...AFTER ACTION REPORTS...
. STORM RIDER (JHaygood crew)
Storm Rider exploded just before the target area. It was under intense attack from enemy
fighters at the time. No chutes were seen.
BIGAST BOYD (Jamison crew)
The mission was pretty good except for the bomb run. We couldn't see the target
well and probably missed the whole thing. We did suffer some nose wheel damage that made
the landing scary but we got down safely.
BOBBI JO'S BOYS (Poulos crew)
Take off was a bit rough as we almost clipped a few trees on the
way up. Justtrying to keep the boys in the nose awake. Rob reported in the tail that the
207th formed up pretty well. perhaps all that practicing was helping. The Krauts were on
us as soon as we got over water and all the way into the target. 2 109's got through the
fighter screen and tracer fire tore through the sky but no damage to friend or foe. In the
third zone a couple more 109's came in and our port waist gunner clipped a few inches from
his wing and it missed us in turn.
In zone 4 the Big Beautiful Bolts drove off a lone 109.
Overthe target we were jumped by two waves. In the first 2 109's came in High from
10:30 and 1:30 but everybody luckily missed. In the 2nd 3-190's were protecting the target
and came in from 6High, 3High, and 12 Low. Our Tail Gunner and Top Turret and Nose Gun
applied some lead to all three and the 6 and 3 O'clock 190's missed, but the one at 12 low
hit us. Our Nose and waist were hit. Just a few holes in the plexiglass in the nose
and a couple of holes in the waist section by which our waist gunner was slightly wounded
in the left hand. On it's Successive attack Our Top Turret took him down in flames.
Their flak gunners missed us. Our brand new bombardier got
a glimpse of the target and we think put at least 40% of our eggs on target.
On the way out 2 109's came at us and managed to put some
more holes in our nose and a hole through our starboard aileron. No more fighters were
encountered by us and landing was uneventful.
FLYING BUFFALO (Loomis crew)
Enemy opposition was very light on this mission. Off the Dutch coast, Msgt.
Gaydos shot down a single Me-109 before it could do any damage. Cloud cover over the
target was poor but Sgt. Riseden (tunnel gunner) still managed to shot down an Me-110. But
just before entering the flak zone, THE BUFFALO was jarred from hits from 20mm hits. Two
hits were later found to be superficial but the starboard rudder took some damage. This
was caused by another Me-110 that had appeared unobserved from below in a climb. Lt.
Blunder (navigator), using a cheek gun, shot this one down as it tried to make another
pass at us. Flak was light and very inaccurate, which allowed Lt. Stackpole (bombardier)
an unimpeded bomb run resulting in a very good strike in spite of the cloud cover. Just
after the rally point a pair of Me-109s attacked and escaped unscathed. As the squadron
moved towards out to sea, a single Fw-190 attempted a rear attack but it was severely
damaged from accurate fire from the top turret and tail guns. The remainder of the mission
saw no further Luftwaffe attacks and landing back at base was routine and uneventful.
Capt. Rick Loomis
STEEL RAIN II (BHaygood crew)
We took off with no problems and made it to the target without seeing a single
enemy. We were off target completely because off the bad weather. Looking out my window I
saw the Storm Rider suddenly flash and explode, peppering our plane with shrapnel. Those
were good guys, I knew their pilot well; he was my youngest brother. After that I
tightened up our formation. We made it home without firing a shot. Jacob and the crew of
the Storm Rider will be avenged!
(I rolled two 66's over the course of two zones and
rolled lucky rabbits foot and tight formation with Rhine Express and Alley Oop. I never
did see an enemy plane. My brother in the Storm Rider was shot down by a single 109
hitting him in the bombs and detonating them.)
