FIRST MISSION....

   At 4 AM we were rudely awakened with a loud voice " OK men, time to drop your cocks and grab your socks, you have one hour to get ready, eat, and report to briefing." All three crews in our barracks were scheduled for today's mission. At breakfast the normal amount of bitching about the sorry food etc. went on. Most of it was a mere formality just to relieve the apprehension. After breakfast we returned to the barracks, put on our flight suit, strapped on our 45 pistol, and reported to the briefing room. The first thing, we signed for was an emergency belt. This was a cloth belt to be checked out before each mission and returned when the mission was completed. We were warned never to open this belt unless we were shot down, the contents were critical for survival. Some of the items were 200 dollars in Burmese currency, compass, maps; a small round can of concentrated opium, and other items. We were told, if we went down, make our way to a village. Bribe the chief with a small pinch of the opium and some cash for his help in getting you out. A small pinch of opium added to a few drops of water would be enough to put the chief on a good "high." There was also some Morphine in the belt, to be used in case of severe injury. All seven crews were assembled; each pilot was responsible that all his crew were present. The squadron commander gave us our main target and alternate target in case the first one was socked in by bad weather. Next the lead navigator gave us all the coordinates to and from the target and the alternate, also a time check. G 2 gave us all the information available on what to expect in the way of fighters, and anti-air craft fire, better known as ack-ack. The weather officer gave wind details. This info would be used by the engineer to determine gas consumption. The bombardiers had to know wind direction and speed to put in the Norden Bombsight.

   Our target was a cement factory located at Tongoo in central Burma. The flying time would be approx. nine hours. The Japs had several well placed ack-ack guns and a few fighters located close by. Finally the Chaplain was called on to give a short prayer. The engineers, from each crew were told to go to the mess hall and pick up the sandwiches that had been prepared for each crew. We all loaded into trucks that were waiting to take us to the planes. Crews after crew were dropped off at their respective planes. Take off time was set for 7 AM. The ground crew had prepared the bomb load, ammunition, fuel, and checked all maintenance.

   We stowed all our gear and prepared to start the engines, taxi out to the runway for take off at one minute intervals. So far everything was going great as we gradually moved up to in line for takeoff. Finally the pilot announced, "prepare for take-off”. As he moved the throttles forward we began gaining air speed. The engines were straining with the load of twelve 500 pound bombs and all gun positions loaded to the hilt with ammo. The point of no return came by and our wheels were still on the runway. At last the nose began to come up and we were airborne. As we gained altitude we could see the remainder of the squadron taking off. At five thousand feet we started joining the other planes in a loose formation. The other three squadrons in the group were also putting up seven planes, making a total of twenty eight planes flying this mission.

   As we neared the coast of India all planes began a closer formation for crossing the Bay of Bengal. Crossing the Bay was about a two hour trip to the coast of Burma. During the trip across, Miller checked his bomb load, removing all the safety pins so the bombs would explode on impact. All gun positions were checked, making sure the gun turrets were in working order. Orders were given to fire a test burst from each gun. A B-24 has four gun turrets with twin 50 caliber machine guns in each, two waist guns. One on each side. The turrets are located in the nose, my position, the tail, Earley's position, top, Preston's position, belly, Willard’s position, and the waist positions handled by Mauro and Sasser.

   At last the coast of Burma was sighted. We had been flying at ten thousand feet and as the coast of Burma appeared we began climbing to our designated bombing altitude of seventeen thousand feet. We were ordered to put on our oxygen masks as the air gets too thin for breathing and could be fatal if oxygen is not supplied. All planes began assembling in tight formation. Each squadron would form two "V”, one "V" behind the other. Each "V" would have a lead plane and two wing planes. The seventh plane would fly behind the last "V". The other three squadrons would form the same setup. Over the past, this type of formation proved to give the maximum fire power against enemy fighter planes.

   As we were nearing the target one of the check points was the Irrawaddy River. Flying the nose I had an excellent view of everything coming up. We were all on intercom and could notify each other of important details. I saw the River and told the pilot, he acknowledged. We were south of the target and would make the bombing run from south to north. By this time we were on full alert for any enemy activity, nothing so far. The whole formation starting making a slow turn to the north. We had just completed our turn when, about a thousand feet below, a couple of white puffs of smoke appeared. We were getting a couple shots of ack-ack. I thought to myself, "if that's all those little yellow bastards can put up, we have it made." The thought had just left my mind when "Bam", just in front of us a whole barrage of ack-ack opened up. Each shot was leaving a puff of smoke and they were so close we could feel the concussion while flying through the smoke. Miller announced we were coming up on the target and the bomb bay doors were open. All the while the ack-ack was getting closer and denser. Finally it was, "BOMBS AWAY." So far we could see no enemy fighters. We had just completed the "bombs away" when the damnest explosion you ever heard took place. Earley (flying tail turret) said, "My God one of our planes has taken a direct hit from one of our own bombs." In making the bombing run approach one of the squadrons had made too tight a turn and was under another squadron when it was "bombs away." They had taken a direct hit. In what seemed like an eternity the pilot said, “close the bomb bay doors, and let's get our ass out of here." We stayed on the alert for fighters all the way back to the coast of Burma. Nothing happened so we stowed our guns, left our positions, and gathered on the flight deck for sandwiches and coffee. As we crossed back over the Bay of Bengal our altitude was reduced to ten thousand feet. We were no longer required to fly formation, we were on our own and it was up to Mac (navigator) to get us back home. He gave us an estimated time of arrival (ETA) at 4.35 PM. The mood flying back home was rather sober, everyone was no doubt thinking of the crew that was lost, and it could have been us. We finally crossed over the coast of India, and could see Calcutta off in the distance. We touched down on our runway nine hours and forty five minutes from the time we took off, completely "bushed." We taxied to our revetment area, got out and looked over the plane for damage. We had picked up two small holes from the ack-ack. The ground crew would repair those before the next flight. A truck came by and took us back to HQ for debriefing. Each crew member was interviewed as to what we saw and any other information we could give. We were all happy to hear there would be no mission the following day.

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Men of the 7th Bomb Group