Chapter 48-13

24Jun44

US mission 438

COVER GIRL radio operator John Foster's contemporaneous diary said: "A milk run. Little to no flak. Target a transformer site south of Abbeville in Fressin was 10/10 cloud cover. Couldn't drop bomb load and with bombs booby trapped had to jettison into North Sea. WAR BRIDE had multiple mechanical problems and one flak hit right under her right wing just after 'Bombs Away'. Upon landing the right tire was flat. COVER GIRL had veered to the right and WAR BRIDE ended up going off the runway into the rough and totaling that ship."

The 491st BG photo above obviously had good vision that day. Since there are about 40 bombs showing does that indicates 250 pounders? V1 rocket targets were there in this no-ball mission. Common meaning was, didn't put the ball turret down for just a quick flight over the french coast, but was actually a code word for the raid on hard to hit V1 weapons sites.

Eilane Degardin created this colorful image in the French countryside of the Fressin area. Who knows, perhaps right where one of those bombs landed.

Three Dutch fishermen died in '05 after pulling up unexploded WW2 bombs that subsequently went off. The Royal Navy assists NATO in a program to help eliminate the threat pulling up this one last year. The blues and yellow ochres making a nice compliment.

Updated chapter - bomb recently found