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1 dt,tt l i ne g i s t or p , 4 3 8 t h Bo mb Sq . e c i momannug a on

gon t h of j a r c a ,194 4 , pr e pa r e d by r l s t t . ,

_Na me , Ra n , iJn

43 8t h Bomb Sq ( I aawaS solti1 1{>: 4, s f i

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plthough the weather this month started out very unpleas-

an tly , it improvea after the first reek. Thia not only made living

and working conditions more enjoyable, but it also allowed the ( t'oup

to have an excellent month from an operational standpoint.

Th i s was t r ue of b ot h t he qu an i t y an d qu a l i t y of mi s s i ons .

The Group had 21 missions this month and the Squadron participatea

in all of them. The two raids on the railroad yards at Florence,

Italy were especially good. ( n the first raid on arch 11 the accur-

acy was gooa , with°'but a few bombs squarely on the target, pn the

s e c on d r a i d , on ryga r c h 2 0 , we } a d 100 p e r c en t a c c ur a c y wi t h a l l b ombs

i n t h e t ar g e t ar e a . Ac c u r ac y on t h e s e r a i ds vuas e s p e c i a l l y i mp or t -

ant because of the many historical buildings and art treasures loc-

ated in Florence, pur t,ring was commended by eneral Oannon for the

first raid on Florence. tren more outstanding was the raid on Oass-

i n o awri ng t h e na l l ou t ++ a s s a u l t on t ha t t own . Th i s wa s due t o t h e

fact that the nBrasa Hatsn of both the Ground and Air Forces were

watching the operations frora the llied side of the Front Line whi h_..

wa s on l y a s h or t d i s t anc e a u ay . Gen e ra l y7e b s t e r r e c e i v e d a t e l e g r: mr - .. M,

f r vm Ge n e r a l Eak e r , c omme nd i n g t h e 4 2nd -, i n a f o r i t s e xc e l l e n t b o i' - '

ing. General Eaker said tbat while the other two Group did good w

bombing, our Group did perfect bombing. *

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vS E C R E T

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. -. , ,. , , . . .. . . . . . - . ., t . , .gheet No. 2

,ttline Ristory , 438th 8omb Sq• ecimomannu

g a on

onth of r ch 1944, prepared by lst t.

Name, Ran , Un

43 8 t h gomb Sq C i ) __ , , ; _ :<_t)_

The most noteworthy events of the month , aside from oper-

.tions were the visits of three Allied Generals . Lt. General Eaker

start®d the procession when he came on bqarch 17. He gave a short

talk in the afternoon , in which he commended our Group for its ex-

cellent bombing, in particular the Cassino rission . General A lex-

an de r f ol l owe d hi m on a r c h 28 . Ge n e r a l p l e x an de r v i s i t e d ou r

pf f i c e r s Cl u b f or a f e w rni n ut e s . C.e n e r a l Ca on br oug ht up t h e

p r oc e s s i on rh e n h e ar r i v e d on a r c h 30 . Ge ne r a l Ca nn on made a mor e

t h or ough t our of t h e gqua dr on . ;e v i s i t e d b ot h t h e gn l i s t e d ,qe n s

an d p f f i c e r s p l ub s an d a s ke d qu e s t i on s of var i ous p e op l e . Hi s qu e s t -

ions were concerning our living conditions.

Recreation this month consisted of gasketball, ping pong ,

an d B o v i e s . The c e men t f l oor f or t h e ba s k e t ba l l c our t wa s f i n i s he d

this month and has seen much use.

The Squadron had one casualty this month which was not

f r om en e rny ac t i on . S,/ Sg t . g e r n a r d g . $r av e r r an d i e d f r om bu r n s

suffered when his tent caught fire. This was rather ironical, since

Sgt. graverman had 33 missions to his credit, without a scratch. His

tent-mates had 9tarted the fire and gone to breakfast .leaving Sgt.

gra4erman in bed. The supposition was that the tent caught fire at

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Sheet No. 3 putline History , 438th gombsq. Decimomannur S a on

Mon t h of a

r c hr , 1944 , pr e p a r e d by C EAIC B BAR 1s t Lt .

Na me , pa , Un i- - r4 3 8 t h omb S - '

u s . - , . __-_,)

t h e t op f i r s t an d l e t t he bu rn i n g t e n t dr op on hi m wh en t h e s u pp or t -

ing straps burned through.

