from 12 level and 1:130 high.  We shot and they shot and only holes in thin air were the result.  They continued on looking for other prey. 

In the target zone we were attacked by 2-109’s and a BF-110.  The 109’s came in from 12 level & 10:30 level and the 110 from 10:30 low.  Our defensive fire missed as did the 109’s  The 110 smacked us with for hits.   Two hits just made some more patching work in our empennage for the ground crews.  One hit knocked out our nose gun spraying pieces of it throughout the nose.  Another hit made our co-pilot and I jump as it passed through our compartment making both of us ask if the other was hit.   We checked things out and all seemed fine, just superficial damage.

The 110 came back around from 1:30 level and our navigator shot and tore into the cockpit.  Down he went, another kill for the starboard cheek gun! The flak bounced us around a bit but not enough to throw us off target.  The bombardier had just enough break that he put about half our load on target setting some nice fires with whatever the other squadrons stirred up with their loads.

Someone remarked we should have sent them some wieners to roast too.  That was rebuffed with a comment about the price of meat not worth giving to the krauts. On the way out of the target we didn’t see any direct fighter action but were watching the attacks on the rest of the squadron when all of a sudden all power was lost on #1 engine.  We were able to feather it but we are all wondering what caused it to quit.  We’ll be looking for a report from the ground crew on any damage or just what happened.  There’s a bet on as to whether it was flak or fighter damage or just wear and tear.

Zone five saw yet another attack by 109’s from 12 level and 1:30 high.  The top turret missed the one at 12 level.  The starboard check was used well by the navigator once again, as we saw pieces flying off his port wing.  It shook up the German’s aim well enough that he missed as did his partner.  Neither came back for us.

There was no more enemy action seen by Bobbi Jo’s Boys and landing went as smooth as expected on three engines. Good to be home.
Submitted Maj. Alex Poulos

LITTLE MISS MICHIE (Williamson crew)
After a normal takeoff everything went from bad to worse.  Right out of the shoot we were jumped by two waves of fighters.  By the time the fighting was over I am sure our fighter cover kept some of them off us but the one's that got through did a real good number on us.  Our Bombardier (Sonny Base) got his first Kill when a 109 came right at us (12 Level) but the 109 from the 12 High position got a shot off that Killed our Navigator (Tony Stutts).  We figured that if we stayed with the formation we could still make the run.  Well, that thought went to hell after the second wave finished their pass.  #3 Engine got hit and had a bad oil leak that engine was not long for this world and to top matters off.  To top matters off one 109 got a lucky shot and Sonny Base was killed.  But John Lowe got him when he came around for another pass.  Without a Bombardier and Navigator and one engine that would have to be shut down soon Capt Williamson decided to Abort and head home after we jettisoned the bombs in the channel. 

Our luck continued when three 109's jumped us after we left the group. One lucky shot and Paul LaRoche joined Sonny and Tony in the promised land. This was becoming a nightmare.   We took a lot more damage but continued flying.  The last wave to hit us was four 109's which continued to put shells in us.  By the time we reached home John Lowe had splashed three more 109's, bring his total for this mission up to four and Chris Burg got his first kill.  Our Radio Operator, Wayne Urban, had also suffered a light wound.

We were able to land safely.
LT Williamson

BLARNEY STONE (O'Neill crew)
At least with German fighters you can shoot back, not so with flak. We flew through some of the most accurate flak today that we have ever experienced, the German gunners seemed to be highly motivated. There was a terrific bang while we were on the bomb-run, number one engine began to run rough then vibrate, we shut it down and feathered it. On returning to base we walked around the aircraft and counted no less than 100 holes, there was a nasty big hole in the number one engine cowling. Our navigator and waist gunner also received slight injuries from shrapnel, but will be back on combat status in a few days. Our radio was also destroyed.

There were also a lot more German fighters up today, at times we were hard pressed to fend them all off, but our tight formation helped. Norman Fairchild our navigator claimed a FW 190 shot down and Hamish our engineer a ME 109. We put a good percentage of our bombs on taget today so all round it was a succesful mission.

MISS BEHAVIN' (Paulus crew)
Authorized abort due to other duties.

SILKS-A-POPPIN (Dollins crew)
After being radioed that we were taking lead, my guts did a little flip. I'm not known for coming home in one hop. We just cleared England when Javier screamed out that there was a 109 coming straight down at us. Nelson told him to shut up as he had his buddy in his face. They covered themselves with glory as nobody hit a damn thing. Then we saw a tangle of fighters as the little guys were messing with some 190's. Hey cool, and then a 109 came screaming out of the mess and bored straight for us. Nelson hit him with just about every round he let loose. The guy just disintegrated in midair. Damn fine shot.

