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 8th Army Air Force approach an enemy tar-
get and then unleash its fire power upon that target. More
specifically, they come from Mr. Pyle'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 distin-
guish the smoke puffs from the planes. And then,
someone shouted that one of the planes was smok-
ing. 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 see-
ing only something at a great distance and (as
though) 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 thun-
dering 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 hardly 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. __________________________________________
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 _____________________________________________
Editor's Introduction:
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Of the 115,332 casualties sustained by the United States
Army Air Force during World War II, 41% were Eighth
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. _____________________________________________
"The flak over the target was terrific; very heavy and very
accurate. We lost one plane in our group. It was burn-
ing as it headed toward the earth. We saw three chutes
come out of it."
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The First & Third Air Divisions of the 8th Army Air Force
operated B-17 Flying Fortresses. The Second Air Division
operated B-24 Liberators. 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." _____________________________________________
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 pivotal 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 Divi-
sion 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." _____________________________________________
"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 Nor-
mandy 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 remain-
ing 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 bombs were 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 released 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." _____________________________________________
The Ruhr Valley was called Flak Valley by American air-
men, 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 missions 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 be-
hind enemy lines at night, delivering supplies to resistance
forces, evacuating downed allied airmen, scattering leaflets
throughout the night sky, and transporting spies in & out of
Nazi territory. The Carpetbaggers even delivered skis and
sleighs to Norwegian 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 mission, the bombardier would
assume absolute 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 being used, was the Norden Bombsight. 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 Bombsight 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 bombardier'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 bombing 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 Operation 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 re-
treat from France.
During the July 25th air raid, the Panzer Lehr Division was
decimated by the 8th & 9th Army Air Forces. That was
the day when Nazi troops learned that Germany's heavy
armored divisions were as vulnerable to America's bomb-
ers and attack aircraft as cardboard boxes are vulnerable
to sledge hammers.
This reality was evident on D-day, when the 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 Op-
eration Cobra "had struck a more deadly blow than any of
us dared imagine."
A remarkable aspect of the St. Lo Raid was 20 lb frag-
mentation 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, some of the 8th AAF bomber crews were
equipped with 20 lb fragmentation bombs @ 240 bombs
per bomber, while other ones were equipped with 100 lb
demolition bombs @ 38 bombs per bomber. Yet other
crews went to St. Lo with 260 lb fragmentation bombs
@ 20 bombs per bomber.
The impact of the July 25th air raid was recounted by at-
tending Nazi officer, Lieutenant-General Fritz Bayerlein.
Within his account is the phrase, "heavy bombs." This
refers to the bomb loads dropped from the heavy bomb-
ers, 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 human was
left alive. Tanks and guns were destroyed
and overturned, unable to be recovered, be-
cause all roads and passages were blocked."
General Bayerlein also wrote:
"The shock effect was nearly as strong the phys-
ical effect" ... "Some of the men got crazy
and were unable to carry out anything. I was
personally in the center of the bombardment
and could experience the tremendous effect.
For me, one who, during this war, was at ev-
ery 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 responded
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 deci-
mated 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 marshalling yards
prior to D-day prevented the rapid deployment of Nazi
infantry divisions to the west coast of France.
That which the Eighth Army Air Force did not have the
technology to decimate 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 sustaining 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) com-
prises 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 strategic effect of impeding the Nazis from send-
ing reinforcements to the Eastern Front.
Furthermore, the Feuersturm of Hamburg (also known as
Operation Gomorrah & the Hiroshima of Germany) took
place during the summer 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 operative mode of the Eighth Army Air Force so
much so that, during the same year, its name was changed
to the United States 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 enemy
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. " _____________________________________________
The phrase, Precision Bombing, was employed in Europe
by United States bomber command, in order to illustrate
that the targets were being precisely designated and pre-
cisely limited to those of military significance. This phrase
was intended to contrast Area Bombing, the practice em-
ployed 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 command 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 the primary target
and "targets of opportunity."
"... we went to our secondary target, which was a chemi-
cal and high explosives 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 thousand 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 individual target. There were even instances when
a solitary bomber attacked 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 syn-
thetic oil refinery 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 mar-
shalling yards.
The mission which designated all of Hamm as the primary
target coincided 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 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 marshalling
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 western border of Holland into a scaled ver-
sion of the Atlantic Wall (or a replica of the Siegfried Line).
In light of this, the allies were in need of establishing strong-
holds 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 disrupted.
- 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 October the
2nd. They then found themselves in a briefing room once
again, being briefed on the Hamm mission 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 Sep-
tember 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 Bombing as a matter of policy. British high command
asserted that destroying German towns would destroy the
German workforce and the Nazis' ability 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 civilian 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 venues throughout that city were intentionally bombed
by the Luftwaffe, thereby giving Russian snipers free reign
throughout a fortress of rubble.
