COMBAT DIARY OF RALPH TRULY 

These are only the first 36 missions he flew.  
(He said he got tired of writing.  He flew 76 missions.)

COMMBAT DIARY
The following pages describe my missions in detail and results.

August 15, 1944
Spare (“D” Day No. 2)
Take Off – 0525
Plane – B-25-J 43552
Bomb Load – 7 500 lbs.  1 500 lb
Incendiary
Target – Costal Guns on invasion coast of southern France.  
Flew as spare and didn’t get in.  Would have been a good show.  
Landed Corsica – 0800.  Pilot was Fawcett.

August 15, 1944
#1 Mission
Take Off – 1410
Plane – B-25-J 43735
Bomb Load – 4 1,000 lbs.
Target – Bridge at Tarascon France (Pilot was Pileko)
Behind invasion forces.  Good results.  Had a clear sky.  
Flak on our left but got a box of the 340th instead of us.  
The bridge crossed the Rhone River and divided the town in two parts.  
Landed Corsica 1820.  No escort –Area cover
4:10    =   4:10

August 19, 1944
#2 Mission (side note – This mission will go down in history for the 310th G P)
Plane – B-25-J 43554
Bomb Load – four 1000 Lb.
Target – Bridge at Tournon France crossing Rhone River.  
The navigator turned on IP too quick and got lost.  
He led us over Avignon which has sixty four gun batteries.  
Flak heavy, intense, and accurate.  Ship on our right wing went down at sea.  
Flight leader took us over Avignon, did a 180 degree and right back through it again.  
Didn’t drop on either run.  Finally dropped on alternate bridge and missed.  
What a mission.  No escort.  Landed Corsica 1020.  I took pictures.  
Pilot Lt. Low, good boy – 3:45 = 7:55

August 20, 1944 – Flew with Lt. Smiley in 43559.  Loaded with frags.  
He was scared to go over target and was grounded.  0730 – 0930

August 21, 1944
#3 Mission
Take Off – 0800 (Shultz)
Plane – B-25-J 43559
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbs.
Target – Bridge near Ferraro Italy.  Went across Italy and in the back door.  
Good results, I took pictures again.  We had escort, spits, over the target.  
No flak but was expecting enemy fighter.  They had around 200 in that area.  
Landed Corsica 1140.  Flew with Lt. Shultz.  Crew back together.
3:40 = 11:35

August 23, 1944
Spare
Take Off – 0800
Plane – B-25-J 43518
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbs.
Target – Bridge near Lyon France.  No one dropped out so we returned to base.  
I flew as extra OP with Lt. Packard.  Landed Corsica 0930

August 23, 1944
#4 Mission (afternoon)
Take Off – 1622
Plane – B-25-J 43737
Bomb Load – 4 1000 lbs.
Target – Bridge near Tourron italy.  Flew with our old crew complete.  
Bad results on bombing.  Got flak going in and out from the target.  
Had P-47 for escort.  Flak going in was accurate.  I had the damn 
camera again and took pictures for our box.  Landed Corsica 1905.
2:43 = 14:18

August 25, 2944
Spare
Take Off – 0850
Plane – B-25-J 43552
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbs.
Target – coastal guns near Marseille France.  New TG replaced seargent.  
No one dropped out so we didn’t get in.  Landed Corsica 1010

August 31, 1944
#5 Mission
Take Off – 0815
Plane – B-25-J  238
Target – Railroad bridge at Padova, Italy.
Bomb Load – Four 1000 lbs.
Had flak going in but not accurate in our box.  Bad results.  
Hit the southern approach.  Had P-47s for target cover.  
Had the camera again.  Landed Corsica 1220.  4:05 = 18:23

September 2, 1944
#6 Mission
Take off – 1220
Plane – B-25-J 737
Bomb Load – four 1000 lb.
Target – railroad bridge near Piacenza, Italy.  Had moderate to 
intense flak at the target and on the way out but wasn’t so accurate.  
Believe we knocked out last span on southern end and the approache.  
Led the SQDN. With old crew.  Landed Corsica 1520
3:00 = 21:23

