MISSION #44.

MISSION NO.44. Aversa, Italy - Rail marshalling yards - Aug. 21,1943.
Briefing at 0830, and then off to Italy. I flew with Maj. O’Connor (our 429th Squadron C.O.) and Col. Thomas (our 2nd Bomb Group C.O.) The Col. led on his last authorized mission - his 55th mission!
We went in to the target area at 20,000 feet along with our 72 P-38 escort!. No wonder we didn’t see any enemy fighters to tangle with. Flak was light, as I saw only a few puffs of black smoke. We did a pretty good job bombing the marshalling yards. Jack had bomb- rack trouble, and couldn’t release his bombs. So, they made a pass over Naples and he salvoed them there. (that was a pretty risky alternative target!)..
Bomb load - 12- 500’s. Mission Time 6:00 hours.