WEASEL GOD (EHaygood crew)
It was a pretty easy run. No enemies seen until we were over the target. Three
waves attacked, they all ran off. Dropped bombs on target 30%. On the way back home we had
1 wave attack, no kills, no hits. Then two waves attacked. A 109 came straight on and hit
my bombadier with a light wound to the head. It also put several machine gun rounds into
the cockpit. They bounced around and hit me in the foot (used lucky rabbit foot to survive
a killing wound. Re-rolled to light wound.) Close to home two 110s attacked from behind
and below. Our little buddies took one, tailgunner shot down the other. Little buddies
held us the rest of the way homw. Had a pretty easy landing. Once I got down I learned
Jacob in Storm Rider had gone down. Ben and I will avenge him!
SWEET TARGET (Zaragoza crew)
Take off went smooth, no problem at all. And we got into formation with out a
problem. We formed up and head for Amsterdam. We did not meet any resistance until we got
just off the coast of Netherlands. Then it got a little hot from there on. We got attacked
by an FW190 which came at 1:30 High. The Stbd check guns missed but our T.T. damaged him
enough to cause him to miss.
Over the target we encouted two waves of fighters,
the first had a pair of 109s at 12 level and high. They both missed and we missed them.
The second wave had an 190 at 1:30 High. Our T.T. Alfredo got him good and he was seen
going down. The flak was light, but even so one of them was close enough to hit the tail
Starboard wing and waist. In the tail the flak hit the control cables and in the Stbd wing
it got two holes in them. Nothing seirous just superficial damage. In the waist nothing
seriuos was hit. Our Bombardier was able to get a good look at the target before it got
clouded over. Even so we were off target with only 10% of the bombs to hitting the target.
Coming out of the target and out of the flak range we got jumped by
a 109 at 1:30 High. Both the T.T. and the check guns missed him. He was able to score two
hits one in the stbd wing, doing only superficial damage. And the other in the Flight deck
which hit the radio. He came around for another pass at 9 level. This time our T.T. was
able to get a piece of him. But it did not seem to faze him. He kept on coming and scored
walking hits. In the nose it took out the Stbd check gun. In the port wing he hit the
aileron. in the waist he knocked out the port heater and in the tail he knocked out the
tail guns. He came around again for his third pass and he hit the the oxygen supply for
the port gunner and Stbd suit heater in the waist and wounding John Redfield our waist
gunner, he got hit in the arm. Then I guess he got tired or ran out of ammo and left. As
David Norton our belly gunner was checking out Redfield he noticed that the Stbd suit
heater was out and the port heater was out too, the the oxygen on the port side was out.
We had to drop out of formation. But we kept the formation in our view. We meet no other
resistance from there on. The landing went smoothly.
1Lt. Zaragoza
LITTLE MISS MICHIE (Williamson crew)
This was a milk run. We saw only a few fighters and received minimum damage (25
points)and only hit one 190 that appeared to be smoking as it left our sights. We
hit the target with 40% of the bombs.
HELLZ-A-POPPIN' (O'Conner crew)
No major issues this time out, 'cept the fact that Sweeney here is
bellyaching cos he a splinter in his arm. What a gold-bricker! We formed up okay, and
didn't see any action til the target. Flak wasn't too bad and we got most of our eggs near
the target, I think. We got jumped by a bunch of Krauts over the target, Ortiz getting two
from the tail and Philby damaging a coupla others. Philby was on target on the way back,
though, when he nailed a 109 at 6 high - not before Sweeney here got hit from flying
fragments from the Kraut's hits on us. Looked worse than it is, but he's busy milking it
over at the medics, I'll bet. 19 to go, boys....
SILKS-A-POPPIN' (Dollins crew)
Took off well and formed up. Got whacked in every zone 'til the
target. Sholtis got a scratch in the hand and Brushears got nailed in the shoulder but
he'll be ok once the doc got it cleaned up. Some flak hits in the wing but still got a
good spread on target. Pretty clear on the way back and landed the crate like a dock
worker. Got trashed in the O/Club.
