A Short Story: My Dad's First Month in Combat

Putting myself in my father's shoes, his first month
in combat during WW2 should read something
like this....


General McArthur, in keeping his famous promise, steadily
advanced from one Pacific Island to another, so the HQ of
my unit, the 307th Bombardment Group, the "Long Rangers"
moved with him.

From Midway to Canton Island and Guadalcanal. On to
air fields at New Georgia, Los Negros and finally to my
wartime home, the Wadke Island Aerodrome, just off
the coast of New Guinea. The last 'hop' before the
long promised Big Invasion.

My new airfield was just captured from the japs during
'Operation Straight Line', only 4 nip soldiers survived on
Wadke Island out a force of just 760. Little did anyone know
that several thousand more jap soldiers died in a remote cave
on the island, hiding from the bombers. They hid so well
that 62 years passed before their skeletons were to be found
and properly buried.

Soldiers' bones returned from Papua
The Japan Times: November 10, 2005
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfiel...pan-times.html

My first mission was on October 13th,1944 in a new B-24J
named "My Ideal". But it was a shame my best buddy, "Teamer"
got assigned to a different plane.We were replacements
for the 424th Bomber Squadron, which had lost 5 planes, and
their entire crews, in just that one month of October.

The significance of that figure didn't really sink in, until
recalling the 424th squadron consists of only 12 planes
at full strength, 6 or 7 most of the time.

Replacements were sorely needed.

After arriving, Teamer and I naturally wanted to know
...."what went wrong" to cause all those losses.
Five out of twelve planes in one month needs to be
explained. But our pilot, Lt Heille, decided to talk
about what went ...right instead.

"Did you hear about Lt Wheeler?" he replied.

He went on to tell us that during the October 3 strike
against the Balikpapan oil refinery, a 20mm shell exploded
in their cockpit, paralyzing the right leg and arm of the
pilot, Lt Wheeler, and the co-pilot was bleeding so badly
he became barely conscious. With one engine out and
the help of the engineer, they managed to keep flying
for the 6 long hours it took to get back, and somehow
landed safely. In the words of the commander...

"Some crews have it, some crews don't.
This crew had it...in large quantities."

Oct 3 Mission Report
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep...cord-424bs.pdf

Lt Wheeler would've been the 6th plane lost in that month.
On the same Oct 3rd mission, Lt Rider's plane was
photographed just after a Kamikaze attack.
The picture made headlines back home.

B-24 shot down "Over the Philippines"
http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/avi...nes-31642.html

"So what went wrong" we asked again? Why all the losses?
"They found the Battleship Yamato!" he said.
"That's what went wrong!"

But she wasn't sailing alone, the smaller Battleship Nagato, and
her 16 inch guns, and the Battleships Kongo and Haruna were
with her that day. The bulk of the entire jap navy.

Oct 26 Mission Report
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep...353D-424bs.pdf

Yamato
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGy5A...layer_embedded
http://combinedfleet.com/yamato.htm
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep..._Jap_Fleet.pdf


On my 3rd mission, on Nov 2nd, it became our turn to look
for the Yamato and friends. We searched for 15 long hours
but with no 'luck'. Turns out the Yamato task force was in
Brunei, for supplies. A month later we searched again, with
the same result.

Looks like I wasn't too concerned with grammar after that
second long search for the jap battleships. My log book
of that mission just read....

"...it would have been suiscide for us".

But on my 4th mission, on Nov 6, we had better luck.
Shot down my first fighter! "Got one for sure" my log book reads.

I was on the right waist gun. We were flying a formation
of 6 B-24's at 12,500 feet in a modified box formation, with
2 P-47 escorts. And 7 hours flight time away from our
airfield, we were attacked by 20 jap fighters.

The Zeke I shot down came in from behind, between
5 and 7 o'clock level. After my burst, it started to smoke
badly, banked right and went into a steep vertical dive.
It was last seen going into the clouds at 4000 feet trailing
thick black smoke. Because of the cloud cover, it was
listed only as a 'probable'.

