Therman D. Brown mission September 7, 1942

On the 3rd and the 7th of September, 1942, we attacked convoys of ships. On the 3rd, it was a seven ship convoy near Crete and on the 7th it was a fourteen ship convoy in the middle of the Med. On the 3rd, we had nine B-24's and on the 7th, we had twelve planes. We took off from Lydda in the early afternoon and flew directly into the sun for four to five hours.

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On the 7th, our IFF (Identification, Friend, or Foe) equipment blew up because of air turbulence. I think they were made to self destruct in a crash so they would not fall into the hands of the enemy. The details were secret. The IFF was a piece of British equipment.

We had to return to Lydda as individual aircraft well after dark. I was concerned that without any IFF identification, we might be mistaken as an intruder and therefore fired on.  I asked our radio operator, S/Sgt. Taylor H. Van Gilder, to notify our base that the British radio had been destroyed. I later asked if they understood what I meant. They said they did. They must have. No one shot at us and we landed safely.