November, 1944: At War

 November 1 1944

Dear Ma

I recived your Vmail letter yesterday also recived a letter from Bo so will proceed to answer yours.

So old Floyd wants to write, well don't tell any one but I won't hold my breath until I get his or Pennys either. I can just see either of them writing me since they have been so good about it in the Past. I do hope that Floyd decides to write you once in a while at that. 

Don't faint but I bought myself a bike yesterday I bought it in town & had to ride it out & it like to have killed me. Jimmy & Eaton also bought one so I suppose we will do some ridding now. I never thought I would ever get so low as to ride a bike but I have. We went for a ride to some of the small towns close by this afternoon & I got back sore. (Don't tell Nene but I can hardly set down)

About that pen, we took it to a Jewelers in Lincoln a day or so befor we left & they said they would send it to you If you haven't recived it would you write & ask about it it was in Jimmys Name. Lowells Jewelry 136 – S 13th St Lincoln Neb. You should have it by the time you get this letter but if not please write. 

I am glad you had the chance to go to Alb. again. If I had thought I would have left you Maggies address & you could have looked her up at least called her up.

I guess we get a 48 hour pass this comming Mon so will probably end up by going to London. I think I'll go just to see what it is, I have always heard so much about it. I also belive I'll take the camera and see if I can't get some pictures. 

I haven't taken any pictures as of yet but will probable start soon. I registered the camera today so will be able to use it now.

Don't look at the stationery I just ran out of the other so will proceed on this. 

I was glad to hear Bo likes her work, it's like she says it makes a big difference if you like what you are doing. 

Belive it or not but the sun came out for a few days. I don't know what's wrong Even when the sun is out it doesn't warm up much

Well I guess Ill close & go get my overcoat. I am having the strips sewed on also the 8th air force patch.

As ever

Jack. 

It doesn't appear that Lowell's Jewelers is in business anymore, and that address seems to have been gobbled up by another business. Here is the street view of S. 13th Street in Lincoln, Nebraska.

And to Margaret, he writes:

Nov. 1, 1944

Dear Margaret. 

Here I go writing to you again. Did I answer your letter from Ardmore? I am getting so I can't remember what or when I write. If I haven't said so befor I got a letter  you wrote to Ardmore, it not only followed me all over the states but England also.

I was sorry you were sick I almost feel as though I had something to do with it. I know keeping you up late shouldn't bother you but It might have. 

Brace your self for this one. I bought my self a bike & even ride it. I rode it in from town last night & it almost killed me. I am so sore I can hardly walk let alone set down. I guess get a little exercise shouldn't kill me but it sure hurts. I have been laying around so long I just am no use to such strenious work. 

I have been working a little of late but have had 2 days off. Those days off are what I like, just lay around & sleep. 

I suppose you have the pictures I ask Mom to send to you. She said they were good, I hope so. I haven't gotten the ones she sent yet so I would know, I probable wouldn't know anyway.

I haven't taken any pictures over here but am going to take some in London. You see we get our 48 hour passes this coming Mon. That will be the big day.

Well I better close for now so write soon.

Love Bill

Tell Ruth Hello

The "working a little of late" meant flying missions. By the time these letters were written, Jack had already flown three missions out of Polebrook. As promised, I'll try to share some details of each mission as we go. 

On October 26. 1944 (Mission 224), Jack flew his first mission. On October 26, 1994, my mother ran an ad in the Los Alamos Monitor:

On this first mission, Jack's crew helped bomb the land armament field at Bielefeld, Germany. His plane was part of the first bomb division targeting the primary target. They flew in the lead formation at the rear. In total, they dropped 458.2 tons of bombs and had no damage or casualties.

There were three squadron formations. Here is the formation chart for the group Jack's plane was flying with (images from 351st.org):

And here is their route:

I'm taking some data and descriptions from  "Mighty Eighth War Diary" by Roger A. Freeman. Among the descriptions of each mission, there are descriptions of "incidents" that occurred within the mission or other missions on that day. As they give an interesting snapshot of the war, I'll be sharing some here. It's unclear if Jack and his crew would hear about things that happened on other missions done by other groups. I doubt it.   

Within the vast daily effort of the 8th Air Force there were sometimes human tragedies unrelated to the course of operations. One such occurred on 25 October 1944 when shortly after takeoff from Sudbury the pilot of the 486th Group Fortress Deepseat-Baker was informed that a ground man, a Corporal, had stowed away on board. The pilot radioed the Air Leader for advice and was told to continue the mission as there was flight clothing and an oxygen mask in the bomber which the extra man could use. The Corporal was originally in a distressed state but appeared to settle down in the rear fuselage. When the bomber had reached 19,000 feet on its way to the target, and while the waist gunner was looking out of his window, the  stowaway suddenly released the side door and jumped out. He was not wearing a parachute.

On October 28 (Mission 225), Jack flew a mission to bomb the marshaling yards at Munster. 

Some of the debriefing notes include:

Combat Crew Comments:

    508th Squadron [Jack's squadron; his was one of 13 planes in the squadron on this mission]:

A/C G-567: Wouldn't it be a better idea to go over the coast at different altitudes than the altitude at which we bomb? -

    Lts. Buttel, Killian, Futcher.

A/C K-130: Would like more cookies. - Lt. Kevorkian.

A/C L-956: Meteorological forecasts here are very poor. - Lt. Weise.

    509th Squadron:

A/C Q-116: Assembly could have been better planned. We kept getting mixed up with Glatton and Deenethorpe. - Lt. Daugherty.

A/C L-045: Should have been briefed to attain a higher bombing altitude. Would have been able to go above it. - Lt. Glover.

A/C L-676: EM [Enlisted Men] breakfast before missions is very poor - ground crews in same mess get better food. - Lt. Walker.

A/C V-854: Not enough rations to take care of extra crew member. - Lt Walker.

A/C Z-696: Altitude too low. - Lt. Walker. We had information advising us to go over cloud formation; instead we started down through it and then had to climb again. - Lt. Hibbard.

A/C F-566: Fighter escort comes it too close. - Lt. Goldsborough.

    510th Squadron:

A/C C-576: Weather forecast was very inaccurate; there was intense haze over the target. - Lt. Hitt.

A/C C-694: All planes should be equipped with windshield wipers; our ship has one and it works very well. Top turret has no stirrups. Our top turret gunner is short and couldn't see out. This ship and all spare ships should have stirrups. - Lt. Lubozynski.

On October 30 (Mission 226), they hit the Munster railroad yards as a secondary target.