Date: 23 April 1944

MISSION #19

BASE: Castelluccio dei Sauri

TARGET: Bad Voslau, Austria--Aerodrome and ME-109 Assembly Plant 

SHIP: Sakinshack …256

ESCORT: Forty P-38’s

BOMBS: 240 x 20 lb. Fragmentation Bombs from 22,000 feet.

ENEMY AIRCRAFT: Twenty-three very aggressive enemy fighters--ME-109’s and FW-190’s.

FLAK: Intense Volume, Inaccurate Aim, Heavy Caliber

RESULTS: Superior--Target well covered. Aiming point covered with bombs and also entire field.

SORTIES: 2 Total: 26

MISSION TIME: 7:30 Total: 122:45

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NARRATIVE: I was awakened at 0300 by the distant roar of engines being run up by the ground crews in a final full-power checkout, and then I lay awake the rest of the night worrying about the target and whether we would come home that evening. Our target was in the Vienna area--lots of flak guns. Many of our B-24’s were hard hit by flak, and we had several encounters with enemy fighters. The enemy fighters flew through our formation wildly. Then in graceful pursuit curves from the sides they skidded around in crazy deflection-shot side-slips that kept their cannons bearing on us for endless seconds.  The shrapnel from the flak rattled on our ship's aluminum skin like handfuls of gravel thrown on a tin roof. But nobody was hurt.

Since we are now in the 49th bomb wing we flew with the 461st and 484th Bomb Groups. We completely sprayed the landing field with fragmentation bombs. The bombing pattern was one of perfection. I don’t think it will be necessary to ever return again to that target. We got a commendation from the Wing Commander.