10th mission: Kaltenkirchen

Sixty years ago today, Daddy was somewhere in the middle of this:

Today the Leftwaffe seemed to utter its last gasp and give up the ghost. In a final desperate operation, the Germans dispatched 130 prop-jobs and more than 50 jets. And today's operation would register the last claim of the 96th gunners for E/A. Of most interest was the first and last appearance of the German kamikazes. Sonderkommando Elbe was dedicated to ramming bombers... -- Snetterton Falcons

Over 1,300 bombers and almost 850 fighters were launched by the USAAF for this mission, and their presence was reported quickly, via the remaining communication links, to the headquarters of Fliegerkorps (AirCorps) at Treuenbrietzen. The assembly of the force would not have been the first sign of an imminent attack. Throughout the morning the Luftwaffe would have been intercepting both the signals of the Eighth Air Force units in England and also the reports from the weather and route scouts already airborne in advance of the main force. Although the targets could not yet be forecast with any accuracy, these initial warnings were common indicators of large formations, indicators which the Luftwaffe had a great deal of experience in interpreting. This activity was enough to persuade Oberst Hajo Herrmann to issue an order which placed the Schulungslehrgang 'Elbe' force on standby... -- Adrian Weir, Last Flight of the Luftwaffe

I looked to my right just as a diving Me 109 swooshed by so close that we bounced from the shock wave. Inexplicably, the pilot had not fired at us nor was he at his gun-sight aiming at some one below - he was looking at me. We stared at each other for a fleeting moment then he was gone. He crashed into Lieutenant Arthur Calder’s Candy’s Dandy in the squadron below; they exploded and everyone died. Up and down the line, Elbe pilots were crashing into other bombers...Caarraash! The nose yawed left, we skidded right and the plane waggled like a dog shaking water off itself. Instinctively Carl and I kicked hard right rudder -- both pedals disappeared under the instrument panel then returned to dangle uselessly; the control columns were violently jerking back and forth, the number one engine was streaming white smoke, and all the radios including the intercom were dead. We had no way to ascertain the crew’s condition or to get their damage assessments. However, like the stubborn old war-horse unwilling to give up the fight, E-Z Goin’ seemed to still want to fly, so we stabilized the rocking and rolling with the ailerons and hung on... -- Hank Cervantes, Air Force Museum