Assigned to the 754th Squadron in mid-August 1944, the Skidmore crew flew their first combat mission on August 25th.  Their last was to be on March 9, 1945 - almost seven months later.  During that time, it appears that the crew flew most of their missions together - a relatively rare occurrence amongst 8th Air Force combat crews.  One exception was Sgt Wilfred "Willie" Racine, tail gunner.  In September 1944 he was sent to AAF 113 Cheddington in Buckinghamshire to attend RCM (Radio Countermeasures) School.  After returning to the 754th Squadron, he flew two missions with another crew utilizing the skills he had learned.  He then requested a return to his regular crew and this was granted.

Date	Target	Pilot	Sqdn	Mission No.
25-Aug-44	Msn1 Lubeck	Skidmore	754	1
27-Aug-44	Finow (Recall)	Skidmore	754	--
01-Sep-44	Pfaffenhofen (Recall)	Skidmore	754	--
05-Sep-44	Karlsruhe	Skidmore	754	2
08-Sep-44	Karlsruhe	Skidmore	754	3
09-Sep-44	Mainz M/Y	Skidmore	754	4
03-Oct-44	Gaggenau	Skidmore	754	5
07-Oct-44	Magdeburg	Skidmore	754	6
14-Oct-44	Cologne	Skidmore	754	7
17-Oct-44	Cologne M/Y	Skidmore	754	8
22-Oct-44	Hamm M/Y	Skidmore	754	9
30-Oct-44	Harburg	Skidmore	754	10
26-Nov-44	Bielefeld	Skidmore	754	11
30-Nov-44	Homburg	Skidmore	754	12
04-Dec-44	Bebra	Skidmore	754	13
24-Dec-44	Schonecken	Skidmore	754	14
25-Dec-44	Pronesfeld	Skidmore	754	15
28-Dec-44	St. Wendel (Mission abandoned)	Skidmore	754	16
31-Dec-44	Koblenz	Skidmore	754	17
03-Jan-45	Neunkirchen M/Y	Skidmore	754	18
10-Jan-45	Schonberg	Skidmore	752	19
14-Jan-45	Hallendorf	Skidmore	754	20
16-Jan-45	Magdeburg	Skidmore	754	21
29-Jan-45	Munster	Skidmore	754	22
03-Feb-45	Magdeburg, Germany	Skidmore	754	23
06-Feb-45	Magdeburg	Skidmore	754	24
19-Feb-45	Meschede	Skidmore	754	25
21-Feb-45	Nuremburg	Skidmore	754	26
25-Feb-45	Swabisch-Hall A/F	Skidmore	754	27
28-Feb-45	Bielefeld Viaduct	Skidmore	754	28
01-Mar-45	Ingolstadt M/Y	Skidmore	754	29
02-Mar-45	Krupp/Magdeburg	Skidmore	754	30
07-Mar-45	Soest M/Y	Skidmore	754	31

Compiled from 754th Squadron Records

Note there was no mission 13 flown - 12B instead.

March 9, 1945

The long awaited mission finally materialized today -- our last one.  No matter how invincible I've felt before today I realized that we could still meet with disaster.  Our target was the rail yards at Osnabruck.  The weather was clear and flak was accurate and heavy.  One shell burst directly beneath me and for a moment I thought we were finished.  But we got through the target area safely and back to England.  Once we were safely on the ground in England we began to celebrate -- and what a celebration, finished at last.  Willy nearly got hit we discovered, when we found a large flak hole in the rudder just above his head.