05 OCTOBER 1944 · THURSDAY · STATION 104Bombed Primary
Mission 665.Rheine.
Rheine, Germany
Intended Target
Rheine
Rheine, Germany
Operating Group
93rd BG
2BD
Takeoff Base
Hardwick
Station 104
Landing Base
Hardwick
Station 104
Aircraft Effective
107 / 360
effective / dispatched
Bomb Tonnage
168.1
tons
The cost.
§ Outcome
2
Ships Aborting
0
Ships Lost
0
Men Bailed Out
0
Men Lost
The route.
§ Takeoff to Target
Bearing Out
90° T
Bearing In
275° T
Route Length
960 nmi
Time Aloft
5 h 25 m
Operational data.
§ From the Debrief
Times & Distance
Reveille
04:30
Stations
07:30
Takeoff
08:15
Form-Up
05:20
Time Over Target
10:00
Return Time
13:40
Distance
960 nmi
Fuel Aboard
2,300 gal
Fuel Consumed
1,800 gal
Weather
Cloud En-Route to Target
Heavy two-layer overcast: low stratus covering 8/10 of the sky, topped by a complete (10/10) stratocumulus layer. Near-total cloud cover throughout.
Air Temp at Altitude
-38 °F
Lowest Temp
-38 °F
Wind Speed
55 kt
Wind Direction
110°
Bombing & Defense
Bombing Altitude
23,600 ft
Bombing Run Heading
190° True
Forming Altitude
15,000 ft
Fighter Cover
2 P-51, 1 P-47 groups
Bombing Accuracy
Very good — visual bombing; 750 aircraft participating
Flak
Enroute at Osnabruck and Bielefeld; none at target
The formation.
10 aircraft · tap a ship for its crew
P1Lt Walter F. Hughes
CP2Lt Peter Scott
N2Lt Louis H. Windsor
B2Lt Ralph Hendershot
E-TTSgt Conway Thorstenson
ROT/Sgt Norbert L. Ecclesfield
WGSgt Michael J. Kusnir
TGSgt Boyd L. Justice
NGSgt Robert T. Lee
GSgt Carroll F. Ruby
The sixth mission was a comparatively straightforward one. The target was an airfield at Paderborn, and the route in followed the familiar track over Egmond, Amsterdam, Apeldoorn, and Osnabrück. Flak came up at Osnabrück and Bielefeld but nothing reached the formation over the target itself. Passing near Bad Oeynhausen, the crew counted 25 barrage balloons floating above the railroad bridge over the Weser River. Bombing conditions were good, with clear visual sighting across a formation of 750 aircraft. Results were assessed as very good. The aircraft, "Solid Comfort," came back without a mark. No fighters, no flak holes, all crew safe.
Sources.
§ Provenance
2nd Air Division · 2nd Air Division Digital Archive · 1944
Official record
Mighty Eighth War Diary
Roger A Freeman · Jane's Publishing Company Limited · 1981
Published