Captain Harry R. Ankeny's Combat Diary
Page 26
31 July, 1944.
Flew for 5:25 hours to Munich and back in an
uneventful mission. Didn't see a thing this time
and this is unusual for this area. We used to hit
the worst enemy opposition right around here just a
couple months back.
2 Aug. 1944.
Left on this mission in the evening--a ramrod SW
of Paris. The only thing bad about it was the lousy
weather, especially over England. Returning home, at
almost dusk, the overcast was 400 ft. off the ground
and was solid up to 2000 ft. That meant we had to let
down on instruments. Then to top it off it was very
hazy underneath. When we peeled off over the field
they had to shoot flares so you could locate the correct
runway. My instruments are very good so weather flying
doesn't bother me much. As a whole though the mission
was a success.
3 Aug. 1944
Had another ramrod mission to Neusy and Ancy, France,
which is just a few miles north of Tours, France. Didn't
see a thing and the mission was a success.
RUSSIA-ITALY-ENGLAND 6 Aug. 1944
SHUTTLE MISSION
Today was part I of our long shuttle mission to Russia,
the first leg of our trip. Since we were the only group
to be escorting the bombers thru the targets, we formed
a group made up of the maximum number of planes. On all
previous missions we used three squadrons in our group
but this time we formed another squadron, called the
"Victory" squadron, and it was made up of flights from all
three squadrons. Major Dregne led this particular squad-
ron while Col. Graham our group commanding officer, led
the group. My job was leading Green flight in the "victory"
squadron with Lt. Sehl on my wing and two 364th boys com-
prising the rest of my flight, On the ground was also
to act as our squadron's adjutant.
This particular mission was the 2nd shuttle mission
ever attempted and its primary purpose was for diplomatic
and friendly relations with our allies, the Russians. We
dealt plenty material damage on our enemy at the same time.
We were briefed carefully to watch our conduct and try to
create a good impression on the Russian people we might
come in contact with.
Copyright © 1996, Harry R. Ankeny