Alex E, Majesky's WWII Combat pilot records eight air force - army corp

I flew my first mission and I might add it was quite thrilling besides being terrifying.

Hundreds of planes were in the formation flying close together and it was comforting to look around and see a lot of friendly fighters escorting us. Then as we arrived over the target and released our load of bombs, we could see the flak bursts off in a distance. Then the journey back through enemy territory and evading the anit-aircraft areas. We're up at high altitude all this time and a constant check has to be made to see that no one passes out from lack of oxygen or freezing to death with temperatures between minus 30 to 50 degrees.

As we were returning, my top turret man didn't answer to oxygen check. We dragged

him down out to the flight deck and he was stiff as a board and out cold. A minute or two more and he would have been dead. But we gave him emergency oxygen and he came around.  That is learning the hard way to be oxygen conscious.

Although it was shorter in duration, it was more intense in flak, in fact it was damned close. I really sweated that one out. In the first plane I collapsed the nose wheel on the ship, then had to take another and I got off late so I missed the formation so I tagged on to another and flew into Germany hoping they would go to the same target as I wasn't gassed for a deep penetration. It was quite rugged but we got back safely.

This was my third mission and a rather long one. We took off with a heavy load and climbed up through five hundred foot of cloud. All the trip I was pulling plenty of mercury (46 degrees) and plenty of power to keep in formation. We dropped our bombs over the target, then started on a long course back to evade flak areas when I noticed we were going to run short on gas. So we dropped out of formation to try to conserve gas. We had just crossed back over the front and there was an undercast beneath us. Rather than come down into the channel, we decided to land in Belgium and get gas. I had only 200 gallons left and we had been using over 400 gallons an hour. We started down through the undercast flying through rain and sleet and finally broke out a few hundred feet above the ground. In about 10 minutes we came upon a 47 and 51 fighter strip. So without further ado and without contacting the tower, we settled upon the strip and taxied to a stop.

It was an American field and they were very friendly and we also learned we were only 30 minutes from the front. They gave us a thousand gallons of gas, then our batteries went out so we had to stay the night. The next day we got new batteries and took off at 1500 after the weather had let up a little We brought back two officers on flak leave. They got a big thrill at the maneuvers we put the 21 through. We got back to the base in England and found that they had us reported as missing in action.

It's certainly good to be back as the trip was rather hectic with worry. I think I age about five years on every mission.

Christmas Eve day and the Germans had just made a fifty mile push into our lines near Luxembourg and were raising hell with our boys. We have just been sweating out the weather and today the weather was perfect and we took off with maximum strength and again I'm flying the Purple Heart corner. Well, it was really rough over the target and flak was too damned close. Several ships near me were hit and I was sweating profusely while temperatures were down to 35 degrees below zero. I thought sure it would get us as I watched each burst blossom in front, on the side and below, but, thank God we came through without a scratch. When we got back to the base, I had three double headers of whisky which I drank in two gulps, then I felt OK. That mission was completed and we hit our target well.

Yeah man and what a mission. Two ships were knocked out over the target area. One ship peeled off in front of me with its bomb doors pouring out with smoke. At the same time I picked up two holes in my tail and one in the wing. Flak bursts were all around and damned close. We really hit our target but good. Three squadrons of ships and allof us dropped bombs within the same thousand foot circle. And what a formation with hundreds of ships crossing a few feet over the top and beneath. We got back and landed with only a few hundred feet of visibility. The weather here is really something. It's always foggy and sometimes you have to climb up 20,000 feet to get on top.

My last mission before this I found out was one of the largest yet. There were some

2000 B-24 and B-17s. The sky were clouded for miles and miles. It was really a beautiful sight to see so many planes in formation with thousands of single engine fighters about as escorts.

