Sunday Oct 22, 1944 Mission #12 Destination - Brunswick Target - Tank and Tractor Works Time - 8 hours Take-off - 1005 A Return - 1810 A Fuel load - 2700 gallons Bomb load - 14 - 250 lb Bombing Altitude - 27,500 Ft Bombs away - 1410 A Bombing results - Unobserved Flak - Meager Fighter escort - Excellent Hours on Oxygen - 5 Foul weather had grounded all activity on the 20th and 21st. The entire Eighth Air Force scuttled missions while waiting out the storm. The heavy rain prevented the air crews from indulging in their normal diversions. Even a bicycle ride to Royston was out of the question. The extra sleep was welcomed, and the few brave souls who managed to venture out for a breakfast of square eggs, had to fight their way to the mess hall through sheets of pelting rain. Word came down of a possible weather window on the morning of the 22nd, and though arriving late, it did arrive, and the crews made ready for a rare, mid-morning takeoff. This morning there would be no need for the flashlights, with their odd side slits of light, as the crews went about installing their gun barrels, and turning the props in full daylight. They knew they were going to Brunswick, and the gunners had been advised at their briefing to expect fighters. Assuming they met their rendezvous, fighter escort should be excellent. As they left, the window closed behind them. Although they didnt know it then, upon their return, landing would be by instrument. Excellent navigation enroute to the target allowed them to skirt the usual flak hot spots. At best, six or eight bursts were sighted. This appeared to be a half hearted attempt, as all fell short, detonating well below the formation. The fighters they had been forewarned about failed to materialize. A couple of Fw-109s were reported, but these were scared off in short order by the bevy of Jugs and Mustangs that accompanied the bomber stream. 10/10 cloud cover over the target meant bombing by PFF. There would be a few more puffs of flak, but the bombs were away and they turned for home. It was at this time that their safety rested solely in the hands of the pilots. Indeed, due to weather, the 4 B-17s lost that day came as result of two mid-air collisions, and now they were heading right into the soup. Bassingbourn was enshrouded with fog and rain, visibility was poor. The heavy cloud cover made the early evening even darker than usual. Tail gunner Frank Drake reported the tail wheel was down and locked into place then went forward where waist gunner Jack Stafford was helping gunner John Leggieri from the ball turret. From there they gathered in Moshiers radio room. In the nose, bombardier Ned Davis confirmed that the landing gear was down and followed navigator Larry Politzer to their positions in the radio room. They braced for impact, should it come. The pilots were trained in instrument landing. They were trained for night landings, and they had all certainly landed in inclement weather, but put them all together, and it just wasnt something that they could practice every day. The mood was tense. Pilot Tommie Holmes and co-pilot Wes Edwards smoothly worked together to get the bomber down. Engineer, and top turret gunner Earl Jones, stood behind them calling out instrument readings, and other pertinent information, adding that all crew were in position. In the midst of all this came word from the tower to get them down and clear all runways asap. Because of zero visibility at Nuthampstead, the three squadrons of the 398th BG had been diverted to Bassingbourn, they were right on their heels and running low on fuel. The landing went surprisingly well, given the circumstances, and nobody crashed. Tommie set Blood N Guts down light as a feather, causing someone to say that it was his best landing yet. Aw, you say that about all my landings, he replied. After debriefing they waited around, curious to see how the 398th would fare. Considering they had never landed at Bassingbourn before, they made it look easy. Good pilots, everyone agreed. They would have liked to shoot the breeze with these fellows, but the trucks were waiting to take them back to Nuthampstead. They would retrieve their planes tomorrow, weather permitting. *From the comments block in Frank Drakes flight log, Dad wrote one word regarding this mission...Cluster.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 13:17:05 +0000
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