The Experience of War in Nazi Airspace
by someone who was there
by someone who was there
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Welcome to the World War II missions log of flight
engineer and gunner, Mel Pontillo. It is preceded
by a page of educational notes about the 8th Army
Air Force and the crew with whom Mel served. It
is then followed by World War II era photos and a
an interview with Mel, regarding his experiences.
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. . . It was the heavies . . .
The following excerpts come from journalist & eventual war casualty
Ernie Pyle. They describe the experience of seeing and hearing the
Eighth Army Air Force approach an enemy target and then unleash
its fire power upon that target. More specifically, they come from
the famed journalist's account of the July 25, 1944 bombing of the
Panzer Lehr Division near St. Lo, France. At the time of the air raid,
American troops were approximately 1,500 yards from the targeted
Panzer troops:
"And then a new sound gradually droned into our ears. The sound
was deep and all encompassing, with no notes in it --- just a gigantic
faraway surge of doom-like sound. It was the heavies." ...
"I've never known a storm or a machine or any resolve of man that
had about it the aura of such ghastly relentlessness." ...
"The Germans began to shoot heavy, high ack-ack (88mm canon fire).
Great black puffs of it by the score speckled the sky until it was hard
to distinguish the smoke puffs from the planes. And then, someone
shouted that one of the planes was smoking. Yes, we could all see it." ...
"But before it was done there were more cries of 'There's another
one smoking, and there's a third one now!' Chutes came out of
some of the planes, and out of some came no chutes at all." ...
"And all that time the great flat ceiling of the sky was roofed by all the
others that didn't go down, plowing their way forward, as if there were
no turmoil in the world. Nothing deviated them by the slightest. They
stalked on slowly, with a dreadful pall of sound, as though they were
seeing only something at a great distance and (as if) nothing existed in
between." ...
"... and then the bombs came. They began ahead of us as a crackle of
popcorn and almost instantly swelled into a monstrous fury of noise that
seemed surely to destroy all the world ahead of us. From then on, for
an hour and a half that had in it the agonies of the centuries, the bombs
came down." ...
"By now everything was an indescribable cauldron of sound. Individual
noises did not exist. The thundering of motors in the sky and the roar
of the bombs ahead filled all the space (spatial capacity) for noise on
earth. Our own artillery was crashing all around us, yet we could hard-
ly hear it."
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Introduction to an Eighth Army Air Force missions log
written during the liberation of Northwestern Europe
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The missions log of Emilio Anthony Pontillo
- United States Distinguished Flying Cross.
- Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters.
- Serial Number 13129314.
- Eighth Army Air Force.
- Second Air Division.
- 489th Bomb Group.
- 845th Squadron.
- Crew #2918.
Born: Clearfield, Pennsylvania, June 1921.
Died: Holy Tuesday morning, April 7, 2009.
Married: Mary Leyhan, of Rawlins, WY, 1945.
Widowed: 1974. Remarried 1984. Widowed 2003.
Graduated: Nebraska University, Engineering, 1950.
Profession: Engineer, Pittsburgh steel indus, until 1984.
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The principle members of Crew 2918 were:
Pilot:
(missions 01 - 09)...Bud Chamberlain, Lt. ...... New Jersey
(missions 10 - 35)...Claude Allen, Cpt. .......... N. Carolina
Co-Pilot ................ Kenneth Burnett, Lt. ....... Iowa
Navigator .............. John Becker, Lt. ............. Michigan
Bombardier ........... Dan Carter, Lt. ............... Texas
Engineer/Gunner .... Mel Pontillo, T/Sgt. ......... Pennsylvania
Radio Operator ..... Thomas Ambrose, T/Sgt...Rome, NY
Tail Gunner ............ Ken Gullekson, S/Sgt. .... Michigan
Upper Gunner ....... Arthur Langsdorf, S/Sgt... Long Island
Waist Gunner ........ Chester Kidd, S/Sgt. ....... N. Carolina
Lower Gunner ....... Mariano Trevino ............. San Antonio ____________________________________________________
The 8th Army Air Force
in the European Theater of Operation
by Patrick Pontillo
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Of the 115,332 casualties sustained by the United States Army Air
Force during World War II, 41% were 8th Army Air Force casualties.
Of the 47,483 casualties sustained by the Eighth Army Air Force, over
26,000 were fatalities. This exceeded the 19,733 combat deaths and
24,511 total deaths that the U.S. Marine Corps sustained during the
same war.
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"We didn't get any flak until we got to the I.P. Over the target it was
a barrage. (Very intense.) Twenty-six ships in all went down."
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Over 28,000 airmen of the Eighth Army Air Force became prisoners of
war in Europe. Other airmen who bailed out over Nazi airspace were
rescued by either French, Belgian, or Dutch underground networks. Yet
other airmen, upon parachuting to the earth, were lynched by German
civilians.
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"Over this target, I saw one ship go down in a ball of fire. At the coast,
I saw another one go into a tight spin. It blew up when it hit the ground.
I only saw five chutes come out of this one."
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As the war in Europe progressed, the ratio of flak-induced casualties to
fighter-induced casualties increased significantly. During June, July, and
August of 1944, 86.2% of the Eighth Army Air Force's casualties were
due to flak.
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"The flak over the target was terrific; very heavy and very accurate. We
lost one plane in our group. It was burning as it headed toward the earth.
We saw three chutes come out of it."
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The First and Third Air Divisions of the 8th Army Air Force operated
B-17 Flying Fortresses. The Second Air Division operated B-24 Lib-
erators. The number of B-24 Liberators lost in combat by the 2nd Air
Division was 1,458.
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"As we peeled away from the target, I saw a B-24 blow up in mid-air.
No chutes came out of it."
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The phrase that American aviators used to describe the act of bailing out
of a crippled war plane was "Hit the silk(s)." American parachutes were
made of silk, and a number of wedding gowns were made from American
parachutes.
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"We were ready to bail out when the pilot finally stabilized things."
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A bombing run that encountered little enemy resistance was called "a milk
run." However, milk runs were not worthless. Some of them inflicted piv-
otal damage upon the Nazi War Machine.
"Our target for today was a buzz bomb site in the Pas-de-Calais
area. This mission, I believe, has been the easiest one so far.
The bombing was visual, and the target was well smashed." ...
In addition, one crew's milk run was another crew's disaster.
"While going in, a flak gun at the
Siegfried Line shot down one of our planes."
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Shortly after the Liberation of Paris, the Second Air Division delivered
tons of food to Orleans, France. These flights were called "grocery
runs." They were were also called mercy missions.
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"We saw many, many tanks and vehicles along the roads and in the fields,
all wrecked and burnt. I must have seen at least a million bomb craters
and foxholes. I saw a lot of wrecked planes. Dead cows and horses
were laying in the fields. There was evidence of a battle everywhere
along our route."
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Bomber crewmen called fighter pilots "little buddies."
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"As we were falling back (out of formation), fighter escorts stayed with
us despite the heavy flak and German interceptors."
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Marshalling yards, (repeatedly mentioned throughout the missions log),
were railway staging centers through which Nazi ordnance, supplies,
and troops were transported. Some of them were heavily guarded
by Nazi flak guns.
Marshalling yards were so strategically important that the allied strategy,
leading up to D-day, was that of bombing German marshalling yards, in
order to prevent the Nazis from being able to readily send reinforcements
to Normandy Beach.
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"The railroad cars at the marshalling yards were a mass of wreckage."
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The I.P., also mentioned throughout the missions log, was the Initial Point.
It was the spot in the sky where a mission's bombing phase began. This
was the point where all remaining bomber crews were to lock in on the
target, and during this phase, each bomber was to fly in a straight line,
making neither turns nor evasive maneuvers until its bomb load was re-
leased. This phase, therefore, was one in which American bomber crews
were extremely vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire.
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"We flew to the I.P. and got some more flak. As we were making our
bombing run, from the I.P. to the target, we got more flak. We re-
leased our bombs on the target and they were still shooting at us."
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On two occasions, Mel Pontillo's crew had an engine shot out over the
target. One occasion resulted in an emergency landing, while the other
one resulted in a crash-landing that took place while two other engines
on the crew's bomber were conking out.
"We lost altitude so fast that we
made for the nearest level strip."
The Initial Point was usually five minutes from the target.