I can say this-that it was the hand of God that brought me back. We started out on

the mission and I got off late because I had trouble with my ship. So I took another and caught up with the formation. We sailed into Germany and the lead screws up the mission and we flew around in Germany a little too long when finally enemy ships came up at us. Six ships (FulkWolf 190) came at mine at 6 0' clock and started firing. They knocked out number one engine, blew a two foot hole in my right aileron and peppered all four of my engines, and blew the tail turret to hell-just generally riddled the ship with 50 caliber and 20 M/M guns.

The tail turret operator was cut up in the face and his eyes full of glass while the left waist gunner got hit in the leg. The top turret man got a slight cut above the eye. Listening in on inter phone I could hear the tail gunner go into a few seconds of hysteria and I couldn't tell how badly anyone was hurt. At the same instant my instruments were hay wire and I was losing another engine while the rest of the formation was pulling away from me. I followed them as best as I could but they were soon out of sight and in the distance we could see our fighters engaged with the enemy which saved us.

Now I had to get back or get down to a friendly field. We were losing plenty of altitude which meant we had to get down quickly for other engines would be going out. I called desperately on "Darkey" until I got an answer and they directed us to a fighter strip and on the final approach my third engine was cutting out so as soon as I knew I could make the field, I cut all engines off and came in. The field was over a hundred miles below.

Brussels and less from the front lines. When we landed and the co-pilot saw the condition of the plane, he was overcome and had to lie on the ground while he wept. I tried cheering him with "How about a cigarette chum". Well, the ship was unflyable so we were shown quarters and then had something to eal. But our appetites were gone. At their meager club they had plenty of Champagne and cognac which we drank like water until we were all laughing again and trying to forget. All I can say is a fine New Years Eve. Thank God we're alive.

This is our first mission since we were shot down on New. Years Eve and I think we deserved the rest. My nerves were somewhat shattered anyway. Today's mission was rather easy and we bombed the city of Ham. Moderate flak but inaccurate was seen over the target.

Also a V-2 bomb was launched as we came over. What a weird sight it is too. I still say that the worst thing over here in the weather. Sometimes you climb up through 20,000 feet of clouds before breaking out on top and that's quite a strain. On the last one of our foggy days a friend of mine crashed into the sea and that was the end of them. Even if they lived through the crash, they wouldn't last any more than 20 minutes in that cold sea. Another friend of mine blew up over Germany taking another plan who was flying on his wing. Always back at the base, new faces appear and the dead are soon forgotten. War is certainly Hell.

Well, today the mission was for the big "B" (Berlin) and that is the roughest target anyone could get. I took off and at 8000 feet my #3 engine started to give me trouble with a runaway supercharger and then the #l engine was running away in R.P.M. After jockeying around, I was set to return to the field, then decided against it as it might cost me to fly an extra, mission. So on we sent but I coulda't fly close formation so I just hovered above them and we went into Germany. We arrived at the target and the flak was terrific. It was hell and your skin began to crawl. Off to the left a ship goes out of control twice, then finally gets hold of it, then you breathe again. All the time I'm having trouble with engines, then comes the long tip over the North Sea with a head wind. England always looks good after each mission.

Some place to land, relax, and you get your feet on terra firma. Well, off to bad now as I'm tired and I'm alerted for a mission tomorrow too.

Well, as you have noticed, we didn't get a mission the following day but that doesn't

mean we don't fly. When it isn't over Germany, it's a practice mission over England and I think we lose just as many crews that way. Today's mission was again for oil works in Madgeburg and she is a rough target with heavy flak. I almost aborted with the ships but decided to nurse the baby over and back. I practically flew the whole mission with three engines. But we got back safely and as usual, very tired.

Again we bombed the city of Madgeburg and today besides the intense and accurate tracking of flak of which we got hit in the bomb bay, we had to put up with weather which was terrific. We were still in the soup at 25,000 feet and the contrails were dense and persistent. After fighting the weather for hours, we got back to England safely. The news say the city of Madgeburg is almost a complete bombed mass. But tomorrow I am alerted again and it will probably be to the same place again. From today's raid one or our planes is missing.

