Kenneth DeLong Mission February 10, 1943

***MISSION #32

Wed. 2/10/43 HOME BASE Landing Ground 139

TARGET Palermo, Sicily

COMBAT FLYING HOURS--this mission 11:00 total tour 343:10

BRIEFING 1000 TAKE OFF 1235 LANDING 2335

CREW Capt. T. D. Brown PLANE NO. 55

BOMB LOAD 5-1000 lb. TARGET TIME 1730 BOMBING ALT. 24000'

NO. OF PLANES 9 B-24's (ours) and 12 of 93rd Group

BOMBING RESULTS Not shown ... heavy cloud cover

ENEMY ACTION Moderate anti-aircraft fire ... inaccurate .... no fighters.

OTHER REMARKS It was raining as we took off and conditions got worse over the Mediterranean. Held formation, though had difficulty seeing other planes ... rain was beating down. We led the 2nd element. Climbed to 24000' beginning 1530 ... extremely cold ... engines left long vapor trails ... dropped bombs on ETA calculation.

Encountered heavy headwinds coming home ... got lost for a little while, but located our desert base and landed safely on our second attempt. It was 0200 hrs. by the time we reached our tent (following interrogation).

That morning, at breakfast, we discovered Lt. Appold had flown all the way back from the target area on 3 engines … landed safely ... T/Sgt. Dave Tunno had passed out, when his oxygen mask froze(at high altitude) ... T/Sgt. Hugh Powell revived him just in time to prevent a tragedy.