"The flak was really heavy all the way from
the IP to the target, and even past the target.
I was sweating it out, because a four gun en-
emy battery was barely missing our left wing."
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The Ruhr Valley was called Flak Valley by American airmen, on account
of the number of flak guns in the region.
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"Long before we dropped the bombs, (though after the I.P.), flak was
hitting all around us. We dropped the bombs and made a left-hand turn.
The flak was so close that I could see the red flashes as it burst."
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Mentioned in a few of the mission log entries are readings such as "10/10
cloud cover." In as much, 10/10 stood for 100% cloud cover, while 9/10
stood for 90% cloud cover, so on and so forth.
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"We had about 6/10 cloud cover all the way."
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The United States Army Air Force flew its missions during daylight hours
in the European Theater of Operation, while the British RAF flew its mis-
sions at night. An exception for American air units was the 801st/492nd
Bomb Group. The airmen who served in that bomb group were known
as the Carpetbaggers.
The Carpetbaggers included American airmen who flew behind enemy
lines at night, delivering supplies to resistance forces, evacuating downed
allied airmen, scattering leaflets throughout the night sky, and transporting
allied spies. The Carpetbaggers even delivered skis and sleighs to Nor-
wegian resistance forces.
The Carpetbaggers had a clandestine airfield in Ain, France.
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The C-1 auto-pilot would be activated as soon as a crew entered into the
bombing phase of a mission. During the actual bombing phase of a mis-
sion, the bombardier would assume complete command of the bomber.
Bombardiers were the ones hit the most often by flak. In fact, before
the bombing phase of a mission, the bombardier would be in charge of
the nose gun.
The instrument used by bombardiers in 1944, whenever radio-guided
Pathfinder Force Technology (P.F.F.) was not, was the Norden Bomb-
sight. The Norden Bombsight was an analog computer comprised of
gyros, gears, mirrors, bubble levels, and a small telescope.
Having replaced the Sperry S-1 Bombsight in 1943, it was preferable
to P.F.F. technology. It was even preferable to the rarely used Azon
radio-guided bombs. In fact, updated versions of the Norden Bomb-
sight were used in Korea and Vietnam.
"Our target for today was a German airfield at Laon, France.
The bombing was visual and results looked good."
In the event that a bomber began to fall out of the sky, it was the bom-
bardier's promise and duty to destroy the Norden Bombsite before he
bailed out, if of course, the bomber were equipped with one.
The bombsight's necessity consisted in the fact that a degree of bomb-
ing accuracy was needed by the 8th Army Air Force in Europe, due to
the nature of the targets assigned to it.
"Our target was a concentration
of enemy stronghold positions
about three miles west of St. Lo." ...
... "enemy troops were about
1,500 yds from our troops." ...
... "The Field Artillery signaled us with flares.
There were also white markers on the ground
to direct us in the air. The targets were all hit."
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The previous quotes were taken from Mel's account of the July 25, 1944
bombing of the Panzer Lehr Division near St. Lo, France. Known as Op-
eration Cobra, the mission's outcome marked the breakout of allied ground
forces from their coastal confinements. In fact, the successful outcome of
Operation Cobra marked the beginning of Germany's retreat from France.
During the July 25th air raid, the Panzer Lehr Division was decimated by
the 8th and 9th Army Air Forces. That was the day when Nazi troops
learned that Germany's heavy armored divisions were as vulnerable to
America's bombers and attack aircraft as cardboard boxes are vulner-
able to sledge hammers.
This reality was evident on D-day, when medium sized B-26 Marauders
of the 9th Army Air Force destroyed a number of German tanks during
tactical support missions.
General Omar Bradley was quoted as having said that Operation Cobra
"had struck a more deadly blow than any of us dared imagine."
A remarkable aspect of the St. Lo Raid was 20 lb fragmentation bombs,
100 lb demolition bombs, and 260 lb fragmentation bombs were all that
were taken into battle by the 8th Army Air Force, in order to decimate a
Nazi armored division.
Neither the 2,000 lb demolition bomb, nor the 1,000 lb demolition bomb,
nor the 500 lb incendiary bomb made an appearance at St. Lo, on July 25.
In fact, the napalm incendiary bomb which made its debut eight days prior,
during a P-38 raid over France, was not used at St. Lo, either.
On July 25, a portion of the Eighth Army Air Force bomber crews carried
20 lb fragmentation bombs @ 240 bombs per bomber. Other ones were
equipped with 100 lb demolition bombs @ 38 bombs per bomber, while
yet other crews were to St. Lo with a load of 260 lb fragmentation bombs
@ 20 bombs per bomber.
The impact of the July 25th air raid was recounted by attending Nazi offi-
cer, Lieutenant-General Fritz Bayerlein. Within his account is the phrase,
"heavy bombs." This refers to the bomb loads dropped from the heavy
bombers, as opposed to the weight of the individual bombs dropped on
the Panzer Lehr Division:
"The entrenched infantry was either smashed by the heavy bombs while
in their foxholes and dugouts or else they were killed and buried by the
blast. Infantry and artillery positions were blown up. The bombed area
was entirely transformed into a field covered with craters, where no hu-
man was left alive. Tanks and guns were destroyed and overturned,
unable to be recovered, because all roads and passages were blocked."
General Bayerlein also wrote:
"The shock effect was nearly as strong the physical effect" ... "Some of
the men got crazy and were unable to carry out anything. I was person-
ally in the center of the bombardment and could experience the tremen-
dous effect. For me, one who, during this war, was at every theater of
operation, and who had been assigned to the places of the main efforts,
this was the worst thing I ever saw."
Bayerlein summarized the aftermath in the following way:
"My front lines looked like the face of the moon, and at least 70% of my
troops were out of action - dead, wounded, crazed, or numb."
The July 25th air raid proved erroneous the documentary makers' claim
that the allied invasion force of June 1944 would have been pushed back
into the English Channel if all available Panzer divisions had immediately re-
sponded to Normandy Beach. The truth is that Nazi armored units would
have been decimated near the Normandy shoreline the same way in which
the Panzer Lehr Division was decimated near the town of St. Lo.
Now, the morning of June 6th was accompanied by low cloud cover and
the inability to perform sight bombing. However, the skies began to clear
in the afternoon. In addition, the repeated bombing of Nazi marshaling
yards prior to D-day prevented the rapid deployment of Nazi infantry di-
visions to the west coast of France.
That which the 8th Army Air Force did not have the technology to deci-
mate were the concrete-reinforced gun positions known as pillboxes and
the accompanying bunkers that were lined along the French coastline.
The number of American troops killed by friendly fire during the St. Lo
Raid was 111. The number of American troops injured by friendly fire
during the same raid was 490. Forty-two B-26 Marauders of the 9th
AAF "short bombed." This resulted in the 30th Infantry Division sus-
taining 64 killed in action, 60 missing in action (presumed to be buried
under the blasts), and 374 wounded. If that had not happened, friendly
fire casualties would have been 47 killed and 126 wounded.
During the St. Lo Raid, Nazi anti-craft batteries fired upon oncoming
American bomb groups with accuracy. A Nazi battery left its mark
near Crew 2918.
"The flak was rather intense and accurate.
Our right wing ship went down in flames."
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The missions log (on the following two web pages) comprises the time
span of July 6th to November 6th, 1944. The bombing of Dresden
did not occur until three months after Mel Pontillo returned to the States,
and it was the 8th Army Air Force's 1st Air Division who participated
in that bombing. Even at that, the participating American bomb groups
only bombed the Dresden rail system.
The 1st Air Division's bombing of the Dresden rail system had the stra-
tegic effect of impeding the Nazis from sending reinforcements to the
Eastern Front.
Furthermore, the Feuersturm of Hamburg (also known as Operation
Gomorrah and the Hiroshima of Germany) took place during the sum-
mer of 1943. It was RAF night raids which placed that time span in
infamy, as it was an act of revenge for the bombing of London.
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In 1944, Strategic Bombing, as opposed to Area Bombing, was the op-
erative mode of the 8th Army Air Force so much so that, during the same
year, its name was changed to the U.S. Strategic Air Forces (USSAF).