This morning we were bound for two targets and the first was Big "3" (Bedlin) which always puts a slight tension in the air for not only is it a long mission but it's most deadly for Second d most undoubedly to meet enemy ighter a al, it waission ty scrubbed and the elked target was Nuremberg and it was here that we had too a lof of ships due to flak. Well I liked this much better because if we were hit, it would only be about 75 miles to our lines.

We got on our way and after doing a 360 before the target, we came in on the bomb run As we neared our target I expected any moment for the flak to blacken the skies but to my astonishment only a few black puffs appeared here and there. Then our bombs were away and we made a turn to the right taking us away from the target and out of the flak area and on our way back home. But as we were crossing over the Western Front, we got a few accurate bursts of flak. I mean accurate as to our altitude, none of us were hit. So back home we came and I was alerted for the next day but only to fly with the formation the coast and back again.

Today the target is Berlin Primary, Berlin Secondary and Last resort, So today we had

to go to Big "B". More of the boys seemed to go to confession this morning and there was more tension in the air. I got out to the ship, the boys had the funs all in and ship checked and were standing around a little jumpy. We pass over the English Coast then the Enemy coast and soon we're on the Bomb Run. I kept looking ahead and all of a sudden the area in front of us was blackened with large bursts of ugly flak A barrage was set up. It was below us, at our level and above us. But it was still a few seconds before we would pass over our target. We few through the disappearing smoke and everyone was quiet, tense and waiting-expecting a violent jar-but nothing happened and no more flak cam up and the bombs slipped away and we made a turn off the run and headed back for home. All was well again and we had just participated in the largest raid against Berlin.

When we started out today we called this mission #12 B or A as we have become quite superstitious. Because of our route, it was a long haul. Halle is our target today. We expected it to be a good one but to our surprise, we got quite a bit of flak but fortunately I wasn't hit But on our way back over France, we were low on fuel. We though we had plenty of gas so we started out across the channel and after five minutes two engines cut out and that indicated we had no gas in two tanks so we ran all four engines of cross fired, then turned around and headed back. We were expecting the other tanks to go dry so I gave the order of ditching as we might go down in the sea. Then we headed for the Belgium coast but it held up and we came over land again and a small runway came into sight so we came in for a landing as I dida't want to crash on into trees. The runway was only 1800 feet long but we got stopped.

Then we found that they could give us no gas as it wasn't a field but the strip was a foundation of a V-2 sight built by the Germans. So we checked our tanks and found we had 300 gallons of gas. But we had only 1800 feet of runway to take off on. Our short runways at our base are at least 4500 feet long, so you see we had a problem. So I had the crew take out all the guns and everything that would come loose and put them in a truck and let the crew with the exception of the engineer and co-pilot, to meet me at B-53, a field near Lille, Frome. We got in the ship and I told the engineer he didn't have to come as I wasn't sure we'd get off, but he said if I was going, he'd go too. I didn't ask the co-pilot for I knew he felt as I did and he came automatically. We got set and I gave it full RPMs and full turbo, and holding the brakes on with full flaps down until the engines were roaring and the plane vibrating like a jack rabbit. Leaving off the brakes we started slowly to eat up the ever decreasing runway. The air speed was dragging up until it got to 100 MPH and the end of the runway was underneath. I strained and lifted the nose up and she came up while trees whizzed by. Up came the landing gear and we got up speed and we breathed normally again. We landed then at the field and I bought the boys three bottles of champagne at Il shillings a bottle (11 shillings $220).

Today again we go to Madgeburg. I think the Dragon Lady (my ship's name) could

go there herself. With today's mission the city of Magdeburg with the synthetic oil plant north of her was completely obliterated from the map and we got back in good condition

Today we were called on by request of several Generals to aid the Russians in bombing Swinemunde which is at this time about 12 miles from the Russian Lines. it was a long haul and there was a lot of flak at the target but most of it was a few thousand feet below us it would have been a rough deal if you were hit as we went by sea and ditch the B-24 in those cold waters means a matter of an hour or two and you've had it. But we got through and really smeared our target. Landed at our base with 600 gallons of gas.

