Daniel B. Orr
Daniel Orr and crew were assigned to the 515th squadron. Dan published his diary in the 376 Memory Book. Click on the date to read about his missions.
JUN 8 1943 Left Topeka. KS for Morrison Field, FL. for overseas duty. Ran into bad weather but made it OK.
JUN 9 Stayed at Morrison until June 11. 1943.
JUN 11 Left Morrison for Waller Field. Trinidad. Flew over Puerto Rico and everything OK. Stayed at Trinidad that night.
JUN 12 Left Waller for Beleu. Brazil, and everything OK. Stayed in Beleu one night. Instrument flying conditions.
JUN 13 Left Beleu for Natal and flew over lots of jungle. Flew over Amazon River and crossed equator.
JUN 14 Stayed at Natal all day and night for inspection of ship. Went to town for about 3 hours and natives were very interesting.
JUN 15 Left to cross the Atlantic and landed at Dakar after 11 hours of flying. Navigator hit field right on the nose. Stayed at Dakar. Used French money. Had bubonic plague in town.
JUN 16 Left Dakar for Marrakech and stayed there two days for ship inspection. Went to town, a very interesting town.
JUN 17 Went from Marrakech to Algiers and went to town and made the rounds.
Lots of activity there in all branches of the Army. Stayed at field first night and then in town the next.
JUN 19 Left Algiers for Tripoli and flew over old battlegrounds. Had trouble with radio and had interceptor sent up after us.
JUN 20 Left Tripoli for Cairo and stayed there for the night and reported in and assigned to 376th Bomb Group. Ran into Bob Phillips and "Red" Melcher.
JUN 21 Left Cairo for Davenport and left ship there for final inspection.
JUN 22 Stayed there and El Kabrib until June 25th. Went swimming and rested up.
JUN 25 Flew to Benghazi and reported into Group and was assigned to 515th Bomb Sq. Moved into our tent. Lost "G. I. Ginnie" to 514th Sq.
JUN 26 Rested up and ready for raid tomorrow -- the first.
JUN 27 No raid for my crew. Engines went out before take off. Raided Kalamaki, Greece. Shot down eight ME 109's. None of our ships lost.
JUN 30 Ready for raid but called off because of weather. Going tomorrow.
Jerry just flew over Little AA. No mail yet.
JUL 1 Raid called off due to weather. Briefed at 1900 for raid tomorrow. -- Mail today.
Received mail again today. Had official opening of Officers Club after raid.
JUL 3 Very quiet. Grasshoppers are thick as hell.
---Combat hours 15:45---
---Combat hours 23:15---
JUL 10 No raid. Moved into new tent that belonged to Lt. Field's crew. No mail
JUL 11 Very quiet. No mail for me - the others received it.
JUL 12 Talk on Sicily and other war developments by 9th AF Sq. officer.
Mail today. British Navy picked up Lt. O'Brien near Sicily.
---Combat hours 30:35---
JUL 14 (No notes on his mission.)
JUL 15 Got up at 0700 to go to see decorations given to crews. Was officer in charge of Honor Guard at ceremony. General Brereton pinned the medals on. Raid tomorrow. Mail today.
No mail today.
---Combat hours 47:15---
JUL 17 Very quiet. Had lecture on "Escape Procedure". Took bath for first time this month. No mail.
JUL 18 Very quiet. No mail. Raid tomorrow.
Mail today.
---Combat hours 54:55---
JUL 22 No mail. Practiced low altitude mission.
JUL 23 Flew low altitude practice mission this morning and again this afternoon. Dropped 5 bombs on island. No mail. Kept on practicing low altitude mission and being briefed on the target until July 30th. Was shown movies of the target each day.
---Combat hours 68:25---
AUG 2 No mail for the last 10 days. Rested up from mission.
AUG 3 Flew over Malta to pick up another B-24 (#92] that was shot up badly.
Very interesting sights in town. No mail.
AUG 4 Lots of rumors running around as to the group moving.
AUG 6 Mail today. Went down to opening of 512th Officers' Club. (Bev's and crew sq.) Flew high altitude practice mission. Dropped one 300# high altitude bomb.
AUG 7 Test hopped #90 and let Hack fly from pilot's side. Briefing for another special mission was put off until tomorrow.
AUG 8 Briefed for this long special mission but not going until weather permits. Have been getting up at 0400 and then have mission called off.
---Combat hours 80:40---
AUG 16 Took off for raid to Foggia, Italy, but #3 engine cut out and had to turn back. Made landing with full bomb load and couldn' t see runway for a long time. Hurd went down on this mission. Hanson, Wrighter, and Smith.
AUG 19 Practiced new type formation for fighter opposition.
---Combat hours 90:40---
---Combat hours 100:10---
---Combat hours 110:40---
---# Missions 13 Combat hours 119:40---
---# Missions 14 Combat hours 131:40---
---# Missions 15 Combat hours 141:10---
---Combat hours 151:25---
---Combat hours 161:10---
---Combat hours 168:50---
SEP 14 (No notes on his mission.)
---Mission #20 Combat hours 188:35---
---Mission #21 Combat hours 201:20---
SEP 20 On spare ship. Didn't get to take off though. Mission was to Castel, Franco, Tento. All the way up the Adriatic. Most of old crews are going home. Finished their 300 hours.
---Mission #22. Combat hours 208:05---
---Mission #23. Combat hours 218:20—
OCT 6 Went to B G
---Mission #24. Combat hours 226:35---
---Mission #25. Combat hours 231:20---
OCT 11 Moved back to Tunisia again. Received telegram from my wife.
---Mission #26. Combat hours 239:05---
Mission #27 (43). ---Combat hours 246:50---
Made my Combat missions 44 (28) ---Combat hours 279:50---
OCT 29 General Doolittle pinned the D. F. C. on us here at our field. Had the ceremony for the Ploesti Raiders.
Mission #45 (29). ---Combat hours 287:50---
Mission #46. ---Combat hours 298:35---
Mission #47. ---Combat hours 306:35---
Mission #48. ---Combat hours 314:50---
NOV 12 Went to see General Borum on Special Mission.
NOV 13 LEFT FOR THE STATES!!!
The website 376bg.org is NOT our site nor is it our endowment fund.
At the 2017 reunion, the board approved the donation of our archives to the Briscoe Center for American History, located on the University of Texas - Austin campus.
Also, the board approved a $5,000 donation to add to Ed Clendenin's $20,000 donation in the memory of his father. Together, these funds begin an endowment for the preservation of the 376 archives.
Donate directly to the 376 Endowment
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Reunion
NOTE change in month !!!
DATES: Sep 18-21, 2025
CITY:Rapid City, SD
HOTEL:
Click here to read about the reunion details.