That is to say, the carpet bombing of civilian areas was NOT the assigned
objective of the 8th Army Air Force. Rather, the destruction of the Nazi
War Machine was. This included military hardware in production and in
the field, as well as transportation routes, storage areas, airfields, and en-
emy troop strong points such as the Nazi gun positions that were once in
Metz, France.
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"Our target for today was a Heinkel aircraft plant in Rostock, Germany.
The plant was one of the largest in Germany, but now it is no more. Our
target was previously hit, but more damage needed to be done to it. We
smashed the target flat this time. The bombing was visual, and I could
see the bombs hit, blowing the place sky high. "
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The official phrase, Precision Bombing, was employed in Europe by U.S.
bomber command, in order to illustrate that the targets were being precise-
ly designated and precisely limited to those of military significance. This
phrase was intended to contrast Area Bombing, the practice employed by
RAF bomber command by which entire civilian areas were targeted and indiscriminately bombed.
As a result of the policy employed by United States Army Air Force com-
mand in the European Theater of Operation, the primary targets assigned
to the bomber crew with whom Mel Pontillo served included:
- 5 oil refineries.
- 4 Nazi air bases.
- 2 buzz bomb sites.
- 5 warplane factories.
- 1 Tiger Tank factory.
- 1 truck assembly plant.
- 1 gas storage tank depot.
- 1 pair of railroad bridges.
- 1 enemy troop stronghold.
- 8 Nazi railway staging centers.
(Saarbrucken 2x's. Hamm 3x's.)
- The Krupps Armament Works.
- Ludwigshafen's high explosives plant.
- Enemy gun positions at Metz, France.
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Squadrons were also given secondary and tertiary targets before each
bombing mission, along with primary target and "targets of opportunity."
"... we went to our secondary target, which was a chemical and high ex-
plosives plant at Clausthal-Zellerfeld. We dropped our bombs and
then circled the target, to see what we did. By the looks of the place,
it isn't any good to the Germans anymore. The target was blazing, as
smoke was coming up to about 5,000 to 6,000 feet."
It is important to note that the documentary makers' claim that a thou-
sand bombers would be sent out to bomb one target per mission is a
falsehood. The truth is that 300 to 1,500 bombers would be sent out
to bomb four, eight, twelve, eighteen or so targets during the same one
outing. The targets would be in the same geographic region, and the
bomb groups would eventually separate into a number of formations
en route to the various targets.
There were occasions where only 4 to 13 bombers would attack an in-
dividual target. There were even instances when a solitary bomber at-
tacked a solitary target of opportunity. None the less, the general trend
was that the typical Nazi target was attacked by 1 to 300 bombers, with
25 to 175 being the more frequently observed numerical range, if not the
statistical median. It was even more common for 55 to 135 American
bombers to attack a primary target.
"There were about 50 bombers at our target."
An exception to this trend was the day when the Leuna synthetic oil re-
finery at Merseberg was attacked by 383 bombers during one raid and
then 210 bombers later in the same day. There were other exceptions,
of course. Only on rare occasion would a thousand or more bombers
be sent to one target. The St. Lo Raid was one example, and even at
that, it was a joint effort between the tactical 9th Army Air Force and
the strategic 8th Army Air Force.
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The October 1944 attack on Hamm, Germany, was the exception to the
precision bombing rule, even though the first two Autumn raids on Hamm
targeted only its marshaling yards.
The mission which designated all of Hamm as the primary target coincid-
ed with the recently failed Operation Market Garden which was portrayed
on Screen in, A Bridge Too Far, as well as in the television serial, A Band
of Brothers.
- The first autumn mission to Hamm occurred the day after the British
1st Airborne Division in Holland was ordered to withdraw across the
Rhine. In fact, takeoff time was a few hours after Operation Market
Garden was officially declared halted. This was Tuesday, September
26, 1944.
"Our target for today was one of Germany's largest
largest rail centers that support troops in Holland."
- There was a vested interest in shielding allied troops in Holland from a
Nazi counteroffensive which would have had its supply line anchored
at the Hamm marshaling yards. There was also a vested interest in
safeguarding Dutch Resistance personnel from Nazi retaliation. There
was the additional need to prevent the Germans from turning the west-
ern border of Holland into a scaled ver ion of the Atlantic Wall (or a
replica of the Siegfried Line). In light of this, the allies were in need of
establishing strongholds in the Holland that they invaded ten days prior.
"We were to hit the rail depot at the rail center of Hamm,
Germany. The whole 8th Army Air Corps was bombing
in this area today."
- The second autumn mission to Hamm occurred four days after the first
mission, on September 30th. Then, on the following Monday, Hamm's
ability to export the Nazi War Machine to Holland was significantly dis-
rupted.
- The bombing mission was successful enough to enable the 1st Canadian
Army to maintain a position near Groesbeek, Holland. This resulted in
the Operation Veritable that began in February 1945.
"This is the largest rail center in Germany, and I don't think
that we will have to go back there again. I could see the
bombs hit right into the target."
- Crews of the 578th Bomb Group had already been briefed for a mission
to Stuttgart on the morning of the Second of October. They then found
themselves in a briefing room once again, being briefed on the Hamm mis-
sion shortly before takeoff time. Thus, there was a sense of urgency in
the third Hamm mission, as opposed to a premeditated plan.
"After we peeled away from the target, I saw three more
groups drop their bombs. They smashed Hamm flat."
- The Hamm marshalling yards were attacked before the three autumn raids,
during the end of summer, on September 19. This was while Operation
Market Garden was in progress. Hamm's marshalling yards would then
be attacked again, on November 26, 1944. But, the mission which made
all of Hamm the primary target was October 2, 1944.
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As was previously mentioned, the RAF habitually engaged in Area Bomb-
ing as a matter of policy. British high command asserted that destroying
German towns would destroy the German workforce and the Nazis' abil-
ity to manufacture its weaponry. In fact, Winston Churchill ordered the
RAF to engage in "terror raids" upon civilian populations.
British high command was proven wrong. History showed that Area
Bombing did not destroy the Nazi war industry. Nor did it demoralize
Germany to the point of surrendering. If anything, the bombing of civil-
ian venues inspires an enemy to fight even more vehemently against you
with the military hardware that was untouched while you were bombing
his civilian neighborhoods.
The Nazi's defeat at Leningrad was attributed to the fact that civilian ven-
ues throughout that city were intentionally bombed by the Luftwaffe, there-
by giving Russian snipers free reign throughout a fortress of rubble.
The systematic bombing of civilian areas is strategically detrimental, as
well as a crime against humanity. The bombing of merely one truck as-
sembly plant did more to defeat the Nazis than did the killing of a multi-
tude of German civilians.
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"Our target was a truck plant in Cologne, Germany. This was a very
important mission, because the Germans were using the trucks to car-
ry supplies to the front lines at Aachen and other places."
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On occasion, an American bomber squadron would make the error of
missing its assigned target and then hitting a Swiss town or a German
municipality.
There were varying degrees of collateral damage for almost any bomb-
ing raid that did not target a submarine bullpen, a Nazi airfield, a buzz
bomb site, a remote railway viaduct, or an occasional Nazi gun posi-
tion. The amount of damage depended on a few variables, including
the target's proximity to civilian areas, the percentage of cloud cover,
the intensity of flak being fired near the target, the incendiary nature of
the target, the year in which the air raid took place, and the type of ra-
dio guidance system or bombsight used in the bombing.
Even at that, there were times when the 8th Army Air Force declined
to release its bombs over Nazi-held territory, due to the presence of
too much cloud cover and the accompanying inability to locate a spe-
cific target.
Also keep in mind that a falling American airship (especially one that
had not yet released its bomb load), as well as a plummeting fighter
plane, had the potential to cause collateral damage, also.
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In the European Theater of Operation, there were American bomber
crews who became the victims of friendly fire while in the air.
"We lost two ships in our group due
to our own bombs dropping on them."
Fatal bomber accidents were not limited to training venues. There was
the tragedy of American bombers crashing into each other upon their
return to Britain, as well as cases of bombers being lost in the English
Channel.
"As we got back to our base, two of the planes in our group crashed
into each other and blew up. It was an unbelievable sight. I saw the
planes explode right off our left wing and then hit the ground. No one
got out alive. The weather was plenty rough when coming in. We lost
another plane in the channel."
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The Nazis acquired radar technology and used it in its anti-aircraft tactics.