The systematic bombing of civilian areas is strategically detri-
mental, as well as a crime against humanity. The bombing of
merely one truck assembly plant did more to defeat the Nazis
than did the killing of a multitude 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 carry supplies
to the front lines at Aachen and other places." _____________________________________________
On occasion, an American bomber squadron would make
an error in missing its assigned target and then hitting a Swiss
town or a German municipality.
There were varying degrees of collateral damage for almost
any bombing raid that did not target a submarine bullpen, a
Nazi airfield, a buzz bomb site, a remote railway viaduct, or
an occasional Nazi gun position. The amount of damage de-
pended 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 radio 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 accom-
panying inability to locate a specific 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 collater-
al damage, also.
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In the European Theater of Operation, there were Ameri-
can 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 ex-
plode 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 dispersing 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 establish-
ment 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 oil refineries and aircraft assemb-
ly 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 bombers 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 participating 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 bombers were shot down, while 612 other ones
sustained battle damage while in Nazi airspace, attacking
four synthetic oil refineries, two marshalling yards, and sev-
eral targets of opportunity.
_____________________________________________
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 training. His aircrew was
actually a replacement crew who first went into combat
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 mission 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 op-
erator were on board. I don't know what we would have
done if we had been attacked by fighters. We were so
low 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 assigned to another bomb group.
The Moonshine Express was shot down during its fifth com-
bat 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,
Switzerland 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 addition, 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 Switzerland."
______________________________________________
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 combat mission.
______________________________________________
The United States Air Force did not become an independent
branch of the American military until 1947. Until then, it op-
erated under U.S. Army command. It originally carried the
title, Aeronautical Division of the United States Signal Corps,
followed chronologicially by Aviation Section (of the Signal
Corps), the Division of Military Aeronautics, and the United
States 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, throughout 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 gov-
ernment 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 United States Strategic Air Forces, dur-
ing February of 1944. However, years of familiarity with
the phrase, Army Air Corps, even at the recruiting 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 European landscape, in addition to bomb load
statistics, flight routes, and battle results. The White Cliffs
of Dover and "the peaks of the Alps protruding through the
clouds" are mentioned in it. This is contrasted by notations
of airships going down in balls of fire, as well as the deva-
station 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 accounts 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 8th Army Air Force approach an enemy tar-
get and then unleash its fire power upon that target. More
specifically, they come from Mr. Pyle'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 distin-
guish the smoke puffs from the planes. And then,
someone shouted that one of the planes was smok-
ing. 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 see-
ing only something at a great distance and (as
though) 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 thun-
dering 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 hardly 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 _____________________________________________
Editor's Introduction:
_____________________________________________
Of the 115,332 casualties sustained by the United States
Army Air Force during World War II, 41% were Eighth
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 burn-
ing as it headed toward the earth. We saw three chutes
come out of it."
_____________________________________________
The First & Third Air Divisions of the 8th Army Air Force
operated B-17 Flying Fortresses. The Second Air Division
operated B-24 Liberators. 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 pivotal 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 Divi-
sion 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 Nor-
mandy 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 remain-
ing 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 bombs were 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 released 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 air-
men, 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 missions 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 be-
hind enemy lines at night, delivering supplies to resistance
forces, evacuating downed allied airmen, scattering leaflets
throughout the night sky, and transporting spies in & out of
Nazi territory. The Carpetbaggers even delivered skis and
sleighs to Norwegian 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 mission, the bombardier would
assume absolute 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 being used, was the Norden Bombsight. 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 Bombsight 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 bombardier'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 bombing 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 Operation 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 re-
treat from France.
During the July 25th air raid, the Panzer Lehr Division was
decimated by the 8th & 9th Army Air Forces. That was
the day when Nazi troops learned that Germany's heavy
armored divisions were as vulnerable to America's bomb-
ers and attack aircraft as cardboard boxes are vulnerable
to sledge hammers.
This reality was evident on D-day, when the 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 Op-
eration Cobra "had struck a more deadly blow than any of
us dared imagine."
A remarkable aspect of the St. Lo Raid was 20 lb frag-
mentation 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, some of the 8th AAF bomber crews were
equipped with 20 lb fragmentation bombs @ 240 bombs
per bomber, while other ones were equipped with 100 lb
demolition bombs @ 38 bombs per bomber. Yet other
crews went to St. Lo with 260 lb fragmentation bombs
@ 20 bombs per bomber.
The impact of the July 25th air raid was recounted by at-
tending Nazi officer, Lieutenant-General Fritz Bayerlein.
Within his account is the phrase, "heavy bombs." This
refers to the bomb loads dropped from the heavy bomb-
ers, 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 human was
left alive. Tanks and guns were destroyed
and overturned, unable to be recovered, be-
cause all roads and passages were blocked."
