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THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 ( .a.u Irn/E 37fd2'_~~4-h.v~ :;lo«;8~.---6~f1f) ... ;fAT ,"," . :"", ..t' t..1 L.:..l 01 N " -:0. ()- ;0 - • ~... ----. ~ i o ."r- 3: m THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 SQUADRON HISTORY for the month of JULY, 1944. of the 3'79th BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (M) 310tb BOMBARDMENT GROUP (ll) AAF. * * * * it it Compiled and Written by: Sgt. AJ.bert Sillman, 3'79th Bomb Sqdn. (hi). mte~tjeMe Seott-.. C .-,<:- -l:"" WJ W U1 N THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 v • --- Section I ••••••••••• • OUtline of M.onth's :I'c'tlvl'tleu••• THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 The IIlOIlth of ~ was an extraely busy ODe for our Squadron. Ilineteen JliasioDS _s the score for the month, and enemy links of COlI lIIWI1oatiol\ll in Italy bore the bNrrt of our ~ .-ttecks. A. high score in accuracy and e1'ticiency 11&8 acbi..,ed, and the ezrtire persolllMll of the Squadron _ proud of this accoliplillhlllent. The Officer's Ready Room _8 caapleted and in its present state is a oredit to the illgeDU1ty of th.. sen who put in tiJle during their spare _nts each da;r to arraIlgll these rest and ~1'fIation roOlll8. There are writing tables, a sizable libr&r1, t"ad10, and game tables. ilio, situa tion IIlIPJhave been set up for da;r-~ recording of the flar's progress. The Enliated !len &lao bave tbeir 0"" recreation hall in a brick bl1ildiac across the road f~ the Squadron area, cOIIlplete with card and dice tables, a bar. with colorl'ul wJ.l paintinga on typically G.l. subjects. There is alao a Squadron barber-shop in the brllding. Personnel contillUed to get brief leaves for repose and a chaDp fl'Cll Squadron acti'l1ties. WeD were sent to Cairo, Capri, and Rome, as 'll811 as to Corte, a quiet lIlonut.aiD tOWll on the island o.f Corsica itself. bias and usa stage shows provided excellent entllrtaitllllSnt for the 011 all the'liar fronts, the iliied Ferces continued to 1IIake steacl1 pzqress, and the missions nawn by our Squadron contriluted notably to the gains in lta.l7. The IDOnth of JUly ended nth the d..,out hops in all our hearts that 1n the few IIOntbs reBainillg tHs ;rear, the ultilllate Victo17 that 1s sure to be ours will fine.1ly be realized! .. .. it .. " " .. " THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 • •• Section II••••••••• Squadron Diary THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 • SECRBT •• Section II•••••Squadron l>1ar1 Dey by Dey. JUly, 1944. 1st The month of July started with a comparatively quiet clay. There 1I8S no mission for our crews. T/Sgt. JalI10s 1'1. Cook and Cpl. Kermit A. Terry ret11rll9d from their trip to Rome. Cock brought back a fe" accessories for the Mess Hall, and Terry returned with some equipment for his Squadron barber-shop. 2nd Drilling in the evening on our ball-field continued, in pre paration for the big day ,then some of our combat 1I'lln will re c<>iva combat awards. Of courss, .., all want to look our best on that important dsyl Capt. Wiliinm C. Hughes rsturned from the 35th Station Hospital, where he had been confined during a brief illness. We ""re glad to have our Squadron Operations Officer baok with us. The follmng 1llIIn returll9d from Rome after spending several day9 there: Lt. Levorle T. Haoking, Lt. Charles T. Gilbo, s/sgt. James S. Knisht, s/sgt. Carl C. Raisie, Jr., Sgt. Raymond J. Davilla, and Sgt. Frank J. Szarban. ix of our crews J1lrtioipated on the day's mission to Borgo San Lorenzo in 11hioh a viaduct was devastated by our bombers. 3rd Two of our ilo'Js became staff Sergeants. They were Cpl. JoseIil Gianforte and Pvt. Carl R. Brooke. Those returning from the Squadron rest-ollllip at Corte were: S/Sgt. Willi8lll C. &lshon, S/Sgt. Joe D. "'}'8rs, Sgt. Albert Sulman, Sgt. poy Buyoe, Cpl. William V. Harrold, Cpl. A:atthe-.r p. Jsgiello, we Frederick E. Burkhart, WC Goorgs W. Ramirez, we Edd H. Rhodes, Pvt. Carl A. Grant, Pvt. Iqle R. Redick end Pvt. Iilanuel P. Chavez. Major George R. Houle, our Executive Officer, returned from a trip to Naples• .l new group of men left for our rest-camp at Corte, S/SgI.. Albort R. Hill, S/Sgt. John J. "'apes, Sgt. Carlos Ii. Holley, Sgt. JIllIlBS L. Joyner, Sgt. Ed"ard Sanda, Sgt. Wilbur IT. Tolstedt, Sgt. A.ngelo M. Russo, Cpl. William R. Carr, Cpl. Charles E. Dillon, Cpl. !.rclI C. Harvey, we Strand S. Nelson, Pvt. touis R. Centiloore, and Pvt. Arden E. Fill. Lt. Paul Stinson, well-liked first pilot, returned from the 35th Station Hospital, and F/0 James T. Gordon entered the hospital. Ten of our ships, led by Capt. EveNtt L. Tozier, bombed the rail road tunnel at Cannsto. 