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Member Stories
Everyone that has served in the Air
Force or other military branch has a story or two to tell about their
experiences. Please consider sharing your story with others by sending your story
to gordon@ward.org. You can
include photos if you like.
THE MIGHTY EIGHTH by
Leslie A.
Lennox.....Lt./Col. USAF(ret) - AFA member
living in the Fort Worth, TX area.
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Of all the stories that have been written, and movies that have been shown,
about the 8th Air Force, very little
attention has been given to
what was involved in assembling 1200 B-17's and
B-24's each day, to get them in formation
to carry out a strike against Germany. Certainly showing bombers under
attack by fighters, or encountering heavy flak, was a reality, and are
interesting to watch. Also, stories about some of the rougher missions
make interesting reading.
But what was going on over England,
each morning, could get just as scary to the crews as the time spent over
some of the targets. The planning, and coordination, that had to be
accomplished during the night, by the operations planners of each Group, so
that the crews could be briefed, was unbelievable. If the planners had
failed to do their jobs properly, there would have been a free for all among
Bomb Groups, in the skies over
England. The rendezvous points,
altitude, and times had to be precise, and known by all of the crews, before
the Eighth Air Force could get in formation. The success of the planners, in
accomplishing their mission, enabled the Eighth Air Force to become the most
powerful air armada ever assembled. In my view, how this was accomplished
is one of the major untold stories of the war.
I was a pilot in the 95th Bomb Group, in late
1944 and early 1945, and what follows is a
typical mission, as I remember it, from a crew
member's perspective.
Early in the evening, our Squadron Operations
would post the names of the crews that were
scheduled to fly the following day. There were
two ways we could be notified if the Group had
been alerted to fly. One was by means of lights
on the front of the orderly room, and the other
with raising of colored flags. If a green light
was on, the Group was alerted, if a red light
was on we would fly, and if a white light was
on, the Group would stand down. The light was
monitored frequently throughout the evening to
learn our status and, normally, we would know
before going to bed if we would be flying the
next day.
On the morning of a mission, the CQ (charge of
quarters) would awaken the crews about four or
five o'clock, depending on takeoff time. The
questions we always asked were, "What is the
fuel load?" and, "What is the bomb load?" If
his answer was, “full tanks," we
knew we would be going deep into
Germany. Shortly after being awakened, "6-by" trucks
would start shuttling us to the mess hall. We
always had all the fresh eggs we could eat, when
flying a mission. After breakfast, the trucks
carried us to the briefing room. All of the
crew members attended the main briefing, and
then the Navigators, Bombardiers and Radio
operators went to a specialized briefing. At
the main briefing, in addition to the target
information--anti-aircraft guns, fighter escort
and route in--we received a sheet showing our
location in the formation, the call signs for
the day and all the information we would need to
assemble our Group and get into the bomber
stream.
After briefing, we got into our flight gear,
drew our parachutes and loaded onto the trucks
for a ride to our plane. We were now guided by
the time on our daily briefing sheet. We
started engines at a given time and watched for
the airplane we would be flying in formation
with to taxi past, and then we would taxi behind
him. We were following strict radio
silence.
We were now parked, nose to tail around the
perimeter, on both sides of the active runway,
and extremely vulnerable to a fighter strafing
attack. At the designated takeoff time, a green
flare would be fired and takeoff would begin.
Every thirty seconds an airplane started takeoff
roll. We were lined up on the perimeter so that
the 12 airplanes of the high squadron would take
off first, followed by the lead and then the low
squadron.
Each Group had a pattern for the airplanes to
fly during climb to assembly altitude. Some
would fly a triangle, some a rectangle and our
Group flew a circle, using a "Buncher" (a low
frequency radio station) which was located on
our station. The patterns for each Group fit
together like a jig saw puzzle. Unfortunately,
strong winds aloft would destroy the integrity
of the patterns, and there would be considerable
over running of each other's
patterns.
Many of our takeoffs were made before daylight,
during the winter of '44 and '45, when I was
there, so it was not uncommon to climb through
several thousand feet of cloud overcast. Also
it was not uncommon to experience one or two
near misses while climbing through the clouds,
although you would never see the other
airplane. You knew you had just had a near
miss, when suddenly the airplane would shake
violently as it hit the prop wash of another
plane. It was a wonderful feeling to break out
on top, so you could watch for other planes, to
keep from running into each other. To add to
the congestion we were creating, the Royal Air
Force Lancaster’s,
and Wimpy would be returning from their night
missions, and flying through our formations.
Needless to say, pilots had to keep their heads
on a swivel and their eyes out of the
cockpit.
After take off, the squadron lead would fire a
flare every 30 seconds, so that we could keep
him located and enable us to get into formation
quicker. The color of our Group flare was
red-green. The first thing you would see, when
breaking out of the clouds, was a sky filled
with pyrotechnics, so you had to search the sky
for the Group flare, which would identify the
lead airplane of your Squadron. Once you had it
located, you could adjust your pattern to climb
more quickly into formation with him. As each
airplane pulled into formation, they would also
fire a flare, with the lead plane, making it
much easier for the following aircraft to keep
him in sight. I think most crew members would
probably agree that the pyrotechnic show, in the
skies over
in the morning when the Eighth was assembling,
was a rare sight to
behold.