The radar countermeasure employed by the Americans was that of dispers-
ing bundles of aluminized paper strips throughout the sky. Known as chaff,
the strips were dispersed through trap doors by each crew's waist gunners.
The strips served the function of decoys, causing multiple returns to appear
on enemy radar screens. Despite this countermeasure, American bombers
were still being shot down over Nazi airspace, while a significant number of
them were returning to England noticeably shot-up.
"About 40 bombers were lost. I now know how a duck
feels during hunting season. One ship in our group was
lost. Plenty of them were pretty well shot up."
Even after the allied invasion of France and the establishment of allied air
superiority, American airmen continued to be in peril throughout parts of
the European skies. As an initial example, three hundred and seventy-three
B-24s were sent to bomb Nazi German oil refineries and aircraft assembly
plants thirty-two days after D-day. One hundred and twenty-seven of the
bombers returned to England with battle damage, while thirty-seven of them
never returned. Six American fighter planes were also lost in combat.
"The flak was heavy and accurate.
Also, plenty of enemy fighters;
(JU-88, Me-109, Me-410, FW-190.)"
As another example, the July 12, 1944 mission to Munich resulted in battle
damage being inflicted upon 301 heavy bombers. Twenty-six of the bomb-
ers sent to Munich that day were shot down over the target. The target was
the Munich marshalling yards.
"The mission was long and tiresome."
In addition, the tragic Kassel mission occurred 16 weeks after D-day, on
September 27. September 27 was the day when 25 of the 35 participat-
ing airships of the 445th Bomb Group were shot down in a 15 minute time
span.
"This bomber group's losses were heavy
in spite of heavy fighter support."
As a final example, on the last day of November, in 1944, 29 heavy bomb-
ers were shot down, while 612 other ones sustained battle damage while in
Nazi airspace, attacking four synthetic oil refineries, two marshalling yards,
and several targets of opportunity.
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Mel and his fellow crew members arrived in England the day before D-day. However, they were sent to Ireland, in order to go through additional train-
ing. His aircrew was actually a replacement crew who first went into com-
bat a month after D-day. The crew's first three missions took place in a span
of three consecutive days - on the 6th, 7th, and 8th of July. Its fourth mis-
sion was shortly thereafter, on the 12th of July.
The crew completed a total of 35 combat missions, but it actually made 40
flights under orders. Three of the flights were mercy missions, while two
additional flights received no credit as combat missions. Mel Pontillo's
bomber crew embarked on fifteen more missions than did the crew of
the famous Memphis Belle.
______________________________________________________
In outline form, Crew 2918's more notable missions were:
#2: Engine shot out over target & emergency landing.
- 43 U.S. aircraft lost.
- Biggest air battle since D-day.
#4: The Munich Flak Barrage.
- 26 heavy bombers shot down over target.
- 301 additional bombers suffer battle damage
#7: Intense flak & the downing of 39 U.S. war planes.
- A Messerschmitt component plant was smashed.
- Most intense flak encountered by crew thus far.
- 184 additional liberators suffer battle damage.
#9: The Panzer Lehr Division is decimated at St. Lo.
- It was the turning point in the European war.
- It procured the famous allied Breakout.
- It was known as Operation Cobra.
10: Engine shot out over target & crash-landing.
- Crew's landing gear and interphone also damaged.
- 88 Liberators return to base with battle damage.
13: Thirty holes shot into the crew's B-24.
- Crew's oxygen system damaged at high-altitude.
- Flak hits the helmet of one of the crewmen.
- 112 Liberators take battle damage.
16: The Heinkel Aircraft Plant is no more.
- On the same day when Paris was liberated.
22: The loss of 49 U.S. warplanes.
- This is known as the Kassel Mission.
- The target was a Tiger Tank factory.
27: The loss of 51 U.S. heavy bombers.
- Smoke from target rises 5,000 to 6,000 ft.
- 184 Liberators undergo battle damage.
33: The Bielefeld Viaduct Mission.
- It was reported as part of history's largest air battle.
- Today, it is recognized as one of the epic air battles.
- Jet-propelled Nazi fighters were seen.
35: 900 flak guns & large hole in the B-24's wing.
- The final mission sends the crew over Flak Valley.
______________________________________________________
Of the five uncredited flights, the more notable ones are the first and third
grocery runs to Orleans, France. They are posted before Mission 19.
That is to say, they are posted at the top of this website's third web page.
______________________________________________________
"Only the pilot, co-pilot, navigator, engineer, and radio operator were on
board. I don't know what we would have done if we had been attacked
by fighters. We were sslow that we could see the French people wave at
us. Also a few GIs."
_______________________________________________________
The B-24 that Mel Pontillo's crew flew into England (from Nova Scotia)
was the Moonshine Express. After having arrived in England, it was as-
signed to another bomb group. The Moonshine Express was shot down
during its fifth combat mission.
_______________________________________________________
Even though Switzerland was a neutral nation throughout World War II,
the Swiss captured and interned American aviators who bailed out over
Switzerland. Even though the America prisoners of war were interned
at Swiss ski resorts they were subject to marginal diets of 1,500 calories
daily and the gnaw of very poorly heated quarters. None the less, Swit-
zerland proved to be a lifesaver for 1,700+ American aviators.
The United States government then received hotel bills from the Swiss, on
account of the American airmen interned at the Swiss ski lodges. In addi-
tion, about 100,000 soldiers of various nations and branches of service
made their ways to Switzerland, along with 200,000+ civilian refugees.
______________________________________________________
"Gerry really had our number. I didn't see any ships go down, but one
crew in our barracks was shot up so badly that it had to go to Switzer-
land."
______________________________________________________
If a bomber crew failed to drop its bomb load on a Nazi target during a
mission, yet flew through airspace under attack by enemy flak guns or
fighter planes, it would still receive credit for having performed a com-
bat mission.
______________________________________________________
The United States Air Force did not become an independent branch of
the American military until 1947. Until then, it operated under United
States Army command. It originally carried the title, Aeronautical Divi-
sion of the U.S. Signal Corps, followed chronologically by Aviation Sec-
tion (of the Signal Corps), the Division of Military Aeronautics, and the
U.S. Army Air Service. Then, in 1926, congress changed its name to
the United States Army Air Corps.
In 1941, the U.S. Army Air Force was established, and the Office of
the Chief of the Army Air Corps was disbanded. However, through-
out World War II, the phrase Army Air Corps was often used when
speaking of the newly formed Army Air Force. This was done even
by the press and government officials, as well as by members of the
Army Air Force. Therefore, throughout the following missions log,
the Army Air Force is called the Army Air Corps.
_____________________________________________________
The 8th Army Air Force was founded in 1942, originally receiving the
name, VIII Bomber Command. Its name was then changed to the U.S.
Strategic Air Forces, during February of 1944. However, consecutive
years of familiarity with the phrase, Army Air Corps, even at the recruit-
ing office, is the reason why the USSAF is referred to as the 8th Army
Air Corps throughout the following missions log.
______________________________________________________
"Our group did not lose any planes, but the 8th Army Air Corps lost
51 heavy bombers. "
______________________________________________________
The missions log contains notations of the beauty of the Northern Europe-
an landscape, in addition to bomb load statistics, flight routes, and battle
results. The White Cliffs of Dover and "the peaks of the Alps protrud-
ing through the clouds" are mentioned in it. This is contrasted by nota-
tions of airships going down in balls of fire, as well as the devastation that
marked Orleans, France. That is to say, the personal element is contained
in the following missions log.
________________________________________________________
"When we left the target, we could see the peaks of the Alps protruding
through the clouds. They looked very pretty, but I did not want to hang
around and look at them. "
________________________________________________________
The missions log begins on the following web page.
________________________________________________________
Missions 1 to 18 can be accessed by clicking on the web address posted
directly below:
www.8tharmyairforce.com/part2.html
Missions 19 to 35 can be accessed through the following link. The ac-
counts of those missions are preceded by Mercy Missions 1, 2, and 3.