The jap fighters made 15 or 20 more passes at us, all from
behind. The P-47's shot down two of them, but not before
the #3 engine of the bomber flown by Lt Balovich was damaged.
He stayed in formation as long as he could, then peeled off
and descended to 4000 feet, followed by the 2 P-47's.
Happily, the plane successfully diverted to Leyte.

Nov 6 Mission Report
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep..._357-372sq.pdf


That pretty much sums up the first month, only 38 more missions
and 367 hours of flight time, left to go!



s

Putting myself in my father's shoes, his first month
in combat during WW2 should read something
like this....


General MacArthur, in keeping his famous promise, steadily
advanced from one Pacific Island to another, so the HQ of
my unit, the 307th Bombardment Group, the Long Rangers
"Jungle Air Force" moved with him.

From Midway to Canton Island and Guadalcanal. On to
air fields at New Georgia, Los Negros and finally to
the Wadke Island Aerodrome just off the coast of
New Guinea. The last 'hop' before the long promised
Big Invasion.

My new airfield was just captured from the japs during
'Operation Straight Line', only 4 jap soldiers survived.
Little did anyone know that several thousand more jap
soldiers died in a remote cave on the island, hiding from
the bombers. They hid so well that 62 years passed before
their skeletons were to be found, and properly buried.

Soldiers' bones returned from Papua
The Japan Times: November 10, 2005
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfiel...pan-times.html

The first mission was on October 13th,1944 in a new B-24J
named "My Ideal". But it was a shame my best buddy, "Teamer"
got assigned to a different plane.We were replacements for
the 424th Bomber Squadron, which had lost 5 planes, and
their entire crews, in just that one month of October.

The significance of that figure didn't really sink in, until
realizing the 424th squadron usually only had 6 or 7 planes.

Replacements were sorely needed.

After arriving, Teamer and I naturally wanted to know
...."what went wrong" to cause all those losses.
But our pilot, Lt Heille, decided to talk about some of the
other squadrons instead. Our bomber group had 4 squadrons,
the 370th, 371st, 372nd and ours the 424th.

Oct 3 Mission.

The 370th, 371st, 372nd and 424th squadrons attacked the
crucual Balakapapan oil fields. Source of 13% of the entire
Japanese oil and gas supplies, considered the 'Ploesti' of the
Pacific, and one of the most vital targets of the entire war.

"How'd they do" Teamer asked? Lt Heille just handed over
a copy of the mission reports and let us read the results
for ourselves.

370th Squadron results; 7 unescorted B-24's.

"It is impossible to rate this mission as only one
of our planes over the target returned to base.
Reports of crewmen of other squadrons indicate
that 5 of 6 scheduled planes hit the primary target."
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep..._338-370bs.pdf

371st Squadron results;

"This bombing is rated as excellent." 6 of 6 bombers over
the target. Fifteen minutes before the bomb run, the squadron
was attacked for an hour and a half by numerous relays of
jap fighters of 40-50 planes in each relay. Some enemy fighters
flew above the formation and dropped several phosphorus
bombs accurately. Two bombers were lost, and 13 enemy
fighters shot down. A/C 570 lost engine #2 over target and was
damaged beyond repair in landing.

"Is is doubtful that a more dangerous, grueling and heart-breaking
mission has ever been performed in any theatre of war. This report
can by no means adequately reflect the feast of individual heroism
and bravery displayed, which are too numerous to mention."
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep..._338-371bs.pdf
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep...371sqANNEX.pdf

372nd mission results.

"One plane was lost, this airplane was attacked by
10-12 fighrers on the breakaway from the target.
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep...Crew-372bs.pdf


"Four raids were conducted against the refineries at
Balikpapan, These missions constitiuted the longest
mass flight of bombers in the South, Pacific, and
perhaps the entire world, with the exception of the
B-29 raids out of China.

