American Raiders: The Race to Capture the Luftwaffeâ??s Secrets

26. The Birth of Project Overcast

[ 353 ] THE BIRTH OF PROJECT OVERCAST A former Heinkel 177 pilot, Franz Hausmann, recalled, “In late April 1945 I found myself at Parchim airfield in Mecklenburg, flying the Ju 88 twin-engined medium bomber. We were sitting in the officers’ mess, talking about what we should do, where we should go to surrender , when someone said, ‘I am just going to walk out of here.’ Several of the officers got up from the table, went to their quarters, changed into civilian clothes and walked off the airfield. I pulled my crew chief aside. He and I had been together for a long time in both Ju 88s and Heinkel 177s. I trusted him. I said to him,Why don’t you and I just fly out of here? His eyes lit up. ‘That’s a fantastic idea,’ he said. ‘Where to?’ West, of course, I said, just you and me. Keep your mouth shut. There were still some devout Nazis around and if they found out about our plans they would have shot us. Tomorrow morning, before first light, I told him, you run up the engines as if you are getting the aircraft ready for a mission. Then taxi out to an open area from which we can take off. I’ll tell the tower that you are doing a maintenance check. I’ll then come out to where you are, engines running, and we’ll just get out of here as fast and low as we can. 26 “It worked. Once airborne, I headed for Belgium, not France. We had heard that aircrews who landed in France had been attacked by French farmers with pitchforks. I flew very low, it was still dark and raining. I had my eyes glued to the horizon. I didn’t want to fly into the trees, but neither too high where someone might spot us and fire on us. I flew just barely above treetop level. I came to an area that looked familiar, put down the flaps and made a perfect belly landing the way I had been taught in flying school. I remembered at the moment before touchdown to take my hands and feet off the controls and to put my arms in front of my face. If I held on to the yoke it would break my arms as it slammed back and forth in a belly landing. Before the aircraft came to rest, I slid down the right side and took off on a run. My crew chief slid down the left side and disappeared in the opposite direction. Unfortunately we hadn’t discussed what we would do once we landed. I am sorry we didn’t, because I never saw him again. After the war I tried to locate him, but no one ever heard from him again. Maybe an irate farmer got him after all. “I was walking through the forest when I came to a road. I followed the dirt road and at an intersection I saw an American soldier standing guard. He looked liked any soldier looks who has to perform a dull, unpleasant task—rifle slung over his shoulder, hands in his coat pockets, smoking a cigarette, bored. When the soldier saw me he said in a casual, matter-of-fact tone of voice, ‘Where did you come from?’ I just belly-landed my airplane not far from here and want to surrender , I said. ‘Have you had breakfast yet?’ he asked politely. I never will forget this experience. I soon found myself standing in the chow line in an American mess tent, a German Luftwaffe officer in full uniform with all my medals on. My English was acceptable, not great. I could answer questions and have a simple conversation with curious GIs. I was absolutely flabbergasted at the cordial reception. We all sat down together at a table to eat and talk. It turned out that I was the first German soldier they had captured. It was a field artillery unit, getting The Birth of Project Overcast [ 354 ] ready to ship out to the Pacific. I stayed with them overnight, slept in a tent all by myself in the comfort of an American sleeping bag. It all seemed too easy. During the interrogation the following morning I revealed that I had experience with remotely controlled flying bombs, the Hs 293, launched from the...