Mission 20

February 5, 1943

    Up at 7:30 after a wonderful nights sleep, breakfast, briefed at 10 o'clock, take off at 11:20, left the field at 11:40 for a coordinated raid with he 97th on the airports at Gabes. The weather was perfect. We were loaded with fragmentation bombs. There is six bombs to each cluster and each bomb weighs 20 lb. Loaded with 24 clusters making a total of 144 bombs in each ship, there was 46 planes in the formation, and each bomb breaks up into 1,000 fragments.    The raid was a success but we caught plenty of hell from fighters and flak, one ship was lost, one gunner killed and another injured on another ship.    Colonel Walker led the formation. I led the 2nd element with Capt. Thraler our new squadron commander.

February 6, 1943

    I was on the raid yesterday when Kuncel, my tentmate, came back from Algiers where he had been having their ship repaired and he didn't know whether to move in with me or not and didn't until I got back.    He was really surprised at what I had done and after looking around he decided that I had built the best one in the Area.    It is cold and damp outside but very warm and comfortable in here.

February 7, 1943

    Went out on a test hop as first pilot.

February 8, 1943

    Another test hop.