September 4, 1944
#7 Mission
Take Off – 0935
Plane – B-25-J 737
Bomb Load – four 1000 lb.
Target – Railroad bridge at near Mantovia, Italy – Had a little 
flak going in on the coast of Italy coming from Genoa but none 
over the target. We led the third flight.  The first dropped a 
little short and walked up to the approach.  The PDI on the 
second box went out and dumped their bomb in the middle of the town.  
Our flight hit the bridge dead center.  Had P-47s for area cover.  
Landed Corsica at 1225.  2:50  =  24:13

September 11, 1944
#8 Mission
Take Off – 0900
Plane – 642 B-25-J
Bomb Load – Four 1000 lbers
Target – Railroad bridge near Pavia, Italy.  Didn’t drop because of clouds.  
Had moderate inaccurate flak on way out.  Probably from Genoa.  
Flew off of crew with Akins.  Had camera but took no pictures.  
I didn’t know we had flak until we landed.  Was taking it easy in radio 
comp with out flak suit or helmet.  Thought we were out of danger area.  
Landed Corsica 1200
3:00 = 27:13

September 12, 1944
#9 Mission
Take Off – 0815
Plane – B-25-J 642
Target – Road bridge at Pavia, Italy.  It was our alternate target.  
Overcast at primary.  Fair results.  Flew with Akins again.  
Had flak going in and out from the Italian coast near Genoa.  
It was moderate and accurate.  I took pictures again.  
Landed Corsica 1115 
(3:00 = 30:13)
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbers


September 13, 1944
#10 Mission
Take Off – 1005
Plane – B-25-J 559
Bomb Load – frags 
Target – Jerry troops on Gothic Line above Florence, Italy.  
Was expecting flak but had none.  Think we dropped short but 
in the general area of enemy troops.  Landed Corsica 1225
2:20 = 32:33

September 14, 1944
Spare
Take Off – 0750
Plane – B-25-J 737
Bomb Load – Frags again 
Target – Troops and installations near Rimini, Italy on Gothic Line.  
No one fell out.  Flew back with Shultz.  Landed Corsica 0915.

September 16, 1944
#11 Mission
3:23 = 35:56
Plane – B-25-J 737
Target – Storage buildings at Budrio, Italy.  
Had moderate to intense flak on way in to target.  
Our box dropped a little short but target was hit by our formation.  
Flak don’t bother me as much as it did the first few mission after Avignon.  
Landed Corsica 1104
Bomb Load – eight 500 lbers.

September 17, 1944
#12 Mission
Take Off – 0930
Plane – B-25-J 737
Target – Jerry troops on Gothic line at Rimini, Italy.  There was lots 
of flak there but not so accurate in our box.  Had P-47s dive bombing 
and strafing gun positions.  We led the sqdn. And knocked the hell 
out of the jerries. Bomb Load was frags.  
Landed Corsica 1203         2:33 = 38:29

September 18, 1944
Spare
Take Off – 1240
Plane – B-25-J 737
Bomb Load – frags again
Target – Jerry troops on gothic line near Rimini, Italy.  Didn’t get in.  
Our sqdn. Flew spare for the whole group.  I’m proud we didn’t in 
because three planes went down.  Landed Corsica 1350

September 22, 1944
#13 Mission
Take Off – 0940
Plane – B-25-J 642
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbers.
Target – railroad bridge at Rublea, Italy.  We knocked this one 
out about a month ago but jerry had rebuilt a temporary construction 
and was using it again but he won’t use it for quite a while now, 
because all three flights got right in there.  Believed to be a 
100% bombing but no confirmed reports.  Had flak going in but 
was moderate and not so accurate.  I flew with Akins leading the second box.  
Shultz was in rest camp.  Landed Corsica 1220
2:40 = 41:09

