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

"Kathy Rages" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Dennis wrote:
Gernot Hassenpflug wrote:

"Jonathan" writes:

"Alan Erskine" alom wrote in message

**** off dickhead


Why in the world does my post offend you?

Possibly confused keyboarder?
Your post was most worthwhile!

I second that fully!!!!!


Note that Alan Erskine's response was in sci.space.policy, where this
thread
really is off-topic.



I've been posting to that ng for six or eight years.
And US space policy, is, and always has been mostly
about the military.




--
Kathy Rages
Dennis

"Keith W" writes:

Gernot Hassenpflug wrote:
"Keith W" writes:

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.

The linked story was sparse and I did not have time to search further:
it seems "a few" is more like it, and several locals too. It is not
mentioned how or why they died there---could it be they got lost in
the caves, or fell down in someplace with no exit?

More likely the cave roof collapsed during the bombardment.

Ah... poor devils.

--
Gernot Hassenpflug
Aunkai

On 4/04/2012 2:42 AM, Jonathan wrote:
"Alan wrote in message
ond.com...

**** off dickhead


Why in the world does my post offend you?

You continuously cross-post this crap to the sci.space groups.

"Alan Erskine" wrote in message
news
On 4/04/2012 2:42 AM, Jonathan wrote:
"Alan wrote in message
ond.com...

**** off dickhead


Why in the world does my post offend you?

You continuously cross-post this crap to the sci.space groups.


That's because this ng has about 4 posters left. And a couple
of them ...eh hum...aren't all that friendly.

"Alan Erskine" wrote in message
news
On 4/04/2012 2:42 AM, Jonathan wrote:
"Alan wrote in message
ond.com...

**** off dickhead


Why in the world does my post offend you?

You continuously cross-post this crap to the sci.space groups.


I spent weeks researching and writing that post about my
late father, and all you respond with is 'it's crap' and '**** off'.

You're a worthless piece of ****.


s

Originally Posted by Jonathan

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

I would like more information that you may have my grandfather was in 424th bombardment. John Calvin Burton and more info is appreciated!!!

Originally Posted by Jonathan

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

Hey i loved your father's story in combat. any more informtation would be appreciated My grandpa was in the 424th bombardment John Calvin Burton. any information is soooooooooooo appreciated!!
Thanks Tiffany