Something for the weekend. The theme from the television series Twelve Oclock High. Based upon the 1949 movie, the television series, which ran from 1964-1967, took a look at the men of the 918th Bombardment Group of the 8th Army Air Force in 1943. The 8th Air Force sustained fatalities of 26,000, more than incurred by the US Marine Corps during World War II. Among the bomber groups losses of 25 percent on a mission were not uncommon. One can imagine the type of quiet heroism needed by the flight crews to go through a harrowing mission and repeat the process the next day. My Bride and I are currently making our way through the episodes, all of which may be found on You Tube.
My uncle flew in a B-17 over Europe. Radio gunner. He said with each mission you would still see men, no matter how many missions they had flown, on the way to their planes stepping aside and getting sick from the nerves.
They had no control. It did not matter how good a crew was. A direct hit by flack or too many German fighters and they were done for. Not to mention this was just 40 years since Kittyhawk. The technology behind the B-17 was new and some of it was experimental. It was easy to die due to aircraft malfunction let alone enemy action.
Yep. My uncle also said that while they learned to have a respectful fear of the German pilots, it was the flack they feared. You couldn’t do anything. You just sat and prayed because the next hit would either be you or it wouldn’t. In his case, he said smoking saved him on one mission because he was out of cigarettes. So he stepped back to ask a fellow for some more. At that point an explosion rocked the plane. He looked back and there was open space where his station had been.