September 23, 1944
#14 Mission
Take Off – 0840
Plane – B-25-J 642
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbers.
Target – roadbridge at Lonata Pozzolo, Italy.  Bad weather and couldn’t get to target.  
Caught heavy, intense and accurate flak from two places.  Bombardier in lead ship was 
hit so the nav. was giving him medical aid and got off course some.  The first few 
bursts were exactly on us.  Two big pieces came through radio compartment.  Hit the 
ear piece of my flak helmet.  Dented it in, cut a big slit in it, bursted my head-sets.  
The ole flak helmet saved my life for sure.  The flak would have gone in one ear 
and out the other one.  Photo lab took it to make some pictures of it.  
Flew with Akins again.  Shultz didn’t get back from rest camp in time to 
get on the roster.  I have the good Lord himself to thank for that luck.  
Can’t take many more like that.  Landed Corsica 1205.  Didn’t drop bombs
3:25 = 44:34


September 30, 1944
#15 Mission
Take Off – 1213
Plane – 737 B-25-J
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbers.
Target – Roadbridge at Lonata Pozzolo, Italy.  Had a little flak on bomb  
run but not accurate.  Had good bombing percentage but missed bridge.  
Flew with Akins again.  Shultz grounded from combat and was transferred 
to France to ferry Gen. Devers around.  I sweated more on this mission 
than any before being the same target that I was hit on before.  
Landed Corsica 1530
3:17 = 47:51

October 1, 1944
#16 Mission
Take Off – 1155
Plane – 642 B-25-J
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbers.
Target – same old roadbridge at Lonata Pozzolo, Italy.  Boy what a jinks.  
We had a 100% bombing accuracy and 94% efficiency and still didn’t knock 
the bridge down.  Had a milk run for a change.  No flak or fighters.  
Flew with Akins leading the third box.  This bridge should fall down 
soon on its own accord. 
Landed Corsica 1515
3:20 = 51:11

October 4, 1944
#17 Mission
Take Off – 1022
Plane – B-25-J 642
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbers.
Target – same old reliable bridge at Lonata Pozzolo, Italy.  
Bad weather all the way and target was totally covered.  
Didn’t drop bombs.  Flew with Akins again.  No flak or fighter.  
Landed Corsica 1317
2:55 = 54:06

October 11, 1944
#18 Mission
Take Off – 1125
Plane – B-25-J 642
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbers.
Target – Railroad at Mantua, Italy.  Flew with operations officer, 
Capt. Hammet. Aikens was grounded with a cold.  Didn’t drop on first run.  
Had a little flak but returned to IP and made another run.  
Dropped and had fair results.  Weather was bad.  
Landed Corsica 1425  
3:00 = 57:06



October 12, 1944
#19 Mission
Take Off – 0840
Plane – B-25-J 518
Bomb Load – eight 500 lbs.
Target – troops and installations at Bologna, Italy.  We were supporting the big push.  
I saw almost as many planes as I did on “D” Day.  There was supposed to be 500 bombers 
both medium and heavy.  We were all over the target areas at the same time.  
Lots of flak but thanks to the heavies above they were drawing more than we were.  
Jerry really took a beating.  Some of the crews in the heavies were bailing out 
and dropping down through the medium formations.  Also had frags dropping around 
us from the heavies.  
Landed Corsica 1200
3:20 = 60:26

October 19, 1944
#20 Mission
Take Off – 1425
Plane – B-25-J 552
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbers.
Target – roadbridge at Lonata Pozzolo, Italy.  Had a hell of a time getting the 
mission off because of bad weather and high winds.  Good bombing but bridge is 
still standing.  Another flight on our left got the hell shot out of them  Lost one plane.  
Flew with my crew, Lt. Akins.  
Landed Corsica 1800
3:40 = 64:06

October 20, 1944
Spare
Take Off – 1145
Plane – B-25-J 642
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbs. Target – Roadbridge at Ponte San Pietro, Italy.  
We went to the coast and turned back.  They had moderate to intense flak.  
Landed Corsica 1325 

