This story was originally
sent to Central of the 773rd
Hostiles by one of the American Heroes from W.W.II, Willard "HAP"
Reese: Pilot of B17 flying fortress. This article has been reposted here
by kind permission of the 773rd
Hostiles. Keep an eye on their site
for more of the same.
Many stories have been written about the gallant defenses and the huge
losses that were sustained by the Eighth Air Force as a result of Luftwaffe
attacks on our bomber formations. And, to be sure, they were especially
devastating and very often resulted in major losses of bombers and crews.
Aircrew gunners have written time and again of the exchanges between their
50 caliber guns and the 20 millimeter cannons of the enemy and how bomber
crews had fought off enemy planes and persisted in spite of the attacks.
The "Memphis Belle" and "Twelve O'clock High" films are testaments to
the tenacity of aerial combat.
I'm sure, however, that when the records are finalized and one looks closely
at the losses, it will be determined that more B-17's were lost to antiaircraft
fire than to FW190's or ME109's. One could not shoot back at "Flak" so
it tended to be less glorious -- but nonetheless deadly.
Whenever there was heavy overcast we would encounter barrage type flak,
that is, all antiaircraft guns were controlled by a central radar unit
and all fired simultaneously causing hundreds of shell bursts in one general
area and at one specific altitude. This was the kind of flak that was
described as "heavy enough to walk on" -- and was the most deadly if it
happened to be accurately placed.
On a clear day, when the antiaircraft gunners could see our formation,
they were cleared to fire at any plane which they might pick out and adjust
the direction and altitude of their shell bursts as they fired and as
might be necessary. The quality of the German antiaircraft guns and the
skill of their gunners made life miserable for those of us who had to
fly straight and level through a sea of bursting flak and flying shrapnel.
If "practice makes perfect", then the German gun crews were the best.
Here is a typical German battery of four 88 milimeter antiaircraft guns
and their crews firing in unison (barrage).
The following is about one of our many encounters with flak. It's about
a German gun crew firing at a plane almost five miles above them. A gun
crew whose accuracy and persistence almost brought to an end the tour
of one crew of ten men in a B17 named "That's My Baby".
This particular encounter occurred on Feb. 16th, 1945. It was our twenty-fourth
mission and our target on this date was the synthetic oil facilities at
Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The route of the 457th was on course and on schedule.
The visibility in the target area was crystal clear with only light cloud
cover at about 5000 feet. From the initial point to the targer the flak
was extremely heavy and accurate, something we had come to expect on a
clear day such as this. But this day, moreso than others, it seemed that
each shell was bursting immediately adjacent to us and with each burst
our plane shuttered a little as if fatally hit. Every plane in the squadron
was taking a murderous beating from the flak. Midway on the bomb run the
deputy lead plane in the low box sustained a direct hit in his port wing
between the number two engine and the fuselage. Almost immediately the
wing folded up and broke off, almost colliding with another plane. The
two parts of the plane spiraled out of control with fire billowing from
each part as it fell. No one in our crew saw any parachutes. The intercom
was ominously quiet. Weeks later we learned that six of the crewmen did
not survive.
It was not unusual, after a visual bomb run with heavy flak, for the formation
to break after dropping its bombs. Each plane would take it's own evasive
action to try to avoid the flak and then later reassemble with the squadron
after leaving the target area. We felt safe from Luftwaffe fighters at
this time since any attack while we were in the target area would also
expose them to their own friendly flak fire.
On this day, immediately after dropping our bombs, we broke formation
to the right from the high box and immediately were tracked by a single
antiaircraft gun. The flak bursts were directly in front of the nose of
our plane -- one after the other in rapid succession about 3 seconds apart.
It seemed they were no more than 50 feet in front of the nose of our plane.
The black bursts were unusually large and we were instantly engulfed in
the residual smoke from the burst. We dove sharply and the flak followed.
We turned as tightly as a B17 can turn and the flak followed directly
in front of us. Then, suddenly we were hit. The explosion was in the nose
compartment of the plane where the navigator and bombardier were located.
Even with our helmets and headphones on, the sound was deafening. A fierce,
cold wind suddenly blew through the pilots compartment. A quick glance
at the instrument panel told me that engine number three had been hit.
The oil pressure was dropping rapidly. Flying bits of aluminum gave me
a clue that there was damage overhead in the pilots compartment and our
instrument panel now had a major dent from the force of shrapnel hitting
the forward side of the panel.
