Down De Hatch Combat Record 24th Wimsatt St. Lo, France - Assist our troops. Leonard Orleons/Brice & Belfort. 25th Wimsatt St. Lo, France - to Free our Leonard Tutow Airfield troops. Leonard Siracourt, France. 31st Wimsatt Ludwigshaven, Germany. Leonard Brunswich Marshaling yards Hruby Siracourt, France. August Leonard Avord Airfield. 01st Wimsatt Target of Opportunity - Hruby Melun Airfield Corbie, France. Leonard Belfort Marshaling Yards. 03rd Wimsatt Mery Sur Oise, France. Hruby Saarbrucken M/Y 04th Wimsatt First mission of day - Kiel Hruby Zeitz Oil port facilities. Hruby Brussels, Belgium - no 05th Wimsatt Brunswick Aircraft factory bombs dropped. "AC" damages reed. 09th Wimsatt Saarbrucken, Germany. 12th Waters Juvincourt Airdrome. Leonard 1st mission on D-Day, France. 14th Waters Lyon/Brom Airdrome. Leonard Lisiex, France - support 18th Wimsatt Nancy/Essey Air Field. troops. 24th Mack Langenhagen/Hannover. 08th Leonard Angers M/Y, but recalled. No 26th ?? credit. 10th Leonard Orleans/Bricy Airfield. September 12th Leonard Illier LEveque Airfield. 01st Wimsatt Formation recalled. 14th Howe Chateaudun Airfield. 08th Wimsatt Karlsruhe M/Y 15th Howe Bridge near Tours, France. 09th Wimsatt Mainz/Worms 18th Leonard Target of Opportunity 11th Wynes Misburg, Germany 19th Leonard Brunswich, Germany. 12th Mack Target of Opportunity - 20th Leonard Politz, Germany - deep Lehrte. penetration, target oil. 18th Atkins Best, Holland - drop 21st Leonard Genshagen, outskirts of supplies to our troops. Berlin. 21st Beiber Koblenz, but scrubbed. 22nd Hruby Nucourt, France - 1st mission 22nd Beiber Kassel M/Y of the day. 25th Wimsatt Koblenz, Germany (M/Y). 23rd Westcott Laon Airfield. "AC" damages 26th Wimsatt Hamm M/Y, Germany. (heavy). 28th Mack Kassel Motor Works. 30th Wimsatt Aborted Menzel Beaumont Le Roger October Airfield. 09th Wimsatt Koblenz M/Y (secondary ?? Kiel, Germany. target). ?? Munich, Germany - Airfield. 15th Habedank Kaiserslautern M/Y Menzel Munich, Germany - Same 17th Waters Nord M/Y Target. 18th Wimsatt Aborted. Dines Saarbrucken. 30th Lowe Harburg, Germany Target of Menzel Saarbrucken Opportunity Menzel Troarn - Assist allied troops. Menzel Koblenz, Germany Wimsatt Near Munich, Germany November March 05th Ciesielski Railways at Landau - 506th 03rd Chandler Plane did not take off... Squadron only. 10th Friedel Railway viaduct near 21st Hayden Harburg, Germany Oil. Bielefeld. 26th Wimsatt Railroad viaduct. 11th Wallace Kiel submarine pens & docks. 14th Whittle Gutersloh M/Y December 15th Friedel Military Headquarters at 11th Jarvis Karlsruhe Railway bridge. Zossen. 18th Confer Kyllburg - recalled - no 18th Friedel Berlin credit. 19th Cunningham Neuburg Jet aircraft 24th Smith Battle of Bulge targets - four factory. were hit. 21st Jacobson Aehmer Airfield (1st 27th Jarvis Homburg M/Y mission of day). 28th Rockman Kaiserlautern Railways. 22nd O'Brien Schwabisch/Hall Airfield (67th Squadron Pilot). 1945 April January 04 02nd Edkins Koblenz/Lutzel railway 05 bridge. 06 14th Scherzberg Hemmingstedt - Oil. 07 ???? All formation sketches 17th Ackerman Harburg - Oil. missing! 31st Jarvis Hallendorf Steel Works. 10th Bakanic Parohim A/F 11th Wallace Neumarket M/Y February 03rd McKenna Magdeburg M/Y (Secondary) oil was primary. 06th Ackerman Magdeburg M/Y (Secondary) oil was primary. 09th Smith Magdeburg M/Y (Secondary) oil was primary. 21st Lindsay Numburg M/Y 22nd Crooks Gottinen M/Y 23rd Bielinski Weimar railway (44th's 300th mission!) 27th Chandler Balle M/Y was primary, but Bitterfield bombed. 3 /r HEADQUARTERS THIRD AIR FORCE RAF MILDENHALL ENGLAND NAMED IN HONOR OF GENERAL LEON W. JOHNSON FIRST 3RD AF COMMANDER By Roy Owen On 18 September 1996, Major General (Ret) Hoyt Vandenberg, Jr. and Mrs. Sue (Johnson) Vandenberg were honored guests of the U.S. Third Air Force Major General Tad Oelstrom and Sue Vandenberg beside the Historical Trail Commander, Major General Tad J. Oelstrom, at the Marker in front of Hq 3rd Air Force. dedication of his headquarters building 239, RAF Mildenhall as General Leon W. Johnson Hall, honoring her father, our combat leader, recipient of the Medal of Honor and the first Third Air Force Commander. Also attending by invitation was our Assistant Group Historian and English Representative Stephen P. Adams. Steve had furnished the Headquarters Public Relations and Historian staff with an array of photographs of General Johnson from the 44th FJG/14th CBW era. In his conversations with Sue Vandenberg relative to the Generals portrait, Tom Parsons learned of the forthcoming dedication and the invitation of the Vandenbergs to attend, and the fact that Sue Vandenberg had never visited Shipdham Airfield. He passed this on to me whereupon I immediately called Steve