Ex c e p t f or t h i s unf or t una t e ha pp en i n g , t h i s wa s a v e r y

s u c c e s s f ul mon t h f or t h e Squa dr on an d Gr ou p .

00000

SS C R CT

u s BritiSh A'1a+i $e te1)



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Sh e e t No . tira r DZar y , 4 38 t h Borab S q . De c i mo mannuS a on

b on t h of Ma r c h , 194 4 , p r ep a r e d by CLAR ,NCE B. &.RKER l s t Lt .Name , Ran , Uni

S ̀ Cf; E T43 8 t h Bomb S q • C !) .- , n • • , . , .<<. rc •O Y hVENTS

1 The weather continues to be rainy. Th©re was no mission today .The food continues to be good with fresh meat again today.

Z There was a mission today in direct support of ground troops inthe beachhead below Rome. The fresh meat is atill coming; withsteak for the evening meal. There were quite a few letters int he ma i l t on i g ht .

3 The mission today was to a marshalling yards in Rome. The missionwa s s uc c e s s f u l tivi t h v e r y l i t t l e op p os i t i on . Th e we a t he r wa s g o odhere today. There was steak for supper again tonight.

4 The weath r prevented a mission again today . Three nerv cvmbatc r e e, me mbe r s c a r e i n t h i s mor n i ng , ti re ha d f r e s h me a t i n t he f or mof ha r bur g e r t on i gh t . N;o r e l s t c l a s s ma i l t oday .

5 Toda y wa s an ot he r c o l d r a i ny da y wh i c h p r e v e n t e d f l y i ng . ] os t oft h e l i n e c r e ws ha d a we l l de s e r ve d da y of f , p or k c h op s wa s on t heme nu f or s upp e r .

___._6 Today wa s an ot he r day of r a i n . Th e moun t a i n t op s we r e c ove r e d wi t hsnow early in the morning. Fresh meat again today . Several raenr e t ur n e d f r o m Re s t a mp t oday .

7 There was a mission today to a railroad marshalling yard in Rome.Th e mi s s i on wa s s uc e e s s f u l . Tr e we a t he r i s s t i l l c o l d an d c l vu dy .8 The squadron went on a mission today , but couldn t drop bomb

c a us e of c l ouds . The t e a t h er wa s c l e a r bu t c ol d he r e t oday . Th ef r e s h me a t i s s t i l l c ot i ng . .

9 The weather was cold and clear again today , but there was no miss-ion. There was a big mail-call tonight.10 There was a successful mission to a railroad yard at Rome today.

The weather was vrarm and sunny here today. The Group C .p. atesteak with us for suppsr.

11 There v as a successful mission today to Florence Italy . The m siont oday wa s we l l pub l i c i s e d . The p i c t ur e s we r e r a di oe d bac k an d we r eto appear in the next morning papers. Our food is still very goodwi t h f r e s ln me a t e v e r y day .

12 The weather prevents a atission today . It was cold and rainy allday.

1 3 Th e r e wa s a s uc c e s s f ul mi s s i on t oday t o a br i dg e i n n or t he r n I t a l y .`

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. -- . ,. . . .. • ' • . ' . • . ,, y .

h e e t IJo . 2 yqar Di ar y , 4 38 t h Bomb Sq • cStation

) on t h of M a r._

h_ ,,

194 4 . P r epa r dd by C T,

_ $

Name , Rank , IIni

. . • - -4 3 8

,t h Bomb Sa . (

,

,D Y EVENTS I , :

13 ( c on t d )The weather was better today . Several of the flying officers re-ceiv®d notice of their promotion to Captain today.

14 There vras a mission today to Rome. It was partially successful.pn e of vur p l an e s wa s de a t r oy e d wh e n i t c r a s he d vrh i l e l andi ng a tNap l e a . .

15 The Group participated in the record assault on Cassinn today. Ourmission was successful. The mail has not been so plentiful latelyalthough the food is sti11 excellent.

16 The squadron led another successful mission today . The weather waswarm and olear here today. The squadron was isited by a Frenchpfficer from the French squadron which is about to start operations.

17 There was another successful mission today . Lt• General Eaker washere today and gave a short speech. The rain ha.s started again . /e f a i l e d t o hav e f r e s h me a t t on i gh t f o r t he f i r s t t i ue i n t wo we e k s .