21% of all personal that started out that day, Oct 3
have not returned. 29% of the airplanes that day
will never fly again. In all 12 planes were lost in
combat, one crashed on take off, and 32 were
damaged.

Awards for September and October, 1944
307th Bombardment Group;

Air Medals 123
Oak Leaf Clusters 19
Distinquished Flying Cross 1
Puple Hearts 8


"Did you hear about Lt Wheeler?"

He went on to tell us that during the October 3 strike
against the Balikpapan oil refinery, a 20mm shell exploded
in their cockpit, paralyzing the right leg and arm of the
pilot, Lt Wheeler, and the co-pilot was bleeding so badly
he became barely conscious. With one engine out and
the help of the engineer, they managed to keep flying
for the 6 long hours it took to get back, and somehow
landed safely. In the words of the group commander...

"Some crews have it, some crews don't.
This crew had it...in large quantities."

Oct Unit Report
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep...cord-424bs.pdf


"So what went wrong on the Oct 26th mission" we asked?
"They found the Battleships!" he said.
"That's what went wrong!"

The group leader spotted what he thought was a flotilla of
heavy and light cruisers, so he barged right in. But it turned
out to be a fleet of battleships and heavy cruisers. The
Battleships Yamato, the largest ever built, the smaller Nagato
with her 16 inch guns, and the Battleships Kongo and Haruna
along with several heavy cruisers. The bulk of the entire
remaining Japanese fleet.

BattleshipYamato
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGy5A...layer_embedded

Oct 26th mission results;

"This bombing is rated as excellent. 28 Liberators, 7 each
from the 370th, 371st, 372nd and 424th attacked the flotilla.
3 of 7 B-24's from the 424th were lost, 1 crashed on
take-off and 14 were damaged by AA fire."

"In as much as this is the first time heavy bombardment
squadrons have taken under attack major units of the
Jap battle fleet, it is thought of interest to record in detail
and to diagram the actions of the two forces."
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep..._Jap_Fleet.pdf

Oct 26 Group report
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep...353D-Group.pdf


On Nov 2nd, my 3rd mission, it became our turn to look
for the Yamato flotilla. We searched for 15 long hours
but with no 'luck'. Turns out the Yamato task force was
in Brunei, for supplies.

Looks like I wasn't too concerned with grammar after being
alerted for a second long search for the jap battleships a
month later. My log book that day just read....

"...it would have been suiscide for us".

But on my 4th mission, on Nov 6, we had better luck.
Shot down my first fighter! "Got one for sure" my
log book reads.

I was on the right waist gun. We were flying a formation
of 6 B-24's at 12,500 feet in a modified box formation, with
2 P-47 escorts. And 7 hours flight time away from our
airfield, we were attacked by 20 jap fighters.

The Zeke I shot down came in from behind, between
5 and 7 o'clock level. After my burst, it started to smoke
badly, banked right and went into a steep vertical dive.
It was last seen going into the clouds at 4000 feet trailing
thick black smoke. Because of the cloud cover, it was
listed only as a 'probable'.

The jap fighters made 15 or 20 more passes at us, all from
behind. The P-47's shot down two of them, but not before
the #3 engine of the bomber flown by Lt Balovich was damaged.
He stayed in formation as long as he could, then peeled off
and descended to 4000 feet, followed by the 2 P-47's.
Happily, the plane successfully diverted to Leyte.

Nov 6 Mission Report
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep..._357-372sq.pdf


That pretty much sums up the first month, only 38 more missions
and 367 hours of flight time left to go!



s

A Short Story; My Dad's First Month in Combat!

Putting myself in my father's shoes, his first month
in combat during WW2 should read something
like this....

General MacArthur, in keeping his famous promise, steadily
advanced from one Pacific Island to another, so the HQ of
my unit, the 307th Bombardment Group, the Long Rangers
"Jungle Air Force" moved with him.

From Midway to Canton Island and Guadalcanal. On to
air fields at New Georgia, Los Negros and finally to
the Wadke Island Aerodrome just off the coast of
New Guinea. The last 'hop' before the long promised
Big Invasion.