Adams to, once again, perform the duties of our Dr. Sligh, our friend Paul Wilson, Steve Adams and Sue Vandenberg during "get official representative and see that the Vandenbergs acquainted" time at the Arrow Air Pub. made it to Shipdham, and they were accorded every courtesy in touring as much of the Airfield as they pleased. Steve arranged to meet them at Arrow Air where they were hosted by Nigel and Jean Wright. After what Steve described as a great "get acquainted" visit, he gave the Vandenbergs his "Royal" tour. When the time came for farewells, he tells of the glisten of tears on both his and the cheeks of Sue Vandenberg. Once again, we owe our thanks to Steve Adams for his dedication to the 44th by representing and providing a 44th BGVA presence to such an historic occasion as the dedication, and a touching welcome for the Vandenbergs at our combat home base. The accompanying photos tell the story of both of these great events. ^ J Major General (Ret) and Mrs. Hoyt Vandenberg, Jr., along with Dr. Robert Sligh, 3rd AF Historian around the Medal of Honor display that will resident in General Leon W. Johnson Hall. 4 m A PmzEd PORTRAJT oF GENERAL JOIINSON IIAS REACNEC] IT'S NEW HOME iN ThE MiqhTy Eiqlrrh AiR FORCE MUSEUM IN SAVANNAN By Roy OWEN I & This past summer, the family home of General Leon W. Johnson in McLean, Vfi was closed and sold, fimong the furnishings hung over the living room fireplace mantle was a magnificent oil painted portrait of the General by the artist Joe King. General Johnson had conveyed to his daughter, and 44th BGVR member, that it was his wish to pass the painting to the Mighty Eighth Museum in the name of the 44th Bomb Group Veterans Association. We learned this by way of Col. Ed W. "Mike" Mikoloski after his being notified by Mrs. Vandenberg, an artist in her own right, that, after some cleaning and small restoration work, she would see that the painting was delivered to Savannah, fit that time I contacted Tom Parsons in Atlanta and asked that he, along with John McClane, act as our 44th BGVfi representatives assisting in the delivery and portrait unveiling ceremony at The Mighty Eighth Museum. The following photos showing Lt. Gen. "Buck" Shuler and Tom Parsons doing the unveiling with John McClane attending, along with a copy of the letter Tom sent to General Johnson telling what a wonderful job they did acting for the entire membership in this momentous event. Lt. Gen. Shuler on the left and Tom Parsons unveil The Johnson portrait unveiled where it will hang the Johnson portrait as John McClane Observes. in the Hall of Fame. TOM PARSONS,,Presldenl & CK'I«MV« Georgia Chapter The Eighth Air Force Historical Society 2091 Black Fox Dr., N.E. Atlanta, GA 30345-4122 Tel.: (404) 634-5012 OA. lV* VT^KO F-V V^a-aV vjo-iW, VA. HOWT (J-«r-^*Q-Jl -MW- -T^-GMT^S. cJUnNA. OTN.'tV* A^*vT e? ^ K.JufsvKR ^-TT- &~~ ^x~i ~^ r V Atf^Jk. C^.a^^oJl *5'£-J^JL/v^ t)-* M OL.vec-Vs C.f Q, VC-o -AJ^ "to 3-^ ^ £r-wo-vir& "L «^cr>^ — O^v-t o 5 cjcsv-AC-ie Co £3-^-c_V_ 3-£-~ii>^j (ysr-& err*. 'T*-* "The Mighty Eighth" CE> -«£•». CZ ^$-A< The Close Call By: Forrest S. Clark We were having a sort of reunion in the down somewhere very close to the officers officers club at Shipdham base. I had just club. I remember we ran outside and flung returned to the base from France and had ourselves flat on the damp English turf. We completed my missions and was awaiting lay there waiting. transfer back to the States. There was a tremendous explosion, or so I had been shot down and had escaped it sounded to us, and a flash of light. The from Switzerland into France in the closing Buzz bomb had landed in a farm field adjacent days of December, 1944. I got back to thet o the club, digging a considerable crater. In a base in the early days of January, 1945. second it was over. My companion was a Lt. Bill Partridge at We looked at each other and I remember the 44th, who was a friend from my high one of us said, "I guess we will make it after school days back in the United States. He had all." been assigned to the 44th and it was the first Another 100 feet and that Jerry bomb time we had seen each other since school would have landed directly on us and the club. days. I don't recall the date of this episode, but it We had some close calls in the skies over must have been in early January, 1945, Germany on missions and we were both perhaps during the period when Hitler was looking forward to completing our tours and sending the buzz bombs over England. making it back home. 1 believe Bill and I hadRecord s will show some fell near enough to been to Alconbury for a few days on leave. the vicinity of Norwich to scare many, including It was a happy reunion and he had invited some of us at the 44th.