A/C #170 "Ten Batty Boys" mentioned above was actually #42-30170. This ship had first been assigned to the crew of Sam L. Barr and was named "TORCHY 2nd" (for the red-headed wife of Jim Brown, navigator on the Barr crew. ) It is believed that the Townsend crew renamed the A/C.

MISSIONS FLOWN (data supplied by A. J. Grady in 1993. . . pw)

13 Nov 43 Bremen, Germany
Plane # 170
Escort: None
Flak: Light
E/A; ME-109s AND JU- 88s
Bomb Load; 40/100# incendiary
Time; 7:15
Remarks; Bombs jettisoned. Ball and Tail guns froze at 25,000. No holes in plane.

16 Nov 43 Rjuken, Norway
Plane # 170
Escort; None
Flak; None
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 5/1000 lb. demolition
Time: 9:30
Remarks: All bombs hit the middle of the target. Ball turret inoperative. Two holes in right wing, outboard of #4 engine.

26 Nov 43 Paris, France
Plane; #783
Escort; P-47, P-38, Spitfire
Flak; Light, medium, heavy
E/A; FW-190s (Attack at 6 O'clock level).
Bombs; 10/500 lb demolition
Time; 6:00
Remarks; Salvoed bombs in English Channel. Our aircraft was hit with flak and 20 mm cannon. #3 gas and oil tanks and prop damaged. About 75 flak holes in the right side of the nose. Navigator hit in hip by flak. Landed with flat tire and ran off runway.

29 Nov 43 Bremen, Germany
Plane # 715
Escort; P-47 & P-38
Flak; None
E/A; FW-190s
Bomb Load; 6/500 lb demolition and 20/100 lb. incendiary.
Time; 7:00
Remarks; All bombs dropped on target. E/A made a pass from 12 O' clock and came past the tail. tail gunner shot him down in flames but received no claim. #3 engine cowl hit with 20 mm shell. Hydraulic lines damaged by E/A fire. Feathered #3 prop. Landed with no flaps or brakes; ran off end of runway and just missed a big ditch. No further damage sustained.

5 Dec 43 Bourdeaux, France
Plane #715
Escort; P-47 & P-38
Flak; Nil
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 10/500 lb demolition
Time; 8:45
Remarks; About 25 - 30 burst of flak off left wing 2, 00 ft. Didn't find the target. It was very cloudy; brought bombs back. No aborts and no trouble

11 Dec 43 Emden, Germany
Plane #170
Escort; P-47 (Poor)
Flak; Moderate
E/A; FW-190's, ME-109's, ME-210's
Bomb Load: 10/500 lb demolition and 12/100 lb incendiary
Time; 6:00
Remarks; E/A did not attack out group. A few pot shots were taken. The sky was cloudless and the bombs were seen to hit the target. Saw three B-17s go down and some chutes from each. No damage to crew or aircraft.

13 Dec 43 Kiel, Germany
Plane; #170
Escort; P-38 & P-51
Flak; Heavy, intense and accurate.
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 8/500 lb demolition and 20/100 lb incendiary.
Time; 7:00
Remarks; Bombs dropped in the vicinity of the target. 10/10-cloud cover. Flak heavy and very accurate. Barrage type flak concentrated. Holes in left wing, outboard of #1 engine. No injury to crew. No E/A seen saw one B-24 go down in flames.

16 Dec 43 Bremen, Germany
Plane; #170
Escort: P-38, P-47 & P-51
Flak: Heavy, intense, accurate.
E/A; FW-190s & ME-109s
Bomb Load; 8/500 lb demolition and 20/100 lb incendiary.
Time: 7:00
Remarks; We flew right thru the flak and dropped (salvoed) our bombs on the target. Our group was not attacked, but those all around us were. Saw a B-17 go down in flames. Large columns of smoke came up thru the clouds. (Clouds were 4, 000 ft high) A piece of flak came in out left window and hit the right ammunition box and set-off one shell. No other damage to aircraft.