General Bayerlein also wrote:
"The shock effect was nearly as strong the phys-
ical effect" ... "Some of the men got crazy
and were unable to carry out anything. I was
personally in the center of the bombardment
and could experience the tremendous effect.
For me, one who, during this war, was at ev-
ery 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 responded
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 deci-
mated 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 marshalling yards
prior to D-day prevented the rapid deployment of Nazi
infantry divisions to the west coast of France.
That which the Eighth Army Air Force did not have the
technology to decimate 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 sustaining 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) com-
prises 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 strategic effect of impeding the Nazis from send-
ing reinforcements to the Eastern Front.
Furthermore, the Feuersturm of Hamburg (also known as
Operation Gomorrah & the Hiroshima of Germany) took
place during the summer 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 operative mode of the Eighth Army Air Force so
much so that, during the same year, its name was changed
to the United States 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 enemy
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 phrase, Precision Bombing, was employed in Europe
by United States bomber command, in order to illustrate
that the targets were being precisely designated and pre-
cisely limited to those of military significance. This phrase
was intended to contrast Area Bombing, the practice em-
ployed 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 command 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 the primary target
and "targets of opportunity."
"... we went to our secondary target, which was a chemi-
cal and high explosives 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 thousand 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 individual target. There were even instances when
a solitary bomber attacked 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 syn-
thetic oil refinery 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 mar-
shalling yards.
The mission which designated all of Hamm as the primary
target coincided 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 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 marshalling
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 western border of Holland into a scaled ver-
sion of the Atlantic Wall (or a replica of the Siegfried Line).
In light of this, the allies were in need of establishing strong-
holds 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 disrupted.
- 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 October the
2nd. They then found themselves in a briefing room once
again, being briefed on the Hamm mission 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 Sep-
tember 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.
______________________________________________
As was previously mentioned, the RAF habitually engaged in
Area Bombing as a matter of policy. British high command
asserted that destroying German towns would destroy the
German workforce and the Nazis' ability 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 civilian 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 venues throughout that city were intentionally bombed
by the Luftwaffe, thereby giving Russian snipers free reign
throughout a fortress of rubble.
The systematic bombing of civilian areas is strategically detri-
mental, as well as a crime against humanity. The bombing of
merely one truck assembly plant did more to defeat the Nazis
than did the killing of a multitude of German civilians.
_____________________________________________
"Our target was a truck plant in Cologne, Germany.
This was a very important mission, because the
Germans were using the trucks to carry supplies
to the front lines at Aachen and other places." _____________________________________________
On occasion, an American bomber squadron would make
an error in missing its assigned target and then hitting a Swiss
town or a German municipality.
There were varying degrees of collateral damage for almost
any bombing raid that did not target a submarine bullpen, a
Nazi airfield, a buzz bomb site, a remote railway viaduct, or
an occasional Nazi gun position. The amount of damage de-
pended 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 radio 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 accom-
panying inability to locate a specific 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 collater-
al damage, also.
_____________________________________________
In the European Theater of Operation, there were Ameri-
can 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 ex-
plode 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."
_____________________________________________
The Nazis acquired radar technology and used it in its anti-
aircraft tactics. The radar countermeasure employed by
the Americans was that of dispersing 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 establish-
ment 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 oil refineries and aircraft assemb-
ly 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 bombers 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 participating 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 bombers were shot down, while 612 other ones
sustained battle damage while in Nazi airspace, attacking
four synthetic oil refineries, two marshalling yards, and sev-
eral targets of opportunity.
_____________________________________________
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 training. His aircrew was
actually a replacement crew who first went into combat
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 mission 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 op-
erator were on board. I don't know what we would have
done if we had been attacked by fighters. We were so
low 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 assigned to another bomb group.
The Moonshine Express was shot down during its fifth com-
bat 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,
Switzerland 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 addition, 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 Switzerland."
______________________________________________
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 combat mission.
______________________________________________
The United States Air Force did not become an independent
branch of the American military until 1947. Until then, it op-
erated under U.S. Army command. It originally carried the
title, Aeronautical Division of the United States Signal Corps,
followed chronologicially by Aviation Section (of the Signal
Corps), the Division of Military Aeronautics, and the United
States 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, throughout 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 gov-
ernment 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 United States Strategic Air Forces, dur-
ing February of 1944. However, years of familiarity with
the phrase, Army Air Corps, even at the recruiting 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 European landscape, in addition to bomb load
statistics, flight routes, and battle results. The White Cliffs
of Dover and "the peaks of the Alps protruding through the
clouds" are mentioned in it. This is contrasted by notations
of airships going down in balls of fire, as well as the deva-
station 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 accounts 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