November 4, 1944
#21 Mission
Take Off – 1140
Plane – B-25-J 573
Bomb Load – four 1000 lb.
Target – Bridge at Magenta, Italy.  Had heavy intense flak.  Casper, Sovian, 
and Hash were wounded and landed at 340th to take them to the hospital.  
Our box dropped on the “IP”.  We had two window ships in ahead of us and 
dive bombers bombing the flak gun.  Flew with Poolson.  
Landed Corsica 1505.
3:35 = 67:41



November 6, 1944
#22 Mission
Take Off 0950
Plane – B-25-J 573
Bomb Load – eight 500 lbs.
Target – Domegliara transformers and power plant in the Brenner Pass, Italy. 
It was another one of those big missions with both the 12th and 15th Air force 
hitting targets in the same area.  Our box got the power plant.  We had a little 
flak on the bomb run and a hell of a lot just as we banked away fro the target 
but got out of it in a hurry with no damage.  Flew with Capt. Rimmer and took pictures.  
Landed Corsica 1250
3:00  70:41


November 7, 1944
#23 Mission
Take Off – 0840
Plane – B-25-J  929
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbs.
Target – Ossenigo railroad fill in the Brenner Pall, Italy.  Another one of those 
all out missions to knock out the Brenner Pass.  We got the power plant yesterday 
that operates the R/R and today the R/R itself.  Had flak on the bomb run but was 
inaccurate.  Flew in lead ship with Capt. Disston.  
Landed Corsica 1143
3:03  73:43

November 9, 1944
Spare 
Take Off – 1015
Plane – B-25-J 929
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbs.
Target – railroad bridge at north Padova, Italy.  Didn’t fill in but flew half way 
across Italy.  Mission didn’t drop because of weather.  
Landed Corsica 1200.

November 11, 1944
#24 Mission
Take Off – 1200
Plane – B-25-J 493
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbs.
Target – Railroad bridge at Casale Mon Ferrato, Italy.  Had bags of flak.  
The lead ship went down and two others came in on single engine.  The other 
mission also had a ship go down.  Flew with Lt.Corbin.  We creamed the target.  
I took pictures.  
Landed Corsica 1445
2:45  76:28

November 17 1944
#25 Mission 
Take off – 1020
Plane – B-25-J 796
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbs.
Target – Bridge near Novska, Yugoslavia.  It was my longest mission.  
We flew across Italy, the Adratic Sea, and into Yugoslavia.  There was 
P-51s, P-47’s & P-38s in the area.  Good bombing but the bridge was still 
standing.  This is the first time our group pulled a mission over in there.  
Flew with Lt. Corbin and took pictures again.  No flak.  
Landed Corsica 1500
4:40  81:08

November 21, 1944
#26 Mission
Take Off – 1415
Plane – B-25-J 552
Bomb Load – Frags
Target – Jerry troops near Faenza, Italy.  It was another one of those big deals.  
Our troops were trying to cross a river so we were bombing jerry troops on the other 
side of the river.  There were two wings of mediums in there and dive bombers by 
the hundreds.  We got flak but the dive bombers would go down and knock them out 
and the artillery also when they saw the gun flashes.  You could look out one 
window and see the American artillery firing and the German artillery firing 
from the other window.  Flew with Corbin and we plastered the target.  
Landed Corsica 1655
2:40  83:48

November 22, 1944
#27 Mission
Plane – B-25-J 915
Take Off – 1030
Bomb Load – Frags
Target – Jerry troops again near Faenza, Italy.  A mission the same as yesterday.  
Had moderate accurate flak.  Got two holes in the left wing.  Dive bombers were 
in there again giving them hell.  Flew with our regular crew.  
Landed Corsica 1245
2:15  86:03

November 23, 1944
#28 Mission
Plane – B-25-J 493
Take Off – 0620
No bombs – It was a weather mission observing the weather over the Po Valley.  
The weather was bad so the regular mission was cancelled.  We had no flak.  
Flew with Capt Rice (OP. Officer).  
Landed Corsica 0826
2:06  88:09


