340th Bomb Group History

340th Bombardment Group History

340th BG Patch

340th BG Squadron Insignia
	486th B.S.	487th B.S.	488th B.S.	489th B.S.
	Click on the squadron insignia above for links to digitized squadron histories

October 3, 1944 Mission to Magenta Railroad Bridge

Squadron War Diary

340th HQ Diary Mission to Cameri RR bridge and Magenta RR bridge. Flak was intense and accurate over the former. One S/Sgt. Mickov, turret gunner, carrying a Bible in his vest pocket had a large piece of shrapnel penetrate the book and lodge itself there but did not reach the flesh. A second interesting story arose when another radio gunner, on his first mission, had one engine shot out before reaching target, was ordered to lighten load of plane and did so by tossing overboard flak suits among other things. Later they went into bomb run where intense flak was encountered. The Sergeant was quoted as saying "I have met much tougher situations in barroom brawls." Though many ships were badly shot up, some flights having all ships holed, fortunately all returned safely. The missions were both very successful.

486th Another bridge mission - 100% accuracy yet the bridge escaped. Just one of those things.

487th Not assigned to this mission.

488th Twelve planes to Magenta RR Bridge, Italy again. 8 of them holed. No one observed any hits and the cameras refused to take any pictures -- at least we didn't get any so no credit for the mission. The crews are getting tired of going up into this particular territory as the flak is really accurate.

489th Eighteen planes of the squadron were sent to the Magenta railroad bridge and gun positions nearby. Dropping high explosives and incendiaries in the face of fierce enemy opposition, we failed in our objective.

Numerous airplanes were holed, and there were some close brushes with death. A gunner had an experience which should give him something to think about, and he should consider himself living on borrowed time. A large piece of flak went completely through his flak suit and half way through a Bible which he carried in his left shirt pocket. Lt. Bulkeley brought his plane in safely on a single engine.

Target in 1945

Target Today

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Squadron	War Diary
340th HQ Diary	Mission to Cameri RR bridge and Magenta RR bridge. Flak was intense and accurate over the former. One S/Sgt. Mickov, turret gunner, carrying a Bible in his vest pocket had a large piece of shrapnel penetrate the book and lodge itself there but did not reach the flesh. A second interesting story arose when another radio gunner, on his first mission, had one engine shot out before reaching target, was ordered to lighten load of plane and did so by tossing overboard flak suits among other things. Later they went into bomb run where intense flak was encountered. The Sergeant was quoted as saying "I have met much tougher situations in barroom brawls." Though many ships were badly shot up, some flights having all ships holed, fortunately all returned safely. The missions were both very successful.
486th	Another bridge mission - 100% accuracy yet the bridge escaped. Just one of those things.
487th	Not assigned to this mission.
488th	Twelve planes to Magenta RR Bridge, Italy again. 8 of them holed. No one observed any hits and the cameras refused to take any pictures -- at least we didn't get any so no credit for the mission. The crews are getting tired of going up into this particular territory as the flak is really accurate.
489th	Eighteen planes of the squadron were sent to the Magenta railroad bridge and gun positions nearby. Dropping high explosives and incendiaries in the face of fierce enemy opposition, we failed in our objective. Numerous airplanes were holed, and there were some close brushes with death. A gunner had an experience which should give him something to think about, and he should consider himself living on borrowed time. A large piece of flak went completely through his flak suit and half way through a Bible which he carried in his left shirt pocket. Lt. Bulkeley brought his plane in safely on a single engine.

Target in 1945

Target Today
View Larger Map

Crew Lists and Mission Reports

On the crew list for the 488th Bomb Squadron below, the bombardier
in plane 8F is listed as 1st Lt. J. Heller. This is Joseph Heller, the
author of the novel Catch-22.

Crew List 486th
Not Available
Crew List 488th


Crew List 489th

340th BG Squadron Insignia
	486th B.S.	487th B.S.	488th B.S.	489th B.S.
	Click on the squadron insignia above for links to digitized squadron histories