My Father's WWII Journals No. 2

This second journal is an account of the crew's second mission, just a day after the first, to the marshalling yards of Darmstadt. It was not a success, in that they missed their target, but it was a success in that they had a safe landing, though a difficult one, and in the end Dad pays tribute to pilot Bob Ellis for a "beautiful job" of bringing them home though they were all "sweating" it.

Dad and Bob at Thorpe Abbotts

A few words on Bob Ellis. He and Dad were from the same hometown of Canton, Ohio, but never met up until Dyersburg, TN, where the crew left for England. You can read about their shenanigans in Tennessee (and Canton) here. Bob was older and more educated than Dad, and saw to it that Dad saw London and bought the camera that Dad used to good advantage. They remained lifelong friends, as did many of the men on that crew, whom I'll name in a later post. 

I'll also note that the aircraft named here in the journal is "Glory Bound," which I never heard before. Once all the men on the crew were promoted, they named their plane "The Brass Hat." I'll post a photo of the tail art for that later. 

12-15-44

No. 2

Ship – Glory Bound                No. 523

Target – Darmstadt – Marshalling Yards

Visibility – 00-00                    Resulta – Missed

Flak – Light & Inaccurate

Takeoff 0840   Land    1630

Bombs Away 1223                  Altitude 24,600'

Temp – 36 degrees                  Load 10-500 # G.P.'s

                                                            2-500 # G.P.'s incendiaries

Oxygen 4 hrs.                          Mission 7 hrs, 50 min.

Position – Left Wing – Lead Ship – Low S [rd?]

 

We were awakened at 0415, had chow, and were briefed. Went to the ship, check[ed] guns, turret, and equipment and found everything o.k. We made an instrument takeoff and ascent because the weather wasn't so hot, but once we were above it why, it was o.k. We hit the I.P. At 1204 and to everybody’s surprise found that it was to be a visual bombing. We encountered light flak on the bomb run, but it wasn't bad. One burst rocked the ship and nearly turned it over, but that was the only close one. The prop wash was rough on the bomb run but they got our little presents away at 1223. It looked as though we really smashed the target but we were informed by the strike photos that we missed it. Damn, that made me mad. The trip home was uneventful. Fighters were reported but our own scared them away. Upon approaching England we found the weather had everything socked in. The formation peeled off and made an instrument landing. Bob did a beautiful job of bringing us home and everyone was sweating. The landing was rough and we were thankful to be on the ground. Thus end number 2.

                                                                       Sgt. Russell Kendig