On 11/27/44 we bomb "Bingen on Rhine". This is a front line strategic transportation target. In other words a rail marshaling yard. This is to give assistance to Patton's Third Army position. Bingen is on a bend in the Rhine where it turns north after flowing west from Mainz. Flak was moderate, but extremely accurate. One large piece of flak, about the size of a 50 caliber slug entered fuselage just behind navigators position and struck armor plate beneath pilot's seat. Another was a near miss to control cables. An inverter burned out. Supposed to be 12 guns, but flak was visual and accurate. Flew #43-38320 again.

Winter was really coming with a vengeance. We had no way of knowing, but the Germans were hatching a plot for their drive on Antwerp, otherwise known as the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes Forest. Toward the middle of the month of December, they struck...The weather also struck with them. Temperatures took a nose dive, and the Allied Air Forces were grounded... There was a news blackout in the E.T.O. They NEVER have a news blackout unless we are being drubbed. From the 16th to the 24th of December the "Heavies" were grounded...We were becoming anxious about our forces buried in the snows of Belgium. Aircrews were getting edgy. They wanted the weather to lift so we could help our troops. Some brave Troop Carrier Groups of the 9th Air Force were able to get an air supply mission into Bastogne. But the tactical fighter-bombers of the 9th, as well as their mediums (B-26s) were pinned to the ground by fogs so thick one couldn't see the runways for take offs. All of western Europe was "socked in".

Finally, late on the 23rd the weather started clearing. The Eighth Air Force set up for the 24th the largest bomber operation in history. Every base was told to put up every bomber that could carry bombs. The 385th normally put up 36 B-17s on a mission. On the 24th we put up 63 B-17s loaded with bombs. We sent up even the "war wearies" and I heard some without guns, although that might have been a rumor. In any case, 2034 heavy bombers were sent on the mission of December 24th 1944. The total of allied aircraft in the air that day exceeded 9,000...This is the largest air effort in history, and since large NUMBERS of bombers are no longer required with modern weaponry, the record will no doubt stand... Our targets for the 24th were German airfields east of the Rhine. The 385th was to take out Gross Ostheim Airdrome east of Frankfort. On the way in we picked up a lot of accurate flak crossing the lines. Again the skies were absolutely clear, so whatever flak came up was visually directed and accurate.

I vividly remember one B-17 in the following group getting hit crossing the lines. Two bursts from a two gun 88 battery were tracking this group. The bursts were close together and just under these planes. All of a sudden one of these 17s rolled over and and started down in a spin. He only made three turns in his spin and his tail came off. No fire as of yet, but he spun so rapidly that there were no chutes at all. I watched him all the way down until he went into the ground... The tail section spun like a piece of tinfoil. No chutes. A little later on we had a midair collision in our Group. Vogt's crew collided with the plane above and ultimately disintegrated. Several men were observed in the air but with unopened chutes. The other plane in the collision returned safely with damaged fuselage and feathered #2 prop and engine. We picked up more flak over uncharted positions. Two large holes in front Plexiglas in front of Bombardiers position...with fragments on the Navigators table. Navigator saw five planes going down ahead. We had a call over command "Bandits in the area." That's the call for enemy fighters. Bandits hit the 487th Group just ahead of us, which was the lead group of the 3rd Air Division commanded by General Fred Castle. Five B-17s went down, one of these carrying Gen. Castle...He posthumously received the Medal of Honor. Castle Air Force Base, Merced, CA is named in his honor. We bombed Gross Ostheim visual with good results. Flew #43-38667.