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Survivors is partially true – a combination of fact and fiction. I have created new characters as members of the crew of the Devils Lady which is not the name of the ship in which I flew. I experienced the fear common to all of us and realized, almost from the beginning, that we were committing suicide every time we flew, in rigid formation, bombing missions over Germany. Our first encounter was the Battle of Buncher Six – our radio beacon. On overcast days – almost every day - in England – we had to climb thousands of feet through impenetrable fog with only the altimeter, throttle and prescribed angle of climb for the pilots’ guidance. The names of those who were killed in the inevitable collisions appeared on the shield which hung above the bar in the officers’ and non-coms’ clubs.. We were required to fly in rigid formation - in the beginning - without adequate air cover and with .30 caliber machine guns. We converted to .50 caliber, and in some bombers added a lower ball turret against fighters attacking from below. The gunner was in a sitting the fetal position, and with legs open presented his gonads to the enemy fighters. In the event of an emergency he could not be cranked back up, if there was no one alive to do it, and on a belly landing the extended ball would be crushed and the gunner killed. I took gunner training in that lower ball turret in a B-17 flown by a bored pilot who managed to do wingovers which made me dizzy and disoriented. I had earned my gunners’ wings which provided additional incentive to become a navigator and not ever fly in that contraption. When I was flying missions, the B-24 lower ball turret had been removed. I had particular empathy for those gunners who had been assigned to that position, but we were now vulnerable to attack from below. This rigid formation prevented any evasive action. On the bomb run we flew directly into the heavy Junkers 88 flak barrages set to explode at various altitudes – an air-born island with black puffs filled with jagged steel fragments that could tear our bombers apart and explode which is what happened to my bomber and the loss of six of our ten man crew including our pilot who was pitched forked to death upon landing by parachute. We were attacked by fighters on the way in and on the way out. The surviving aircraft were frequently severely damaged and unable to keep up with their formation consequently particularly vulnerable to the resumed fighter attacks. In the latter part of the air war the Germans had developed the Focke Wolf 190 equipped with cannon that could stay out of range and fire into the formations. I learned later that, upon our entrance into the air war, the British had invited us to join with them in night bombing. They went in, under cover of darkness, one ship at a time capable of evasive action. Their offer to train us was refused and in spite of so many casualties and continued lack of adequate air cover, a majority of the our generals remained adamant that the combined fire power of rigid formation was adequate protection. I learned later – after the war - that the British aircraft got much closer to the targets, that their bombing was better and more accurate with fewer casualties. What we bragged about as pinpoint bombing was an absolute lie – for propaganda/morale purposes For example – there I was in a bomber, well behind the lead squadron which is now miles away on the bomb run and almost over a target obscured by cloud cover – a target the bombardier cannot see. My nose gunner, because I, the follow navigator, had no forward visibility in a B-24J, was ordered to sing out when our ship was over the smoke marker now wafting its uncertain way in an undoubtedly strong wind aloft. As navigator/togglier I would then release the bombs. We were at our assigned altitude of 24,000 feet. The B- 17s were higher because the B-24s did not handle well in formation at the higher altitude. Just imagine where all those bombs must have landed! Too often their bombs were dropped through our formations. We know now and knew then that our bombs seldom hit their assigned military strategic targets. So many lives lost unnecessarily and for such little strategic result! We sustained more casualties than all of the marines in WWII Though the characters I have introduced as members of the crew of The Devil’s Lady are fictional they are certainly authentic. My knowledge comes from close personal observation. Yes, there were those who deserted – Section 8s – self inflicted wounds, and some crews who deliberately flew to safe havens in Sweden and Switzerland. Many of us were poorly educated, uninformed, without pronounced hatred for the enemy, or particularly gung ho, and of course no one is prepared for war.- even the air war – a good life in England when not on missions, plenty of food, beautiful, willing girls to whom we could afford to be generous because we were better paid than the British. And we were young and did not realize our mortality - until it was too late. This story deals with that too. I was a POW, shot down by flak one of four survivors of a crew of 10. I was invited to escape by Wing Commander Stanford Tuck later knighted as Sir Stanford who had the highest number of kills as a fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain. I had to refuse to go with him at the last minute because I was too sick to travel though by that time we were out of the camp by order of the Germans determined to prevent the advancing Russians from capturing us. We were valuable as their bargaining chip. We had begun the march toward the east in a blizzard. I did not escape with Tuck, but I studied escape until it became an obsession. I had announced my intention to a Canadian Pilot in touch with the Escape Committee, and that is why Tuck approached me. We had previously become acquainted and he knew that my father, formerly an Englishman and a British officer, had served in the trenches in WWI. Tuck enjoyed my imitation of the North country twang as well as the upper class accent. I’ve always been a mimic. It was obvious the English had more incentive than we. They were defending their soil and had suffered too many casualties of friends and relatives, and the Canadians who did not like the English still recognized their responsibility to the Empire. They always stood to attention whenever Tuck entered our eighteen man room – nine Canucks and nine Yanks who for the most part got along very well. They too were gung ho. It was the Canadians who tunneled out of the prison camp I was in - Stalag Luft III Belaria. The escape sequence was exactly what I had planned to do and Bill Holland, the navigator. followed that plan.. The POW sequence – the interrogation in Oberursel – is accurate. I was threatened with torture to reveal something I did not know. Believe me I was and am not a hero. I was desperate and knew I had to find something to distract my interrogator, and that sequence, believe it or not, is true. The incidents with my personal friend and fellow navigator are also true – a bit of character insight and a decidedly comic relief. So now you know what you need to know. I’ve read a great many of these air war stories and I believe this is unique. It tells the truth, all of which is based on actual events.. What will never cease to amaze me is the number of us who continued to fly those suicide, misguided, air raids. I am standing in judgment of leaders whose stupid decisions resulted in the unnecessary loss of too many lives for too little strategic result. I and so many others – a clear majority - did what was required, but why is it always the young who have to pay for the inadequacy of our leaders? It’s going on right now in Iraq. I am an inquirer one who always inquires about life – mine and others. Hang in there and meet the people and read the story I believe you should know and understand.
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