The order of progression for assembling the
Eighth Air Force was to first assemble the
Flight elements, the Squadrons, the Groups, the
Combat wings, the Divisions and, finally, the
Air Force.
As soon as the four Squadron elements were
formed, the high, low and second elements would
take up their positions on the lead element, to
form a Squadron. When the three Squadrons had
completed assembly, it was necessary to get into
Group formation. This was accomplished by having
the three Squadrons arrive over a pre-selected
fix at a precise time and heading. The high and
low Squadrons were separated from the lead
Squadron by 1000 feet and, after getting into
Group formation, they would maintain their
positions by following the lead
squadron.
Then it was necessary to get into the Combat
Wing formation. We were in the 13th Combat
Wing, which consisted of three Bomb Groups: the
95th, the 100th and the 390th. Whichever Group
was leading the Wing that day, would arrive over
a pre-selected point, at a precise time and
heading. Thirty seconds later, the second Group
would pass that fix, followed by the third
Group, thirty seconds later. We were then in
Combat Wing formation. The navigators in the
lead airplanes had a tremendous responsibility,
to ensure that the rendezvous times were
strictly adhered to.
There were three Divisions in the Eighth, the
1st, 2nd and 3rd. The 1st and 3rd Divisions
consisted of B-17s only, and the 2nd Division
was B-24s. The B-24s were faster than the
B-17s, but the B-17s could fly higher,
therefore, the two were not compatible in
formation. As a result the 1st and 3rd
Divisions would fly together and the 2nd
Division would fly
separately.
Now that the Groups were flying in Combat Wing
formation, it was necessary to assemble the
Divisions. This was usually accomplished at the
"coast out"--a city on the coast, selected as
the departure point "fix." The Group leader in
each Combat Wing knew his assigned position in
the Division, and the precise time that he
should arrive at the coast out departure point,
to assume that position in the Division
formation. The lead Group in the Division,
which had been selected to lead the Eighth on
the mission, would be first over the departure
fix. Thirty seconds after the last Group in the
first Wing passed that point, the second Wing
would fall in trail, and so on, until all Combat
Wings were flying in trail and the Division
would be formed. One minute later, the lead
Group in the other Division would fly over that
point, and the Combat Wings in that Division
would follow the same procedure to get into
formation. When all of its Combat Wings were in
trail, the Eighth Air Force B-17 strike force
was formed and on its way to the target. At the
same time the 2nd Division B-24s were assembling
in a similar manner and also departing to their
target.
Meanwhile, as the bombers were assembling for
their mission, pilots from the Fighter Groups
were being briefed on their day's mission.
Normally, 600 to 800 P-38's, P-47's, and P-51's
would accompany the bombers to provide
protection against enemy fighter attacks.
Fighter cover was not needed by the bombers
until they were penetrating enemy territory,
therefore to help conserve fuel. Fighter
takeoffs were planned to give them enough time
to quickly assemble after takeoff, and climb on
course up the bomber stream to the groups they
would be covering. The combined strength of the
fighters and bombers brought the total number of
aircraft participating in a mission to
approximately two
thousand.
A major problem that presented itself, on each
mission, was that the bomber stream was getting
too stretched out. It was not uncommon for the
headlines in stateside newspapers--in trying to
show the strength of our Air Force--to state
that the first Group of bombers was bombing
while the last Group was still over the English
Channel. It made great headlines
but was a very undesirable situation. It meant
that the Groups were out of position, and not
keeping the proper separation. Furthermore, it
was almost impossible for them to catch up and
get back into the desired formation. This made
the entire bomber stream more vulnerable to
fighter attacks.
Finally, our planners figured out what we were
doing wrong. When the first Group departed the
coast out fix, it started its climb to what
would be the bombing altitude. Then, as each
succeeding Group departed that fix, it, too,
would start climbing. The problem with this
procedure was that, as soon as the first Group
started its climb, its true airspeed would start
to increase, and it would encounter different
wind velocities. Now it would start to pull
away from the Group in back of it, and the
"stretch-out" of the bomber stream would begin.
By the time the last Group had reached the coast
out, to start its climb, the first Group would
be leveled off, with a true airspeed approaching
250 miles per hour, and the bomber stream would
be really stretching out.
The solution to this problem that had been
frustrating the Bomber crews for so long was
pretty simple. We would no longer start
climbing at the coast out, but instead, at a
designated time, all Groups would start
climbing, irrespective of position. This meant
that we all would have similar true airspeeds
and would be influenced by the same winds
aloft. That took care of the problem. It was
still possible for a Group to be out of
position, because of poor timing, but the entire
bomber stream wouldn't get all stretched
out.
When you consider the way our Air Traffic
Control system operates today, and all the
facilities at their disposal to guide each
individual airplane through the sky to ensure
its safety, it's almost unbelievable that we
were able to do what we did. To think of
launching hundreds of airplanes, in a small
airspace, many times in total darkness, loaded
with bombs, with complete radio silence, and no
control from the ground, and do it successfully
day after day, with young air crews, with
minimum experience, is absolutely mind
boggling.
The accomplishments of the Eighth Air Force have
been and will be reviewed by historians from
World War II on. There never will be another
air armada to compare to it. I feel confident
that they will never cease to be amazed by our
ability to assemble hundreds of heavy Bombers,
under the conditions we were confronting, into
the devastating strike force we now fondly refer
to as, "The Mighty Eighth.
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