After that, it was plain sailing to the target. Hah, I should learn not to look a gift horse in the mouth! 4 x 109's and a 190 came at us from the front. Javier winged one that must have spooked him because he fired into nowhere and pulled out. Two more 109's missed and bugged out. Ah, the others. the 109 looked like he was going to land in my lap but he didn't hit anything vital - just popped a chunk out of our port flap. The 190 must have been trained better. He grouped his hits neatly in the bomb bay, nose and tail. We crapped ourselves as we heard ricochets around the bombs and were waiting for that big train skyward but nada. 9 pairs of soiled shorts later we realized we were still alive with nothing but a few extra holes and some strange odours. Lonnie really hit that 190 when he came round again but he was still semi-airworthy so we won't let him claim it. The 109 missed and scooted.

The flak was fairly intense and clipped #2 for some nice sparks and holed #4's oil tank but it seemed to seal on its own. Kelly heard a grunt on the intercom and asked the crew to check in. Everyone called in except for Allan in the waist. Kurt went to check him out and we all heard the puking from him. He finally managed to dry retch a report that Allan had been disemboweled from the flak and that the waist was holier than midnight mass. Nelson stuck to his sight and managed to get around 30% on target. We pulled for home with heavy hearts.

The trip was quiet for a while when we had another 109 try to cut us in half from a dive and his buddy trying to land in my lap. We were lucky to get rid of the bombs earlier as his shots came ripping through the bomb bay. Then they scrammed. Another two tried to split our fire by coming from fore and aft but the closing speeds must have too great for the idiot at 12. He fired right past us and just kept going. The fool behind took so long to get to us that Lonnie peeled him apart like an orange and he just disappeared in a ball of fire. Lonnie reckons that the first thing through that kraut's mind was his butt. I'm not arguing.

We made it back and landed like glass. Crap, I gotta write Allan's folks and try to get as good a replacement. War sucks.

HELLZ-A-POPPIN (O'Conner crew)
I'm gonna make this brief, ok? I lost two friends today, and I'm in no mood for paper-pushing baloney. Take-off and forming up were ok, nothing happened til we got over the target. Flak was pretty heavy, and we took hits in the wings and our intercom was knocked out. We were jolted around so much our eggs were wide of the target again. We'd seen a few bandits on the way in, but it was only on the way back that they got through to us. Three 190s hit us from dead ahead and the flanks. Our rubber rafts exploded in a clouds of yellow rubber, and our bomb-bay doors all but fell off. The port tail rudder was shredded and there are hundreds of holes in that crate. More importantly, we lost Sal Felluci our navigator and Joe Kowalski in the waist to those bastards. Sal had his left hand blown off by a 20mm shell, and "Ski" lost his right leg below the knee. They're both going home.

We done? I'm going to get very, very drunk so don't put me on any mission roster for tomorrow. If the Colonel wants me, he'll find me in the OC.
Lt Murphy O'Conner

FLYING BUFFALO (Loomis crew)
Tail-end Charlie . . . Lorient . . . Enough said.  Even though the men didn't like it, they all understood it was their turn to take their chances bringing up the rear.  Well, at least one member of my crew would be happy today, my co-pilot, 1st Lt. Eric Lane.  He liked the fact the squadron would be carrying incendiary bombs as the lighter loads would mean reaching the necessary take-off speed quicker leaving plenty of run way before the plane had to lift off the ground.

Even before the mission left England, the squadron was already down one bomber when the CO's plane, Miss Behavin', developed engine trouble and aborted during the squadron formation.  Silks-a-poppin' flown by 1st Lt. Chris Dollins was instructed to take the lead. 

Over the Channel, enemy attacks caused a Liberator from the low squadron to abort and head back for England.

Just after crossing the French coastline, the high squadron came under attack.  The Flying Buffalo somehow went unnoticed as the enemy attacked the squadron's lead flight.  Just before our fighter escort reached their range limit, another flight of enemy fighters ignored us and attacked Lady Janet off our starboard wing.

The Luftwaffe's attacks increased as the group traveled beyond the friendly fighter range. One Fw-190 dove straight down at us but he missed and he quickly disappeared as flew pass the squadron.  Sgt. Steve Crawford (tail gunner) shot down a Me-109 that was trying to sneak up from behind us.

The weather was bad over the target but that still didn't stop the five Me-109s that peppered the Buffalo with eight holes but luckily nothing vital was hit. The next wave of four Me-109s scored four more hits and this time the #2 engine started to run away before it was finally feathered and shut down.

Flak was accurate and it bracketed the plane with six hits but again the Buffalo came through the worst of it without too much major damage but the thick cloud cover and flak caused the bombs to fall short of the IP.  As we left the target, Lt. Stackpole (Bombardier) reported the roll-up bomb-bay doors were jammed and he was unable to close them.