Targets are getting scarce now and it looks as thought we'll soon be going to the South

Pacific. Today we bombed the steel works of Herman Goring at the southern end of Brunswick near Hanover. There was quite a lot of flak and a few enemy fighters in the area. But our 5ls took care of them and we went on unabated. The weather was terrible with thick persistent controls. Also, I had a good tummy ache from eating beans. So when I got to 23,000 feet, I practically blew up. it was painful, and my back was killing me. We got safely back in formation and a very smooth landing.

Today the target was airfields for the whole 8th Air Force and ours was at

Kaltenkirchen, a few miles northwest of hamburg. I was rather glad to go on this one as I'm a little eager to get more missions as target are getting scarce and that trip to the south Pacific looks mighty close. The whole mission was pretty good except that it was all undercast and we couldn't drop our bombs, but brought them all back to the base. We got a little flak and a few enemy fighters. We saw a 163 German rocket plane and a 262 German jet propelled plane. They mad an attack on a formation in front of us but failed to knock the bomber down when our 51s arrived on the scene and took care of them, it's nice to watch our fighters when there's enemy fighters in the area. They seem to crouch around like Banty Roosters ready to pounce in on the kill and they really do. We got back okay except that I'm damn tired. Seven hours of formation is really tiring although some of our missions last over nine hours. Then of course when you walk, you leave three tracks, one of them is your butt dragging.

The target today was an ammunition dump near the river southeast of Hamburg. The take off was up through an overcast, then out over the channel. Before we reached the target we were hit by enemy fighters - FW190 and jets. We could see our fighter escort engaging the enemy all around us as they attempted to reach our bomber formation. One jet came zooming down close to us with three 47s on his tail and just ahead of us the jet caught fire and the pilot bailed out His chute opened immediately and he drifted just beneath us. No one fired a shot at him, which looked very sporting of the allies. Then a couple enemy fighters circled our formation three times, then left to hit a formation to our rear, probably figured we were flying too close a formation and didn't want to take the chance. We arrived at the target and dropped our bombs. You could see the terrific blast of flame and then feel the concussion at 18,000 feet That meant we really hit our target. Smoke would then rise several thousand feet from the blast effect. The return trip over water was smooth and low and we returned safely -ow mission accomplished well. We lost 22 bombers and 3 fighters due to enemy action.

The weather looked terrible this morning and I thought sure the mission would be

Almagardaed (called off) but after waiting three hours, the log finally lifted and we were able to take off on instruments. The sky was clear above and we set our on course. The formation was good and bombing results perfect. We hit our target which was a jet aifield, smack on the nose. We encountered no flak or fighter opposition. We returned back to our base at 8: 15PM after getting up for briefing at 7:00 this morning, it has certainly been a long day.

Well, that's another mission to our credit and it was a long haul to Regensberg. The

weather was bad over the island so we formed over Brussels where it was contact. We hit south of Nuremberg and the target had plenty of flak but we got through it unscathed. It was visual all through Germany so we got a good look at the different bomb damages. You could see just shells of cities standing after our bombs had pulverized it. I'm very tired, so off to bed.

All our missions now are deep penetrations and we sweat out our gas. Today we got no close flak or fighters and our formation was good so we got good bombing results. After the target we dropped down to 10,000 feet over Fronce and then we could take off our oxygen masks and flak suite and ride comfortably back. The mission was over nine hours long so I'm plenty tired of formation flying.

Today we had a honey of a trip. Clear into Czechoslovakia, but again we had no flak

nor fighters and also low altitude flying over France. Today I flew the slot and after yesterdays tiring day this was rough on the neck. Well, I definitely took my shot of whiskey after the mission. This was another nine hour trip but we got back safely and with plenty of gas but I had to have my number 2 & 3 engines changed.