My new airfield on Wadke Island was just captured from
the japs during 'Operation Straight Line', only 4 jap soldiers
survived the battle. Little did anyone know that several thousand
more jap soldiers died in a remote cave on the island, hiding
from the bombers. They hid so well that 62 years passed before
their skeletons were to be found, and properly buried.

Soldiers' bones returned from Papua
The Japan Times: November 10, 2005
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfiel...pan-times.html

The first mission was on October 13th,1944 in a new B-24J
named "My Ideal". But it was a shame my best buddy, "Teamer"
got assigned to a different plane. We were replacements for
the 424th Bomber Squadron, which had lost 5 planes, and
their entire crews, in just that one month of October.

The significance of that figure didn't really sink in, until
realizing the 424th squadron usually only had 6 or 7 planes.

Replacements were sorely needed.

After arriving, Teamer and I naturally wanted to know
...."what went wrong" to cause all those losses to the 424th.
But our pilot, Lt Heille, decided to talk about some of the
other squadrons instead. Our bomber group had 4 squadrons,
the 370th, 371st, 372nd and ours the 424th.

Oct 3 Mission.

The 370th, 371st, 372nd and 424th squadrons attacked the
crucial Balakapapan oil fields. Source of 13% of the entire
Japanese oil and gas supplies, considered the 'Ploesti' of the
Pacific, and one of the most vital targets of the entire war.

"How'd they do" Teamer asked? Lt Heille just handed over
a copy of the mission reports and let us read the results
for ourselves.

370th Squadron results; 7 unescorted B-24's.

"It is impossible to rate this mission as only one
of our planes over the target returned to base.
Reports of crewmen of other squadrons indicate
that 5 of 6 scheduled planes hit the primary target."
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep..._338-370bs.pdf

371st Squadron results;

"This bombing is rated as excellent." 6 of 6 bombers over
the target. Fifteen minutes before the bomb run, the squadron
was attacked for an hour and a half by numerous relays of
jap fighters of 40-50 planes in each relay. Some enemy fighters
flew above the formation and dropped several phosphorus
bombs accurately. Two bombers were lost, and 13 enemy
fighters shot down. A/C 570 lost engine #2 over target and was
damaged beyond repair in landing."

"Is is doubtful that a more dangerous, grueling and heart-breaking
mission has ever been performed in any theater of war. This report
can by no means adequately reflect the feast of individual heroism
and bravery displayed, which are too numerous to mention."

371 Squadron mission report
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep..._338-371bs.pdf
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep...371sqANNEX.pdf

372nd mission results.

"One plane was lost, this airplane was attacked by
10-12 fighters on the breakaway from the target.
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep...Crew-372bs.pdf

"Four raids were conducted against the refineries at
Balikpapan, These missions constituted the longest
mass flight of bombers in the South Pacific, and
perhaps the entire world, with the exception of the
B-29 raids out of China."

On Oct 3 raid, 21% of all personal that started out
have not returned. 29% of the airplanes that day
will never fly again. In all 12 planes were lost in
combat, one crashed on take off, and 32 were
damaged."

"Awards for September and October, 1944
307th Bombardment Group;"

Air Medals 123
Oak Leaf Clusters 19
Distinguished Flying Cross 1
Purple Hearts 8


"Did you hear about Lt Wheeler?"

He went on to tell us that during the October 3 strike
against the Balikpapan oil refinery, a 20mm shell exploded
in their cockpit, paralyzing the right leg and arm of the
pilot, Lt Wheeler, and the co-pilot was bleeding so badly
he became barely conscious. With one engine out and
the help of the engineer, they managed to keep flying
for the 6 long hours it took to get back, and somehow
landed safely. In the words of the group commander...

"Some crews have it, some crews don't.
This crew had it...in large quantities."

Oct Unit Report
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep...cord-424bs.pdf


"So what went wrong on the Oct 26th mission" we asked?

"They found the Battleships!" he said.
"That's what went wrong!"

