A Real Combat Story
03-25-2009, 09:21 PM
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A Real Combat Story
Hi all,
I had an opportunity today to speak with a WWII B24 pilot. 30 missions, his #27 was D-Day.
This fine gentleman, as many of his generation have, will be leaving us soon.
I don't know which mission this story is from, I think it was his last one, but here it is in as close to how it was told to me as possible.
We were coming back from our mission over Germany when two ju88s got into our slip stream. Their guns where better than ours , we couldn't hit 'em they just sat back out of range and pounded the hell out of us. We flew in groups of three then and both my wing men were gone. (he paused some here short of breath. I know he was thinking of lost freinds, two whole crews ) He told me here only one in ten were the odds of surviving this duty. He continued...I was flying evasive manuevers the whole time. I remember someone shaking me hard by the should screaming "Just keep flying" eventually the ju88s broke off and we were coming up on the channel. We checked our brakes "they ran on oil you know" he said to me. If we needed to there was a 12 mile landing strip we could use on the coast if we were to damaged to make our field. Well he made the field fine but the B24 had holes a man could jump through in the wings. The field engineer scrapped the plane after pulling all the salvageable parts engines, guns, etc. He reported over three hundred holes in the B 24. Then he was tired and I took the opportunity to shake his hand and thank him for what he had done. Fortunatly he said he had been thanked a few times here and there over the years...not nearly enough as far as I am concerened.
The term "the greatest generation" is a good fit IMHO.
He had burn scars on his neck and face and what I am pretty sure are flack scars on his legs and abdomen. He didn't tel me these were wounds from that day but it is a reasonable assumption.
I had an opportunity today to speak with a WWII B24 pilot. 30 missions, his #27 was D-Day.
This fine gentleman, as many of his generation have, will be leaving us soon.
I don't know which mission this story is from, I think it was his last one, but here it is in as close to how it was told to me as possible.
We were coming back from our mission over Germany when two ju88s got into our slip stream. Their guns where better than ours , we couldn't hit 'em they just sat back out of range and pounded the hell out of us. We flew in groups of three then and both my wing men were gone. (he paused some here short of breath. I know he was thinking of lost freinds, two whole crews ) He told me here only one in ten were the odds of surviving this duty. He continued...I was flying evasive manuevers the whole time. I remember someone shaking me hard by the should screaming "Just keep flying" eventually the ju88s broke off and we were coming up on the channel. We checked our brakes "they ran on oil you know" he said to me. If we needed to there was a 12 mile landing strip we could use on the coast if we were to damaged to make our field. Well he made the field fine but the B24 had holes a man could jump through in the wings. The field engineer scrapped the plane after pulling all the salvageable parts engines, guns, etc. He reported over three hundred holes in the B 24. Then he was tired and I took the opportunity to shake his hand and thank him for what he had done. Fortunatly he said he had been thanked a few times here and there over the years...not nearly enough as far as I am concerened.
The term "the greatest generation" is a good fit IMHO.
He had burn scars on his neck and face and what I am pretty sure are flack scars on his legs and abdomen. He didn't tel me these were wounds from that day but it is a reasonable assumption.
03-26-2009, 06:54 AM
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RE: A Real Combat Story
Great story! I read an article that said we are losing WW2 veterans, at a rate of 500 per day.........so if you get the chance to have a conversation with one of these guys DO IT!!
I was able to spend many hours with a tank driver in General Patton's push through Europe. Too many stories to restate here, but he did say that the movie "Patton" was just about as close to real thing........other than the freezing cold, no food, no gasoline, no sleep.........he said those parts were worse!!!
Thank a Vet
I was able to spend many hours with a tank driver in General Patton's push through Europe. Too many stories to restate here, but he did say that the movie "Patton" was just about as close to real thing........other than the freezing cold, no food, no gasoline, no sleep.........he said those parts were worse!!!
Thank a Vet
03-26-2009, 05:11 PM
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RE: A Real Combat Story
I have had chance last year to go listen to Gail Halverson, known as the Berlin candy bomber, what a night that was. His stories were simply amazing. Then another guy here is town just got done writing a book about his, and his wifes experiences in WWII. He was a pilot adn made several missions over the hump and his wife was a nurse. its really cool to be able to hear the stories from these guys. certainly a dying breed.
03-27-2009, 05:37 AM
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RE: A Real Combat Story
In the mid-80s, I belonged to a model club which counted a couple of veterans amongst its members. One was an Englishman, the other a German.
The English guy had been quite badly burned after his Defiant (I think) had caught fire following a bad landing. The German fellow had flown 190's briefly, in an attempt to stem the Russian advance into Germany.
Anyway, these two were pals, but I never did see them fly models.
One evening, I got into conversation with the German pilot, and he told me how it was for him during the war. He had lived in Berlin when war broke out..he'd have been around 13 or 14 years old in 1939. He had joined a branch of the Hitler Youth and been re-located from the city to an encampment in the Black Forest ( I think). This was such a relief; no nightly bombings, for a start. Also, he was well fed and clothed.
He told me how he spent each day engaged in schooling and games within the encampment; there was no overt politicisation. But, it was the most natural thing for him to direct his studies towards flying and to become a Luftwaffe pilot.
As I recall, once he was deemed fully trained, he was sent to an outlying airfield to join a combat unit. When he arrived, the place was in chaos...under attack by Russian troops. He was ordered to take one of the Focke-Wulf's to an airfield which was deeper within German-held territory; which he did. The rest of his short war was spent fighting a defensive aerial rear-guard as Germany collapsed.
The English guy had been quite badly burned after his Defiant (I think) had caught fire following a bad landing. The German fellow had flown 190's briefly, in an attempt to stem the Russian advance into Germany.
Anyway, these two were pals, but I never did see them fly models.
One evening, I got into conversation with the German pilot, and he told me how it was for him during the war. He had lived in Berlin when war broke out..he'd have been around 13 or 14 years old in 1939. He had joined a branch of the Hitler Youth and been re-located from the city to an encampment in the Black Forest ( I think). This was such a relief; no nightly bombings, for a start. Also, he was well fed and clothed.
He told me how he spent each day engaged in schooling and games within the encampment; there was no overt politicisation. But, it was the most natural thing for him to direct his studies towards flying and to become a Luftwaffe pilot.
As I recall, once he was deemed fully trained, he was sent to an outlying airfield to join a combat unit. When he arrived, the place was in chaos...under attack by Russian troops. He was ordered to take one of the Focke-Wulf's to an airfield which was deeper within German-held territory; which he did. The rest of his short war was spent fighting a defensive aerial rear-guard as Germany collapsed.
