Page Eight

Each crewmember has specific preflight tasks to perform before boarding the plane. Now it is time to put on the helmet, with mask attached to one side, the Mae West (life vest), and parachute. For me, it was a parachute harness, since I used a chest pack. The chest pack was carried on and placed under the navigation table. At each crew station was a steel helmet and flak suit. Rules said to put these on before reaching the enemy lines. Actually, you left them off unless bandits (fighters) were reported in the area or flak bursts were observed. 

Although each mission is different, generally, you get to the target, drop the bombs, and return to home base. During the debriefing there was a shot of the strong stuff on the table in front of each crewmember. The bombardier always took care of mine. 

Before I leave this topic, I should note that the B24 was nothing like today's pressurized and heated airliners with all the fancy equipment and safety features.  This was a plane pushing the envelope on every takeoff, with full bomb and fuel loads. At altitude, you were putting up with inside air temperatures of minus 40 to 50 degrees. Just make sure your skin never makes contact with metal.

R&R

With the end of the war in Germany, it was time to get back to the States, transition to B29 's, and head to the Pacific. This tour of duty had resulted in a promotion to First Lieutenant, an air medal with one oak leaf cluster, and three battle stars to the ETO campaign ribbon. Sad to say, but these would probably bring twenty-five cents in a flea market today. 

Since we had done no celestial navigation for over six months, it was determined that we should practice before bringing the planes back across the Atlantic. We flew two night celestials up to the northern tip of Scotland and back. So what happens, we fly back in the daytime! 

Bringing back the planes turned out to be a longer journey than planned. The next task, after practice, was to find the airfield on Terceira a small island in the Azores group in the Atlantic. To give an idea of the size, Terceira has a complete area of 153 square miles, while Indiana has over 36,000 square miles. 

Leaving Valley. Wales mid-morning means flying southwest will give course lines from sun shots which duplicate those obtained by drift readings. That leaves speed to an educated guess. At least we should find the island, even if it is difficult to determine when. 

We were to spend the night in the Azores and go to Gander, Newfoundland the next day. During preflight, our flight engineer noted foreign material in the glass fuel sight gauge. It was determined that a fuel cell had collapsed and what showed up was some of the self-sealing material. We waited 11 days for a replacement cell to be flown in and installed. Not a happy event for a crew that was looking forward to getting home.  

We finally took off and headed to Newfoundland. Things seemed to be going well until the pilot asked if we had passed the point of no return. I said no and inquired why he asked. We were losing oil pressure on one engine and would probably have to shut it down. So, it was back to the Azores with the fun of finding that small speck of land again. We spent 2 more days there while they fixed the engine. 

After one night in Newfoundland, we took off for Bradley Field, Connecticut. We left the B24 there and the crew left to spend a month of rest and recuperation (R & R) at home.  The crew had increased to twelve members when we advanced to lead crew status in mid March. A radar operator and number two navigator had been added Anyway, the twelve took off to ten different states for R&R.

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