Joseph J. Bitzer, Mission March 14, 1945

Then there was this railroad bridge up at Varazdin, Yugoslavia, that needed to be strayed. Up over the Adriatic on March 14, knock it out and came home. Not quite that simple, of course. Bridges can be rebuilt but it takes some time, and enemy troops needed supplies constantly. "Zo knock dose B24s out of the sky und save our bridge." Our Norden bombsight was touted as the best tool for pin-point bombing the world knew. The B24 with its box-like structure, and mathematically designed thin Davis wing, not only enabled it to fly faster per unit of horsepower (therefore farther), but made it a very stable platform for discharging bombs. Natura1ly, when bombs are ready to be released, a small fraction off at 10,000 to 18,000 feet will result in there straying from the intended projectile. And turbulance around all these giants tended to upset the bombing platform. To hit a bridge then, or for that matter anything else, the bombsight was used to zero in on the structure from lead plane, with all other planes toggling their bombs to form a large pattern und the bridge, destroying the bridge with only a few bombs, and making many big splashes in the river with all the others.

376 ARCHIVES

The website 376bg.org is NOT our site nor is it our endowment fund.

At the 2017 reunion, the board approved the donation of our archives to the Briscoe Center for American History, located on the University of Texas - Austin campus.

Also, the board approved a $5,000 donation to add to Ed Clendenin's $20,000 donation in the memory of his father. Together, these funds begin an endowment for the preservation of the 376 archives.

Donate directly to the 376 Endowment

To read about other endowment donation options, click here.


My Trip to San Pancrazio

October 2019


Reunion

NOTE change in month !!!

DATES: Oct 26-29, 2023

CITY:Tucson, AZ

HOTEL: Double Tree Suites Airport hotel

7051 South Tucson Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85756

520-225-0800


Click here to read about the reunion details.

previous reunions


For Sale

The Other Doolittle Raid


The Broken Wings of Zlatibor


The Liberandos


Three Crawford Brothers


Liberando: Reflections of a Reluctant Warrior


376th Bomb Group Mission History


The Last Liberator


Full Circle


Shadows of Wings


Ten Men, A "Flying Boxcar," and A War


I Survived Ploesti


A Measure of Life


Shot Down In Yugoslavia


Stories of My Life


Attack


Born in Battle


Bombardier's Diary


Lost Airmen


Langdon Liberando