Mitchell - #12

Mitchell - #12

Rear L-R: Roeben, Walter J. (B); Mitchell, Grover P. (P); Johnson, James R. (CP); Trout ,Jasper D. (TG); Roth, Jerome R. (N)

Front L-R: Harrell, L. Curtis (WG), Nobile, Joseph (BG) [KIA]; Jennings, William E. (RO/G); DeGraaff, John L. (NG); Louis, Charles (E)

John L. Kennedy was the nose gunner on the Sklansky crew #9-1, but on 25 July 1944, he was picked to fly with the Mitchell crew #12. That crew was lost lost due to flak and enemy fighters. There are two different stories concerning the death of Kennedy. One story says Kennedy was killed on 25 July 1944. Another story says he was a POW until 25 October 1944 when he was executed along with some Russian prisoners.

Combat Log of Radio Operator William Jennings

Practice Missions

3- 4-44 Hellza-Prochin - 2:20 Southern Italy

3- 8-44 Battle Crate - 2:40 Low Alt.

3-11-44 Swee' Pea - 2:445 Low Alt

3-12-44 Swee' Pea - 1:20 Low Alt

3-19-44 Mister . - 4:20 High Alt - 3 turbos went out, turned back

3-21-44 Swee' Pea - 2:35 High Alt. - Oil line or cap broke, turned back

3-26-44 Swee' Pea - 2:05. Local

3-28-44 Swee' Pea - 06:00 High Alt. - Practice bomb mission

Combat Missions

Sortie	Mission	Date	Aircraft	Bomb Load	Hours	Description
1	1	4-3-44	Hells-a-Prochin (Hell's a Poppin?)		5:00	High altitude bombing mission on Yugoslavia, the marshalling yards at Dnise.
2	2	4- 6-44	Hells-a-Prochin	Fragmentation (20 Pounds) - 20 Cluster	6:00	High altitude bombing mission on Yugoslavia, the marshalling yards, air field & ME-109 factory at Zagreb. Target destroyed.
3	3	4-12-44	Battle Crate	10/500 Pounds	6:00	High altitude bombing mission on Yugoslavia, the marshalling yards, air field and ME-109 factory at Zagreb. Target destroyed.
4	4&5	4-13-44	Evil Weevil	9/500 Pounds	7:30	Got credit for 2 missions. High altitude bombing mission on Hungary, the ME-109 factory at Budapest. Target destroyed.
5	6	4-17-44	Battle Crate	20 Cluster. Fragmentation Bombs	4:30	High altitude bombing mission on Rumania, the air field at Brosav.
6	7&8	4-21-44	Mister .	9/500 Pounds	8:00	Got credit for 2 missions. High altitude bombing mission on Rumania, the round house and marshalling yards at Bucharest
7	9&10	4-23-44	No name	9/500 Pounds	08:15	High altitude bombing mission on Rumania, the marshalling yards at Bucharest. Target destroyed. J.D. Trout got credit for a possible ME-109 shot down.
8	11	5- 2-44	Swee' Pea	10/500 Pounds	7:35	High altitude bombing mission on Parma Italy. The marshalling yards. Milk run. Target destroyed.
9	12&13	5- 6-44	#8	9/500 Pounds	7:30	Hit marshalling yards at Pitesti, Rumania. The target was completely destroyed. Milk run, no flak and no fighters.
10	14&15	5-10-44		30 Cluster Fragmentation	8:10	Bombing mission on Weiner Neustradt-Nord in Austria. Hit air field. Made a twenty minute bomb run and the enemy threw intense flak at us for twenty-five to thirty minutes.
Today was the saddest day since our crew was formed, for we lost our ball-turret gunner, Joseph A. Nobile. He was hit by flak in the left leg just an inch or two below his crotch at eleven thirty five. He had enough strength to point his guns down & throw open his turret door, stand up and told us, "I'm hit. I'm hit." We were being attacked by one fighter after another, so no one could leave their guns. The Navigator, Jerry Roth, came through the bomb bay when the doors were open and the bombs falling, risking his own life. We were at twenty thousand feet, on oxygen, and there weren't hoses (oxygen) long enough to reach the ball turret, so we took off our masks. Finally we got Joe out and laid him on the floor. I cut his overalls, heated suit and underwear off. Then I went up to the flight deck and got a first aid kit. Roth gave Joe a morphine shot, and I put some sulfa drugs (paste) on the wound. Roth put four battle dressings on his leg, and they didn't cover the wound, so I wrapped a roll of gauze around his leg to cover the whole wound. We applied a tourniquet & covered him with blankets & a suit of heavy leather clothing. About twelve fifteen I felt his pulse, then pushed his eyelid back and I could see the film forming over the eyeball. Joe had died from loss of blood & shock. His death had more effect on all of us than anything we have ever known.
5-11-44Joe was buried today at 4:15 in the military cemetery just two miles south of Bari. His grave is marked by a little white cross with his name, serial number and grave marker on it.
11	16	5-13-44	#8	10/500 Pounds	7:20	Bombing mission on Faenza, Italy. We hit the marshalling yards. Target destroyed. Milk run, no flak or fighters.