RHINE EXPRESS (Billings crew)
Can't say this was how I would have preferred to visit Amsterdam, but in the end
it all turned out good. Matter of fact, I hope all our missions go like this. Saw a lone
109 over the just off the English coast, but he wasn't up for much of a fight. Didn't see
any more bandits until we were in the target zone: Three 109s, all from the front. They
put a few holes in the Express' hide, but nothing serious. Tech Sergeant Franklin, up top,
flamed one. Flak was negligible, but the shock wave threw off Lieutenant Austin's aim. I
don't think he even landed any bombs in the Zuider Zee. Krauts were waiting for us after
the RP. Three waves. First got picked off by other bombers. In the second, a 190 got some
hits on us, but Bickle in the tail messed him up on a passing shot, so he didn't try for a
second pass. Third wave all missed. No Germans until the English coast, but they got
picked off by other bombers as well. Worst part of the whole trip was the landing: The
nose wheel wouldn't come down. I had Austin and Oshkosh, the navigator, move back to the
waist then I put the Express down. Looped it off the end of the runway, but crew chief
Mahoney tells me he'll have it fixed by tomorrow evening at the latest. Crew Chief Report:
Nose wheel needs to be replaced, a few holes to be patched, and some crash damage to the
nose section. (30 Peckham Points)
JERSEY BOUNCE (Wiggins non-player crew)
Started out ok then we got pounded out over the water
just past the English coast. We somehow stayed with the formation and dropped out bombs
near the target. We got pounded again at about the same place as the inbound trip by
probably the same enemy. Red nose 109s were everywhere. Somehow we got home. Our co-pilot
was severely wounded and will be sent home. He will be missed. Our engineer was lightly
wounded and will be fit for duty next mission.
MISS RUTHIE (Jackson non-player crew)
Everything was on for us on this mission. Everyone performed well and we hit the
target with most of our eggseven though we were bounced around by flak.
FIGHTING IRISH (Lee non-player crew)
Not too bad a mission for us. We couldn't see the target and probably missed it
because of the bad weather over the target. Flak bounced us around some but that is no
excuse for missing. We will do better I am sure.
COALBURG EXPRESS (Nickerson non-player crew)
We were messed with the whole mission. We missed the target on top of that! Well,
at least we got down on the ground in one piece. Old Coalie hit the runway hard and broke
her nose wheel off and we skidded to a stop, but they say it will fly again next mission.
We did get a 109 along the way for the Luftwaffe's trouble.
LADY VICTORY (McCarty non-player crew)
We got a lot of attention by the luftwaffe but somehow they missed everything
vital. Our engineer got a 109 along the way. We missed the target as it was obscured but
they somehow hit us with flak. Go figure... Homebound was as bad as outbound but we made
it.
ALL THE KING'S MEN (LaFevre non-player crew)
The rest of us are all lucky to be alive. Zollars didn't make it though. We fell
out of formation right before the target because of engine trouble and stabilizer trouble.
Probably something left over from a fight right before our IP. We struggled along over the
target and missed the flak because they were probably shooting so high at the full
formation. We did get some unwanted attention by the fighters and lost another engine as
we turned for home. That is when Neal got it. Our third engine went out over the ocean and
we dropped to 500 feet before it restarted (rolled random lucky rabbits foot). We stayed
low and slow all the way home and landed at the first base in England.
BARNEY'S BOAT (Lownders non-player crew)
Smooth trip except for the fact that All the King's Men dropped from formation
and we wanted to go down and help her but we stayed with the formation. Flak pinged us
good in the waist but we still dropped everything hard on the target. We got a 190 on the
way home and he splashed into the ocean.
SLEEPY TIME (Brown non-player crew)
We had just enough attention from the luftwaffe along the way to keep us busy.
Flak hit us as well and the weather made us miss the target. We did get a 109 off the
nose. Bill is buying the beer.
FUNNY FACE (Buff non-player crew)
Only 4 fighters made passes at us and we shot one of the 190s down. We dropped
50% on target and landed safely. Easy mission.
OUR MAVEN (Twomley non-player crew)
It was rough over the target with enemy fighters everywhere. They hit us all over
and both our right waist and pilot was wounded lightly. But we still got 60% on the target
and shot down a 110 trying to sneak up from down low. Our tail gunner should be credited
with the kill. |
Target for Today...
