I mentioned in an earlier post that 2009 is the 65th anniversary of Dad's service in England during WW-II.Today being the 65th Anniversary of the D-Day invasions on Normandy, I thought I would include an excerpt from the history of Dad's service record. Dad flew June 5th, June 6th and June 7th as part of the D-Day offensive. One item of interest, Dad told me once that the Bomb Crews did not know that this was the "big" invasion, until after they had returned to base. Also the June 7th mission, he commented that there were so many watercraft in the English Channel, that it looked like "ants on the ground" from flying at 22,000 feet. Can you imagine being awakened at midnight for briefing, engines running at 4:00 am, taking off a 4:30 in the morning, into the darkness, forming up as a formation, using ground beacons and the lights from the other B-17s, then flying wing tip to wing tip across a dark sky over the English Channel to deliver your bomb load near Juno Beach 19,000 feet below. All in preparation for the Canadian troops to make their heroic invasion onto French soil.These men were and are hero's, and I hope we never forget what they did for our freedoms. Thanks Dad..we love you.
8th Combat Mission 6/5/44 1 5:45
Trouville France, Costal defenses at Trouville 37 aircraft, no losses, not known at the time but was in preparation for D-Day invasion.
From Journal of S/Sgt Ellsworth Wright, Ball Turret Gunner.
Mission #8 – June 5, 1944
Trouville, France. Hrs. 5:00. Alt. 27,000 ft. Target Gun Emplacements. No flak or enemy fighters. Bomb load 12 – 500 GP bombs.
Trouville, France. Hrs. 5:00. Alt. 27,000 ft. Target Gun Emplacements. No flak or enemy fighters. Bomb load 12 – 500 GP bombs.
9th Combat Mission 6/6/44 D-Day 1 6:00
Courselles France, 39 Aircraft preparing the beachhead at Juno Beach for Canadian forces to land, take off was 0430, all aircraft completed their mission and returned to base.
From Journal of S/Sgt Ellsworth Wright, Ball Turret Gunner.
Mission # 9 – “D-Day” June 6, 1944
Courselles, France. Hrs. 6:00. Alt. 19,000 ft. Target – Transportation and road center. Woke up at midnight for important Briefing. Started engines at 4:00 a.m. Heavy clouds obstructed any observation of operations. Sky constantly filled with bombers and fighters. No flak. Bomb load 38 – 100 lb. GP bombs. All available planes were flying today. We bombed through clouds.
Courselles France, 39 Aircraft preparing the beachhead at Juno Beach for Canadian forces to land, take off was 0430, all aircraft completed their mission and returned to base.
From Journal of S/Sgt Ellsworth Wright, Ball Turret Gunner.
Mission # 9 – “D-Day” June 6, 1944
Courselles, France. Hrs. 6:00. Alt. 19,000 ft. Target – Transportation and road center. Woke up at midnight for important Briefing. Started engines at 4:00 a.m. Heavy clouds obstructed any observation of operations. Sky constantly filled with bombers and fighters. No flak. Bomb load 38 – 100 lb. GP bombs. All available planes were flying today. We bombed through clouds.
10th Combat Mission 6/7/44 1 7:30
Kerlin Bastard France, 36 Aircraft, no losses and landed late at night.
From Journal of S/Sgt Ellsworth Wright, Ball Turret Gunner.
Mission #10 - June 7, 1944
Kerlin Bastard, France. Hrs. 7:30 Alt. 22,000 ft. Target – Air Base. Light but accurate flak. One hole in left wing. No enemy fighters. Great fires seen. Target completely destroyed. Bomb load 12 – 500 lb. bombs.
Kerlin Bastard France, 36 Aircraft, no losses and landed late at night.
From Journal of S/Sgt Ellsworth Wright, Ball Turret Gunner.
Mission #10 - June 7, 1944
Kerlin Bastard, France. Hrs. 7:30 Alt. 22,000 ft. Target – Air Base. Light but accurate flak. One hole in left wing. No enemy fighters. Great fires seen. Target completely destroyed. Bomb load 12 – 500 lb. bombs.