"Just as the formation entered the Sulu Sea, a message was
picked up from "Peggy 2" to intercept a unit of 6 vessels.
After a wide sweep around Cuyo Island, the formation
leader decided to turn for home, searching as he went.
At almost the same time, another radar indication was
received and a visual observation made of a task force
26 miles East of the formation.The group leader spotted
what he thought was a flotilla of heavy and light cruisers, so
he barged right in Major John Neely held course for a few
minutes then "crossed the T" of the enemy task force.

But it turned out to be a fleet of battleships and heavy cruisers.
The Battleships Yamato, the largest ever built, the smaller
Nagato with her 16 inch guns, and the Battleships Kongo
and Haruna along with several heavy cruisers.
The bulk of the entire Japanese navy.

Battleship Yamato
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGy5A...layer_embedded

Oct 26th mission results;

"This bombing is rated as excellent. 28 Liberators, 7 each
from the 370th, 371st, 372nd and 424th attacked the flotilla.
AA Fire; Intense, heavy and accurate. It was of the barrage
type and composed of different type bursts, being black,
yellow, orange and gold, as well as white." Major Neely
promptly began a loss of 500' of altitude and a turn to the
left into his bombing run. This proved to be extremely
effective. It is felt that the losses from AA might have been
much heavier then they were."

"The first sections of the group, consisting of the 370th and
372nd took on the Konga Class Battleships, while the
371st and 424nd attacked the Yamato two minutes later.
The Yamato continued in a tight 360 degree turn while
the Konga made a tight "S" turn."

Lt Hicks was hit by flack just as the bomb run began.
It struck midway between the bomb bay and tail, the
plane began to smoke, a few seconds later the tail
of the plane burst into flames and went into a spin.
One man was seen to have jumped out but no
parachute was seen to open.

Lt Jones was hit over the target. However this plane
was reported to drop its bombs on the target.
It later burst into flames and was last seen falling
into the sea enveloped in flames. No men were
seen bailing out.

Lt Sutphin received a burst of AA in the No. 3
engine during the bomb run. The pilot was able
to keep the plane in flight for an hour and a half
It was reported this aircraft lost its No 4 engine
at this time. The plane went into a spin and crashed
into the sea. Three men were seen to bail out of
this plane. One man's chute became tangled with
the disabled aircraft, a second became enmeshed
in his chute, and the third man was dragged along
for about 500 yards through the water until the chute
collapsed.

A total of 3 of 7 B-24's from the 424th were lost
1 crashed on take-off and 14 were damaged by
AA fire."

"In as much as this is the first time heavy bombardment
squadrons have taken under attack major units of the
Jap battle fleet, it is thought of interest to record in detail
and to diagram the actions of the two forces."
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep..._Jap_Fleet.pdf

Oct 26 Group report
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep...353D-Group.pdf


On Nov 2nd, my 3rd mission, it became our turn to look
for the Yamato flotilla. We searched for 15 long hours
but with no 'luck'. Turns out the Yamato task force was
in Brunei, for supplies.

Looks like I wasn't too concerned with grammar after being
'alerted' for a second long search for the jap battleships
a month later. My log book that day just read....

"...it would have been suiscide for us".

But on my 4th mission, on Nov 6, we had better luck.
Shot down my first fighter! "Got one for sure" my
log book reads.

I was on the right waist gun. We were flying a formation
of 6 B-24's at 12,500 feet in a modified box formation, with
2 P-47 escorts. And 7 hours flight time away from our
airfield, we were attacked by 20 jap fighters.

The Zeke I shot down came in from behind, between
5 and 7 o'clock level. After my burst, it started to smoke
badly, banked right and went into a steep vertical dive.
It was last seen going into the clouds at 4000 feet trailing
thick black smoke. Because of the cloud cover, it was
listed only as a 'probable'.

