Dailies of the 323rd - the 91st Bomb Group!

missions were permitted to go on pass if they chose.
th
The following is an addition to the 13 that was added on at the
th
end of the month: On the mission of the 13 , Sgt. Henry H. Ray
suffered a broken ankle. He was serving as waist gunner on ship
#2116, which aborted due to malfunction of #1 engine.
The following story is the property of the author and may not be reproduced without the author's consent.
Dailies of the 323rd
Transcribed by Nancy Perri
1 Jan. 1944: New Years Day in the squadron was but little if any
different from any other in the year. That is, there was nothing
in the way of a celebration that most of the personnel have been
accustomed to in civilian life. The normal routine, when no
operational mission was scheduled, was followed. Four radio
operators attended Wing Radio Network. Four pilots had Link
Trainer for an hour each, and three ships made local cross
country flights. At the mess halls, all personnel were served
with a nice turkey dinner.
2 Jan. 1944: Next day, three ships did local formation flying as
a training project. This is often the case in order to give
experience to pilots who are expected to get adjusted to flying
together in formation. There was nothing done in the way of
ground school training.
3 Jan. 1944: January 3, 1944 was a busy day. All the Synthetic
Trainers were in full operation. Link, Shadowgraph, Spotlight and
Gee trainers were all taken up. Ass't radio operators had their
check. Aircraft recognition class was held, and radio operators
had code practice. With them, this is necessary. An assistant
radio operator is not often called upon to take over as a radio
operator unless in case of emergency. Such instances very seldom
occur in this squadron, but it is felt that there should be a
capable assistant on the ship at all times during an operational mission.
4 Jan. 1944: After an interval of four days in operational
missions, eight of our ships participated in a mission to Kiel,
Germany. Ships 815, 939, 372, 774, 761, 746, 172 and 759 flown by
Capt. Warrington B. Dalton, Jr., 2/Lt. Roman V. Maziarz, 1/Lt.
Charles H. Samuelson, 2/Lt. Kenneth Sutherland, 1/Lt. Kenneth T.
McFarland, Jr., 2/Lt. Frank R. Kolts, 2/Lt. Douglas C. Harding,
2/Lt. Doyle E. Bradford, and their crews, respectively, went over
the target and dropped their bombs and returned to this base.
They had a good escort of American fighters, which seemed to have