On March 14, 1945 the primary target for the 303rdbg was a railroad bridge at Minden, Germany. We carried six 1,000 lb bombs and dropped from 22,400 ft. Trying to hit a bridge from that altitude was near impossible under ideal conditions. The cross hairs in the bombsight blocked out the bridge image. Added to the challenge was the General Montgomery smoke screen in preparation for multiple crossings of the river Rhine called operation "Plunder" which I believe took place on March 23rd. The smoke screen was in effect for about two weeks and drew headlines in local media. The problem we experienced was patches of the black smoke drifted into the target area further obstructing visibility of the target. Needless to say we missed the bridge. Our crew was filling the 2nd deputy lead position in the formation, under the tail of the lead aircraft, referred to as "Coffin Corner". Our pilot was gifted in formation flight. We were close enough to the lead that I could count rivets in the skin before and in the turn following bombs away.
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