At the end of that page is the Destinations & Targets list:
www.8tharmyairforce.com/part3.html
The Photo Page can be accessed from here:
www.8tharmyairforce.com/photos.html
The Interview Page is found here:
www.8tharmyairforce.com/interview.html
The following excerpts come from journalist & eventual war casualty
Ernie Pyle. They describe the experience of seeing and hearing the
Eighth Army Air Force approach an enemy target and then unleash
its fire power upon that target. More specifically, they come from
the famed journalist's account of the July 25, 1944 bombing of the
Panzer Lehr Division near St. Lo, France. At the time of the air raid,
American troops were approximately 1,500 yards from the targeted
Panzer troops:
"And then a new sound gradually droned into our ears. The sound
was deep and all encompassing, with no notes in it --- just a gigantic
faraway surge of doom-like sound. It was the heavies." ...
"I've never known a storm or a machine or any resolve of man that
had about it the aura of such ghastly relentlessness." ...
"The Germans began to shoot heavy, high ack-ack (88mm canon fire).
Great black puffs of it by the score speckled the sky until it was hard
to distinguish the smoke puffs from the planes. And then, someone
shouted that one of the planes was smoking. Yes, we could all see it." ...
"But before it was done there were more cries of 'There's another
one smoking, and there's a third one now!' Chutes came out of
some of the planes, and out of some came no chutes at all." ...
"And all that time the great flat ceiling of the sky was roofed by all the
others that didn't go down, plowing their way forward, as if there were
no turmoil in the world. Nothing deviated them by the slightest. They
stalked on slowly, with a dreadful pall of sound, as though they were
seeing only something at a great distance and (as if) nothing existed in
between." ...
"... and then the bombs came. They began ahead of us as a crackle of
popcorn and almost instantly swelled into a monstrous fury of noise that
seemed surely to destroy all the world ahead of us. From then on, for
an hour and a half that had in it the agonies of the centuries, the bombs
came down." ...
"By now everything was an indescribable cauldron of sound. Individual
noises did not exist. The thundering of motors in the sky and the roar
of the bombs ahead filled all the space (spatial capacity) for noise on
earth. Our own artillery was crashing all around us, yet we could hard-
ly hear it."
_____________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
Introduction to an Eighth Army Air Force missions log
written during the liberation of Northwestern Europe
___________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
The missions log of Emilio Anthony Pontillo
- United States Distinguished Flying Cross.
- Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters.
- Serial Number 13129314.
- Eighth Army Air Force.
- Second Air Division.
- 489th Bomb Group.
- 845th Squadron.
- Crew #2918.
Born: Clearfield, Pennsylvania, June 1921.
Died: Holy Tuesday morning, April 7, 2009.
Married: Mary Leyhan, of Rawlins, WY, 1945.
Widowed: 1974. Remarried 1984. Widowed 2003.
Graduated: Nebraska University, Engineering, 1950.
Profession: Engineer, Pittsburgh steel indus, until 1984.
__________________________________________
The principle members of Crew 2918 were:
Pilot:
(missions 01 - 09)...Bud Chamberlain, Lt. ...... New Jersey
(missions 10 - 35)...Claude Allen, Cpt. .......... N. Carolina
Co-Pilot ................ Kenneth Burnett, Lt. ....... Iowa
Navigator .............. John Becker, Lt. ............. Michigan
Bombardier ........... Dan Carter, Lt. ............... Texas
Engineer/Gunner .... Mel Pontillo, T/Sgt. ......... Pennsylvania
Radio Operator ..... Thomas Ambrose, T/Sgt...Rome, NY
Tail Gunner ............ Ken Gullekson, S/Sgt. .... Michigan
Upper Gunner ....... Arthur Langsdorf, S/Sgt... Long Island
Waist Gunner ........ Chester Kidd, S/Sgt. ....... N. Carolina
Lower Gunner ....... Mariano Trevino ............. San Antonio ____________________________________________________
The 8th Army Air Force
in the European Theater of Operation
by Patrick Pontillo
_____________________________________________________
Of the 115,332 casualties sustained by the United States Army Air
Force during World War II, 41% were 8th Army Air Force casualties.
Of the 47,483 casualties sustained by the Eighth Army Air Force, over
26,000 were fatalities. This exceeded the 19,733 combat deaths and
24,511 total deaths that the U.S. Marine Corps sustained during the
same war.
______________________________________________________
"We didn't get any flak until we got to the I.P. Over the target it was
a barrage. (Very intense.) Twenty-six ships in all went down."
______________________________________________________
Over 28,000 airmen of the Eighth Army Air Force became prisoners of
war in Europe. Other airmen who bailed out over Nazi airspace were
rescued by either French, Belgian, or Dutch underground networks. Yet
other airmen, upon parachuting to the earth, were lynched by German
civilians.
______________________________________________________
"Over this target, I saw one ship go down in a ball of fire. At the coast,
I saw another one go into a tight spin. It blew up when it hit the ground.
I only saw five chutes come out of this one."
______________________________________________________
As the war in Europe progressed, the ratio of flak-induced casualties to
fighter-induced casualties increased significantly. During June, July, and
August of 1944, 86.2% of the Eighth Army Air Force's casualties were
due to flak.
______________________________________________________
"The flak over the target was terrific; very heavy and very accurate. We
lost one plane in our group. It was burning as it headed toward the earth.
We saw three chutes come out of it."
______________________________________________________
The First and Third Air Divisions of the 8th Army Air Force operated
B-17 Flying Fortresses. The Second Air Division operated B-24 Lib-
erators. The number of B-24 Liberators lost in combat by the 2nd Air
Division was 1,458.
______________________________________________________
"As we peeled away from the target, I saw a B-24 blow up in mid-air.
No chutes came out of it."
______________________________________________________
The phrase that American aviators used to describe the act of bailing out
of a crippled war plane was "Hit the silk(s)." American parachutes were
made of silk, and a number of wedding gowns were made from American
parachutes.
______________________________________________________
"We were ready to bail out when the pilot finally stabilized things."
______________________________________________________
A bombing run that encountered little enemy resistance was called "a milk
run." However, milk runs were not worthless. Some of them inflicted piv-
otal damage upon the Nazi War Machine.
"Our target for today was a buzz bomb site in the Pas-de-Calais
area. This mission, I believe, has been the easiest one so far.
The bombing was visual, and the target was well smashed." ...
In addition, one crew's milk run was another crew's disaster.
"While going in, a flak gun at the
Siegfried Line shot down one of our planes."
______________________________________________________
Shortly after the Liberation of Paris, the Second Air Division delivered
tons of food to Orleans, France. These flights were called "grocery
runs." They were were also called mercy missions.
______________________________________________________
"We saw many, many tanks and vehicles along the roads and in the fields,
all wrecked and burnt. I must have seen at least a million bomb craters
and foxholes. I saw a lot of wrecked planes. Dead cows and horses
were laying in the fields. There was evidence of a battle everywhere
along our route."
______________________________________________________
Bomber crewmen called fighter pilots "little buddies."
______________________________________________________
"As we were falling back (out of formation), fighter escorts stayed with
us despite the heavy flak and German interceptors."
______________________________________________________
Marshalling yards, (repeatedly mentioned throughout the missions log),
were railway staging centers through which Nazi ordnance, supplies,
and troops were transported. Some of them were heavily guarded
by Nazi flak guns.
Marshalling yards were so strategically important that the allied strategy,
leading up to D-day, was that of bombing German marshalling yards, in
order to prevent the Nazis from being able to readily send reinforcements
to Normandy Beach.
______________________________________________________
"The railroad cars at the marshalling yards were a mass of wreckage."
______________________________________________________
The I.P., also mentioned throughout the missions log, was the Initial Point.
It was the spot in the sky where a mission's bombing phase began. This
was the point where all remaining bomber crews were to lock in on the
target, and during this phase, each bomber was to fly in a straight line,
making neither turns nor evasive maneuvers until its bomb load was re-
leased. This phase, therefore, was one in which American bomber crews
were extremely vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire.
______________________________________________________
"We flew to the I.P. and got some more flak. As we were making our
bombing run, from the I.P. to the target, we got more flak. We re-
leased our bombs on the target and they were still shooting at us."
______________________________________________________
On two occasions, Mel Pontillo's crew had an engine shot out over the
target. One occasion resulted in an emergency landing, while the other
one resulted in a crash-landing that took place while two other engines
on the crew's bomber were conking out.
"We lost altitude so fast that we
made for the nearest level strip."
The Initial Point was usually five minutes from the target.
