The day would begin when the orderly woke the crews who had to fly. The crew would be given the times for chow and briefing and the orderly would disappear. Preparing for a mission was an adventure in itself. Shaving was done in cold water, it was miserable, but it had to be done. Any stubble underneath the oxygen mask would irritate the face, leaving it raw and sore.
The crew dressed in the warmest clothing they had available. Where they were about to go it could get as cold as -30° or colder. The waist gunners had the added threat of wind-chill because the large windows in the waist were open. After briefing, they would put on heated flight suits and sheepskin lined jackets, pants, boots, gloves and helmets.
Breakfast was the usual dehydrated food that they got every other day. No comfortable chow hall to relax in. Coffee, that always present staple of the U.S. Military, was available. So what if it was so strong you could float a .50 Caliber bullet in it; at least it would wake you up.
Briefing was a formal affair. There were general briefings, for the crew followed by specialized briefings for the Bombardier, Navigator, and Radio Operator. When the crews gathered in the briefing area, the nervous conversation was overshadowed by the covered map that hung on the wall. Under that covering, which would be removed shortly, was the flight route for the days mission. When the map was revealed, there would be a combination of nervous laughter, sudden inhalation, and swearing from crews.
The weather officer would report on what the weather would likely
be over the target. He occasionally got it right. There would also be briefings
on flak, enemy fighters, emergency landing areas, and alternate targets...
just in case the weather officer got it wrong.
After the briefing, the crews would head out to pick up additional
flying equipment, parachutes, and their guns. They would then head to their
assigned plane for the day. While the gunners got their equipment situated,
the pilot and ground crew chief would make a "pre-flight" of the bomber. It took close to two hours to run through the pre-flight check list. It has been said that a pilot could walk around the plane and look, but
if he really wanted to know what the status of the plane was he had to
ask the ground crew.
From take off until the bomber returned safely, the ground crew would sweat them out. For the crew, it was not a complete mission until they were back on the ground. Flak thick enough to walk on, fighters attacking in groups of six, rough weather, and extreme cold made each mission more and more difficult.
The policy of the 15th Air Force was that each member of a crew had
to complete 50 missions to rotate home. This is compared to 35 missions
required by the 8th Air Force in England. It was soon discovered that morale
was low because most crews didn't complete the required 50 missions before
they were shot down or killed. An ingenious plan was developed to give
particularly long or hard missions credit as two missions. This way, the
average crew would only have to fly over enemy territory around 35-38 times,
bringing it back closer to the 8th's mission requirement. Harvey Brown flew
37 combat missions, with credit for 50, to some of the hardest targets
in German occupied territory.
He flew to targets that will always be remembered by the men that flew and
fought there, and by the families of the men who died there: Ploesti, Rumania;
Wienerneustadt, Germany; Friedrichhafen, Germany and the August 22 mission
to Vienna, Austria.
After a mission, the crew would go through an extensive de-briefing to determine what had occurred over the target etc. At these de-briefings, reports of flak, fighters, missing air crews and strike estimates were reported and compiled by intelligence officers. Later the crews would wearily eat dinner and go to sleep.
In the end, heavy bomber crews would sustain the second highest casualty
rate in W.W.II, second only to the infantry soldier on the ground.
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