From the Diary of William T. Burkett;



7/13/1943 Gowen Field Boise Idaho for B24 Training

7/31/1943 First ride in a B24 Liberator

8/1/1943 First pay as a Commissioned Officer

8/10/1943 Transferred to 448th Bomb Group 715th Squadron Sioux City Iowa

8/26/1943 24 years old, birthday spent at home.

9/23/1943 Emergency – 3 engine landing at Watertown South Dakota.

11/5/1943 Left Sioux City for Harrington Kansas

11/13/1943 Flew over the Caribbean to Borinquen Field Puerto Rico (rum by the barrel)

11/16/1943 Atkinson Field British Guiana

11/17/1943 Left Belem Brazil, over the Amazon, to Natal Brazil, Belem is a stinking airfield.

11/20/1943 Over the Atlantic Ocean took 11:37 hours, to Dakar West Africa.

11/23/1943 Left Dakar, West Africa stinky city blacks very illiterate.

11/24/1943 Hospital in Marrakech with sinus infection for 10 days

12/3/1943 Marrakech Morocco to St Mawgan and Newquay England. Weathered in for 10 days. Visited Truro, Cornwall, England. Met Mamie Snow

12/12/1943 Seething Field England, 448th Bombardment Group, 715th Bombardment Squadron

1/9/1944 Visited London on 48 hour leave. What a place saw Buckingham Palace and changing of the guard. Piccadilly Circus with all the prostitutes (Piccadilly Commandoes) they say a voice out of the dark “sleep with me for five pound ($20). Road the tube (subway), saw Trafalgar Square, Lester Square, and all the interesting places of London except a few. Spent two nights in clubs spent 50 pound in two nights. Food is very scarce and sky high but the Yanks have the money to pay for them. Met Ann Kidcayor from Ireland a charming young Irish lass. It is very hard to get a room it is packed with American soldiers. We stayed at the American Red Cross.

1/11/1944 First mission over Germany in B-24 Liberator to bomb assembly factory for Messerschmitt (Me) 210 and Junkers (Ju) 88 airplanes. The group ahead of us had already hit the target and on the way back we bombed a factory in an unidentified German city near the Belgium border. Encountered heavy flack and about 15 ME 109 fighter planes. Had the shit shot out of us in 20 minutes with a 3 foot hole in our left wing, hydraulic system shot out. We were in a 6 ship formation but lost one of our planes. Our gunner shot down about 4 planes. Everything happened too damn fast but I was pretty scared. The German fighter is a damn good man but we are better and can lick them. The papers said it was the greatest air battle ever fought. We lost an unconfirmed 59 bombers and the Germans over 100 fighters. Having bullets and shells fired at you is very strange feeling one cannot comprehend until it actually happens. What I mean! A fellow really gets scared. If I would have had paper I would of wiped my ass “literally.” Funny I didn’t think of my past or anything but flying evasive action and keeping in the tightest formation. It is now the battle of “Germany” instead of the battle of Britain. Boy they are throwing every airplane they have into it. What a thrill, what a sight, we realy hit our target. There were more planes in the air than there are stars in the heavens. God help those poor Germans who started the war we have only started.

1/21/1944 Spent 2 pass in London, as usual had a wonderful time. Spent two days with Ann Kilcoyne.

1/24/1944 Spent 4 days in hospital with bronchitis and nasal complications.

1/29/1944 ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! bullshit, that’s more damn sweating out the flying on a mission especially when the target is Frankfurt Germany.

2/1/1944 Visited Norwich this PM and ordered a Battle Jacket f10 tailored made replica of the British battle dress.

2/3/1944 Started on an operation to Meppen Germany but the 20 combat wing got lost 50 mile north of target so we returned to England. It was dangerous flying, clouds were 6000’ thick and sky .9 covered. The sky was full of planes. Due to heavy clouds and vapor trails our formations were completely broken up on the way to Germany.

2/6/1944 Two day pass in London had a good time as usual.

2/6/1944 Mission to Gilze-Rijen Holland, Nazi occupied air base.

2/6/1944 Mission to Politz Germany, oil refineries

3/2/1944 Met Millie Olson US Army nurse at Officer’s dance on base.

3/5/1944 Took Millie Olson to London over the weekend.

3/5/1944 My crew went down in Southern France. I was grounded. It was a pretty tough blow.