Von Peterson's War Service in Italy

February 5, 1945 - Regensburg, Germany
Oil refineries and the marshaling yards in Austria and Germany were the primary targets that month.  On February 5, McGovern flew to bomb the oil storage facilities at Regensburg, Germany.  Clouds covered the target but the squadron dropped its bombs, using the pathfinder method of following the actions of the lead plane.  The results were unobserved because of the clouds.
February 7 - Moosbierbaum, Austria
Two days later, on another mission to Moosbierbaum, the flight leader's bombsight was inoperative so no bombs were dropped.  The bombardiers dropped the bombs over water, then the planes returned safely.  [Von's squadron did not have this problem.  His flight record would have said "noneffective" if they were unable to drop their bombs.]
February 21, 1945 - Vienna, Austria
The next morning, at 4:00 A.M. they were up, getting ready.  The briefing officer informed them the target that day was the marshaling yards in Vienna.  He was answered with groans.  Vienna still had one of the heaviest flak concentrations in Europe....The flak over Vienna was, according to the 455th Group's account, "intense and accurate."  Some fourteen of the bombers were hit out of the twenty-one that got over the target.
March 14, 1945 - Wiener Neustadt, Austria
On March 14, McGovern an his crew were awakened at 4:00 A.M....The target that was marked this time was Vienna.  The alternate target, also marked, was Wiener Neustadt.  If Vienna was clear, the bombs should be dropped on an oil refinery.  If it was not and Wiener Neustadt became the choice, the target was marshaling yards....Another officer mounted the platform to tell the airmen what they were going after and why.  He explained the need to hit the refineries or, if necessary, the marshaling yards.  If it was Vienna, he told them to stay well away from St. Steven's Cathedral, the Opera House, the Palace and other historic buildings, and schools.  At Weiner Neustadt, the marshaling yards carried north-south rail traffic moving to Munich, Vienna, or elsewhere....The day was clear until the formation started to approach Vienna, but over the city the weather had built up into a storm and Colonel Snowden decided it was too dangerous to risk losing his bombers when he couldn't see the target...He began a slow, 180-degree turn toward the alternate.  That made every pilot and his crew following Snowden happy--Vienna, as usual meant heavy and accurate flak, while there would be none at Wiener Neustadt.  There was some cloud cover at Wiener Neustadt but Snowden's radar could pick up the marshaling yards.  Everyone dropped their bombs right after he did, and the formation turned for home.  It would be a milk run.
March 16, 1945 - Amstetten, Austria
Two days after the mission to Wiener Neustadt [the] primary target was weathered in so the Liberators dropped their bombs on the marshaling yards at Amstetten, Austria.
April 9-18 - Italy
By this time the marshaling yards and oil refineries had been hit so often, and so effectively, that they were no longer the primary targets.  Instead the Liberators participated in the drive up the Italian peninsula by engaging in tactical bombing, that is, giving direct and indirect support to the ground troops.  The technique was to drop the bombs just ahead of the American troop lines, or to hit bridges to stop enemy ground transportation.  Rather than the usual 500- or 1,000-pound bombs, the planes carried 250-pound general purpose bombs.