We immediately feathered engine #3 and cut the switches. Oil was streaming
from the engine nacelle. I tried to contact Joel Lester in the forward
compartment but could not. The silent intercom to the navigator's compartment
only reinforced my belief that we had sustained major injuries.....or
worse. My worst fears were relieved when Joel's head appeared through
the opening leading from the nose compartment to the flight deck. His
oxygen mask had been blown off by the force of the wind and he was asking
the flight engineer to get him the emergency portable oxygen bottle. We
were still at 20,000 feet altitude and oxygen was an imperative. Joel
shouted to me that he and the navigator "didn't have a scratch" but were
about to freeze from the blast of subzero air now blowing through the
front of the plane. The flak bursts were still coming but we were almost
out of the range of the gun and were no longer concerned with evasive
action.
A quick look upward told me that some flak had penetrated the fuselage
above my head and there were several nicks in the bullet resistant glass
of the windshield that had not been there before. Our bombardier and navigator
crawled out of the nose and retreated through the pilots compartment to
the radio room. From the rush of cold air we new there was a major opening
in the nose of the plane and the acrid smell of gunpowder lingered in
the air. The air temperatures at this altitude in the winter frequently
exceeded 40 degrees below zero.
We were now down to about 16000 feet and far from our squadron which was
reassembling several thousand feet above us. With only three engines we
were never able to catch up with our group but we were able to keep them
in sight till we reached the English coast. Again we were fortunate that
no fighters were in the area as the physical condition of our plane and
our isolated location was a 'made-to-order' type kill for them.
Our bombardier, Joel, having found a throat mike and helmet in the radio
room, proceeded to update me on what had happened. He reported that the
burst had not been in the nose but directly in front of it. The shrapnel
had shattered the plexiglas nose, damaged the bomb sight, and sprayed
the nose compartment with deadly pieces of flying metal. It had miraculously
spared both he and the navigator. It seems that one of the pieces of shrapnel
had hit a 50 caliber ammunition box on the floor adjacent to his foot
and had exploded several shell which, in turn, had blasted a hole through
the aluminum fuselage of the nose compartment without injuring him.
After crossing the Dutch coast we dropped down to about 2000 feet over
the North Sea where the air temperature was considerably warmer. It had
become unbearably cold in the pilot's compartment and, although it was
February the blast of air now flowing through our compartment felt comfortably
warm.
We continued to Glatton on our three engines and landed without incident.
As I loosened my parachute to leave my seat and review the damage first
hand, I observed that the flak fragment that had pierced the fuselage
almost directly above my head had indeed come close. It was lodged in
my parachute directly behind my left shoulder. I later dug out the fragment
and still have it today. A souvenir of a close call -- both to the plane,
the crew, and to me. A slow walk around the plane made me aware of how
fortunate we had been. The front end of the plane suffered major damage.
The plexiglas nose was almost completely gone. There was a hole just above
and to the starboard side of the navigator's compartment about a foot
in diameter (where our exploding 50's had exited) and the chin turret
was inoperable. One of the two 50 caliber guns veered off at a sharp angle
from the other. Several other fragments had punctured the fuselage in
the navigator compartment, the leading edge of the right wing, and the
cowling of the number three engine.
This was one of many episodes with flak. I cannot recall a mission where
we were not under fire from antiaircraft guns for at least a portion of
the time we were over enemy territory. This time our plane suffered major
damage but none of the crew was scratched. We had a few silent prayers
of thanks as we returned to our hut that night.
Addenda:
The following is an excerpt from official War Dept. document about "Flak"
and the results of flak on the air war over Europe.
Fliegerabwehrkanonen ( FLAK ) Ack-Ack
The accuracy and effectiveness of FLAK or anti-aircraft artillery fire
was derided at the start of the war but it gained a healthy respect as
the war dragged on. By 1942 15,000 88mm ( 3.46 in ) guns formed the bulk
of heavy flak defenses for Germany. Large numbers of 37mm ( 1.47 in )
and 20mm ( 0.79 in ) guns filled the skies with shells during every air
raid. Often arrayed in "belts" around a city or target 88s could fire
22 lb ( 10 kg ) shells up to 35,000 ft ( 10,600 m ) at a rate of 15 -
20 rounds per minute. The excellent 88mm ( 3.46 in ) gun proved very effective
especially when radar was used to help with aiming. The shells exploding
at a preset altitude sending metal splinters flying in all directions.
Later groups of up to 40 heavy flak guns Grossbatterien fired rectangular
patterns of shellbursts known as box barrages that proved very deadly
to enemy bombers.
In 1944 Flak accounted for 3,501 American planes destroyed, enemy fighters
shot down about 600 less in the same time period. More flak guns gradually
appeared, mainly the 128mm ( 5 in ) German Flak accounted for 50 of the
72 RAF bombers lost over Berlin on the night of March 24th, 1944. An incredible
56 bombers were destroyed or crippled by flak during a B-17 raid on Merseburg
in November of 1944.
My thanks go to Willard "HAP" Reese and all the Heroes of W.W.II
for their sacrifices to keep us free. I would also like to thank Central,
Creamo and all the 773rd
Hostiles for sharing this article.
