In Hostile Skies: An American B-24 Pilot in World War II

Chapter 5 – The First Mission

84 WE฀BOARDED฀THE฀PLANE฀with฀three฀other฀replacement฀crews฀for฀ combat฀duty฀with฀the฀489th฀Bomb฀Group.฀We฀were฀all฀strangers฀and฀ anxious฀to฀see฀what฀it฀would฀be฀like฀at฀our฀new฀base.฀I฀had฀never฀ met฀the฀other฀three฀crews฀previously.฀When฀we฀arrived฀at฀Halesworth ,฀we฀were฀assigned฀to฀separate฀squadrons,฀and฀other฀than฀the฀ pilot฀on฀one฀of฀the฀planes,฀Lt.฀Claude฀Lovelace,฀I฀did฀not฀get฀to฀know฀ any฀of฀the฀others฀very฀well.฀There฀was฀not฀a฀lot฀of฀conversation฀that฀ morning฀on฀the฀two-hour฀flight,฀because฀we฀all฀knew฀that฀this฀could฀ be฀our฀last฀assignment.฀I฀could฀not฀help฀but฀wonder฀what฀fate฀had฀in฀ store฀for฀this฀group฀of฀four฀crews.฀The฀bomber฀losses฀had฀been฀very฀ heavy฀for฀the฀last฀year,฀with฀no฀evidence฀that฀they฀would฀improve.1 ฀ None฀of฀us฀knew฀quite฀what฀to฀expect. Our฀most฀important฀concern฀was฀how฀we฀would฀react฀to฀combat .฀It฀was฀not฀a฀question฀of฀fear.฀I฀doubt฀that฀any฀of฀us฀did฀not฀fear฀ entering฀air฀combat.฀A฀person฀learns฀a฀lot฀about฀himself฀and฀how฀ he฀reacts฀in฀critical฀situations฀during฀air฀battles.฀At฀this฀time,฀none฀ of฀us฀knew฀for฀sure฀what฀our฀action฀or฀reactions฀would฀be.฀Looking฀ CHAPTER฀5 The฀First฀Mission 1 ฀In฀the฀European฀Theatre,฀the฀U.S.฀Eighth฀and฀Fifteenth฀Air฀Forces,฀based฀in฀ England฀and฀Italy฀respectively,฀suffered฀over฀94,500฀casualties฀(including฀dead,฀ wounded,฀missing,฀and฀captured).฀See฀Army฀Air฀Forces฀Statistical฀Digest:฀World฀ War฀II฀(Office฀of฀Statistical฀Control,฀1945),฀51-2. The฀First฀Mission฀ 85 back,฀I฀had฀no฀idea฀that฀my฀crew฀would฀be฀the฀only฀one฀from฀these฀ four฀replacement฀groups฀not฀to฀be฀shot฀down.2 ฀They฀all฀were฀young,฀ highly฀trained,฀and฀good฀looking,฀and฀had฀so฀much฀to฀live฀for.฀But฀ war฀is฀cruel,฀and฀the฀last฀eighteen฀months฀of฀intense฀training฀had฀ prepared฀us฀for฀the฀challenge,฀no฀matter฀what฀the฀personal฀sacrifice฀ would฀be. The฀ plane฀ started฀ its฀ descent฀ and฀ as฀ the฀ landing฀ gear฀ and฀ flaps฀lowered฀we฀knew฀we฀would฀soon฀see฀our฀new฀home.฀As฀we฀ crawled฀out฀of฀the฀plane,฀we฀looked฀around฀and฀did฀not฀see฀a฀lot฀ of฀activity.฀We฀were฀in฀front฀of฀a฀large฀hangar,฀but฀there฀were฀few฀ visible฀buildings.฀Scattered฀around฀the฀landscape฀we฀could฀see฀a฀ few฀B-24s฀parked฀around฀clumps฀of฀trees฀and฀a฀few฀trucks฀and฀ men.฀It฀did฀not฀look฀like฀the฀airfields฀back฀in฀the฀United฀States฀ with฀ all฀ of฀ the฀ large฀ hangars฀ and฀ other฀ buildings฀ close฀ to฀ the฀ flight฀line.฀I฀could฀not฀see฀barracks฀or฀any฀other฀buildings฀of฀signi ficant฀size.฀Soon฀a฀jeep฀drove฀up฀and฀a฀sergeant฀told฀us฀that฀ trucks฀would฀come฀by฀in฀a฀few฀minutes฀to฀take฀us฀to฀our฀assigned฀ squadron฀area.฀ Each฀group฀was฀made฀up฀of฀four฀squadrons.฀Three฀were฀squadrons ฀of฀combat฀crews฀and฀one฀squadron฀was฀made฀up฀of฀a฀lead฀ crew.฀On฀a฀mission,฀the฀lead฀squadron,฀led฀by฀a฀lead฀crew฀and฀the฀ group฀commander฀for฀that฀day,฀flew฀in฀the฀center,฀with฀the฀second฀ 2 ฀Jim฀believes฀the฀first฀replacement฀crew฀went฀down฀on฀its฀sixth฀mission,฀and฀ the฀second฀one฀on฀its฀twelfth฀mission.฀The฀third฀crew฀went฀down฀during฀the฀Market ฀Garden฀operation฀in฀September฀1944.฀Lieutenant฀Lovelace฀was฀the฀pilot฀of฀ the฀last฀crew.฀While฀he฀died,฀some฀of฀his฀crew฀did฀survive.฀Although฀Jim฀does฀not฀ remember฀the฀names฀of฀the฀other฀crews฀besides฀Lieutenant฀Lovelace,฀the฀489th฀ Bomb฀Group฀lost฀thirteen฀planes฀between฀July฀21฀and฀September฀18.฀Lovelace’s฀ plane฀was฀the฀last฀of฀these.฀The฀other฀planes฀were฀piloted฀by฀2nd฀Lt.฀James฀Haas฀ (captured),฀1st฀Lt.฀Edwin฀Florcyk฀(killed),฀1st฀Lt.฀John฀Slein฀(captured),฀1st฀Lt.฀Arthur ฀Bertanzetti฀(captured),฀2nd฀Lt.฀Wallace฀Bishop฀(killed),฀2nd฀Lt.฀Frank฀Palmer฀ (captured),฀2nd฀Lt.฀Mark฀Osborne฀(captured),฀1st฀Lt.฀Maynard฀Kisinger฀(interned฀ in฀Switzerland฀but฀later฀escaped),฀2nd฀Lt.฀Walter฀Springer฀(killed),฀2nd฀Lt.฀Victor฀ Cochran฀ (interned฀ in฀ Sweden),฀ Capt.฀ Thomas฀ Plese฀ (killed),฀ and฀ Capt.฀ Robert฀ White฀(killed).฀If฀the฀other฀replacement฀crews฀flew฀missions฀at฀roughly฀the฀same฀ pace฀as฀Jim,฀the฀first฀crew฀that฀was฀lost฀was฀probably฀commanded฀by฀Lieutenant ฀Slein฀because฀Jim฀knew฀the฀other฀pilots฀that฀were฀shot฀down฀at฀the฀time,฀ while฀the฀second฀one฀was฀probably฀piloted฀by฀Lieutenants฀Osborne,฀Kisinger,฀or฀ Springer.฀Freudenthal,฀History฀of฀the฀489th฀Bomb฀Group,฀287-91. [18.116...