4th A quiet day, ?11th the usual routine squadron sotivities. No mission. THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 S.CRST Ilq Ilq. •• geetlOD TIt....•Squadron DiaJ7 lIT (contimed) 5th Our able Squadron COIIIlllaIlder. Lt. Col., Manf'ord J. Wetzel, re turned to the BaBe f~m Naples. Pvt. Luther alker entered the 15th Field Hospital. SiT. aircraf't took part in the mission to Villafrenca, Italy. The oldest lllen overseas 10 our Squadron completed 22 1I0nths today on foreign soil. A certain amount of celebrating went on in the Enlisted blen's Bar in the evening. 6th The officers have set up a new meas 10 the same building houailg their Ready Room. In charge of the kitchen ia Cpl. Joe Becker. Pvt. Luther Walker returned from the hospital. we Robert E. Cost entered the S&lIl8 place, and was accompanied by Pvt. Albert D. Davis and Pvt. SdtlU1ld F. Donahue. The following men left for the Air Oorps reet-csmp on Capri: Lt. Wayne D. i'ihitcomb, Lt. Stanley C. Helmsdorff, S/Sgt. RaljXl Adalns, S/Sgt. Ell Jaffe, S/Sgt. WUliam E. ~lcAuliffe, and Pvt. William Id. Parter, Jr. Returned from the same :rest-eamp ""1'8: Capt. Alva A. Joiner, Jr., Lt. H!\T.I'Y E. Vanderbank, Lt. Jabn A.. Johnson, Lt. Robert H. Porter, T/Sgt. Lawrence A. Fox, and S/Sgt. Richard E. Crane. Target for today was the Toot Engineering Headquarters. Eleven of cur aircraft took part. The target area was completely cover-- ed lIith an excellent concentration of hits. The:flalc was moderate heavy and fairly ecaurete, bIt fortunately there 'lie" no casualties. 7th The thirteen enliated mcn who spent the past five days at Oorte returned to the Base today. Thoe.e returning from Oairo, Egypt, include: Lt. Quentin L'Ic Gaughran, Lt. Reynold C. Do1'llla11/ T/Sgt. Robert L. JaDeS, S/Sgt. Jabn F. Muller, and S/Sgt. Patrlck F. O'Toole. Pvt. James C. Gaither was assigned to the Squadron. A. nell' batch of men left for Corte to s pend five days of rest: II/Sgt. 1Vslter B. lEoe1.ler, r.ljSgt. John R. Swenson, T/Sgt. Paul S. Hreinson, S/Sgt. Thomas W, Oallahan, S/Sgt. James W. cPher son, Sgt. William A. Hill, Sgt. Utchell D. ~cl.lillan. Sgt. John B. Morrh, Cpl. SliUl BellO, Cpl. Chester J. Swiatek, Opl. Clair J. Tbyne, FFC George C. Parris, and Pvt. Askins 1l. Ta:ylor. It oms generally felt 1;hat with t\cJ,lillan, orris, and Ta:ylor together 10 Corte, the French cllfes lIOUld do a rushing business! We lost one of our better Navigators todey, when Lt. Jose}ill'/. Shook left the Squadron, having been transferred to the Personnel Centsr No.6, PBS, for transhipment to the United States. P/O James T. Gordon returned from the 35th station Hospital, and Pvt. Woodrow". Cribelar and Pvt. John A. Fleming entered the 15th Field Hospital. Ten or our aircraft lIBra sent out to bomb the railroad bridge at San Giavani, Italy. A USO unit put on an antertal. ning sholl' in the 8Venitg. A strict inspection of the Squad.'·,m Ares wss held, and conditiona were found to be generally satisfsotory. THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 THIS PAGE DECLASSIFIED lAW E012958 •• nCR~T •• SeatiOll n .....Squadron IliarT Dq tv Dq. July, 1944. (Continued) • 8th None of our orews partioipated on the dll1' e mieeion. In the eveing we bed ll. half hour of drilling, with Major ~ putting eaoh flight through i te paces. !Ie lias quite :!:mprel!sed by the progrees displayed eim:e our first period of drilling a few 1Nllke ago. 2nd Lt. Robert C. IIUler hes been pro1JlOted to the rank of 1st Lt. Sgt. August Wacker and Pvt. Anthony Catino returned from detached service in Naples. S/Sgt. J OII.ph p. Shockle;y Jr. end Pvt. Herbert E. Carlisle rejoined the Squadron, heving spent some time at the 35th station Hospfita].. F/O John L. Dillon entered the same place. 9th No miesion t~ on acCount of inclement weather. Five lien left for Cairo, &e:;rpt to spend several deys of rest: Lt. lames F. llechler, Lt. William G. Spacke;y, T/Sgt. Anzie B. Gnlham, S/Sgt. Walter T. Chelonis, S/SEt. Herbert K. Eickhoff. Three men went to ROIllEl. The;y were: T/Sgt. Vo1Dl)" B. Ferguson, Sgt. William A. Lemler, Sgt. James N. McK1nnell Jr. FlO John L. Dillon returned from the hospital; aleo sgt. Kenneth Bsker, who was injured in the bomb explosion in May 1lhich killed eix of our Squadron memhe:rs.