Posted by JerryS on March 13, 2012 at 22:11:09 from (98.80.88.198):
Back in the fall I posted some photos of a B-17 that was making a tour stop in our town. This week was a similar event, but this time they had a B-17 plus a B-24 and a P-51. I persuaded an older friend to go to the display with me, as he had flown some 33 combat missions in both bombers---about half and half in each. I asked him on how many of those 33 missions had his plane been hit. His answer: “All of them.” His hits were all from flak, not MEs. He said that they flew different altitudes each day to keep the Germans guessing on how to time the fuses on their AA rounds. He was a top turret gunner on both planes. My friend Lenard, (shown in the photos) jokes that he still owes the government for two planes that he was unable to return. One of those he and his crew crash landed in a hostile zone in France. They immediately set the plane on fire, with dramatic visual results. He said that probably prevented nearby German troops from bothering to search for survivors. They found their way to the American lines the next day. The second occurrence was when they were returning from France over the Channel with an engine of their 24 on fire from hits. As soon as they crossed the English coastline they bailed. These are just random shots of all three planes. The P-51 is actually running and taxiing for takeoff in this photo (what a great sound that engine made) but the camera stopped the prop. That strange-looking tube protruding from the belly of the B-24 was pointed out to me by Lenard, who described it as a “relief valve”. The other end of the tube came up inside the cabin of the ship, and the guys used it to “relieve” themselves in flight. He said they used it a lot over Germany to give Hitler a little something extra. Lenard and I attend the same church. We found that we have something else in common: his great-great uncle and my great grandfather served side-by-side (H Company, I Company) in the 19th Louisiana Infantry back during the Great Unpleasantness.
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