December 10, 1944
#29 Mission
Plane – B-25-J 642
Take Off – 0910
Bomb Load – Four 1000 lbs. S.A.P.
Target – Road tunnel in Brenner Pass.  Hit the target but had heavy, intense, 
accurate flak.  Saw one ship go down in flames, three chutes came out.  
We lost our right wing man of our second element.  The other wing man had a 
wounded radio op.  four of the men in the ship that went down were on their 
first mission.  It was the pilot’s first mission as first pilot.  
He had been flying as our co-pilot.  Still flying with Corbin.  
Landed Corsica 1240
3:30  91:39

December 15, 1944
#30 Mission
Plane – B-25-J 642
Take Off – 1100
Bomb Load – eight 500 lbs.
Target – Bologna supply dumps.  Flew three boxes in tight formation and 
everyone dropped off the lead ship.  It had special equipment.  Had a solid 
under cast and couldn’t observe the results.  Flew with Corbin and old 
crew – had no flak.  
Landed Corsica 1400
3:00  94:39

December 27, 1944
#31 Mission
Plane – B-25-J 929
Take Off – 0920
Bomb Load – eight 500 lbs.
Target – railroad Diversio at Piazzolo, Italy.  Had a little flak but nothing accurate.  
Missed the target.  We went in the Po Valley on the Adratic side and flew straight across it.  
Gough finished up.  Flew with Corbin.  
Landed Corsica 1255
3:35  98:14

December 28, 1944
#32 Mission
Plane – B-25-J 737
Take Off – 1143
Bomb Load – eight 500 lbs.
Target – Jerry troops in the town of Aula, Italy.  The town was wiped off the map 
and the Jerry too, if they were there.  Got flak but not so accurate.  Had anti 
flak ships going in before us dropping phosphorous bombs and throwing out window.  
It really worked.  Flew with Corbin.  
Landed Corsica – 1350.
2:07  100:21



December 29, 1944
#33 Mission
Plane – B-25-J 929
Take Off – 0900
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbs.
Target – Railroad viaduct in Brenner Pass.  Had heavy, accurate, intense flak.  
Pilot – Carbin.  Semm got a hole through his turret.  Good results.  
Landed Corsica 1300 –
4:00  104:21

February    , 1945
Spare
Plane – 044
Take Off – 1130
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbs. 
Target - ?  Didn’t fill in. Flew with Robinson.  
Landed Corsica 13:50

February 20, 1945
#34 Mission
Plane – 962 B-25-J
Take Off – 1145
Bomb Load – 12 Phosphorous 100 lbs.
Target – flak guns at bridge near Dogna, Italy.  Went in on bomb run.  
The regular mission couldn’t pick up target so we did a 180 degree and 
got to hell out.  We had already begin to get scant inaccurate flak.  
The mission bombed the alt. target with good results.  Pilot was Irons.  
Landed Corsica 1605
4:20  108:41
P-47 escort

February 21, 1945
#35 Mission
Plane – B-25-J 980
Take Off – 1030
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbs.
Target – Marshalling yard at Udine, Italy.  Seventy two ship formation 
plus anti flak ships. Got on the bomb run and the target was completely 
closed in with clouds.  Didn’t drop.  Flew with Rimmer.  Had K-20 camera.  
Had spits for escort.  
Landed Corsica 1515
4:45  113:26  

February 22, 1945
#36 Mission
Plane – B-25-J 930
Take Off – 1005
Bomb Load – four 1000 lbs.
Target – Railroad bridge at Ala, Italy in the Brenner Pass.  Had quite a 
bit flak but wasn’t so accurate.  The anti flak ships did a good job on 
the guns.  Had spits for escort.  Flew with Hamilton.  
Landed Corsica – 1355     
3:50  117:16

Our crew was transferred to 12th AF.HDQ.  Flew the remainder of my 76 missions 
out of Florence, Italy dropping supplies to the Italian partisan and crew that 
had been shot down and was operating behind the lines.  We were escorted by 
fighters while we went down low for the drop.