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Angels Unknown - Part 1 by John Bybee -- 764th Bomb Squadron Unbloodied heavy bomber crew number 6757 had trained for and anticipated the day of their first combat mission since the ten men had melded themselves into a combat family back in Topeka, Kansas during September, 1944. That day arrived Sunday, 17 December 1944. At 3:30 a.m. ground grippers carrying hook-necked flashlights swarmed like fireflies through the forest of dark tents huddled behind the white farm house which served as the headquarters of the 764th Bomb Squadron, 461st Bomb Group, Cerignola, Italy. A wake-up orderly's flashlight beam broke the fitful sleep of 21-year-old first pilot, Kenneth Butler Smith. The orderly abruptly announced, "Briefings at 0530, Lieutenant," and withdrew into the predawn darkness. Ken Smith peeled back his three wool blankets and swung his feet to the frigid floor. Goose bumps dotted his skin as the tent shuddered in the icy wind. Robert T. Trumpy, Ken's upper turret gunner recalled, "The coldest I have been in my life was in Italy. One night I was in the replacement depot at Naples, I got up and put on all my clothes, dress uniform, overcoat, flying boots, gloves - and I was still cold." Ken and the other three officers of his crew: 2nd Lt. Harry D. Edmiston (Bombardier); 2nd Lt. Edward J. Chojnowski (Co-Pilot), and 2nd Lt. Frank V. Hokr, (Navigator) tugged on olive drab flight suits over their heavy underwear, and uniforms. Wool socks and fur lined boots were wrestled on and laced. Ken strapped on his shoulder holster with the Colt .45 automatic pistol, and grabbed his sunglasses. Before pulling on his fleece-lined flight jacket, Ken gathered up several cigars, lighter, pocket watch, fountain pen, pocket knife and a red comb and handkerchief. Ken stuffed 755 lire and a $10 dollar gold piece into his flyers purse. He tucked letters from his wife Virginia into the vest pocket of his flight suit. At 4:30 a.m. the squadron mess hall began serving to officers on one end and enlisted airmen on the other, the same fare - chipped beef on toast or powdered scrambled eggs and thick toast. Strong coffee was in abundance and crew 6757 refilled their heavy white mugs several times. Shortly before 5:30 a.m., a truck delivered Ken's crew to the day's briefing at Group Headquarters. Ken's enlisted crewmen, Cpl. Roland W. Morin (Ball Gunner); Staff/Sgt, Urban (Bud) Granger, (Tail Gunner); Cpl. Charles E. Foss, (Radio Operator); Cpl. Edwin A. Burkhardt, (Nose Gunner); Cpl. Robert T. Trumpy, (Upper Turret Gunner), and Cpl. Homer E. Hymbaugh, (Flight Engineer), attended a separate briefing. At the officer's briefing, the Assistant Operations Officer accompanied by a stranger came up to Ken Smith who was told that for this mission his regular co-pilot, Ed Chojnowski, would be replaced by a combat experienced first pilot, 1st Lt. Chester (Chet) Rudel. Ken and Chet chatted until the briefing began. The curtain covering the operational and intelligence maps of Germany was pulled back. The Group Operations Officer intoned, "Gentlemen, this is the moment of decision. This is where you'll be flying today." He tapped a spot on the map with the rubber tip of his pointer - the synthetic oil refinery at Odertal, Germany. The Odertal refinery complex was located in upper Silesia about 180 miles southwest of Warsaw, Poland. Cracking towers, storage tanks, and hundreds of miles of gas, oil, water, and compression pipes sprawled like a steel web across the conquered Polish countryside just north of Kozle, Poland. The Operations Officer informed the crews that Zuckmantel would be the IP (Initial Point). Bombing altitude would be 26,000 feet. Escorts would be P-38's, P-51's, call sign "Pixie". The Intelligence Officer took over the briefing. He informed the crews that the refineries were defended with 75mm and 155mm guns. Flak over Odertal could range from light to severe. The briefed course would skirt the known flak concentrations. However, they might pick up random flak anywhere. The Germans had mounted flak guns on flat cars and were switching them over various routes. Luftwaffe fighter opposition would be non-existent or minimal. Enemy fighters had not aggressively opposed Fifteenth Air Force operations since August. A lack of fuel and skilled pilots would keep the enemy tethered to the ground - the mission was a "milk run". A clanging of tailgates announced the arrival of the trucks that would carry the crews to their planes. Outside the briefing room 6757 reassembled as a crew. Officers and enlisted men piled into the back of a truck and sat down on the damp wooden slat benches. The truck growled and lurched through the frozen mud and delivered them to a dull silver B-24J-5-DT. Ken's charge for mission 151 was AAF S/N 42-51324, squadron number 12, nicknamed "Paulette" for their crew chiefs wife, Paulette Bowers. "Paulette" had taken 1st Lt. Edward (Tony) Nakhus and his crew, number 2-13 safely to Brux, Germany and back on December 16, 1944. Today, the bird belonged to Ken's crew. Frank Hokr had come up with the name, Ten Men Bak for their plane. Ken scanned the engineering report handed him by Crew Chief Bowers. The B-24 had been built by Douglas at Tulsa six months