"The flak was really heavy all the way from
the IP to the target, and even past the target.
I was sweating it out, because a four gun en-
emy battery was barely missing our left wing."
______________________________________________________
The Ruhr Valley was called Flak Valley by American airmen, on account
of the number of flak guns in the region.
______________________________________________________
"Long before we dropped the bombs, (though after the I.P.), flak was
hitting all around us. We dropped the bombs and made a left-hand turn.
The flak was so close that I could see the red flashes as it burst."
______________________________________________________
Mentioned in a few of the mission log entries are readings such as "10/10
cloud cover." In as much, 10/10 stood for 100% cloud cover, while 9/10
stood for 90% cloud cover, so on and so forth.
______________________________________________________
"We had about 6/10 cloud cover all the way."
______________________________________________________
The United States Army Air Force flew its missions during daylight hours
in the European Theater of Operation, while the British RAF flew its mis-
sions at night. An exception for American air units was the 801st/492nd
Bomb Group. The airmen who served in that bomb group were known
as the Carpetbaggers.
The Carpetbaggers included American airmen who flew behind enemy
lines at night, delivering supplies to resistance forces, evacuating downed
allied airmen, scattering leaflets throughout the night sky, and transporting
allied spies. The Carpetbaggers even delivered skis and sleighs to Nor-
wegian resistance forces.
The Carpetbaggers had a clandestine airfield in Ain, France.
_______________________________________________________
The C-1 auto-pilot would be activated as soon as a crew entered into the
bombing phase of a mission. During the actual bombing phase of a mis-
sion, the bombardier would assume complete command of the bomber.
Bombardiers were the ones hit the most often by flak. In fact, before
the bombing phase of a mission, the bombardier would be in charge of
the nose gun.
The instrument used by bombardiers in 1944, whenever radio-guided
Pathfinder Force Technology (P.F.F.) was not, was the Norden Bomb-
sight. The Norden Bombsight was an analog computer comprised of
gyros, gears, mirrors, bubble levels, and a small telescope.
Having replaced the Sperry S-1 Bombsight in 1943, it was preferable
to P.F.F. technology. It was even preferable to the rarely used Azon
radio-guided bombs. In fact, updated versions of the Norden Bomb-
sight were used in Korea and Vietnam.
"Our target for today was a German airfield at Laon, France.
The bombing was visual and results looked good."
In the event that a bomber began to fall out of the sky, it was the bom-
bardier's promise and duty to destroy the Norden Bombsite before he
bailed out, if of course, the bomber were equipped with one.
The bombsight's necessity consisted in the fact that a degree of bomb-
ing accuracy was needed by the 8th Army Air Force in Europe, due to
the nature of the targets assigned to it.
"Our target was a concentration
of enemy stronghold positions
about three miles west of St. Lo." ...
... "enemy troops were about
1,500 yds from our troops." ...
... "The Field Artillery signaled us with flares.
There were also white markers on the ground
to direct us in the air. The targets were all hit."
_______________________________________________________
The previous quotes were taken from Mel's account of the July 25, 1944
bombing of the Panzer Lehr Division near St. Lo, France. Known as Op-
eration Cobra, the mission's outcome marked the breakout of allied ground
forces from their coastal confinements. In fact, the successful outcome of
Operation Cobra marked the beginning of Germany's retreat from France.
During the July 25th air raid, the Panzer Lehr Division was decimated by
the 8th and 9th Army Air Forces. That was the day when Nazi troops
learned that Germany's heavy armored divisions were as vulnerable to
America's bombers and attack aircraft as cardboard boxes are vulner-
able to sledge hammers.
This reality was evident on D-day, when medium sized B-26 Marauders
of the 9th Army Air Force destroyed a number of German tanks during
tactical support missions.
General Omar Bradley was quoted as having said that Operation Cobra
"had struck a more deadly blow than any of us dared imagine."
A remarkable aspect of the St. Lo Raid was 20 lb fragmentation bombs,
100 lb demolition bombs, and 260 lb fragmentation bombs were all that
were taken into battle by the 8th Army Air Force, in order to decimate a
Nazi armored division.
Neither the 2,000 lb demolition bomb, nor the 1,000 lb demolition bomb,
nor the 500 lb incendiary bomb made an appearance at St. Lo, on July 25.
In fact, the napalm incendiary bomb which made its debut eight days prior,
during a P-38 raid over France, was not used at St. Lo, either.
On July 25, a portion of the Eighth Army Air Force bomber crews carried
20 lb fragmentation bombs @ 240 bombs per bomber. Other ones were
equipped with 100 lb demolition bombs @ 38 bombs per bomber, while
yet other crews were to St. Lo with a load of 260 lb fragmentation bombs
@ 20 bombs per bomber.
The impact of the July 25th air raid was recounted by attending Nazi offi-
cer, Lieutenant-General Fritz Bayerlein. Within his account is the phrase,
"heavy bombs." This refers to the bomb loads dropped from the heavy
bombers, as opposed to the weight of the individual bombs dropped on
the Panzer Lehr Division:
"The entrenched infantry was either smashed by the heavy bombs while
in their foxholes and dugouts or else they were killed and buried by the
blast. Infantry and artillery positions were blown up. The bombed area
was entirely transformed into a field covered with craters, where no hu-
man was left alive. Tanks and guns were destroyed and overturned,
unable to be recovered, because all roads and passages were blocked."
General Bayerlein also wrote:
"The shock effect was nearly as strong the physical effect" ... "Some of
the men got crazy and were unable to carry out anything. I was person-
ally in the center of the bombardment and could experience the tremen-
dous effect. For me, one who, during this war, was at every theater of
operation, and who had been assigned to the places of the main efforts,
this was the worst thing I ever saw."
Bayerlein summarized the aftermath in the following way:
"My front lines looked like the face of the moon, and at least 70% of my
troops were out of action - dead, wounded, crazed, or numb."
The July 25th air raid proved erroneous the documentary makers' claim
that the allied invasion force of June 1944 would have been pushed back
into the English Channel if all available Panzer divisions had immediately re-
sponded to Normandy Beach. The truth is that Nazi armored units would
have been decimated near the Normandy shoreline the same way in which
the Panzer Lehr Division was decimated near the town of St. Lo.
Now, the morning of June 6th was accompanied by low cloud cover and
the inability to perform sight bombing. However, the skies began to clear
in the afternoon. In addition, the repeated bombing of Nazi marshaling
yards prior to D-day prevented the rapid deployment of Nazi infantry di-
visions to the west coast of France.
That which the 8th Army Air Force did not have the technology to deci-
mate were the concrete-reinforced gun positions known as pillboxes and
the accompanying bunkers that were lined along the French coastline.
The number of American troops killed by friendly fire during the St. Lo
Raid was 111. The number of American troops injured by friendly fire
during the same raid was 490. Forty-two B-26 Marauders of the 9th
AAF "short bombed." This resulted in the 30th Infantry Division sus-
taining 64 killed in action, 60 missing in action (presumed to be buried
under the blasts), and 374 wounded. If that had not happened, friendly
fire casualties would have been 47 killed and 126 wounded.
During the St. Lo Raid, Nazi anti-craft batteries fired upon oncoming
American bomb groups with accuracy. A Nazi battery left its mark
near Crew 2918.
"The flak was rather intense and accurate.
Our right wing ship went down in flames."
______________________________________________________
The missions log (on the following two web pages) comprises the time
span of July 6th to November 6th, 1944. The bombing of Dresden
did not occur until three months after Mel Pontillo returned to the States,
and it was the 8th Army Air Force's 1st Air Division who participated
in that bombing. Even at that, the participating American bomb groups
only bombed the Dresden rail system.
The 1st Air Division's bombing of the Dresden rail system had the stra-
tegic effect of impeding the Nazis from sending reinforcements to the
Eastern Front.
Furthermore, the Feuersturm of Hamburg (also known as Operation
Gomorrah and the Hiroshima of Germany) took place during the sum-
mer of 1943. It was RAF night raids which placed that time span in
infamy, as it was an act of revenge for the bombing of London.
______________________________________________________
In 1944, Strategic Bombing, as opposed to Area Bombing, was the op-
erative mode of the 8th Army Air Force so much so that, during the same
year, its name was changed to the U.S. Strategic Air Forces (USSAF).
