Operations 2

Reeny sent me a tiny cross for good luck. It was something I never took off. In nearly all of the photography of myself in uniform, you will likely notice it. You can see it on my tie.

We flew our first Ops on Christmas eve. It was called "gardening", as laying mines off the Dutch coast, was known. A little known fact was that in this fashion the air force sank more enemy ships than the navy. Our next two Ops were to Berlin, while it was the most dangerous target, it was a prestigious one. Once back after a stressful eight hours, we were proud of our accomplishment. We had bombed the bastards and got even for the raids we had experienced in London.

We, however, were among the lucky ones. Records indicate that of the 677 aircraft that participated in the raid, 46 were shot down. 6.8% of the force. Everyone from our squadron returned safely.

In this picture, taken January 28th, 1944, we are being debriefed by the Station Intelligence Officer forllowing raid on Berlin. Left to Right: Don Stanton, George Johnson, Richard Garrity, Vernon O'Bright.

Joe Zohanovish, Don Shenton, Richard Garrity, Joe Josie, Andy Bruce. Note that the engines are running. All men are looking dapper with their ties!

Photographs of a bombing raid of Trappes, the first of a series of raids on railway targets in France and Belgium in preparation for D-Day.