340th BG Squadron Insignia |
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489th B.S. | ||||
Click on the squadron insignia above for links to digitized squadron histories |
August 21, 1944 Parma West Railroad Bridge
Squadron | War Diary |
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Group HQ | Our day's operation took us back to northern Italy with the Parma W. RR bridge as target. Two separate missions of 18 ships were sent after the objective. The bridge had been under extensive repairs since our effective bombing of it early July. Jerry was probably back at work this morning beginning his repairs from scratch for the bombing really made mincemeat of the bridge. |
486th | Morning mission - to Italy for a change - results good - the bridge is down. |
487th | Crews were up at the crack of dawn this morning for early briefing and 8:00 A.M. takeoff. The target was the Parma west railroad bridge in Italy's Po Valley. It was the first time we've hit Italy since the Southern France offensive began and bombing results were excellent. Both 487th boxes crossed the bridge approximately at the center with direct hits observed. Enemy opposition was nil and all twelve planes returned safely to the base. |
488th | From mission report: 1st box: Bombs overshot with possible hits in the center. 2nd box: Bombs started short and walked across the bridge near the west end of the bridge. |
489th | Not assigned to this mission |
Crewman | Personal Account |
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Harvey Hyland (487th BS) | Harvey Hyland's Log Book |
Target in 1944 |
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Target Today |
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Crew Lists and Mission Reports
Note to Crew Lists
On the crew list for the 488th Bomb Squadron below, the bombardier in plane 8J is listed as 2nd Lt. J. Heller. This is Joseph Heller, the author of the novel Catch-22. |
Crew List 486th |
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Crew List 487th |
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Crew List 488th |
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Sortie Reports |
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340th BG Squadron Insignia |
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|
489th B.S. | ||||
Click on the squadron insignia above for links to digitized squadron histories |