12	17	5-22-44	Swee' Pea	40/100 Pounds Incend.	7:00	Bombing mission in northern Italy, the industrial center at Carrara. Target destroyed.
13	18	5-23-44	#10	10/500 Pounds	4:00	Bombing mission in northern Italy. Hit a road block at Subiaco. Milk run. Target destroyed.
14	19	5-25-44	Evil Weevil	10/500 Pounds	6:30	Bombing mission on M/Y at Carnoulis, France. Milk run. Target destroyed.
15	20	5-26-44	#10	8/500 Pounds	8:40	Bombing mission on the longest trip this Group has ever made. (1200 miles) We hit the M/Y at Lyons, France. Our bomb strikes were the best in the Air Force, 96% to be exact.
16	21&22	5-30-44	#10	30 Incend	7:10	Bombing run on the aircraft factory at Wels, Austria. Lot of flak, no fighters.
17	23&24	5-31-44	War Eagle	9/500 Pounds	7:20	Bombing run on the oil refinery at Ploesti, Rumania. This is the second hottest target we have hit. Weiner Neustradt rates first, with well over two hundred heavy anti-aircraft guns. Ploesti has about 190 anti-aircraft (heavy) guns.
18	25&26	6-2-44	Stinky	9/500 Pounds.	7:20	Bombing Mission on M/Y at Szolnok, Hungary. Light flak and no fighters. Target destroyed.
19	27	6- 5-44	Evil Weevil	5/1000 Pounds.	7:00	Bombing mission on railway bridge in Italy.
20	28&29	6- 6-44	The One Eyed Jack	9/500 Pounds	8:30	High altitude bombing mission on oil storage & refinery at Ploesti, Rumania. Boy, let me tell you, it was plenty hot over there. Plenty of flak & the fighters didn't fool around. One ME-109 flew between our ship & the wing ship, almost taking our left wing. Boy, you could have spit out that waist window right in that Jerry's face.
21	30&31	6- 9-44	The One Eyed Jack	9/500 Pounds	8:30	Bombing run on Munich, Germany. We hit the M/Y. Target completely destroyed.
22	32	6-11-44	#8	20/250 Pounds	5:40	Bombing run on Mise, Yugoslavia. We were supposed to go to Rumania but had engine trouble and had to turn back a half hour from the primary target. So we made a run on a target all by our self.
23	33	6-13-44	Swee' Pea	10/500 Pounds	7:00	Bomb run on Industrial center on mainland just opposite Venice, Italy. Plenty of flak, no fighters. Target destroyed.
24	34	6-22-44	Lazy Lady (#12)	20/250 Pounds.	5:45	Bombing run on oil dump in northern Italy. Little flak, no fighters.
25	35&36	6-23-44	Lazy Lady	4/1000 Pounds	8:20	Bombing run on an oil dump at Rumania. The defenses of the target were supposed to be 18 guns (heavy), but they must have moved more guns in. To top it, the Jerries had our altitude right on the head. We have about fifteen or twenty holes in our new ship. If Harrell hadn't had his flak suit on today, well, he just wouldn't be here. A hunk of flak came through the side of the ship and bounced off his armor suit, leaving a slight dent.
26	37	6-25-55	Lazy Lady	9/500 Pounds	9:00	Bombing run on the M/Y at Avignon France. No flak, a few fighters.
27	38&39	6-26-44	Lazy Lady	8/500 Pounds	7:45	Bombing run on the oil refinery at Korneuburg, Austria just six miles north of Vienna. Plenty of flak, and it looked as though Germany put up every fighter available. 750 heavies hit the area in & around Vienna, escorted by about five hundred fighters, P-38's, P-47's and P-51's.
28	40	6-30-44	Lazy Lady	8/500 Pounds	6:00	Start to the oil refinery near Breslau, Germany, but ran into weather & turned back.
29	41	7-12-44	Lazy Lady	9/500 Pounds	8:50	Bombing run on M/Y at Nimes, France, plenty of flak, and lost four ships to fighters.
30	42	7-14-44	Lazy Lady	4/1000 Pounds	6:25	Bombing run on Petfurdo, Hungary, the oil refinery. Flak, but no fighters.
31	43	7-15-44	Lazy Lady	9/500 Pounds	8:00	Bombing raid on the oil refineries at Ploesti, Rumania. We didn't encounter any fighters, but as usual we felt the blow of the 220 heavy guns surrounding the city.
(TOTAL COMBAT HOURS - 223:15)
32	44&45	7-16-44	The One Eyed Jack	4/1000 Pounds	7:00	Bombing run on the aircraft engine factory at Weiner Neudorf. Plenty of flak & probably the whole German air force.
33	46&47	7-18-44	Lazy Lady	5/1000 Pounds	7:45	Bombing run on aircraft engine factory, and experimental plant at Friedrichshafen, German. No fighters, but plenty of flak and it was damn accurate.
35	48&49	7-19-44	Lazy Lady	4/1000 Pounds	7:40	Bombing run on aircraft plant just outside of Munich, Germany. Plenty rough. Lots of flak that was as accurate as hell. Louis finished his 50 missions today.
36	50&51	7-22-44	Lazy Lady	4/1000 Pounds	8:05	Bombing run on Ploesti, Rumania. This is my last mission and I came nearer to getting killed today than I ever have before. Mucho flak but no fighters. Well, now to sweat out the trip home.
(TOTAL COMBAT HOURS - 259:25)