Dailies of the 323rd - the 91st Bomb Group!
Dailies of the 323rd - the 91st Bomb Group!
Dailies of the 323rd - the 91st Bomb Group!
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crew; #841, Lt. Shambaugh and crew. All returned safely.<br />
30-31 Jan. 1945: There were no missions due to inclement wea<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
Classes and training continued with good attendance.<br />
Summary: During <strong>the</strong> month our squadron had two losses - on <strong>the</strong><br />
6th, Lt. McConnell and crew, and <strong>the</strong> 14th, Lt. Meyer and crew.<br />
These men were all qualified crewmembers <strong>of</strong> good standing. The<br />
mission <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 29th adds up to 287 missions for <strong>the</strong> group, since<br />
we have been in <strong>the</strong> ETO. The <strong>323rd</strong> squadron flew 135 sorties with<br />
10 abortives to take-<strong>of</strong>f <strong>of</strong> this figure. The abortives could be<br />
considered as partly ill luck due to our good record <strong>the</strong> past<br />
several months in this respect. Although a large percentage <strong>of</strong><br />
this is laid to new crews; and so ends our 29th month in <strong>the</strong> ETO.<br />
FEBRUARY 1945:<br />
1 Feb. 1945: The first day <strong>of</strong> February saw <strong>the</strong> initial spark that<br />
mounted to a terrifically glowing <strong>of</strong>fensive thrust deep into<br />
industrial Nazi land. Beginning, our heavies attacked Manheim's<br />
important marshalling yard with unobserved results by using PFF.<br />
Cooperatively, <strong>the</strong> <strong>323rd</strong> squadron put thirteen AlC into <strong>the</strong> air<br />
on this mission. Following are <strong>the</strong> thirteen AlC: #471, was lead<br />
ship flown by Lt. Partridge and <strong>the</strong> "A" crew; #909, Lt. Flynn and<br />
crew; #379, Lt. Brown and crew; #939, Lt. Bull and crew; #806,<br />
Lt. Yavis and crew; #841, Lt. Shambaugh and crew; #636, Lt.<br />
Williams and crew; #431, Lt. Holliday and crew; #116, Lt. H<strong>of</strong>fman<br />
and crew; #772 (324th), Lt. McKnight and crew; #027 (322nd), Lt.<br />
Lawson and crew; #540, F/O Adams and crew; #754 (401st), Lt.<br />
Gregg and crew. Due to mechanical failure Lt. Brown and F/O Adams<br />
aborted. Flak was reportedly meager and accurate. All our ships<br />
returned safely.<br />
2 Feb. 1945: A communication's center in <strong>the</strong> city <strong>of</strong> Berlin was<br />
our target on <strong>the</strong> second. The target was attacked visually with<br />
very good results. However, pin-pointing from strike photographs<br />
was made impossible because <strong>of</strong> heavy smoke in target area. Flak<br />
was reported moderate and accurate at 24 to 25,000 feet. On this<br />
day, our squadron "stood down". Training activities were attended<br />
with fair attendance.<br />
3-5 Feb. 1945: Inclement wea<strong>the</strong>r made it impossible for this<br />
group to operate in <strong>the</strong> air, so our crews took this advantage for<br />
more ground training and passes that were overdue to former<br />
activities.<br />
6 Feb. 1945: Gotha . Germany received <strong>the</strong> full impact <strong>of</strong> our next<br />
haymakers visually as a target <strong>of</strong> opportunity, due to 10/10ths<br />
clouds over our assigned target. Strike showed fair results.
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