18 The mission today rras unsuccessful due to weather and the smallnessof the target. The weather was fine here today .

19 The r a i d t oday wa s p ar t i a l l y s uc c e s s f u l Jhe n s oroe s h i pp i ng v+a s da m-a g e d by b ombi n g an a l t e r n a t e t a r g e t . The we a t he r wa s c l e ar h e r e t o-day .

20 pur squadron went on the raid today , bu did not drop their bombs.'1'he r e wa s a f a i r a moun t of ma i l t on i g h t . The we a t rle r an d f ood ar e

o t h f i n e .21 The miss.

ion today ras successful even though tne wrong target wasbombe d. Th e r a i l r oa d vra s c u t , bu t n o t a t t he de s i gn s t e d p l a c e .The ri l i s t e d e n a r e s t ar t i ng a p i : g - p on g t our na me n t . 1 he Of f i c e r shay e a s e p a r a t e me s s .

2 2 Th e mi s s i on t oday wa s s u c c e s $f u l a l t houg h p ar t of ou r p l an e s b ombe dt he wr ong t ar g e t . Ax o t tle r bunc h of inen rve n t t o t he Re s t Ca mp t oda<y .

23 'e ha d an o t he r s ue c e s s f u l mi s s i on t o F l or enc e , l t a l y t oday . TheSpring weather is continuing. The basketball court is seeing a lotof use during this warm weather.

24 The squadron had no cnssion scheduled today 7hich is unusual. It isthe second time that has happened since re moved to Sardinia . The

- - -, , , ,__ -, , T(Equals i riti:,h 1 1̀U5t S e CCCt



_ _ . ,. . . ; . , . • . _r . • • ' .

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Sh e e t No . _3

__ a r Di a r y , 438 t b Bomb Sq , c

St a t i on

Pdon t h o f I a r c h , 194 4 . F r e p a r e d by CLl- nEIJCE B. BKRI h l s t Lt .Name, Rank, Unit

- 4 3 8 t h Bo mb S . 1 : ,

iY E TENT S

24 (con t 'd)f un e r a l f or Qt . r a v e r ma n j a s h e l d t oda y . Hc d i e d l a s t n i g h tof bu r n s s u f f e r e d wh e n h i s t e n t s t ov e exp l o de d a n d t he t e n t c a u -g h t f i r e .

25 There was a mission today to a bridne in Italy. ,%eather was goodbut the target was missed. Several of the men who had been toRe s t Ca mp r e t u r n e d t o da y .

2 6 Th e Squ a dr on p a r t i c i p a t e d i n a s u c c e s s f u l mi s s i on t od a y . Th e re a t her and food are still excellent. The beer that ti as brought overf r o m Af r i oa i s b e i n g c on s ;me d qu i c k l y .

2 ? The r e wa s a mi s s i on t oda y bu t i t tiva s n ot s u c c e s s f u l . Th e Sp r i ng re a t h e r c on t i n u e s , wh i ch i s v e r y e n }vy a b l e a f t e r mu c h ©ol d we a t h e r .

28 There was a successful mission on a Lrid ,e in Italy again today.General Alexander visited tr.e Base today .Be spent a short period

i n ou r 4f f i c e r ' s Cl u b .29 The Group "stood down" yesterday , and only trainin ; flights were

f l own . Th e r e wa s a l ot of f i r s t _c l a s a ma i l t on i gh t .30 The weather caused the r ission to be cancelled today. GeneralCannon made an inspection tour of the Squadron today .

he askedquestions of various people , the general theme of which , was wheth-er they were satisfied with their living conditions. It is doubt-f u l i f a ny on e wou l d ha ve g i ve n a n e ga t i v e a n s we r e v e n i f t he y we r en o t s a t i s f i e d ; s i nc e t he Gen e r a l wa s a c c omp a n i e d by

,j or ' e y e r s ,t h e S qua d r on C. O. a n d Lt . Co l . x o l z a pp l e , t he Gr oup C. . Ge n e r a l +' e b s t e r , t h e ti' i n g C . G, a l s o a c c omp a n i e d Ge n e r a l Ca n n on .

31 The Group had no mission today for the third day in succession .Tha t i s a n u nu s u a l oc c u r r e nc e f o r t h i s mon t h . On e of ou r a i r p l a n e sstarted to Telergma today to pick up a new airplane , but had toturn back because of weather.

0000 000 E C f ; E T

(Equals Srili;;la 1'r1 st Secret)


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