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Issue 50.13 The air crews that flew into the fury of the Luftwaffe often times took the day’s battle to bed with them. I myself during the flying of my missions recall many nights when the guys in the barracks after a tough mission did some crazy things. The officers and the enlisted men lived […] Issue 49.13 Those people in high military planning places who thought that daylight, long range, strategic bombing would never work almost had their way. Heads that were more level and forward thinking prevailed in a sliver thin way at the beginning of World War 2. A few Flying Fortresses were built to start with. They […] Issue 48.13 I have written about Forts flying out of England to bomb Germany but these B-17’s flew combat missions in every war theatre and everywhere the war had to be taken to the enemy. When the Allies were dislodging the enemy from North Africa the B-17’s were instrumental in defeating the Germans and Italians […] Issue 47.13 At each of the more than two dozen Eighth Air Force bomber bases in England, there were similarities. The main east- west runways were almost always at least one mile or a little longer in length. There was a point on each runway that was the critical point. This was usually marked by […] Issue 46.13 Dear Tricia, Yes, I will add some things about your Grandfather. Yes we visited him at Seattle a few times and we exchanged Christmas cards. What I know about your Grandfather is what happened sixty nine years ago when we were flying bombing missions over Germany during World War 2. Your grandfather was […] Issue 45.13 Once we were on the bomb run in our Flying Fortress, the B-17, and we were approaching our target and the switch was set by the bombardier to open the bomb bay doors. I, in the lower ball turret was waiting for the doors to swing open but nothing happened, I reported on […] Issue 44.13 There was almost no such thing as a Flying Fortress because the first model 299 crashed on its second official flight. This happened not because of this plane’s failing but because of human error. Someone neglected to remove the fasteners in the controlling surfaces of the tail. According to Army Air Corp rules […] Issue 43.13 On our way home from bombing war industry at one of the northern German cities, we had flown over German occupied Denmark and were on our last leg to get home and safety. We were low, low, low position in the group or what we called tail end Charlie. A heavy bomber group […] Issue 42.13 At this retirement place where I now call home, sometimes I sit at the same dinner table as my friend, Ben Rishton, who was a Merchant Marine sailor during World War Two. When he was aged sixteen he begged his mother to sign for him to go into the very dangerous Merchant Marine. […] Issue 41.13 In 1943 and 44 we Army Air Force people learned discipline the Army way. We learned to march as in a parade. That is marching smartly in perfect step and with straight lines. When we see marching soldiers in the movie news reels, there may be ten thousand men but not one reaches […] |
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