22 Dec 43 Munster, Germany
Plane #170
Escort; P-47 & P-51
Flak; Moderate
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 40/100 lb incendiary
Time; 6:00
Remarks: the bombs were salvoed on the target. We flew right thru all the flak, using evasive action. No damage to plane or crew

24 Dec 43 St. Josse, France
Plane: #170
Escort; P-38, P-47 & P-51
Flak; None
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 16/300 lb demolition
Time; 4:00
Remarks; We bombed at 12, 000 ft. and we went over the target by squadrons. I saw some bombs blow the target up. The weather was clear with sun shine. Our escorts were all over the sky. A very short and enjoyable trip. (Pas de Calais area)

30 Dec 43 Ludwigshafen, Germany
Plane #170
Escort; P-47, P-51 & Spit IX
Flak; Heavy, accurate.
E/A; FW-190's
Bomb Load; 10/500 lb demolition
Time; 9:00
Remarks; Dropped our bombs from 23, 000 ft. thru 10/10 cloud cover. We lost one B-17, attacked by FW-190's. Two holes in out tail sections.

31 Dec 43 Paris, France
Plane #170
Escort; P-47 & P-51
Flak; Moderate
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 12/500 lb demolition
Time; 5:30
Remarks: The target was the ball bearing factory. The bombs hit all over the target area. Our escort was really good; small hole in nose of lane caused by flak.

5 Jan 44 Neuss, Germany (Dusseldorf)
Plane #170
Escort; P-47
Flak; Moderate
E/A; FW-190
Bomb Load; 12/500 lb demolition
Time; 5:30
Remarks; Couldn’t bomb the primary or secondary target, so Neuss was the target of opportunity. The bombs were seen to hit the target with very good results. Visibility good overt the target. One FW-190 was seen to attack the group in back of us, but he was shot down by a P-47. There was no damage to our plane.

11 Jan 44 Osnabruk, Germany
Plane #170
Escort; P-47, P-38 & P-51
Flak; Moderate, inaccurate
E/A; FW-190
Bomb Load; 10/500 lb demolition
Time; 5:30
Remarks; The main target was Brunswick, but we were called back and bombed this target of opportunity. Our radio operator heard Germans talking over out ITL. A very successful raid; bombed aircraft factory. Bombs salvoed again; some flak, bombed thru 10/10-cloud cover. No damage to plane or crew.

14 Jan 44 Pas de Calais, France (Area)
Plane #249
Escort; P-38, P-47 & P-51
Flak; None
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 12/500 lb demolition
Time; 4:00
Remarks; We bombed in individual squadrons. Saw the bombs hit the middle of the target. Much smoke and fire. Saw flak but it wasn’t shot at us. Bombed at 12, 000 feet. . . Visibility clear. . . . Short mission and very nice.

24 Jan 44 Frankfurt, Germany
Plane #017
Escort; P-38, P-47, P-51 & Spitfire
Flak; Nil
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 40/100 lb incendiary
Time; 6:00
Remarks; Flew to within twenty miles of Germany and received a recall. We had no target of opportunity so brought bombs back. Some dropped their bombs in the Channel; but not us. The only flak seen was coming out over the French Coast. The escort was beautiful. Temperature was -35C at 25, 000 feet. No damage, were given a new plane and this is it's first mission. Really a honey.

29 Jan 44 Frankfurt, Germany
Plane #017
Escort; P-47, P-51 & Spitfires
Flak; Moderate
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 40/100 incendiary
Time; 8:00
Remarks; We flew our new "G" and it's really swell. Dropped our bombs thru 10/10-cloud cover. The escort was really beautiful. Spits are hard to find, but we did see a few.

3 Feb 44 Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Plane #017
Escort; P-47, P-38, -P-51 & Spitfires
Flak; Moderate
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 10/500 lb demolition
Time: 6:30
Remarks; Flew at 29, 000 ft. to get over the clouds. Bombed thru light clouds over the target. There was 10/10 cloud cover to the target vicinity. Temperature was -48C. . Escort was excellent. .

