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Our Story of Ploesti 22 July, 1944 Part 3 By George D. Dickie, Editor We were there on 22 July 1944. I'll call it "Crume's Crew" because I don't remember our crew number. Lyle Crume was our Pilot and, at least for that period of my life, is the reason I'm still alive. He really knew how to get the most out of the B-24. All went well until we hit the IP and then things went to hell quick. We decided to be good soldiers and follow our leader. I saw Col. G's ship get hit and go into a spin. Moments later we followed. One of our right engines was hit and both right engines had to be feathered. At the same time one of the main fuel lines in the bomb bay was severed. With the doors open the fuel was whipped into a white mist which prompted someone to call "fire". I was on the nose wheel door ready to go when the pilot corrected the call. The pilot got the ship under control and then everyone on the flight deck took turns trying to get a screw driver jammed into the fuel line to stop the leak. The fumes were so strong that they could not breathe and could only stay as long as a single breath would last. Eventually they were successful and things settled down a little. As with Col. G's ship we were able to restart one of the engines which permitted us to gain back enough altitude to get over the mountains in Yugoslavia. But not by much. We were shot at by light anti-aircraft guns as we crossed over some ranges. I, as Navigator, was doing all I could to determine our position and find chances of getting back to the base. Wow! Was I confused. Not only did the aerial maps leave something to be desired but we were not briefed on the possibility of having winds aloft at around 100 knots. I kept calculating our ground speed at about 80 to 90 knots and just didn't believe a B-24 would go that slow. I finally believed my calculations and told the Pilot. We decided we had enough gas to get to the Adriatic sea where we could then decide whether to try to go across or ditch near the Island of Vis. When the time came we decided to go for it but we weren't at all that confident. As we crossed the coast of Italy and approached Torretta we saw all the smoke from the bomb dump fire and we were told to divert to another field. There was no place else we could go. We were running on "empty" and a few prayers. Lyle Crume greased that aircraft on to the runway with that very heavy cross wind just as though nothing was wrong. I don't remember exactly how much fuel we had left but my recollection is that at least one engine died on the way back to the revetment. I don't know which crew made it back first but I'm sure that both crews sat down and told the Good Lord how pleased they were with him that day. |
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