Would like to share my father's diary of flight missions on a B17

[DaddyMax]

My father kept a diary of his flight missions, that I would like to share. His crew flew on the first three (3) daylight-bombing raids on "The Big B" Berlin. They were also one of the first to do a shuttle run to Russia. Their first twelve (12) missions were with the 8th Air Force in England, and then were transferred to the 15th Air force in Italy. He was credited with 51 missions.


Mission No 1
February 3, 1944
Wilhemshaven, Germany

The target was one of the biggest seaport and shipbuilding bases in Germany. We were at an altitude of 25,000 ft and it was 45 degrees below zero. We saw some flak, but didn't see enemy fighters. When we got to the target, we could not see the city because of the solid clouds. When we saw a break in the clouds, all we could see was snow on the ground. We also flew over the Netherlands and back. We Had P-47?s for our fighter escort



Mission No 2
February 4, 1944
Frankfurt, Germany

The target was a lot of factories in the city. We were at an altitude of 24, 000 ft and it was 45 degrees below zero. Again we could not see the city because of the solid layer of clouds. The flak was heavy, but no enemy fighters. I saw one of our B17's hit by flak and started the No 2 engine on fire. The ten (10) men bailed out and the plane hit the ground and blew up. We flew over Belgium to and from the target. We had P-47's and P-38's for our escorts.



Mission No 3
February 6, 1944
St Andre, France

The target was two big airdromes and storage places for German fighter planes. We had a good hit as I watched the bombs drop from most of the planes. After watching them hit the buildings, all I could see was smoke. We were at an altitude of 23,000 ft and it was 35 degrees below zero. We saw a little flak and had a small piece hit our plane. We had a hole the size of a silver dollar. We saw two enemy fighters (JU88's) that shot down one of our planes. I saw two (2) chutes open up. After that I didn't see the plane anymore. We had no friendly escorts.