August 9, 1943 - Messina, Sicily.

MISSION NO. 40.
Our target today is Messina - the same highway bridge that we bombed last Friday. Briefing wasn’t until 1:3o this afternoon. General Jimmy Doolittle (Commander of our Twelfth Air Force0 was there, and went on the mission. I flew with Capt. O’Connor (our 429th Squadron C.O., and a West Point graduate)who was the pilot, for the first time. Capt. Murray (who joined the Squadron when my first pilot Ken Spinning transferred to the 49th Squadron), was our co-pilot. Capt. Dalton, from Wing Headquarters, rode with us.
Our Group was unescorted by fighters. On the bomb run, we flew at 23,500 feet and 150 knots I.A.S. We encountered a cloud deck below, that completely covered the targeted bridge. On the bomb run - about half way in from the Initial Point, I picked up the city of Messina, and set up a course to the ferry slips and rail marshalling yard, and dropped the bombs. Some hit the land, and others killed fish!
The flak was there, and quite accurate - even though the shells were fired beneath the cloud cover. Fortunately, we didn’t receive any injuries or holes in the plane.
Mission time - 04:30. Bomb load 12- 500’s. T.B.W.T.D.= 190,240#.