The jap fighters made 15 or 20 more passes at us, all from
behind. The P-47's shot down two of them, but not before
the #3 engine of the bomber flown by Lt Balovich was damaged.
He stayed in formation as long as he could, then peeled off
and descended to 4000 feet, followed by the 2 P-47's.
Happily, the plane successfully diverted to Leyte.

Nov 6 Mission Report
http://www.307bg.net/data/missionrep..._357-372sq.pdf


That pretty much sums up the first month, only 38 more missions
and 367 hours of flight time left to go!



s

On 3/04/2012 12:39 PM, Jonathan wrote:

**** off dickhead

"Jonathan" wrote in message
...
A Short Story; My Dad's First Month in Combat!

Putting myself in my father's shoes, his first month
in combat during WW2 should read something
like this....


Thanks for sharing it. General Kenney fought hard to get B-29s for
that mission.

jsw

"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
...

"Jonathan" wrote in message
...
A Short Story; My Dad's First Month in Combat!

Putting myself in my father's shoes, his first month
in combat during WW2 should read something
like this....


Thanks for sharing it. General Kenney fought hard to get B-29s for that
mission.


Thanks for reading. Some fighter escorts would have been
nice. But I was surprised to read the AA seemed more of
a problem than the jap fighters. There were several reports
the jap fighter pilots looked inexperienced and very poor
marksman.




jsw

"Alan Erskine" wrote in message
ond.com...

**** off dickhead


Why in the world does my post offend you?

"Jonathan" wrote in message
...
"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message

Thanks for reading. Some fighter escorts would have been
nice. But I was surprised to read the AA seemed more of
a problem than the jap fighters. There were several reports
the jap fighter pilots looked inexperienced and very poor
marksman.
jsw

The normally chair-bound operations officer of the 868th Bombardment
Squadron decided to do his share and flew a shipping patrol of the
Macassar Straits. Finding nothing, he went to the Lutong oil facility
and took his B-24 down between the rows of oil tanks, claiming 11 set
afire. Then he looped back between two rows of barracks and repeated
the performance. The Japs had only their service rifles to oppose him.
No crew were hit but the airplane received 164 bullet holes.

Their AA defenses improved after that.

jsw

On 4/3/2012 12:17 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
wrote in message
...
"Jim wrote in message

Thanks for reading. Some fighter escorts would have been
nice. But I was surprised to read the AA seemed more of
a problem than the jap fighters. There were several reports
the jap fighter pilots looked inexperienced and very poor
marksman.
jsw

The normally chair-bound operations officer of the 868th Bombardment
Squadron decided to do his share and flew a shipping patrol of the
Macassar Straits. Finding nothing, he went to the Lutong oil facility
and took his B-24 down between the rows of oil tanks, claiming 11 set
afire. Then he looped back between two rows of barracks and repeated
the performance. The Japs had only their service rifles to oppose him.
No crew were hit but the airplane received 164 bullet holes.

Their AA defenses improved after that.

jsw



The NERVE of that crew interrupting their naps.

Definition of low flight in B-24 or B-17: grass stains on the ball
turret.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Jonathan wrote:
Putting myself in my father's shoes, his first month
in combat during WW2 should read something
like this....


General MacArthur, in keeping his famous promise, steadily
advanced from one Pacific Island to another, so the HQ of
my unit, the 307th Bombardment Group, the Long Rangers
"Jungle Air Force" moved with him.

From Midway to Canton Island and Guadalcanal. On to
air fields at New Georgia, Los Negros and finally to
the Wadke Island Aerodrome just off the coast of
New Guinea. The last 'hop' before the long promised
Big Invasion.

My new airfield was just captured from the japs during
'Operation Straight Line', only 4 jap soldiers survived.
Little did anyone know that several thousand more jap
soldiers died in a remote cave on the island, hiding from
the bombers. They hid so well that 62 years passed before
their skeletons were to be found, and properly buried.


Given that the island is only 1.5 miles long x 1 mile
wide, that it was defended by a single Japanese
battalion and captured by a single US Infantry regiment
several thousands seems somewhat exaggerated.

Keith