Date |
Sgt David S. Gray's Notes, February 1943 |
| February 1 |
Got new piece of cowling on. Put new brake bands on and bled the brakes + stopped hydraulic leak. bladder was out. Plane went on mission. pulled 60" of mercury. One B-17 has flak blow off tail assembly and crew bailed out over enemy territory. Saw Hardy from the 14th Their pilots all gone home. The men going to Casablanca and they hope to go home 51st in India are back in the States. |
| February 2 |
Had Lt. Means give the plane a test hop so we could synchronize the throttle better and take out a dead area. pulled out Prestone radiator selector valve (Hyd.) and fixed leaks. pulled out {Superch} air filters + cleaned em. took some snapshots. Got two boxes of cookies from Ruth. coke butts gee they were swell. Missed details for another week. guard etc. |
| February 3 |
Got Feb. issue of flying and 17 letters. Plane took off early with B-25's over Gabes Got jumped by lot of 109's lost LMX Johnsons ship. LML had canopy blown off and holes in boom but got back to {Jelegma}{Jelargma} Ours got a 109 probable - didn't see him hit. Came back to Jalargma and went out with B-26's again got back to us after supper RT. engine pulls 65" and left only 40+". lost LMX shot down LML got back shot up. LMP ran into rock pile [cont'd on February 4] |
| February 4 |
[cont'd from February 3] washed out. Jake is back. No flying since he left us. Pilots he was to instruct had 60 hrs and were bunch of wise guys Told me to forget flight training. Britain flew our plane today got 2 - 109's. Wiseman got a 190 of Goerings yellow nose. LMW got back with LT. engine shot to hell and frags thru the canopy. hyd line shot out. belly landed on runway with a B-17 coming in the other way- damn close. L.M.H. with {Malbraten} [probably Lt. Harold Melbraaten] was shot down. showed up later |
| February 5 |
Jake took plane up + tossed around a bit. cloudy day heard air raid warning. Jake looked around but they didn't come this way. WWII Journal of Sgt. David S. Gray\1943\February\February 6 Worked all day on ship. short flight to Jelargma - mission cancelled. rained all afternoon. wrote letter + read Time + Readers Digest. |
| February 6 |
Worked all day on ship. short flight to Jelargma - mission cancelled. rained all afternoon. wrote letter + read Time + Readers Digest. |
| February 7 |
Came into camp after dinner and took a bath nearly frozen B-17's raided today 32 of em. 21 B-25's with 38 escorting B-17's caught 40 German bombers on ground + hangars. destroyed all. We have 8 planes left. Told us Jerry was bringing gas in to Africa so we have to carry mask all the time now. Must have Huns on the run really now. |
| February 8 |
Pretty anxious days for us now. Group has only 24 planes left. Think we'll move together and so planes together. I'm afraid they'll split up this group Put men in new outfits to serve another 10 months overseas. bring in men new for this outfit so nobody but Pilots will go home. Supposed to have ordered {hakke'} clothes for squad today |
| February 9 |
New pilot took our plane today. Started down the runway and the nose wheel began to shimmy he didn't put on the brakes for fear he might snap the strut. But she snapped off anyway and went down on her nose both props hitting. could have been our fault but no signs of low hydraulic {aral} and air pressure was right. |
| Feb 10 |
Rained hard all day some snow flurries. didn't go to chow as want clothes dry for guard duty tonite. |
| Feb 11 |
Rained hard and snowed all day. Slept all morning. blankets getting wet The Tarp leaks at the seams. Stopped raining and got supper On guard from 10:30 - 2:30 A.M. Snowed hard and very cold. Jake told us if we were getting wet to come in his tent with him. |
| Feb 12 |
Fri Today. A transfer {list} out. Red Walters + Goldie are on it. also {Steu Florino} from Boston about 12 guys- going to a new Fighter Sqd coming from the States That's a break for them. Opened our tent up pulled out beds to dry On guard 6:30 P.M. to 10:30 P.M. Had a booster shot. |
| Feb 13 |
Slept till noon ate chow. go on guard at 10:30 P.M. till 2:30 A.M. Wrote letter to Home + Ruth Some guys started to move today but Maj. Rudel flew over and I guess things aren't satisfactory for us to move in. Had another booster shot |
| Feb 14 |
Sun Slept till noon. wrote letter home. Washed and shaved. Saw "Argentine Nites" good show but old. Officers cut the second show and kicked us out so they could have a dance with the Nurses. That really hurts. like hell On guard from 3:00 till 8:00 AM. tonite. |
| Feb 15 |
Chateau Don Da Rhummell Didn't get to sleep at all. Came into camp and packed up. Tore down our swell tent. Had to take down officer's tent for em. Moved by truck for about 45 miles. 94 + 27th are here so we can put planes together and make a squadron. May get new ships here. Set up pup tent + had supper. Name of this joint Chateau dun du Rhummell. |
| Feb 16 |
Hired Arab to dig a long trench about {1/2}' deep for an isle in our big pup tent. We have a tarpalion (wing cover) on a tree limb between 2 forked tree limbs. [little drawing] We are in an open field pretty high up about 10,000' above sea level. Got word Joe Kelner is in 96 Sqd. of the 82nd Grp. at {Jalergma}. I'm afraid this will be a damp place ground is very fertile |
| Feb 17 |
Pulled guard 3:00 AM - 7:30 AM. Cold as hell. Fixed the tent a little better room for barracks bags. No boxes to be had to put under us. ground is very damp. There will be a lot of sick guys here. Red LeBlanc has arthritis and is going home also Cook one of the "medix" he is 46 yrs old. Civilization is the greatest birth control agent - nature in the raw - a baby every year Why don't they issue W.A.A.C.'S |