That is to say, the carpet bombing of civilian areas was NOT the assigned
objective of the 8th Army Air Force. Rather, the destruction of the Nazi
War Machine was. This included military hardware in production and in
the field, as well as transportation routes, storage areas, airfields, and en-
emy troop strong points such as the Nazi gun positions that were once in
Metz, France.
______________________________________________________
"Our target for today was a Heinkel aircraft plant in Rostock, Germany.
The plant was one of the largest in Germany, but now it is no more. Our
target was previously hit, but more damage needed to be done to it. We
smashed the target flat this time. The bombing was visual, and I could
see the bombs hit, blowing the place sky high. "
______________________________________________________
The official phrase, Precision Bombing, was employed in Europe by U.S.
bomber command, in order to illustrate that the targets were being precise-
ly designated and precisely limited to those of military significance. This
phrase was intended to contrast Area Bombing, the practice employed by
RAF bomber command by which entire civilian areas were targeted and indiscriminately bombed.
As a result of the policy employed by United States Army Air Force com-
mand in the European Theater of Operation, the primary targets assigned
to the bomber crew with whom Mel Pontillo served included:
- 5 oil refineries.
- 4 Nazi air bases.
- 2 buzz bomb sites.
- 5 warplane factories.
- 1 Tiger Tank factory.
- 1 truck assembly plant.
- 1 gas storage tank depot.
- 1 pair of railroad bridges.
- 1 enemy troop stronghold.
- 8 Nazi railway staging centers.
(Saarbrucken 2x's. Hamm 3x's.)
- The Krupps Armament Works.
- Ludwigshafen's high explosives plant.
- Enemy gun positions at Metz, France.
______________________________________________________
Squadrons were also given secondary and tertiary targets before each
bombing mission, along with primary target and "targets of opportunity."
"... we went to our secondary target, which was a chemical and high ex-
plosives plant at Clausthal-Zellerfeld. We dropped our bombs and
then circled the target, to see what we did. By the looks of the place,
it isn't any good to the Germans anymore. The target was blazing, as
smoke was coming up to about 5,000 to 6,000 feet."
It is important to note that the documentary makers' claim that a thou-
sand bombers would be sent out to bomb one target per mission is a
falsehood. The truth is that 300 to 1,500 bombers would be sent out
to bomb four, eight, twelve, eighteen or so targets during the same one
outing. The targets would be in the same geographic region, and the
bomb groups would eventually separate into a number of formations
en route to the various targets.
There were occasions where only 4 to 13 bombers would attack an in-
dividual target. There were even instances when a solitary bomber at-
tacked a solitary target of opportunity. None the less, the general trend
was that the typical Nazi target was attacked by 1 to 300 bombers, with
25 to 175 being the more frequently observed numerical range, if not the
statistical median. It was even more common for 55 to 135 American
bombers to attack a primary target.
"There were about 50 bombers at our target."
An exception to this trend was the day when the Leuna synthetic oil re-
finery at Merseberg was attacked by 383 bombers during one raid and
then 210 bombers later in the same day. There were other exceptions,
of course. Only on rare occasion would a thousand or more bombers
be sent to one target. The St. Lo Raid was one example, and even at
that, it was a joint effort between the tactical 9th Army Air Force and
the strategic 8th Army Air Force.
______________________________________________________
The October 1944 attack on Hamm, Germany, was the exception to the
precision bombing rule, even though the first two Autumn raids on Hamm
targeted only its marshaling yards.
The mission which designated all of Hamm as the primary target coincid-
ed with the recently failed Operation Market Garden which was portrayed
on Screen in, A Bridge Too Far, as well as in the television serial, A Band
of Brothers.
- The first autumn mission to Hamm occurred the day after the British
1st Airborne Division in Holland was ordered to withdraw across the
Rhine. In fact, takeoff time was a few hours after Operation Market
Garden was officially declared halted. This was Tuesday, September
26, 1944.
"Our target for today was one of Germany's largest
largest rail centers that support troops in Holland."
- There was a vested interest in shielding allied troops in Holland from a
Nazi counteroffensive which would have had its supply line anchored
at the Hamm marshaling yards. There was also a vested interest in
safeguarding Dutch Resistance personnel from Nazi retaliation. There
was the additional need to prevent the Germans from turning the west-
ern border of Holland into a scaled ver ion of the Atlantic Wall (or a
replica of the Siegfried Line). In light of this, the allies were in need of
establishing strongholds in the Holland that they invaded ten days prior.
"We were to hit the rail depot at the rail center of Hamm,
Germany. The whole 8th Army Air Corps was bombing
in this area today."
- The second autumn mission to Hamm occurred four days after the first
mission, on September 30th. Then, on the following Monday, Hamm's
ability to export the Nazi War Machine to Holland was significantly dis-
rupted.
- The bombing mission was successful enough to enable the 1st Canadian
Army to maintain a position near Groesbeek, Holland. This resulted in
the Operation Veritable that began in February 1945.
"This is the largest rail center in Germany, and I don't think
that we will have to go back there again. I could see the
bombs hit right into the target."
- Crews of the 578th Bomb Group had already been briefed for a mission
to Stuttgart on the morning of the Second of October. They then found
themselves in a briefing room once again, being briefed on the Hamm mis-
sion shortly before takeoff time. Thus, there was a sense of urgency in
the third Hamm mission, as opposed to a premeditated plan.
"After we peeled away from the target, I saw three more
groups drop their bombs. They smashed Hamm flat."
- The Hamm marshalling yards were attacked before the three autumn raids,
during the end of summer, on September 19. This was while Operation
Market Garden was in progress. Hamm's marshalling yards would then
be attacked again, on November 26, 1944. But, the mission which made
all of Hamm the primary target was October 2, 1944.
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As was previously mentioned, the RAF habitually engaged in Area Bomb-
ing as a matter of policy. British high command asserted that destroying
German towns would destroy the German workforce and the Nazis' abil-
ity to manufacture its weaponry. In fact, Winston Churchill ordered the
RAF to engage in "terror raids" upon civilian populations.
British high command was proven wrong. History showed that Area
Bombing did not destroy the Nazi war industry. Nor did it demoralize
Germany to the point of surrendering. If anything, the bombing of civil-
ian venues inspires an enemy to fight even more vehemently against you
with the military hardware that was untouched while you were bombing
his civilian neighborhoods.
The Nazi's defeat at Leningrad was attributed to the fact that civilian ven-
ues throughout that city were intentionally bombed by the Luftwaffe, there-
by giving Russian snipers free reign throughout a fortress of rubble.
The systematic bombing of civilian areas is strategically detrimental, as
well as a crime against humanity. The bombing of merely one truck as-
sembly plant did more to defeat the Nazis than did the killing of a multi-
tude of German civilians.
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"Our target was a truck plant in Cologne, Germany. This was a very
important mission, because the Germans were using the trucks to car-
ry supplies to the front lines at Aachen and other places."
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On occasion, an American bomber squadron would make the error of
missing its assigned target and then hitting a Swiss town or a German
municipality.
There were varying degrees of collateral damage for almost any bomb-
ing raid that did not target a submarine bullpen, a Nazi airfield, a buzz
bomb site, a remote railway viaduct, or an occasional Nazi gun posi-
tion. The amount of damage depended on a few variables, including
the target's proximity to civilian areas, the percentage of cloud cover,
the intensity of flak being fired near the target, the incendiary nature of
the target, the year in which the air raid took place, and the type of ra-
dio guidance system or bombsight used in the bombing.
Even at that, there were times when the 8th Army Air Force declined
to release its bombs over Nazi-held territory, due to the presence of
too much cloud cover and the accompanying inability to locate a spe-
cific target.
Also keep in mind that a falling American airship (especially one that
had not yet released its bomb load), as well as a plummeting fighter
plane, had the potential to cause collateral damage, also.
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In the European Theater of Operation, there were American bomber
crews who became the victims of friendly fire while in the air.
"We lost two ships in our group due
to our own bombs dropping on them."
Fatal bomber accidents were not limited to training venues. There was
the tragedy of American bombers crashing into each other upon their
return to Britain, as well as cases of bombers being lost in the English
Channel.
