715th BS/448th BG- Seething
Click HERE to see pictures and read Dale's account of life at Seething Airfield
Missions:#1 December 24, 1943- Pas De Calais, France; V-1 buzzbomb and V-2 rocket platforms
This mission included the whole 20th Combat wing (93rd, 446th, and 448th BG).
They carried 10, 500# general purpose (GP) bombs.
They encountered heavy flak; the heaviest of all the missions, Al said.
#2 December 30, 1943- Ludwigshafen, Germany; rubber factory
This mission included the whole 20th Combat wing (93rd, 446th, and 448th BG).
They carried 40, 100# incendiary bombs.
Three planes were lost on this mission.
#3 January 4, 1944- Kiel, Germany
They aborted 40 miles from the target because of power failure, problems with an engine and a shortage of oxygen.
#4 January 11, 1944- Meppen, Germany
They carried 10, 500# demolition bombs.
Over 700 bombers were out over Germany that day; 60 were lost.
They flew with 389th BG as they couldn’t find the 448th BG during formation.
#5 January 29, 1944- Frankfurt, Germany
They carried 10, 500# demolition bombs.
#6 February 5, 1944- Tours, France; airport
They had light flak that day and saw no enemy aircraft.
#7 February 13, 1944- Pas de Calais, France; V-1 buzzbomb and V-2 rocket platforms
They encountered heavy flak and the hydraulics system was knocked out.
Fifty-two flak holes were counted in the plane after their return to base.
#8 February 21, 1944- Munster, Germany; airfield
They carried 10, 500# demolition bombs.
There was a heavy attack by German fighters, both Me109s and FW90s on the way to the target.
Dale R. VanBlair got credit for an enemy aircraft kill that day- a Focke Wulf 190.
The only damage they incurred was a hole in the wing tip.
After our eighth mission, we were selected to become a PFF lead crew, and our officers, engineer and radio operator were transferred to the 482nd B.G. for four weeks of training, while the three other gunners and I remained with the 448th B.G. During that month I flew the following five missions as a fill-in on other crews with wounded or sick members.
February 22—Flew as a replacement tail gunner with Lt. Black’s crew. The target was an airfield at Brunswick, Germany. Though we sighted enemy fighters, our formation was not attacked. The flak was moderate to heavy.
March 2—Filled in for the wounded tail gunner on Lt. Braxton’s crew. Since I knew the enlisted men, who were in my hut, quite well, I was comfortable flying with them. Our target was Frankfort, in central Germany. Moderately heavy flak put a few holes in the plane, but no one was injured. The English newspapers reported that from 2,000 to 3,000 Liberators and Fortresses went out and met with little fighter opposition.
March 6—Filled in as nose gunner with Lt. Sheldon’s crew, a position I had not flown before. The target was Berlin, the first mass daylight raid on that city. A total of 800 bombers went out. On the way to the target we frequently sighted enemy fighters, but because of our escort of P-47s and P-51s, no attacks were directed at us. As we approached Berlin and began the bomb run, the flak became extremely heavy, “the kind you could walk on.” I didn’t like being in the nose turret where you could see what was coming. I preferred the tail turret, where you were going away from the flak bursts. I got quite concerned when I saw a group of four flak bursts right at our lever, close enough that I could see the angry red flash, followed by another group of four and then another, with each new burst coming closer and closer until I was certain the next one would get us. We continued on the bomb run, however, with nothing more than the continuous sound of the shock waves from the flak explosions on the plane’s fuselage. I learned what fear felt like during those minutes over Berlin. On examining the plane after landing at Seething, we found numerous flak holes in the fuselage and were extremely fortunate to escape with no casualties. The 8th Air Force sustained a record loss of 69 planes.
March 9—Back to Berlin, this time as a tail gunner with Lt. McCune’s crew, whose gunners were in my hut and had requested me as a replacement for their wounded tail gunner. I was depressed because of the loss of my close friend, Al Spadafora, the ball turret gunner on our crew (see link on Main Page), the previous day. He had been lost in a ditching while flying as a replacement with another crew. Throughout the lengthy mission, he was on my mind and I did not anticipate returning to his empty bed beside mine. Too, I no longer felt all that optimistic about completing the remaining missions of my tour of duty. Based on what I now knew about the chances of a crew’s successfully completing its tour, the odds were stacked against me. As it turned out, however, though the flak was again heavy and accurate, our fighters were everywhere and the Germans stayed on the ground. The flak put numerous holes in our plane, but no one was hit. Only seven bombers were lost.
March 16—Flew my thirteenth mission with Lt. Braxton, again at the crew’s request. The target was Friedrichshafen, just across Lake Constance from Switzerland. This was the longest mission that the 448th had made thus far. Heavy flak holed the cockpit and upper turret but hit no one. We encountered no fighter opposition. Considering the number of missions which I had made, most of which had been well inside Germany, I had been fortunate in encountering relatively few fighter attacks, although I had watched other formations get clobbered.
That was the last mission I made with the 448th, for on March 22 Lt. Self, our co-pilot, came to pick us up for our transfer to the 389th.