4 Feb 44 Frankfurt, Germany
Plane #017
Escort; P-47 & Spitfire
Flak; Intense, accurate
E/A; FW-190s, ME-109s & JU-88s
Bomb Load; 10/500 lb incendiary (Each 500 lb bomb contained 100/4 lb incendiary sticks)
Time; 7:35
Remarks; Really a rough trip. . The lead navigator led us thru all the flak that Germany could throw up at us. We went right through "Flak Happy Valley". We landed with no holes in our plane. Three of out A/C went down. Enemy fighters were all over the sky; but did not attack out formation much. Lost Green's (Cactus) crew. We dropped our bombs thru 10/10-cloud cover. Temperature was below
-45C. . . Landed with one bomb bay door open. . . Pin broken and it would not come up. .

21 Feb 44 Ahlhorn, Germany
Plane #017
Escort; P-47, P-38, -P-51 & Spitfires
Flak; Moderate
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 10/500 lb demolition
Time; 6:30
Remarks; We bombed an airfield near Osnabruk, Germany. (8 miles N. E. ). . Really demolished the place. . No clouds over target. . Very little flak seen. . Empty cartridges from Moede's tail gunner (25th Mission) hit our wing and oil cooler. No other damage. Nice flying weather; only -35C this trip.

24 Feb 44 Rostock, Germany
Plane #017
Escort; None
Flak; Moderate
E/A; FW-190s & JU-88's
Bomb Load; 10/500 lb demolitions
Time; 11:50
Remarks; We flew clear over Poland, but there were clouds over the target, so we bombed the last resort target on the way home. Four JU-88s attacked out squadron. They attacked from 1 o'clock high and I didn't get any shots. We got several 50 cal. holes in out plane from the low squadron. . . Really cold today. . . There were 10/10 cloud cover over Rostock.

25 Feb 44 Regensburg, Germany
Plane #751
Escort; P-47, P-38, -P-51 & Spitfires
Flak; Heavy, Intense & accurate
E/A; FW-190's
Bomb Load; 10/500 lb demolition
Time: 10:00
Remarks; The flak was rough as hell over the target. Plane #088 got half the vertical stabilizer shot off, also the #4 engine caught fire; but they put it out. . . They returned OK. . . Lt Harrison's tail gunner got shot in the foot, but is recovering in the hospital. We got one hole in our plane. Visual bombing. Blasted the hell out of the target. . .

28 Feb 44 Abbeville, France (NO-BALL)
Plane # 059
Escort; P-47, P-38
Flak; Moderate, accurate
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 10/500 lb demolition
Time; 4:30
Remarks; The clouds were too heavy to drop the bombs. I almost made my last mission. A piece of flak hit my flak suit. entered the tail section right in back of me on the right . . . Very cold today, about -35 C at 20, 000ft

29 Feb 44 Brunswick, Germany
Plane #347
Escort; P-47, P-38, -P-51
Flak; Heavy, accurate
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 10/500 lb demolition
Time; 7:15
Remarks; We dropped our bombs thru 10/10 cloud cover. . Temperature -42C. No holes in plane. . Fighter escort excellent. Flak hot over the target. .

2 Mar 44 Versailles, France
Plane #249
Escort; P-47
Flak; Light, accurate
E/A; None
Bomb Load; 38/100 lb demolition
Time; 5:15
Remarks; We had a new pilot today, Lt Amerio. Mikkelsen is waiting for Captain. . Saw the target from 20, 000 ft. thru 3 - 4/10 cloud cover. . . the bombs did pretty good. . On our return the right waist gunner shot the horizontal stabilizer (accidentally). No body was hurt and the plane is OK. . It was dark when we landed. BOY, OH BOY WERE WE HAPPY to have competed our tour.

2nd Lt. John W. Slevin Mission Card: