MISSION 31
Hamm, Germany
October 2, 1944
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The importance of Hamm, Germany as a major rail route for the Germans to supply their Western Front can not be over emphasized. The British and American ground forces were pounding at the Siegfried line near Aachen. The Wehrmacht was dug into pill boxes and mine shafts. The 9th Air Force's B-26 Marauders, A20 Havocs and B-25 Mitchels along with British Mosquitoes were giving close tactical support as well as their French based P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustang fighter-bombers. One might note that in my narratives very little is mentioned about the twin motor medium bombers. It is not because their missions were less important nor any less dangerous. The major reason is that they were in the 9th Air Force where as the four motor heavies were in the 8th Air Force. I firmly believe the men who flew the medium bombers were consistently given the "short end of the stick" when it came time for the media to give credits. The Fortresses and the Liberators were the "glory boys" and received attention out of proportion to any sacrifices made. These B-26 and A-20 guys flew day after day into the Pas de Calais area of northern France which in many ways was more dangerous than a deep penetration into Germany itself, due to the extensive flak concentration and the fact that they flew at a lower altitude made them suffer severe losses. And besides, they were attacked savagely by the Nazi fighters until our P51, P47 and P38 escorts in conjunction with the British Spitfires and Typhoons swamped the German Luftwaffe. The Hamm marshaling yards were so important to the strategic offensive that our 44th Bomb Group was sent there four times during the war. It so happened that our crew went three of the four times. The first time being on our very first mission of April 22nd. We returned on my 30th mission, September 26th. The Group went again September 30th but we did not fly that day and now on October 2, 1944 we were once more off to Hamm. This was my 31st mission as I had volunteered to fly with my crew one more time being I was one mission ahead of them. This was a result of my having to be the lead navigator of a flight of bombers sent out early on D-Day and then flying again that afternoon with my regular crew. I knew this was a foolish thing to do but I still felt it was my duty to stick by my crew. We had been through so much together in training, flying the South Atlantic and in combat that I could not turn my back on them. As a lead crew, they could not fly without a lead navigator. They let me know that they did not relish flying with an unknown navigator. I can't remember any pressure being put on me by either the crew or the C.O. I really think it was my own personal decision, well knowing it could cost me my life. I do not regret the decision today but before the day was out, I had serious doubts concerning the wisdom of my rashness. Again we were the lead in the same B-24J PFF Pathfinder ship that we flew on September 26th. We were flying very little now between missions but we did take this plane up once on September 30 for one and a half hours of practice. The 8th Air Force dispatched about 1200 heavies to various targets in Germany. We were to be part of approximately 300 assigned to bomb Hamm carrying well over 600 tons of high explosives. At first we were scheduled to go to Stuttgart, Germany but it was decided that the rail transport through Hamm was the more urgent target. The 44th Bomb Group launched 25 aircraft and we were to lead the 14th Combat Wing which lead the whole 2nd Division. Again, I and my H2X Mickey Radar navigator were to be put to the test. Of the two positions, I had much the better job. I was the senior lead navigator working at my desk with full visibility out of the plane. The radar navigator sat in front of his Cathode ray tube in semi-darkness plotting our course by observing a very fuzzy gross reproduction of the ground below. But don't under estimate the value of his work. At times, we could see nothing on the ground in the target area. He then worked with our bombardier, Lt. Warga to determine when the bombs were to be dropped. When we were finally after two tries ready to drop the bombs, Warga was able to get a fair visual sighting but the H2X equipment was a great aid to him. Our strike photo shows a 5/10ths cloud cover but some squadrons reported a 10/10ths. I clearly saw through the clouds where our bombs landed. But I'm getting ahead of my story. This, my last combat mission, was an almost exact repeat of our mission to the very same target just six days before. Once more we were on the bomb run with our bomb bay doors open when a group of planes crowded us to point where we had to fly through the tremendous flak barrage without dropping our bombs. Boy! was I ever mad and scared. As on the previous mission, I once more had to plot our course back to the IP so we could make a second run over the target. All the way in to where we released our bombs and out the other side of the anti-aircraft fire, I kept praying to God to let us make it this one last time. Being that I am writing this story, the reader might suspect we did make it and he would be correct in this assumption. We had survived all the flak the Germans could throw at us in 31 missions while sustaining hundreds and hundreds of holes. The Luftwaffe fighters came close several times but they failed also to shoot us down. After an easy flight back to base, we rolled to a stop after 6 hours and 30 minutes of our final combat mission. It was none too soon because in three days, the Nazis threw the first of their ME163 Jet Fighters against our bomber force. After landing, the whole crew gathered around the plane congratulating and slapping each other on the back. This was a happy day for us. But we all knew it was only by God's Will that we made it through without an injury among us. There is no way I can express in words the relief we felt. The strain of combat had taken its toll and it would be a full year before most of us would recover from this nightmare.
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