Issue 49.12
One mission was different from all the others. This was to the city of Munich in the last third of our tour. On every mission when the radio operator was not sending or receiving, he would spend his time shoving bundles of chaff out of a special slot in the fuselage as we were on the bomb run or in flack concentrations. Our briefings had told us that filling the air with chaff (actually no different from metal Christmas tree tinsel) was calculated to save us 10% of losses from ground fire. I never could figure out why it would not also make our bombing 10% less accurate. However on this particular mission to Munich the 351st group was in the lead of the bomber train. We carried no bombs. Instead we carried a bomb bay, radio room and waist area of the plane loaded with cardboard cases of chaff.
When we got on the bomb run, the radio operator, waist gunner and top turret gunner passed those cases of chaff to the radio room where one of them shoved the whole cases out the camera well. Each carton was caught by the slipstream and slammed against the back of the ball turret as my guns were pointing to 6 o’clock. As each carton struck my turret, the whole thing shook and shuddered. It was not a good feeling and I must have aged ten years that day. I kept thinking that the ball turret was designed to be able to jettison easily with just three cast iron dogs that could be mocked off with a hammer so in case of a wheels up landing the B-17 could slide in without breaking in two. I wanted to get out of the turret during this operation but I was needed to protect against enemy fighter attacks.
Once on a later mission, I could see different solid objects whizzing past me beneath our ship. I couldn’t see above the horizon to see where it was coming from so I thought someone ahead must be tossing out cases of chaff so I asked those who could see if that was what it was. Parnell, our pilot, said “A B-17 up ahead has been hit hard with flack and is trying to hold on but he won’t make it because his plane is breaking up with chunks coming loose and falling off’. He also said “Don’t worry. I’m staying clear from the falling debris”. The unfortunate B-17 then blew up and went down in a thousand pieces. I didn’t see anyone get out.