Dec. 1

Got up at 10:00 a.m. Boy did that soft bed feel good. We phoned up Roz and Jo and made a date for lunch. (They’re pretty nice dishes for English women) Went to the show with Rivas and Bolton after lunch. (The girls went back to work.) Saw “Rainbow Island” it wasn’t so hot. Went to the show again that night (ran into difficulties) Went back to the room early. Collins came up and we had a bull session.

 

Dec. 2

Up at 10:00 a.m. Were to meet Collins, but missed him, Rivas forgot his camera and we had to go back to the hotel. Had “Brunch” at Lyon’s, one of the largest restaurants in England. We went to Westminster and took some pictures. Caught the 2:20 p.m. train back to camp, arrived in camp at 5:30. Stopped off at Sudbury. Listened to the Army vs. Navy game and it was a good game. Hit the sack about 10:00 p.m.

 

Dec. 3

No mission for us today, our pilot and co-pilot were O.D. The rest of the group got to go, but it was scrubbed. It rained most of the day. Got up at 10:00 a.m. Had ground school all afternoon. Our C.O. gave out some awards and a pep-talk. Got some intelligence reports and air-craft recon. Caught a mouse in my trap. (That will teach them to eat my rations.)

 

Dec. 4

Mission 13

 

Mainz, Germany “. . . I’m not superstitious, but I’m glad this one is over with.”

 

 

Dec. 5 TWO YEARS IN THE ARMY

Got us up this morning at 5:00 a.m. to go on a damn practice mission. We briefed at 6:00 a.m. and took off at 7:30 a.m. We ere to fly over France, but there was a weather front so we turned back over the channel. We had a few practice bomb runs and landed a 12:30 p.m. Ate lunch and went to the sack till 4:30 p.m. Cleaned guns. Wrote some letters. Shot the bull for a while and hit the sack about 10:00 p.m. Had a couple of red alerts. (Buzz Bombs)

 

Dec. 6

Mission 14

 

Merchburg, Germany “ . . . Flak accurate and intense, as usual. . . Got one flak hole in the wing.”

 

 

Dec. 7

PEARL HARBOR – 3 YEARS Got up at 4:00 a.m. to go on a mission, but it was scrubbed because of bad weather. We were going to bomb the marshalling field at Hamm, Germany. This would have been our third trip there. Briefed at 5:00 a.m. and had two red flares from the tower at 7:00 a.m. Went back to bed at 8:00 a.m. and slept till 12:00 p.m. Went to the show with Bolton and walked out on a lousy limy picture.

 

Dec. 8

Got us up this morning a 5:00 a.m. to go on a damn practice mission again. We took off at 8:00 a.m. and had to go to 30,000 ft. to get above the weather. Somebody certainly has there head up on these practice missions. It was 52 below 0 at 30,000. That’s the highest I’ve been yet. Landed at 12:30 p.m. Got a few hours sleep. Went to the show with Ward. Saw “Marriage is a Private Affair.”

 

Dec. 9

Got up at 8:00 a.m. and cleaned up the hut for a big inspection. Boy, it was really a mess, but we got it looking pretty nice when the inspecting officer came around. Had lunch and played a little ping-pong with Belt, Rat and Johnny. We made a few sorties to steal some wood, it’s cold as hell. We had a little snow yesterday. Shot the bull most of the evening.

 

Dec. 10

Stood down today again. Got up at 11:00 a.m. It was a pretty miserable day. Rained most of the day. Layed around most of the day. Drew a few pictures. (A hobby I have adopted to fill in my spare time.) Had chicken and ice cream for dinner. Rivas and I drew pictures of each other, not too bad. Read a little. We’re alerted for tomorrow, max effort. It’s stopped raining, but it’s pretty black out. Buzz-bomb came close.

 

 

Dec. 11

Mission 15

 

Guiessen, Germany “. . . Were going to fly over Paris, but bad weather stopped us.”

 

 

Dec. 12

Mission 16

 

Barnstadt, Germany “. . . Ran low on gas coming back and had ran into some bad weather, had to land on another field. Large fires as we passed over target.”

 

 

Dec. 13

No mission today and a good thing, we needed a rest. Got up at 9:30 a.m. (believe it or not.) Burned the last of our wood in the morning and froze in the afternoon. My feet have never been so cold. Had a lecture in the late afternoon and took a much needed shower. Got a Christmas present from Marge, Ro and Nancy. Opened the one with food in it and saved the other till Dec. 24. Wrote some letters.

 

Dec. 14

Stood down all day today again, because of bad weather. Got up at 10:00 a.m. and had quite a breakfast in the hut. Everyone pulled out some food they received from home. Played a little ping-pong after lunch with Belt. We out to clean guns with Collins. Got some wood. Went to the show with Johnson, Belt, Hawkins. Our new ship is named Varga Girl. No. 981, our old one was no. 997. Light went out for about and hour at show.

 

Dec. 15

Mission 17

 

Hanover, Germany  “. . .flak over target, it was moderate and inaccurate. None was very close to us.”

 

 

Dec. 16

Stood down today. Got up at 10:00 a.m. Expected a practice mission, but believe it or not there wasn’t one. Loafed around most of the day. Wrote some letters. Had a big inspection as usual. We just got the hut cleaned up in time. When the inspecting officer came in he looked over the shelves with a disgusted look as usual. The stuff is really piled up on them the rest looked O.K.

