Robert E. Lee

Target unrecorded

Formation position 2-1 (left column)

OsnabrückM/Y

OsnabrückM/Y

Ahrweiller??

The crew returned to base just in time to be grounded by weather. They went operational again on December 12th. Four days later, the Germans launched the offensive that became known as the Battle of the Bulge. Missions were briefed every day and canceled every day. The weather was impossible. December 24th dawned clear. Every aircraft that could get off the ground flew that day. The group typically put up around 30 planes per mission; that morning more than 50 went. The usual restrictions on targets of opportunity were loosened. Communications were the objective, and any crossroads, telephone line, or railroad was fair game. The formation flew in over France toward the front lines, hitting the railroad and town of Ahrweiler. Four-gun batteries were active throughout the area, the flak accurate enough to damage the elevator. All crew returned safely. What the pilot didn't know until later was that his brother Elmer was on the ground below that day, part of Patton's relief force. Elmer later described what he saw: contrails stretching in every direction as far as the eye could reach, the bombers overhead crossed by the tighter trails of their fighter escorts. A few days later Elmer was wounded. A round detonated just behind his foxhole, shredded his helmet, and drove fragments into his skull. The pilot learned of it through the Red Cross. Elmer was hospitalized at Penley Hall near Wrexham in Wales.

MechernichM/Y

Magdeburg/RothenseeO/I

The next mission returned to Magdeburg, 75 miles short of Berlin. It was their second time to that target. Flak was moderate, one hole in the aircraft, all planes returned safely. Fair bombing results. Not as difficult as the first Magdeburg raid, but not a milk run either.

Target unrecorded

Target unrecorded

Magdeburg/Rothensee O/IO/I

The third Magdeburg mission targeted the oil refinery. The route ran in over the Zuiderzee, Zwolle, Dümmer Lake, and Hannover. Flak was a mix of tracking and barrage, fairly accurate, at a temperature of minus 38 degrees Celsius. A jet was reported in the area. During the mission the oxygen ran out, though the aircraft took no battle damage and all crew returned safely. One ship was seen to blow up. Two chutes came out. One ship and ten men were lost.

American Assault Area??

For several weeks the group had been practicing low-level formation flying, sometimes as low as 100 feet. The preparations were for Montgomery's Rhine crossing. Allied Headquarters had kept the entire area blanketed in military smoke to conceal the buildup from aerial observation. The crew could see it from hundreds of miles away. When the day came, the aircraft was loaded with parachute-equipped supply canisters in the bomb bay and a basket of blankets hung in the ball turret well, suspended on a quick-release toggle. At briefing the crew picked up an additional member: the official 8th Air Force photographer. The mission called for a nine-ship company front formation at 75 feet, nine aircraft flying tip to tip, with the crew in the deputy lead position on the right wing of the squadron lead. The high right flight held some 200 feet above. They came up on the Rhine on a clear day to find a massive flotilla of landing craft ferrying tanks, trucks, and men across the river. Ahead, smoke and fires marked the drop area. Individuals on the ground were firing up at them. The gunners returned fire. The bomb bay malfunctioned. They circled and made a second pass, then a third, before the canisters finally pulled free. Below them, gliders and C-47s lay crashed and burning. Men hung dead in their harnesses. By the third run they were the only aircraft left over the area, and every German gun that could reach them was trying to. Small arms fire hit the aircraft. One ship was lost from the larger force. The photographer shot thirteen pictures that day. The pilot later saw six of them.

BuckenO/D

The 32nd mission came the day after the Rhine crossing supply drop. The target was an oil storage facility at Buchen, roughly 20 miles southeast of Hamburg. The sight of that course on the briefing map brought the familiar knot back. Over the target, at least 15 ME-262 jet fighters attacked the formation. The covering fighters drove them off without a loss. The waist gunner claimed a probable. No flak, no battle damage, all crew safe. Bombing results were assessed as very good.