Lt. William J. Ferrante's Diary

Navigator, 603rd Squadron

September 1, 1944 Ludwigshafen, Germany
Target - Oil Refinery

Bad weather, could not climb over it. Mission recalled over France. Made base OK.

September 8, 1944 Ludwigshafen, Germany
Target - Farben Chemical Company

Altitude - 26,000ft. on oxygen 6 hrs

Heavy accurate flak. Heavy damage to ships. Our ship hit 15 times. Two ships lost. Sauer killed, Jean wounded. Made base OK.

Visual - Some hits

Editor's Notes

  1. Sauer was John D. Sauer, a 603rd Bombardier who flew with Vince Moore on 8 September 1944.
  2. Jean's last name has not been identified.

September 9, 1944 Ludwigshafen, Germany
Target - Farben Chemical Works

Editor's Note: The 398th Target this day was Mannheim. However, Ludwigshafen was just across the river.

Altitude - 25,000 ft. on oxygen 6 hours

Medium flak. One or two ships lost. Casualties in some planes. We were hit five times. Made base OK.

Bombed PFF

September 27, 1944 Cologne, Germany

Altitude 27,000 ft. on oxygen 4 hours

Medium flak, made base OK.

Bombed PFF

September 30, 1944 Muenster, Germany

Altitude 27,000 ft. on oxygen 5 hours

Medium flak, our ship hit 14 times by one close burst.

Made base OK

Visual - Hit target

October 3, 1944 Nuremberg [Nurnberg], Germany

Target - Marshalling Yards

Altitude - 26,000 ft. on Oxygen 4 1/2 hours

Heavy flak over target, our plane hit. Lost oil from No. 3 motor, then lost motor. Flak all the way back and through the lines. Made base OK.

Bombed PFF

October 6, 1944 Neubrandenburg, Germany
Target- Focke-Wulf Assembly Plant

Altitude - 20,000 ft. on oxygen 4 hours

Light flak across Germany, none over target. Made base OK.

Visual - knocked out target

October 9, 1944 Schweinfurt, Germany
Target - Ball Bearing Plant

Altitiude - 22,000 ft. on oxygen 4 1/2 hours

Medium flak, pretty bad weather, made base OK.

Bombed PFF

October 28, 1944 Meunster [Munster], Germany
Target- Marshalling Yards

Altitude - 23,000 ft. on oxygen 4 hours

Flak moderate to heavy and accurate. Four ships lost, Brown [Loren C. Brown, 603rd Tail Gunner] in one. Heavy battle damage to our plane. Very heavy contrails. Lost formation over target. Made base OK.

Bombed PFF

October 30, 1944 Hamm, Germany
Target- Marshalling Yards

Altitude - 21,500 ft. on oxygen 4 hours

Light flak, heavy contrails, made base OK.

Bombed PFF

November 2, 1944 Merseburg, Germany
Target - Leuna Oil Refinery

Altitude 26,000 ft. on oxygen 5 hours

Mickey went out, entered target area on wrong heading. Extremely heavy flak for 20 minutes, very accurate and couldn't get away from it. Almost all ships hit. 3/4 of an hour after target our Squadron was hit by fighters. Two of our ships went down in flames. Newman in one. Gunners got 8 probables, and 4 for sure. Group lost three ships. Bad weather. Made base OK.

Visual- Missed target

November 5, 1944 Frankfurt, Germany
Target - Marshalling Yards

Altitude - 26,000 ft. on oxygen 4 1/2 hours

Flak moderate, only hit once. Very bad weather. Had to land at an English base in Odiham. Made base OK.

Bombed PFF

November 8, 1944 Merseburg, Germany
Target - Oil Refinery

Altitude - 24,000 ft. on oxygen 5 hours

Moderate and accurate flak. Number four engine hit and lost. Had to come back alone from Holland. Bad weather.

Made base OK.

Bombed PFF

November 9, 1944 Metz, France
Target - Forts

Altitude 24,000 ft. on oxygen 4 hours

Light flak, made base OK.

Visual - Knocked out target

November 25, 1944 Merseburg, Germany
Target - Oil Refinery

Altitude 27,000 ft. on oxygen 6 hours

Moderate, accurate flak. Engine trouble, and lost 1/2 of oxygen system before target. Very bad weather on landing. Made base OK.

Bombed PFF, missed target.

November 26, 1944 Misburg, Germany
Target - Oil Refinery

Altitude - 27,500 ft. on oxygen 5 hours

Moderate flak. Bad weather at landing. made base OK.

Bombed PFF

General Doolittle at base upon return.

November 30, 1944 Merseburg, Germany
Target - Oil Refinery

Altitude - 25,500 ft. on oxygen 5 hours

Very heavy flak for 15 minutes, very accurate. Our ship hit 8 times. Lost one ship with Woody in it. Very bad weather for landing. Made base OK.

Visual - Hit part of target

Editor's Note: The Weum crew was the only 398th ship down on 30 November 1944. In that crew, there was a William H. Woodcock, Jr. of the 600th Squadron and a fellow Navigator. He became a POW. Perhaps this is Woody.

December 4, 1944 Soest, Germany
Target - Marshalling Yards

Altitude - 26,500 ft. on oxygen 4 1/2 hours
Light flak. Our Squadron went over target alone. Flew "Deputy Lead" on the way back. Made base OK.

Bombed PFF

December 9, 1944 Stuttgart, Germany
Target - Marshalling Yards

Altitude- 26,500 ft. on oxygen 5 hours

Light flak, bad weather. Made base OK.

Visual - Hit target

 

See also

  1. Jack Lee's Crew - 603rd Squadron - 5 August 1944
  2. Jack Lee's Crew - 603rd Squadron - 2 December 1944
  3. Return to the Lt. William J. Ferrante Diary Index.

 

Notes

  1. Lt. William J. Ferrante was the Navigator for the Jack Lee 603rd crew after September 1, 1944.
  2. The above diary transcription was provided by Jeff Vicha, grandson of Ray Vicha who was Right Waist Gunner on the same crew who had obtained the diary from Tom Lee, Jack Lee's son.
  3. This transcription is a reproduction of the original. Spelling and punctuation changes have been made to improve readability. In some circumstances, material may not have been transcribed or was rewritten.
  4. Clarification of acronyms or special words or guesses of certain words are shown in brackets [ ].