It was customary for Bill and me to stumble out back each morning to perform our daily ritual. After I had flown 5 or 6 missions, I turned to Bill one morning and said---"Bill, I flew last night !" Every night thereafter I flew for perhaps three years. Then, perhaps every other night for a year or two, then once or twice a week for a like number of years, then long periods of time without a mission. I will even now 53 years later, sometimes fly. There are still certain pictures, or events that will cause me to loose my composure and compel me to look away until I can get myself together. But now lets go on to the mission flown March 22, 1945.

Thursday March 22, 1945
AIL 11,400 Incendiaries
At the Ba~e
Mission #9

Today we heeded for Coesfeld again. We carried 500 pound Jelly ga~ incendiarica for ~e f~rst time over Germany. It was my nin~ mi~ion. We had a rough {ime yeaterday and expected the aame today. We atarted out at 15:15 and were at flghter rendezvous at 16:50. We crossed ~e bomb tine at 17:01 and caug)~t a li~e flak which waa accurate for some plane~. We mi~ed [arget because of ~o much smoke over the Larget We caught quite a bit of flak on our turn off. We bombed a amall town near Coeafeld. The Col. Whidy'~ plane caughl a shell right through hi~ wing and it burst besides his wing man wounding the tail gunner. The group started for home and we landed at a P-47 bnae for gaa. The ship wi~ l~he gunner who waa hit in it came over and a~empLed a landing. All bailed out except the pilof and one gunner.The Mght main and no~e gear were the only one~ down. The plane crash tanded wi~h incendiarie~ in it All were O.K. There were 392 holea in it We atayed there overnight and left about 10 o'clock ~e next morning. Our tachometer wa~ out ~o Ed wouldn't [eke off at night All went O.K. for our crew. Walt gof sick eating hof dogs and cold aour kraut we landed at 11 o'clock and found we were on ~e loading li~ [This was a mission that had us all in a fit. We kept making a run on the target, the lead bombardier couldn't get lined up so we would close bomb bay doors and make another run at it straight and level, all the time having the hell shot out of us. Finally, he gave up and we went on to the secondary target. As I remember, the plane mentioned above that crash landed we had believed that it had been responsible for our excessive exposure to hostile enemy fire. . - --J. Taylor)

W42-44 P.43