| Feb 18 |
Had a good nites sleep got some straw for a mattress. regular fog bank thru here every morn till sun up. No plane. no work. {sh.sh.} Just lie in bed and read. It's a good thing women don't know how beautiful they look in the semidarkness of a bedroom or they would become exclusively night prowlers. cold damp + windy today. Stayed in the pad nearly all day today |
| Feb 19 |
Took our tent top off and dug down about two feet and built a stove out of a 5 gal. can with a smoke stack into the wall and coming outside the tent into the air about 3 feet Heats up whole tent swell. got a booster Typhus shot. Jake invited us over for eggs + a little of his qt. of whiskey. |
| Feb 20 |
Sat. coffee at chow tonite. Started raining at breakfast. cont. till about 3:00 P.M. Then sun out went up to supply + grabbed some dope and paint mixed it up and put it on tent. The little stove works good but tent leaks like hell. hope we've fixed it. From news looks like we are taking a beating up front. They'll wise up after a while. The day a woman forgets her vanity and realizes the power of surrender the day of the prowling male is finished and the period of the domesticated [cont'd on February 21] |
| Feb 21 |
[cont'd from February 20] animal begins. Expect new planes soon Maj. Rudell is after some. Capt. Eiland is acting C.O. Jake is Operations Officer. Between short snappy showers Ed + I went about 8 miles to take a bath. about 10 guys in a big hole of running hot water. Really good. But no clean clothes to put on. bought some scarfs in the {ville}. postcards etc. visited the 27th guys they are thoroughly disgusted with their outfit. may rain hard enough to test {rear} H2O proofing job. |
| Feb 22 |
MON Started to {bum} to Jalargma but a big convoy going up front lasted for 2 hrs so gave it up. At this field the group is together. we sent out 15 escorting 26's this morning. and 2 more separate escorting missions this afternoon. Thats the way it oughta be. but weather has been bad. 97th Bomb is on next field. Lot of C-47's + 53's in + out of both fields. But no mail! |
| Feb 23 |
Got little mail. Carton of butts from Ruth. couple of old Nov. letters from her. letter from Rosemond Feb 6 from Mum. letter from Jim + lock of hair. As I was shaving I saw 7 new 38's come in. I beat it upon the line. saw the line chief and got a plane for our crew. P-38-G-10 LO 42-13003 which is nothing but an old P-38E taken back to the factory and brought up to date with bigger engines etc. I got a Pilot to taxi it into the nearest spot to camp + {T} supply and asked for the same 2 armorers we had to be put on it. worked till after dark trying to [cont'd on February 24] |
| Feb 24 |
[cont'd from February 23] find hyd. leak coming down the gun charger. No more gun switches on em. just one switch on the camera switch for combat. three missions today. 2 escorting 1 straffing Supposed to have stopped the German tank drive. Near Jebessa. Kasserine Pass. Worked on plane all day - she's ready to go. We are on a plateau here + you can look for miles to the mts. Blue sky. warm sun in midday when it doesn't cloud in + rain which it can do very quickly. millions of stars but very chilly abode villages [cont'd on February 25] |
| Feb 25 |
[cont'd from February 24] and farm houses. raggy Arabs everywhere they all look the same. occasional camel. lot of sheep right around the tents. We're about 75 - 100 miles from the lines. A.A. around the field. C-47's arrive + leave daily. complete blackout. Red Cross in town has movie tonite. "Women Trouble" Doesn't both me here. First mission + got shot up - new pilot - 30 cal. went thru canopy hit armor plating behind pilot. glazed left fin and went thru elevator cutting cable to trim tab all but one strand. He rolled over on his back [cont'd on February 26] |
| Feb 26 |
[cont'd from February 25] reached 500 M.P.H. and pulled out with trim tab. lucky the one little strand held. New planes are using the Mann type oxygen system system. One pilot on Eds' ship passed out (lack of oxygen) at 33,000 came to at 2000 with a Jerry 109 shooting at him. Gave her the gun + pulled out of there. Also we had to pull the oil radiator in left eng. screws only hand tight. made the gaskets useless. lost Lt. Wilson maybe and a 94th Capt. crash landed OK. Bizerte was target. worked on tab cables. ship bore sighted in A.M. Mouses' ship bore sighted in P.M. and no one turned off [cont'd on February 27] |
| Feb 27 |
[cont'd from February 26] the main landing gear valve she slipped on bore sighting jack in soft mud - wheel went up and down she came sprung spar. twisted boom broke fin, bent prop. the derrick picked it up. cable broke + down she crashed again 94th had one slide off a jack so we're even. saw "Alexander Ragtime Band" tonite (homesick) Finished tab cable job today. got bullets 7.5mm out of cockpit and fuel strainer compart. couldn't find one in elevator. It frayed both in + out elev. tab cables. Got 21 letters today some as late as Feb 6 + 10th. Ship ready to fly. |
| Feb 28 |
SUN No test hop. went on mission to enemy base near Sardinia. Couldn't get over 30" Hg manifold pressure so returned. worked on it rest of P.M. Got paid. bombed a field on an island N of Bone no enemy opposition |
| Feb 29 |
- 1943 How about the Capt. back in the States who couldn't hear the tower radioing him to lower his wheels because the horn made so much noise he landed on his belly. |
WWII Notebook Journal of Sgt. David S. Gray