Robert E. Mitchell 808575

by James Mitchell
(Slidell, LA USA)

My father, Robert E. Mitchell, was the copilot on James E. Murphy's B-24 crew. According to his flight log, they were still in Scottsbluff, Nebraska on 11/17/43. On 1/25/44 they had their first B-24 flight in San Pancrazio. James Murphy was pulled out of the crew for a special mission, and the crew never saw him again. By February the crew had a new pilot, James B. Grimmer. On 3/2/44 they had their first combat mission. The crew flew their 50th combat mission on 7/6/44.

Combat Mission Flight Record
03/02/44 Mission #1 B-24G No. 89 San Pancrazio to Anzio, Italy south of Rome
03/07/44 Mission #2 B-24G No. 89 San Pancrazio to Prato, Italy north of Florence
04/04/44 Missions #3 & 4 B-24D No. 93 San Pancrazio to Bucharest, Romania
04/05/44 Missions #5 & 6 B-24G No. 91 San Pancrazio to Ploesti, Romania. Ploiesti (current spelling) is the country's primary
petroleum center, having refineries, storage tanks, oil-field equipment works, and
distillery.
04/12/44 Missions #7 & 8 B-24G No. 91 San Pancrazio to Neustadt, Germany
04/15/44 Missions #9 & 10 B-24D No. 85 San Pancrazio to Bucharest, Romania
04/17/44 Mission #11 B-24D No. 94 “Angie the Ox” San Pancrazio to Sofia, Bulgaria

04/23/44 Missions #12 & 13 B-24D No. 73 San Pancrazio to Vienna, Austria (over target on 2½ engines)
04/24/44 Missions #14 & 15 B-24G No. 91 San Pancrazio to Ploesti (oil fields), Romania
05/12/44 Mission #16 B-24J No. 92 San Pancrazio to Piombino, Italy
05/13/44 Mission #17 B-24G No. 89 "The Wheel" San Pancrazio to Fidenza, Italy
05/17/44 Mission #18 B-24D No. 93 San Pancrazio to Porto Santo Stefano, Italy
05/19/44 Mission #19 B-24J No. 92 San Pancrazio to Spezia, Italy
05/23/44 Mission #20 B-24J No. 92 San Pancrazio to Frascati, Italy
05/25/44 Mission #21 B-24G No. 98 San Pancrazio to Monfalcone, Italy
05/27/44 Mission #22 B-24G No. 98 San Pancrazio to Marseilles, France
05/29/44 Missions #23 & 24 B-24G No. 98 San Pancrazio to Weiner-Neustadt, Austria
05/31/44 Missions #25 & 26 B-24G No. 84 San Pancrazio to Ploesti, Romania
06/04/44 Mission #27 B-24G No. 89 San Pancrazio to Genoa, Italy
06/05/44 Mission #28 B-24G No. 85 San Pancrazio to Bologna, Italy
06/06/44 Missions #29 & 30 B-24G No. 89 San Pancrazio to Ploesti, Romania
06/10/44 Mission #31 B-24G No. 87 San Pancrazio to Trieste (oil refinery), Italy (bombed Ancona) (Notes from Robert N. McLean, Jr. - Trieste was effectively plastered by the first wave of bombers, so we chose the alternate objective at Ancora in Italy. Our target was the marshalling yards.)
06/11/44 Missions #32 & 33 B-24G No. 89 San Pancrazio to Constanta, Romania
06/13/44 Missions #34 & 35 B-24G No. 81 San Pancrazio to Munich, Germany
06/16/44 Missions #36 & 37 B-24G No. 97 San Pancrazio to Bratislava, Slovakia
06/23/44 Mission #38 B-24H No. 96-radar San Pancrazio to Ploesti, Romania (turnback weather)
06/24/44 Missions #39 & 40 B-24G No. 82 San Pancrazio to Ploesti, Romania
06/25/44 Mission #41 B-24G No. 82 San Pancrazio to Toulon, France
06/26/44 Missions #42 & 43 B-24H No. 96 San Pancrazio to Vienna, Austria (Schwechat oil refineries)
06/30/44 Mission #44 B-24G No. 85 San Pancrazio to Zagreb, Croatia
07/02/44 Missions #45 & 46 B-24G No. 85 San Pancrazio to Budapest, Hungary
07/03/44 Missions #47 & 48 B-24J No. 91 San Pancrazio to Giurgiu, Romania
07/04/44 Mission #49 B-24G No. 81 San Pancrazio to Pitesti, Romania
07/04/44 Mission #50 B-24D No. 81 San Pancrazio to Casarsa, Italy