Memories of the 384th Bomb Group

In an effort to stall the travel of supplies, raw materials and personnel, the 384^th joined the Wing and put 15 B-17’s over the target today. “Patches II” 42-3441 led the mission with Major Becket on board. The 384^th reached the target area after other groups had already been there. Though much smoke came from the target, it was still easy to locate the aiming point. The Lead bombardier, 1^st Lt. Clyde P. Carlson said the bombs were square on the target. Signs of mass destruction followed the descriptions given in many of the recent missions; smoke billowing high into the air and visible for many miles.

P-47’s roamed the area by the hundreds and no enemy fighters got through. The FLAK was rough in the Ruhr area, but none over the target. Some of these bursts were luminous and brilliant, similar to magnesium and produced white smoke. This was unusual and was noticed by many of those who saw it.

As was usual on many missions, there were problems with aircraft, either mechanical or lack of fuel. Usually they were caused by FLAK or fighters, and though the damage was slight, it often presented serious problems. This was the case with “Wahoo II”, piloted by Lt. William M. Wilson. This is the report he filed after the mission.

We took off on time and assembled over the field without difficulty. However, after we formed we could not keep up with the formation. Aside from that, the course to the English coast was as briefed. The Group at that time, seemed to turn too soon and the Group Leader ordered his course back down. We crossed the Dutch Coast all right and we were about two miles south of course. We continued on to the I.P. and when we were between the I.P. and the target, enemy sent up a terrific barrage of FLAK and we were forced to drop our bombs at this point. All bombs were released except one 1 x 1000 lb. Which hung up on the external rack. Hell really broke loose at this time and we started to go back by ourselves.

We started our course back home with the #2 engine knocked out, two holes in the # 3 tank, two flat tires, and the ship full of holes. We sent out an S.O.S. saying that we might not make England, and also sent out a fix. However, we managed to hit the English coast and while passing over the water, we threw all our guns, ammunition, and everything that was available overboard. We sighted an airfield near the coast and we decided to crash-land on it. We came down very low and noticed that this field was still under construction and there were a lot of men working on it. We set our AFCE (auto-pilot) on a course of 120 degrees and we all started to bail out over the field. We had about two or three minutes left before the gas tanks would have been empty. The AFCE did not work and the plane turned from 120 degrees and started heading south. The plane cracked up near Eye, killing a cow and causing no other damage. Our engineer suffered from a probable fractured ankle, and other members of the crew had slight injuries.

This would be the last mission for “Yankee Gal”. No mention was made of the reason for the crash landing of this aircraft at RAF Desford. It was salvaged there and the crew was all safe. This may have been the aircraft reported to have been seen spinning out of control for a few thousand feet before regaining control. Cause may have been a FLAK burst over the pilot’s head, which injured his right hand and shattered some of the glass in the cockpit. On the same aircraft it was also reported that the electric heat failed in the ball turret, causing the operator to freeze his feet. It is unconfirmed that this is the reason for the crash landing in England, but this aircraft was salvaged there after this mishap.

Another form filled out is sub-titled “Crew Suggestions”. Some of the suggestions seemed more to be complaints. From aircraft # 005; “Poor food caused cramped stomach to bother 4 crew members.” From A/C # 557, “Prevent windows from freezing.” A/C #026, “Pre-flight on engines was started too early; silk gloves for all officers; Poor breakfast.” (Silk gloves are worn under regular gloves to prevent frostbite when flying gloves are removed for intricate flight chores). Another suggestion came from one of the mission reports: Can top turret man get a colored glass in turret? It would enable him to see them (E/A) coming from the sun.

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