sectionCwannabe
02-14-2007, 10:01 PM
this is from my wifes, grandfathers war diary. I really like story of this raid, it was a close call.........
Date – March 30/44
Combat Hours – 3 hours and 45 minutes
Pilot – 1st Lt. Barbati
Crew – Regular crew
Target – Sofia, Bulgaria
Story:
This was only a short mission, but it was a hot one. At briefing they told us to expect anything. We thank God that we are back from this one. Before we got to the target, plane in No. 6 position in our Squadron lost control, did a snap roll and went down. We had two groups of P-38's escorting us to this target, there and back, and P-47's were circling the target when we got there. The flak over the target was the worst I have ever seen. Just before we were ready to drop our bombs two bursts of flak hit very close to us. One burst about six feet from the nose of the ship, tearing up the bombardier's instrument panel, and hit him in the shoulder, he salvoed his bombs. Macafee was hit in the leg, but it only raised a knot. Adams in the top turret was hit in the leg, but it didn't bring blood. I was hit in the foot when the second burst, burst between the rudder and my tail turret. It only bruised my foot a little, although there were two flak holes the size of hen eggs within a foot of my head. One passed in front of my head and the other behind my head, for there were identical holes on the opposite side of the turret, where the two pieces of flak had passed through. When the first burst hit wounding Chris, it knocked out all the hydraulic system and the electrical system. Our interphone system was knocked out too, and we had no way to communicate with each other. Three engines quit running momentarily, and we fell back about two miles behind our formation. As I have said before when a plane straggles their chances are very slim. We were attacked by two FW-190's at one time, and singly by two more. All the other turrets were out, and mine was the only one that could be operated manually. Of course we had two waist guns, but we didn't have much chance at that. The P-38's were too busy to help us, so we had to fight them off ourselves. I shot down the third plane that attacked us, so he won't be attacking anyone anymore. One of the Pilots up in our formation called up the P-38's and asked them to come down and protect us, and they slowed up the formation till we could catch up. That's the only way we were saved. Six P-38's stayed with us till we caught the formation and got out of danger. When we got back to the field, we had no hydraulic system, so we hand cranked the landing gear down, but we couldn't get the flaps down, and it's almost impossible to land without flaps. We circled the field and shot two red flares, so the ambulance could be waiting to take Chris when we got down. Lt. Barbati gave us the choice of hitting the silk, or riding her down. Bill and I and Tierney were ready to jump, but Tierney and Bill backed out, so I wasn't going to jump by myself. So with no brakes and no flaps we started in to try and land. 7 men were in the tail of the ship, to weigh the tail down and drag it in, so it would stop before we hit the trees at the other end of the runway. The tail wouldn't go down, so the Pilot pushed the brakes all the way to the floor, and thank God, there was enough pressure left to slow it down to a stop. The ambulance was waiting there and they bandaged up Chris's arm. He is in the Hospital, but he'll only be there a week or so. Our plane won't fly for about two weeks; it was flaked up so bad, (55 holes in vital spots, besides the little ones). We were riding with God this trip.
When we got here we found that one of the Pilots that was shot down over Yugoslavia, had escaped with 4 of his crew. Two of the boys, are here in the barracks now telling their story of escape. They are coming back to the States in a few days. We don't have too long to go tho. We also had our Air Medal presented to us when we got back. Our crew was first to receive them because we are the oldest crew here, and have the most missions. We are mighty proud of them too.
Oh yeah, the purpose of this mission was to sorta convince Bulgaria that it would be a good idea to get out of the war; from the way we hit this target, they may be convinced.
Date – March 30/44
Combat Hours – 3 hours and 45 minutes
Pilot – 1st Lt. Barbati
Crew – Regular crew
Target – Sofia, Bulgaria
Story:
This was only a short mission, but it was a hot one. At briefing they told us to expect anything. We thank God that we are back from this one. Before we got to the target, plane in No. 6 position in our Squadron lost control, did a snap roll and went down. We had two groups of P-38's escorting us to this target, there and back, and P-47's were circling the target when we got there. The flak over the target was the worst I have ever seen. Just before we were ready to drop our bombs two bursts of flak hit very close to us. One burst about six feet from the nose of the ship, tearing up the bombardier's instrument panel, and hit him in the shoulder, he salvoed his bombs. Macafee was hit in the leg, but it only raised a knot. Adams in the top turret was hit in the leg, but it didn't bring blood. I was hit in the foot when the second burst, burst between the rudder and my tail turret. It only bruised my foot a little, although there were two flak holes the size of hen eggs within a foot of my head. One passed in front of my head and the other behind my head, for there were identical holes on the opposite side of the turret, where the two pieces of flak had passed through. When the first burst hit wounding Chris, it knocked out all the hydraulic system and the electrical system. Our interphone system was knocked out too, and we had no way to communicate with each other. Three engines quit running momentarily, and we fell back about two miles behind our formation. As I have said before when a plane straggles their chances are very slim. We were attacked by two FW-190's at one time, and singly by two more. All the other turrets were out, and mine was the only one that could be operated manually. Of course we had two waist guns, but we didn't have much chance at that. The P-38's were too busy to help us, so we had to fight them off ourselves. I shot down the third plane that attacked us, so he won't be attacking anyone anymore. One of the Pilots up in our formation called up the P-38's and asked them to come down and protect us, and they slowed up the formation till we could catch up. That's the only way we were saved. Six P-38's stayed with us till we caught the formation and got out of danger. When we got back to the field, we had no hydraulic system, so we hand cranked the landing gear down, but we couldn't get the flaps down, and it's almost impossible to land without flaps. We circled the field and shot two red flares, so the ambulance could be waiting to take Chris when we got down. Lt. Barbati gave us the choice of hitting the silk, or riding her down. Bill and I and Tierney were ready to jump, but Tierney and Bill backed out, so I wasn't going to jump by myself. So with no brakes and no flaps we started in to try and land. 7 men were in the tail of the ship, to weigh the tail down and drag it in, so it would stop before we hit the trees at the other end of the runway. The tail wouldn't go down, so the Pilot pushed the brakes all the way to the floor, and thank God, there was enough pressure left to slow it down to a stop. The ambulance was waiting there and they bandaged up Chris's arm. He is in the Hospital, but he'll only be there a week or so. Our plane won't fly for about two weeks; it was flaked up so bad, (55 holes in vital spots, besides the little ones). We were riding with God this trip.
When we got here we found that one of the Pilots that was shot down over Yugoslavia, had escaped with 4 of his crew. Two of the boys, are here in the barracks now telling their story of escape. They are coming back to the States in a few days. We don't have too long to go tho. We also had our Air Medal presented to us when we got back. Our crew was first to receive them because we are the oldest crew here, and have the most missions. We are mighty proud of them too.
Oh yeah, the purpose of this mission was to sorta convince Bulgaria that it would be a good idea to get out of the war; from the way we hit this target, they may be convinced.