Mission 30

March 24, 1943

    The General came over and before we knew it we were at briefing and off the ground by 12:20 for a raid on Bizerte. The bombardier's say the target was well taken care of.    I flew 23rd in the second element of our squadron so that put me very last man in the formation. T. C. Green was my co-pilot.     This is the first time our squadron hasn't led the group in a long time.    The mission was fairly easy compared to some of the others. There was a little flak but it was inaccurate so no one was hurt.    It was short but I'm tired as usual. We were back on the ground at 3:15.

March 26, 1943

    I have really been taking it easy today. Missed out on the mission over Sardinia. Washed my pants and shirt in 100 Octane gasoline. That is the only method of dry cleaning we have.    The boys didn't drop their bombs because of overcast but they got hell by enemy fighters. No one was lost or hurt.

March 27, 1943

    Took my plane up for a test hop today and went down and gave the nurses a good buzzing. It runs like a top.

March 28, 1943

    Learned today that our plane has to have an engine change. Number three has a bad cylinder in it and it's easier to change engines completely than it is just to put in a new cylinder.

March 31, 1943

    Missed out on the biggest raid that has ever been pulled in North Africa. The 97th, 301st, and 99th put up 94 planes today and went to Sicily to bomb docks and airports and they say a good job was done.    I hate to miss those kind.    Colonel Walker came down and led the group.

April 1, 1943

    We were briefed at eight o'clock for a raid on Sicily but it was called off because of weather. So Hart and I flew my plane for an hour to put some slow time on #3. This afternoon Fred went with me for two more hours to give it a real test after the mechanics had checked it over and it is ready for missions after so long a time.

April 2, 1943

    The group had a dance last night and invited the nurses over that are stationed about 20 miles down the road. These Arabic names get me. As usual the 419th took over and made the party much to the disgust of the other squadrons. It broke up early because we have a mission scheduled for tomorrow. Everyone had a good time and got a lot out of our systems besides.    I got a sleeping bag today and it is tender -- Oh Boy!

April 3, 1943

    We were briefed again at 10:10 this morning for another trip to Sicily and again it was called off because of weather -- so another day was spent with nothing accomplished but more sleep and rest.