"As we got back to our base, two of the planes in our group crashed
into each other and blew up. It was an unbelievable sight. I saw the
planes explode right off our left wing and then hit the ground. No one
got out alive. The weather was plenty rough when coming in. We lost
another plane in the channel."
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The Nazis acquired radar technology and used it in its anti-aircraft tactics.
The radar countermeasure employed by the Americans was that of dispers-
ing bundles of aluminized paper strips throughout the sky. Known as chaff,
the strips were dispersed through trap doors by each crew's waist gunners.
The strips served the function of decoys, causing multiple returns to appear
on enemy radar screens. Despite this countermeasure, American bombers
were still being shot down over Nazi airspace, while a significant number of
them were returning to England noticeably shot-up.
"About 40 bombers were lost. I now know how a duck
feels during hunting season. One ship in our group was
lost. Plenty of them were pretty well shot up."
Even after the allied invasion of France and the establishment of allied air
superiority, American airmen continued to be in peril throughout parts of
the European skies. As an initial example, three hundred and seventy-three
B-24s were sent to bomb Nazi German oil refineries and aircraft assembly
plants thirty-two days after D-day. One hundred and twenty-seven of the
bombers returned to England with battle damage, while thirty-seven of them
never returned. Six American fighter planes were also lost in combat.
"The flak was heavy and accurate.
Also, plenty of enemy fighters;
(JU-88, Me-109, Me-410, FW-190.)"
As another example, the July 12, 1944 mission to Munich resulted in battle
damage being inflicted upon 301 heavy bombers. Twenty-six of the bomb-
ers sent to Munich that day were shot down over the target. The target was
the Munich marshalling yards.
"The mission was long and tiresome."
In addition, the tragic Kassel mission occurred 16 weeks after D-day, on
September 27. September 27 was the day when 25 of the 35 participat-
ing airships of the 445th Bomb Group were shot down in a 15 minute time
span.
"This bomber group's losses were heavy
in spite of heavy fighter support."
As a final example, on the last day of November, in 1944, 29 heavy bomb-
ers were shot down, while 612 other ones sustained battle damage while in
Nazi airspace, attacking four synthetic oil refineries, two marshalling yards,
and several targets of opportunity.
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Mel and his fellow crew members arrived in England the day before D-day. However, they were sent to Ireland, in order to go through additional train-
ing. His aircrew was actually a replacement crew who first went into com-
bat a month after D-day. The crew's first three missions took place in a span
of three consecutive days - on the 6th, 7th, and 8th of July. Its fourth mis-
sion was shortly thereafter, on the 12th of July.
The crew completed a total of 35 combat missions, but it actually made 40
flights under orders. Three of the flights were mercy missions, while two
additional flights received no credit as combat missions. Mel Pontillo's
bomber crew embarked on fifteen more missions than did the crew of
the famous Memphis Belle.
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In outline form, Crew 2918's more notable missions were:
#2: Engine shot out over target & emergency landing.
- 43 U.S. aircraft lost.
- Biggest air battle since D-day.
#4: The Munich Flak Barrage.
- 26 heavy bombers shot down over target.
- 301 additional bombers suffer battle damage
#7: Intense flak & the downing of 39 U.S. war planes.
- A Messerschmitt component plant was smashed.
- Most intense flak encountered by crew thus far.
- 184 additional liberators suffer battle damage.
#9: The Panzer Lehr Division is decimated at St. Lo.
- It was the turning point in the European war.
- It procured the famous allied Breakout.
- It was known as Operation Cobra.
10: Engine shot out over target & crash-landing.
- Crew's landing gear and interphone also damaged.
- 88 Liberators return to base with battle damage.
13: Thirty holes shot into the crew's B-24.
- Crew's oxygen system damaged at high-altitude.
- Flak hits the helmet of one of the crewmen.
- 112 Liberators take battle damage.
16: The Heinkel Aircraft Plant is no more.
- On the same day when Paris was liberated.
22: The loss of 49 U.S. warplanes.
- This is known as the Kassel Mission.
- The target was a Tiger Tank factory.
27: The loss of 51 U.S. heavy bombers.
- Smoke from target rises 5,000 to 6,000 ft.
- 184 Liberators undergo battle damage.
33: The Bielefeld Viaduct Mission.
- It was reported as part of history's largest air battle.
- Today, it is recognized as one of the epic air battles.
- Jet-propelled Nazi fighters were seen.
35: 900 flak guns & large hole in the B-24's wing.
- The final mission sends the crew over Flak Valley.
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Of the five uncredited flights, the more notable ones are the first and third
grocery runs to Orleans, France. They are posted before Mission 19.
That is to say, they are posted at the top of this website's third web page.
______________________________________________________
"Only the pilot, co-pilot, navigator, engineer, and radio operator were on
board. I don't know what we would have done if we had been attacked
by fighters. We were sslow that we could see the French people wave at
us. Also a few GIs."
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The B-24 that Mel Pontillo's crew flew into England (from Nova Scotia)
was the Moonshine Express. After having arrived in England, it was as-
signed to another bomb group. The Moonshine Express was shot down
during its fifth combat mission.
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Even though Switzerland was a neutral nation throughout World War II,
the Swiss captured and interned American aviators who bailed out over
Switzerland. Even though the America prisoners of war were interned
at Swiss ski resorts they were subject to marginal diets of 1,500 calories
daily and the gnaw of very poorly heated quarters. None the less, Swit-
zerland proved to be a lifesaver for 1,700+ American aviators.
The United States government then received hotel bills from the Swiss, on
account of the American airmen interned at the Swiss ski lodges. In addi-
tion, about 100,000 soldiers of various nations and branches of service
made their ways to Switzerland, along with 200,000+ civilian refugees.
______________________________________________________
"Gerry really had our number. I didn't see any ships go down, but one
crew in our barracks was shot up so badly that it had to go to Switzer-
land."
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If a bomber crew failed to drop its bomb load on a Nazi target during a
mission, yet flew through airspace under attack by enemy flak guns or
fighter planes, it would still receive credit for having performed a com-
bat mission.
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The United States Air Force did not become an independent branch of
the American military until 1947. Until then, it operated under United
States Army command. It originally carried the title, Aeronautical Divi-
sion of the U.S. Signal Corps, followed chronologically by Aviation Sec-
tion (of the Signal Corps), the Division of Military Aeronautics, and the
U.S. Army Air Service. Then, in 1926, congress changed its name to
the United States Army Air Corps.
In 1941, the U.S. Army Air Force was established, and the Office of
the Chief of the Army Air Corps was disbanded. However, through-
out World War II, the phrase Army Air Corps was often used when
speaking of the newly formed Army Air Force. This was done even
by the press and government officials, as well as by members of the
Army Air Force. Therefore, throughout the following missions log,
the Army Air Force is called the Army Air Corps.
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The 8th Army Air Force was founded in 1942, originally receiving the
name, VIII Bomber Command. Its name was then changed to the U.S.
Strategic Air Forces, during February of 1944. However, consecutive
years of familiarity with the phrase, Army Air Corps, even at the recruit-
ing office, is the reason why the USSAF is referred to as the 8th Army
Air Corps throughout the following missions log.
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"Our group did not lose any planes, but the 8th Army Air Corps lost
51 heavy bombers. "
______________________________________________________
The missions log contains notations of the beauty of the Northern Europe-
an landscape, in addition to bomb load statistics, flight routes, and battle
results. The White Cliffs of Dover and "the peaks of the Alps protrud-
ing through the clouds" are mentioned in it. This is contrasted by nota-
tions of airships going down in balls of fire, as well as the devastation that
marked Orleans, France. That is to say, the personal element is contained
in the following missions log.
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"When we left the target, we could see the peaks of the Alps protruding
through the clouds. They looked very pretty, but I did not want to hang
around and look at them. "
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The missions log begins on the following web page.
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Missions 1 to 18 can be accessed by clicking on the web address posted
directly below:
www.8tharmyairforce.com/part2.html
Missions 19 to 35 can be accessed through the following link. The ac-
counts of those missions are preceded by Mercy Missions 1, 2, and 3.
At the end of that page is the Destinations & Targets list:
www.8tharmyairforce.com/part3.html
The Photo Page can be accessed from here:
www.8tharmyairforce.com/photos.html
The Interview Page is found here:
www.8tharmyairforce.com/interview.html