Dale VanBlair
Missions:#1 December 24, 1943- Pas De Calais, France; V-1 buzzbomb and V-2 rocket platforms
This mission included the whole 20th Combat wing (93rd, 446th, and 448th BG).
They carried 10, 500# general purpose (GP) bombs.
They encountered heavy flak; the heaviest of all the missions, Al said.
#2 December 30, 1943- Ludwigshafen, Germany; rubber factory
This mission included the whole 20th Combat wing (93rd, 446th, and 448th BG).
They carried 40, 100# incendiary bombs.
Three planes were lost on this mission.
#3 January 4, 1944- Kiel, Germany
They aborted 40 miles from the target because of power failure, problems with an engine and a shortage of oxygen.
#4 January 11, 1944- Meppen, Germany
They carried 10, 500# demolition bombs.
Over 700 bombers were out over Germany that day; 60 were lost.
They flew with 389th BG as they couldn’t find the 448th BG during formation.
#5 January 29, 1944- Frankfurt, Germany
They carried 10, 500# demolition bombs.
#6 February 5, 1944- Tours, France; airport
They had light flak that day and saw no enemy aircraft.
#7 February 13, 1944- Pas de Calais, France; V-1 buzzbomb and V-2 rocket platforms
They encountered heavy flak and the hydraulics system was knocked out.
Fifty-two flak holes were counted in the plane after their return to base.
#8 February 21, 1944- Munster, Germany; airfield
They carried 10, 500# demolition bombs.
There was a heavy attack by German fighters, both Me109s and FW90s on the way to the target.
Dale R. VanBlair got credit for an enemy aircraft kill that day- a Focke Wulf 190.
The only damage they incurred was a hole in the wing tip.
After our eighth mission, we were selected to become a PFF lead crew, and our officers, engineer and radio operator were transferred to the 482nd B.G. for four weeks of training, while the three other gunners and I remained with the 448th B.G. During that month I flew the following five missions as a fill-in on other crews with wounded or sick members.
February 22—Flew as a replacement tail gunner with Lt. Black’s crew. The target was an airfield at Brunswick, Germany. Though we sighted enemy fighters, our formation was not attacked. The flak was moderate to heavy.
March 2—Filled in for the wounded tail gunner on Lt. Braxton’s crew. Since I knew the enlisted men, who were in my hut, quite well, I was comfortable flying with them. Our target was Frankfort, in central Germany. Moderately heavy flak put a few holes in the plane, but no one was injured. The English newspapers reported that from 2,000 to 3,000 Liberators and Fortresses went out and met with little fighter opposition.
March 6—Filled in as nose gunner with Lt. Sheldon’s crew, a position I had not flown before. The target was Berlin, the first mass daylight raid on that city. A total of 800 bombers went out. On the way to the target we frequently sighted enemy fighters, but because of our escort of P-47s and P-51s, no attacks were directed at us. As we approached Berlin and began the bomb run, the flak became extremely heavy, “the kind you could walk on.” I didn’t like being in the nose turret where you could see what was coming. I preferred the tail turret, where you were going away from the flak bursts. I got quite concerned when I saw a group of four flak bursts right at our lever, close enough that I could see the angry red flash, followed by another group of four and then another, with each new burst coming closer and closer until I was certain the next one would get us. We continued on the bomb run, however, with nothing more than the continuous sound of the shock waves from the flak explosions on the plane’s fuselage. I learned what fear felt like during those minutes over Berlin. On examining the plane after landing at Seething, we found numerous flak holes in the fuselage and were extremely fortunate to escape with no casualties. The 8th Air Force sustained a record loss of 69 planes.
March 9—Back to Berlin, this time as a tail gunner with Lt. McCune’s crew, whose gunners were in my hut and had requested me as a replacement for their wounded tail gunner. I was depressed because of the loss of my close friend, Al Spadafora, the ball turret gunner on our crew (see link on Main Page), the previous day. He had been lost in a ditching while flying as a replacement with another crew. Throughout the lengthy mission, he was on my mind and I did not anticipate returning to his empty bed beside mine. Too, I no longer felt all that optimistic about completing the remaining missions of my tour of duty. Based on what I now knew about the chances of a crew’s successfully completing its tour, the odds were stacked against me. As it turned out, however, though the flak was again heavy and accurate, our fighters were everywhere and the Germans stayed on the ground. The flak put numerous holes in our plane, but no one was hit. Only seven bombers were lost.
March 16—Flew my thirteenth mission with Lt. Braxton, again at the crew’s request. The target was Friedrichshafen, just across Lake Constance from Switzerland. This was the longest mission that the 448th had made thus far. Heavy flak holed the cockpit and upper turret but hit no one. We encountered no fighter opposition. Considering the number of missions which I had made, most of which had been well inside Germany, I had been fortunate in encountering relatively few fighter attacks, although I had watched other formations get clobbered.
That was the last mission I made with the 448th, for on March 22 Lt. Self, our co-pilot, came to pick us up for our transfer to the 389th.
Dale VanBlair