 

Dec. 17

Stand down again today. Got up at 10:30 a.m. Boy, this is the life. We really had a rough rainstorm last night and this morning. Fixed a flat tire on my bike. That makes two in one week. I’m getting P.O.’ed at that damn bike. Won two pounds playing “Black-jack.” Went to the USO show, it was pretty good. It looks pretty nice tonight. We’re alerted. Went to bed early.

 

Dec. 18

Mission 18

 

Mainz, Germany “. . . We were supposed to be on pass today, but there’s shortage of crews at present.”

 

 

Dec. 19

No mission today. They got the rest of the boys up in our hut, but for some reason our crew wasn’t scheduled to go. The mission was finally scrubbed anyway, so we didn’t miss anything. We had a little ground school in the morning and took it easy the rest of the day. We had a meeting of all crews at 5:30 p.m. and were awarded our Oak Leaf Cluster. Still foggy out.

 

Dec. 20

Stood down again today because of adverse weather conditions. Got up at 10:30 a.m. There was no wood in the hut, so we decided to make a big raid on the post engineer’s wood pile. Everyone really pitched in and we got a hell of a pile of wood, it ought to last us a month. If we get any more we’ll have to move out of the hut. Washed my long-johns and that’s an accomplishment.

 

Dec. 21

Stood down again today for the same reason as yesterday. The fog is so thick you can’t see for more than twenty feet. Played some ping-pong with Henry, George, Bob, Fred. Won a few, also lost a few. Got quite a few letters and much to my surprise I answered them directly. Layed around most of the day. Still foggy when I hit the sack. Hope we get a mission tomorrow.

 

Dec. 22

MADE STAFF SERGEANT TODAY – $96 F.P. O.P NO LIGHTS TONIGHT No missions again today for the same old reason. FOG as thick as soup. Got hold of a Christmas tree, well at least a branch and fixed it up pretty nice. We used Kleenex, gum wrappers and everything else we could find. It looks something like a Christmas tree when we finished. I swiped the branch from the Aero-Club. Got a Christmas package from Mom & Dad. Will save till the 24th.

 

Dec. 23

THE BULGE Still foggy, no missions again. Too bad, the boys over there could use a little support right now. Doesn’t look any too good at present. The Gerries really pulled a fast one. Got up at 7:30 a.m., believe it or not, on my own accord. Had an hour of ground school. Played a little ping-pong. Planned on going to Sudbury tonight but were alerted. Went to the post show. Saw “Claudia”

 

Dec. 24

CHRISTMAS EVE Mission 19\

 

Airport in Frankfurt, Germany “ . . . Today was one of the most hectic days in my life & I hope the last one like it . . . Merry Christmas?”

 

 

Dec. 25

-CHRISTMAS- Well, it turned out to be a pretty nice Christmas after all. We had a mission today, but it was scrubbed and the best news of all Cromwell’s crew, the crew that’s in our hut that was shot down yesterday, was reported to have landed in friendly territory. I was damn glad to hear that, they’re a swell bunch of fellows. We were a pretty sad bunch of lads last night and plenty tired. We didn’t have any snow, but we had a “White Christmas.” The frost covered the ground and trees and looked just like snow. I opened up the presents from home and they were swell. We had a swell turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Went to the show after dinner. In yesterdays mission our group made a damn good showing, we shot down 25 nazi ships.

 

Dec. 26

Stood down today again. It’s really getting cold here. The frost is getting thicker and stays on the ground all day. It looks just like snow. Cromwell and his co-pilot got back today, all of the crew is safe. They really had some stories to tell. Got another package from home. The fruit cake was good, but it didn’t last long. We had quite a meal after all the boys in the hut chipped in. We’re stood down again tomorrow.

 

Dec. 27

Got up at 9:00 a.m. and reported to ground school at 9:30 a.m. Saw some training films. The frost is still on the ground, even more so. We had a meeting of gunners this afternoon. They told us we did a damn good job on our first E/A attack. The General (Castle) is still missing. He was leading my squad. I saw him go down. Found out today that I made Staff Sergeant on Dec. 22. Cromwell’s crew came back.

 

Dec. 28

Mission 20

 

Coblenz, Germany “ . . . Almost took off without a ball-gunner & motor. Hope we get 15 more like this one.”

 

 

Dec. 29

Mission 21

 

Aschaffenburg, Germany “. . . Perrot got hit going in, saw two chutes. Saw one ship blow up on the way back. Saw Frankfurt, Germany in flames. . .”

 

 

Dec. 30

Mission 22

 

Mannheim, Germany “. . . We flew deputy lead in the low squad.”

 

 

Dec. 31

NEW YEARS EVE No mission today for us. Our group flew and lost one ship and one gunner. (Hamburg) A good one to miss. Got up at 10:00 a.m. Had a few classes. A fighter-pilot talked with us. Went to the show after dinner. Went to the New Years party at the “Sergeants Club” and had a swell time. Really brought in the new year right. Everyone was tight. A lot of English girls there. Got into the sack about 2:00 a.m. We’re alerted for tomorrow.