At the rally point, the enemy left us alone as they went after the Lady Janet and Twin Tail.  The Germans kept up their attacks as the group returned back within friendly fighter range.  At this point, a pair of Me-109s made a head-on attack that damaged the Buffalo's port wing root.  Sgt. Crawford got his second Me-109 of the day as it flew pass the tail guns.

No further enemy attacks occurred as the group headed for England.  When we reached the Channel, a low squadron bomber was seen falling out-of-formation with only two of its engine operating.

The weather back at base was good and our landing was routine and uneventful.
Capt. Rick Loomis

ALLEY OOP (Babineau crew)
A virtual milk run. No fighter attacks until we had the target in sight. One 109 got a lucky shot in the nose and zapped the bombing release gear. Bombs went who knows where. Maybe Jersey City for all we knew. The flak must have been aimed at somebody else, as it did not come near us. Nobody hurt and we dinged two Jerries.

BAD PENNY (Radee crew)
Bad Penny was last seen falling out of formation over the target on fire due to heavy enemy flak. Many parachutes were seen. They did not get to drop their bombs before they went down. The Red Cross reports all 9 crewmembers are captured and in German hands.

GOODNIGHT GLADYS (Stephens crew)
Our first mission out.

It was a Milk Run, or so they said... a target to France instead of Germany.  We were glad of that, but still a bit apprehensive.  This was the crew's first mission after all.

Things went fairly well for us this time... we didn't encounter many enemy planes, but got shot at a few times for some light damage to the aircraft.  Kitchens and Williams both scored hits on enemy planes, but the damage scored wasn't enough to bring them down.

The bomb run was... well, almost routine.  Brad put a little less than half our bombs on target (the rest walked across and into the water).  Flak was fairly light... but then we'd never seen any before so it was pretty darn scary to us.

On the way back we were hit hard by two enemy planes.  On their first pass one of them hit the radio room and hit Alan... thank god it was a light wound (flesh wound through the fleshy part of the left calf).  They came around again and shot up the right wing and damaged the flaps... more bullets slashed through the waist and struck Orel.  The two fighters bugged out after that, one with peices of it's wing missing from a good shot by Brad.

Orel was hit hard... he was bleeding pretty bad from the upper arm.  We fixed him up we best we could and soon after saw England in the distance.

We landed well soon after.  Orel and Alan were both rushed to the infirmary.  We were later informed after debrief that Alan was going to be fine (as was expected), but the amazing thing was that Orel's wound had looked far worse (and was much more painful) than it appeared.  He'd be joining our crew again after a few days of recuperation.

Not a bad first mission.  I hope all our missions are like this (or better)... but I doubt that will be the case.

JERSEY BOUNCE (Wiggins non-player crew)
Smooth mission. Dropped 30% on target and took no damage.

MISS RUTHIE (Jackson non-player crew)
Smooth mission. Dropped 75% on target and took no damage.

FIGHTING IRISH (Lee non-player crew)
It was a little rough for us. We took 71 damage points but did get 50% on target. We shot down a 109 from the waist position and the engineer was lightly wounded.

COALBURG EXPRESS (Nickerson non-player crew)
We took a pounding on the way to the target. We got home after dropping 20% on target. The co-pilot was serverely wounded and will be sent home and the tail gunner was lightly wounded. We landed with 145 damaged points.

LADY VICTORY (McCarty non-player crew)
We were hit bad on the way to the target. We did shoot down a 109 and damaged another. Credit the 109 to the tail gunner. Both the radio operator and the tail gunner were lightly wounded. We missed the target due to flak on the bomb run. We landed hard and damaged the plane pretty badly but it will be repaired. We had 217 damage points when it was all said and done.

SLEEPY TIME (Brown non-player crew)
#3 engine died on take-off so we aborted the mission.

BARNEY'S BOAT (Lownders non-player crew)
Easy mission for us even though Sleepy Time aborted. We missed the target due to flak but did shoot down a 110 sneaking up on us from below from the tunnel gun position.

FUNNY FACE (Buff non-player crew)
We missed the target and took 44 damage points for our trouble.

GILMORE'S SINNERS (Gilmore non-player crew)
This aircraft was last seen dropping out of formation just past the bomb run. The aircraft was trailing smoke from an engine and many enemy aircraft were engaging them. The Red Cross reports that the tunnel gunner was captured in France and is a prisoner of war. No other crewmen have reported in.

SUPPER TIME (Gordon non-player crew)
An Air Medal was awarded to the bombardier due to putting 93% of the bombs on target. The waist gunner was killed on the mission unfortunately. The pilot and the tail gunner were lightly wounded but will return to duty soon. The tunnel gunner got a 190 coming from below and the navigator damaged a 110. We took a lot of damage and landed with 167 points.

OUR MAVEN (Twomley non-player crew)
Easy enough mission. We landed with 42 damage points but did damage a 190. We missed the target unfortunately.