ago. Minor discrepancies had been flagged - but nothing serious enough to keep the bomber on the ground. Ken and Homer made a walk-around inspection of their thirty ton bomber. At the tail they made an extra check of the B-24's twin rudders. ....Back at Davis-Monthan Field, Ken and Homer had preflighted a B-24 just back from Maintenance. Their inspection revealed nothing unusual, but a hunch of something not being right nagged at Ken. Ken and Homer returned to the tail and together shoved on the broad left rudder - it came loose in their hands.... Ken and Homer drained gas tank filters, checked shock struts, superchargers, generators and hydraulic pressures. Ken, a former flight instructor in B-24's who had volunteered for combat duty, made doubly certain the Pitot covers had been removed from the Pitot heads. The Liberator was too large an aircraft to be safely operated by guessing air speeds. Satisfied, Ken bent over and entered the bomber through the knee-high bomb bay. Chet followed and Homer entered next. Homer stopped just forward of the main spar, reached up and turned the four fuel selector valves. He also checked the two visual fuel gages on the left forward face of the bomb bay bulkhead behind the flight deck. Harry, Frank, and Ed ducked down and crawled through the narrow tunnel under the flight deck to their positions in the nose. Bud, Charlie, and Warren fanned rearward. Bob squeezed his muscular shoulders into the narrow confines of the top turret. Ken settled into the left seat and adjusted the seat and rudder pedals to fit his 6-foot, 1-inch, 190 pound frame. Homer stationed himself between the two pilots. Chet reviewed the 29 items on the before starting engines checklist: "Ignition and master switches on... auxiliary hydraulic pump on... intercoolers open... cowl flaps open... superchargers off... props high RPM... mixture idle cut off..." "Start number three," ordered Ken. Chet primed the number three engine with short shots of fuel and with his other hand held the number three starter switch to "Accel". Chet waited 12 seconds then threw the meshing switch to "Crank". The starter's whine was drowned out by a deep moan. Number three coughed, belched blue smoke, then surged into a steady rumble. Engines four, two, one followed in sequence. Ken set the mixtures to auto lean and warmed up the engines at 1,000 RPM's. Chet read off the 17 items on the before taxi checklist. Ken signaled for the ground crew to pull the chocks. Homer clambered up to his taxi position. Mindful of the whirling propellers on either side, he slipped his head and shoulders out the pilot's escape hatch to act as Ken's lookout and guide. Ken used a burst of power to get the B-24 moving, then steered the plane from its hardstand with the outboard engines. Number 12 was seventh in line, with twenty-four more behind her. Thirty seconds after the bomber ahead of him lifted off Ken swung number 12 onto the 6,000 foot runway. The Liberator nodded on her nosewheel as Ken pushed the throttles forward and cranked up the superchargers. "Cowl flaps closed," Ken ordered. Homer repositioned himself behind Ken's right shoulder to call our the airspeeds so that the pilot could keep his full attention on the runway. "60...70...75...80...," Homer shouted into Ken's right ear. With a full 2,700 gallons of fuel, and a four ton bomb load aboard, Ten Men Bak gathered speed slowly on the uneven steel mat and gravel runway. "90...," Homer; said with emphasis, they were committed. "100..110..." Two-thirds of the runway gone. The main struts extended as the slim Davis wing began to take the load. "130...," Homer shouted above the din of the four Pratt and Whitney radials. Ken eased back on the wheel, and the Ten Men Bak staggered into the unheeding sky. Ken held the nose down until the airspeed reached 135. At 150 he signaled Chet to raise the landing gear. Ken braked the wheels twice before they retracted into the wing wells. 300 feet, throttles back to climb power, propellers to 2550 RPMs. Ken began to milk up the Fowler flaps. Positive rate of climb established, Homer headed for the waist. He checked in on the intercom, "Wheels are up, flaps fully retracted. No oil or tell tale white ribbons of leaking gasoline are visible." Ken climbed out at 500 feet per minute and circled for Squadron rendezvous. Forty five minutes later, the 31 B-24's led by Captain Mixson leveled out at 9,000 feet over Bovine, Italy. Rendezvous was effected with the 484th and 451st Bomb Groups. At 9:12 a.m. the force of 93 heavy bombers turned in Wing Formation towards the Adriatic Sea. The 484th was the low Group and led the formation, the 451st was the middle Group, the 461st trailed in the high slot. Five B-24's aborted with mechanical troubles. The coast line of Eastern Italy went by unseen as the heavy laden B-24's continued their steady slow climbs on instruments through the overcast. Out over the Adriatic the overcast thickened to 10/10 and stratocumulus clouds reared up to 15,000 feet. A minute early, the 484th arrived at the KP (Key Point, Split, Yugoslavia) at 10:03 a.m. at 16,000 feet. The 451st arrived two minutes later at 17,000. The 461st arrived at 10:08 a.m. at 17,500 feet. |
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