Reprinted by permission of the 773rd Hostiles and Chuck "Creamo" Kremer.
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
permission of the 773rd Hostiles and Chuck "Creamo" Kremer.
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.
303rd Bomb Drop
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".
303rd BG
That's My Baby: February 16, 1945
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 target 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
shuddered 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 its
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 pilot's
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 knew 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 shells 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.
Furthermore, 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.
Damage from flak on B-17 #42-97329 Flak Hack 360BS
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 exploded 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. Thanks to
Leo "Central" Park for gathering the information.
