The following is a journal that my Father Richard "Dickie" L. Kendall kept of his training and combat missions in WWII. He was the Top Turret Engineer aboard the Rogers Raiders B-17, which was assigned to the 8th Air Force, 100th Bomb Group, 350th Bomb Squadron. All notes in parentheses were provided by me……..Jim Kendall

 11-27-43
Kingman, Arizona

To the Gunner from Virginia, with college knowledge, here’s wishing you the best of luck – and plenty of zeroes. Ye ole Pal,…..Ernie Harper

Nov. 28, 1943

Kendall for these few weeks we have been together I have found you to be a swell and dependable guy. I wish you the best of luck always….Marvin Handley

 (Note: Marvin Handley ended up as a tail gunner aboard the Piccadilly Ann II, 42-102651, assigned to the 447th Bomb Group.)

 March 11, 1944

Avon Park

Here’s to Kendall, the guy with the 1-A Body and the 4-F Mind. May you have the world of luck in the next eight months, & I’m sure you’ll need it….C.W. Brooks (RWG on Crew)

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 OVERSEAS OF T/SGT. D.L. KENDALL PRIVATE - PERSONAL

 Mar. 31st 44Sailed from the harbor of New York. Destination unknown.

April 2nd 44Have been at sea for two days. Sailed down by the coast of Florida.

April 7th 44Arrived at Glasgow Scotland. Going by train to England.

April 10th 44Arrived at the field of Diss. Will be my permanent base until I leave England.

April 20th 44Have been training intensely. Will go into combat any day now.

April 21st 44Lost ten of my buddies today. Plane crashed on takeoff. Two hours later they were taken from burning plane. What was left of them could be put in a gallon bucket. Listed killed in action – will be buried tomorrow. I wonder who will be next?

April 23rd 44Jerry came over last night and bombed our field. I was knocked from bed while I slept. We are constantly being bombed.

 MISSIONS BEGIN:

 1. April 26th 44Bombed Brunswick located in Northeastern Germany, over 600 B-17s aided by fighter planes unloaded their bombs. I saw only two of our planes shot down.

 2. April 27th 44Bombed Distross (THIONVILLE AF, LeCULOT AF (ST)) located in northern France. Our ship was hit by flak in two places. No one hurt. All ships returned safely.

 3. April 27th 44Bombed Flottemanville located in western France. Lost two planes. One went down in flames. Was my second mission for today. (Note: The Rogers Raiders crew was assigned to the Fletcher's Castoria B-17 for this mission. This was probably due to the flak damage sustained in their first mission that day.)

 4….April 29th 44Bombed Berlin capitol of Germany. Flak was the worst that I have ever seen. It seemed impossible to get through it. Enemy fighter planes battled formation after formation of our planes. It lasted for 1 ½ hours. We lost 63 bombers and 14 fighter planes. Thank God that our plane came back alright. (Note: The Rogers Raiders crew was assigned to the Fletcher's Castoria B-17 for this mission.)

 5. May 1st 44Bombed Roven (WIZERNES) located in western France. Saw very little flak. We lost no planes. A/C # 97621

 May 3rd 44Today is Wednesday my first anniversary. Married one year. I haven’t been with my wife as much as Ihave wanted to. I promised her that I would write her today. Although I would like to I can’t. God, if she only knew what I was going through.

 6. May 7th 44Bombed Berlin capitol of Germany. The flak was as bad as ever. I don’t know why I worry so much about it. It only takes one piece in the right place. We only lost 8 planes. We only had 4 holes in ours. A/C 231991 MISS CHIEF

 7. May 8th 44Today another one of our crews didn’t return. They were shot down in France. That makes only 6 crews left out of the 8 that came over from Avon Park. I guess we have been pretty lucky in my crew with no one being hurt yet. Target: BERLIN & LAGLACERIE A/C 231991 MISS CHIEF

 8. May 9th 44Bombed Laon Air-Drome located in northeastern France. There wasn’t much flak. Our plane was hit only twice. Damage very light. A/C #31537 RANDIE LOU

 9. May 11th 44Bombed Liege railroad marshaling yards located in northeastern Belgium (LIEGE). Tore the hell out of the target. Flak was as bad as ever. We lost no planes. A/C #31049 SUPERSTITIOUS ALOYSIOUS

 10. May 12th 44 Bombed Brux synthetic oil plant. Located in northeastern Czechoslovakia. Flak wasn’t bad but we ran into enemy fighter planes which was worse. We lost 42 bombers and 14 fighters. I saw four planes shot down in flames in about two minutes. A/C # 97154 OUR BABE HUTCHIE

 11. May 13th 44 Bombed Osnabruck railroad marshaling yard. Located in northeastern Germany. Flak was heavy. I saw no planes go down. It was my tenth mission. Only 20 more to go and then, HOME.

A/C # 97090 WHO DONE IT

(Note: The Rogers Raiders B-17 was shot down 19 May 1944 on its 11th mission (Dicky did not credit April 27 as two missions in his log….MPF). By the time the crew was rescued and repatriated to England by a Danish fishing boat, several days had passed. They had been presumed dead so upon arrival at their barracks they were surprised to see it had been cleared out and made ready for the next crew. Kendall's foot locker containing his journal was returned home. He didn't keep a log of his remaining missions.)

 12. May 19^th 44 BERLIN A/C # 37807 ROGERS' RAIDERS

ON THE RETURN FLIGHT FROM BERLIN (19 MAY 44) THIS AIRCRAFT HAD THREE ENGINES KNOCKED OUT BY EAC. ROGERS DITCHED IN THE NORTH SEA (5448N AND 0730E) AT 1625 HOURS BRITISH SUMMER TIME. AT INITIAL IMPACT THE TAIL BROKE AWAY, THE SECOND IMPACT RESULTED IN WATER ENTERING THE WAIST DOOR AND CAMERA WELL AND SLIGHTLY INJURING TWO CREW MEMBERS. ALL EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT WAS LOST,BUT A AIRBOUNE LIFE BOAT WAS DROPPED AND THE CREW HAD NO TROUBLE GETTING UNDERWAY.THEY WERE RESCUED 26 HOURS LATER BY A DANISH FISHING BOAT; THEN TRANSFERRED TO A

HIGH SPEED BRITISH LAUNCH. 

 In a conversation with William Jarrell, (May 2003) he states he came to the 100th BG in the Quartermaster Corp and then took up gunnery practice at the base. He was assigned in November 1943. According to Bill, he took over the waist gun position in Lt Julian P. Rogers Crew for the last five missions in July of 1944. He also mentions that he flew on Aircraft Big Casino (which had a 10 of Diamonds as nose art) and LiL Casino (which had a 2 of Spades as nose art). He then was assigned to Lt T. I. Anderson Crew as BTG in August 1944…(mpf 2003)

 On the return flight from Berlin this aircraft had three engines knocked out by enemy aircraft. Rogers ditched in the North Sea (5448N and 0730E) at 1625 hours British Summer Time. At initial impact the tail broke away, the second impact resulted in water entering the waist door and camera well, slightly injuring two crewmembers. All emergency equipment was lost, but an airborne lifeboat was dropped and the crew had no trouble getting underway. They were transferred to a high speed British launch.