I was sleeping good when the C Q's band shook my shoulder. I was wide awake in less than a heart beat. "Briefing in one hour." He went on to other boys in the hut. When he shook Mack's shoulder. Mack came in wide awake in two seconds. He pushed the blackout curtain aside and looked out. He said "Damn you can't see the crapper. We can't go anywhere in this fog." We all dressed in flight gear and headed for the mess hall. The cook and K P's had a pretty good breakfast for us. Scrambled eggs, bacon, and coffee. We ate fast and then climbed in the truck for the ride to briefing room. We all figured we would be briefed and sent back to our hut, but that wasn't to be.
When the briefing officer pulled the cover off the map groans came from all of us. The map showed us routed down Flack alley. The briefing officer told us that the target was railroad tracks and highway approach to a bridge. "Large note said "NOT THE BRIDGE." The commander stepped up and said we are going and a little fog wasn't going to stop us. Then came the load "Four one thousand pound demos. (The B26 was built to carry 3000 lbs. What the heck four 1000 lbs. is about 3000 lbs. and old "Stinky" don't know the difference so she will just take it and go.) Then came the intelligence report as to our escape route if we were shot down. The C O's voice said "Take off time is half an hour, good luck all."
Visibility was zero but on we went out to planes where we found the ground crew making a last check on the airplanes.
Old Stinky looked different; she seemed to be squatted down ready to Jay her eggs. She had never been loaded this heavy before. The first one to climb in was the pilot Jonesy, then came Abe, then Cooper then me followed by Guhrkehy and Max. A quick check of the radio, I found everything OK as always.
We could hear but not see the other planes as they taxied down to the end of the runway for take off. Gualt the crew chief went out to where he could see the numbers on the aircraft and gave the pilot a go ahead into our take off position. We could see the plane ahead of us but not the planes ahead of it. The pilot called for me to come up with him. He said "I am going to make an, instrument take off and I want you to look out the window and tell me when we've crossed the other runway." I said I should be able to see the skid marker in the runway. When we crossed he would know how much runway he had left to get off. Buy the time I got in place with my head out the window the plane ahead of us started his run and disappeared. Jones said. "Hands on, here we go" Those two big P & Ws really came to life. I glanced at the instrument panel and saw the RPM were all the way up to redline. Jones snapped the brake off and stinky came to life. I was afraid to blink my eyes of might miss the runway. In a matter of seconds we came to the cross runway. I grabbed Jone's shoulder and he released his forward pressure on the control wheel. Stinky seemed to just turn loose of old mother earth and let her drop away. In about two seconds we were out in the bright sunshine. Abe, the co-pilot, slid his seat all the way back for Cooper, the bombardier, to get into the nose of the plane. Abe gave Cooper the traditional kick 'in the rear end as he squeezed through the narrow passageway into his position, dragging his maps, clipboard, and parachute with him. Jones called us on the intercom and said "Watch for our box." Cooper answered and said "Two o'clock high, it looks like they are on course. Jones made a twenty-degree climbing turn to the right wing. Not until then did Jones back off on the RPM's. Save the engines for the run home when the time came. Cooper called on the intercom "6 minutes to land fall. That was my signal to arm the bombs (pull the safety pins). It was cold but I took off my gloves because it felt better if I could feel my way in this job. I stepped out on the catwalk in the Bombay. I took hold of the arming wire on first bomb to be sure it was hooked to the rack, O.K. Reached down and pulled the little cotter key from the arming vane and slid the arming wire back and forth to be sure it would come out when the bomb is dropped.
My mind always goes back at this time to what it took to get these bombs to this point. That's another long story.
On to the next three bombs and the same procedure, then squeeze through the rear Bombay door and hold the pins up for the engineer gunner to check--OK one, two, three, four. He keyed his mike and told Cooper "All's set."
Time now to man my guns. I stand up in the Martin top turret. grab the hand holds and lift myself up *into position holding by one hand I reach back between my legs and pull the seat up under me and hear the snap as the seat locks. Main switch on, sight switch on. The little red ring came up in front of me. Left turn 180% then guns set up to maximum. Grab the charging handle of left gun. Pull hard all the way down. Let go and watch the feed panel pull a round in line of chamber. The ammo belt Jumps as the bolt rams around home. Ready to go. Charge right gun same way.
OK Hitler give us your best, here we come.
I look off to our right and see the white cliffs of Dover, the English Channel is covered with fog but it's clear on the French coast and inland to our target.
The lead box is turning inland and takes up their position for the bomb run. Cooper comes on the intercom says target is six minutes. Here comes the flak. Just feeling us out at first, range, altitude, speed, heading. The lead box was getting lots of flak by this time and then wham, one B26 took a direct hit and exploded *in a dozen pieces. We have to go in the same place they went only 90% to their bomb run. Then the cold blast of air comes through the Bombay door as Cooper opens the Bombay doors. "Target in one minute" says Cooper. Ives, the flight leader lines us up on our bomb run and we all start counting time. It takes about nine seconds for the German gunners to take our altitude, speed, and direction, set the 88 shells to explode when it gets to us. We count three, four, five, six, seven, "Bombs away" say Cooper, eight, nine. Damn it Ives tam and head for home. He does just that. We are getting some flak but not as much as I expected. By this time we are heading back out over the Channel. That's when I saw him, a ME 109 heading back inland way down low. He is on the wrong side but he is not stupid. He knows that hitting a flight formation of B26's is like kicking a mad porcupine when you're barefooted. It's not a smart thing to do. Max says he's looking for a straggler or cripple to jump. He's going home, so are we. The fog cleared just long enough for us to land and then come 'in again. We taxied to our hard standing and climbed out. Jones was last out and as he stepped down the leaned his head against the step and stood still for about two seconds, then reached up and patted old Stinky on the belly and just above his breath said "Thanks for the ride baby." He signed the log sheet for Gualt and heaved his gear upon the jeep and climbed in.
We headed for debriefing. As we passed the hardstanding where the ship that was lost was to be, the ground crew was looking and listening for its return, no one had told them yet.
Debriefing was short. What did you see and when?
On to chow, as we passed Tabasco's crew Chuck called out "Willie" are you shootin in? "Dam well better believe it, after chow."
K.P.'s said, "Seconds if you want it." We filled our trays and sat down. The door came open and the ground crew from the plane that was lost came in single file. Crew chief in the lead. K.P. slammed on large piece of toast, to done on one side, and not enough on the other, then came the creamed beef, a large scoop plied on the toast, canteen cup filled with hot coffee. They picked out an empty table and sat down. The crew chief sat with his head down for about five seconds, then looked up at his tray. He pushed it back and stood up, drew a fatigued closed arm across his eyes. It wasn't a tear he wiped away, old master sergeants don't cry. He turned leaving the S.O.S. untouched. He walked out. No one spoke and no one followed. You can Just tell when a man wants to be alone with his thoughts.
Chow over, we went back to the hut to get into Class "A's" and head for the Pub for darts and to see who could get the drunkest before someone said "Time mates."
T. A. Willoughby (Willie)
387th BG, 556th BS