Fifteenth Mission, 30 March 1945   Target: Oil Refinery, Hamburg, Germany

On this mission, Tony's Squadron suffered a loss. Lt Veal's ship, flying alongside Tony's, was shot down with the loss of most of the crew. This had to be a very emotional moment, as these were men they knew, not strangers from some other group. 

Position of Tony's Crew and Lt Veal's crew in the formation

This is taken from SSGT Huffman's diary: 

"LT Veal's crew (our Buddy Crew), who trained with us at Alexandria and [was] assigned to the 832nd Sqd. at the same time we were, was hit directly behind No. 4 engine and peeled off and went into a dive before exploding about 5,000 ft below us. We saw no parachutes."

This is Lt. Veal's Crew:

Lt Veal's Crew was shot down over Hamburg by flak. According to the reports from the 486th BG, "One of the aircraft's wings broke off, and began its dive. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft exploded. Seven of the crewmen are listed as KIA and 2 POW."

The Veal Crew was flying this ship, which had been known as "Lil Butch" and later as "Rodney the Rocks".

Tony's Mission Log:

The 486th Bomb Group hit the refineries at Hamburg with 100 pound incendiaries. A grueling 7 hour and 30 minute mission flying into intense flak. 

The Me 262 jet fighter was a formidable foe. The top Me 262 ace, Franz Schall, shot down 6 four bombers and 10 P-51's. But the Messerschmidt wasn't invincible. The P-51 pilots developed tactics to fight them effectively using the impressive maneuverability of the Mustang. 


The Tuskegee Airmen distinguished themselves shooting down several Me 262 jets on a mission just a few days before this one (24 March 1945). Below is combat footage of the Tuskegee Airmen's feat. 

Eventually, the USAF came to realize that the best way to fight the Me 262 was near the ground. They made a point of waiting for them to come in to land at their airfields as they were very vulnerable at slow speeds.