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| National Archives |
"Damn it Skipper, my freaking bomb release is jammed!"
"Well, unjam it, the weather's clearing and we're dropping on time! No more screw ups!"
"Roger that, shit, there it goes!"
The pilot felt his ship get lighter. "What the Hell had just happened?" he wondered. "Bombardier, pilot, did you drop? We're not at the target!"
"Shit, shit, shit, I think I pickled part of the load."
From his position in the tail of the aircraft, SSgt William Delgado radioed, "Pilot, tailgunner, the whole formation is dropping Sir!"
"Pickle the rest of 'em Smitty, we must be close!"
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| National Archives |
"Ain't that a pretty sight Sarn't Bill? Seeing the flyboys paste those damned Krauts makes me feel all warm inside!" Cpl Jack Wilson was standing with his squad leader, Sgt Bill Brandt, and a couple of guys from another platoon as they watched the B-17s overhead. The day was pretty cloudy but it was clearing up. They'd heard other formations of aircraft overhead, but those didn't drop.
"I dunno Jack, those explosions sound pretty close... Holy crap! Get to cover!!"
The men of the Big Red One, waiting at their assembly areas were untouched by the bombs dropped by their own Air Force. The 30th Division wasn't as lucky, they lost 25 killed and 131 wounded.
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| US Army Signal Corps Photo |
"Skipper, the mission is scrubbed!"
"What the Hell do you mean it's scrubbed? We just dropped!"
"Ah shit, message just came in, mission scrubbed on account of the weather."
"What are those bastards in England thinking? Calling off a mission after the bomb run? Unbelievable!" The pilot was furious.
The heavies did return the next day, with even more disastrous results.Ignorant that COBRA had been postponed, pilots of the great majority of the heavy bombers guided their big craft on toward the target. Because no precise radio channels had been designated for emergency communication, there was no certain means of transmitting the news to the planes. While air force personnel in France attempted to get word to the craft aloft, the first formation of 500 planes arrived over the target area. Fortunately, they found visibility so poor that no attack was made. The second formation found cloud conditions so bad that only 35 aircraft, after making three bomb runs to identify the target, released their loads. Over 300 bombers of the third formation, with slightly improved weather conditions, dropped their bombs-about 550 tons of high explosive and 135 tons of fragmentation before the postponement message finally got through to cancel the remainder of the strike.The 24 July bombing was unfortunate, not only because of the likelihood of negating the surprise planned for COBRA, but also because it killed 25 men and wounded 131 of the 30th Division. The tragedy was the result of one accident. The lead bombardier of a heavy bomber formation had had difficulty moving his bomb release mechanism and had inadvertently salvoed a portion of his load. The fifteen aircraft flying in the formation followed his example and released their bombs. The bomb load fell 2,000 yards north of the Periers-St. Lô highway.On the ground, VII Corps had executed the initial part of the COBRA attack by withdrawing the front-line troops of the 9th and 30th Divisions several hundred yards to the north. The poor weather conditions had prompted commanders to wonder whether the lack of visibility would cancel the air bombardment, but General Collins was characteristically optimistic. He believed that the planes would get through the haze. Even if the heavy bombers were not able to take part in the air attack, he felt that the fighter-bombers would be on hand and that their bombardment would give sufficient impetus for the attack. He therefore told his subordinate commanders to go ahead. If the fighter bomber effort proved insufficient, he expected the heavy bombers to return on the following day. (Source Page 229)
In wartime mistakes happen, when they do, people get killed or wounded. There is no sure way to completely prevent these types of mistakes but it's tragic when it occurs.
Operation Cobra will proceed as planned, just not today. The men of the assaulting divisions will have a tougher fight in front of them as they had pulled back to provide some separation between them and the incoming bombers. As we saw, that didn't help.
The Germans moved in to occupy the positions vacated by the Americans. And put themselves in the kill zone for the next bombing raid, which again had bombs fall short, killing Lieutenant General Lesley McNair and many others besides. But that bomb run also killed lots of Germans and devastated the remaining tank strength of the Panzer Lehr division.
The Big Red One and Brandt's boys will be going into battle again on the morrow.
Stay tuned...
Kind of the embodiment of FUBAR, no?
ReplyDeleteWar sucks, and 'friendly fire' isn't.
Exactly.
DeleteHaven't commented in awhile, but am really enjoying your "living history". Thanks, and well done.
ReplyDeleteBy the time my dad was flying combat, the 8th Air Force had changed their bombing bombing tactics (as your story describes). Only the lead ship in each squadron had a bomb sight. All other ships had a "toggleier" in the nose. On the bomb run, they watched the bomb bay of the lead ship. When the lead dropped, so did everybody else. The pilots were instructed to concentrate on flying a tight formation. The effect of all those bomb strings hitting the ground at the same time was biblical.
The fortunes of war. My dad told a story of one of his missions. The target was a rail bridge across a river at the end of a small town. They came in on the target flying down the railroad tracks. At the drop point, the bomb load in my dad's ship failed to release. The top turret gunner (flight engineer) left his turret and went back into the bomb bay. Standing on the catwalk, he stomped on something with this boot and broke the bombs loose. By this time, they had flown just past the opposite end to the town. While everybody else's bombs plastered the bridge, bombs from my dad's ship fell into the unknown. When they hit, tail gunner reported huge secondary explosions. Likely an ammo dump.
From what I have read, this sort of thing drove German intelligence bonkers trying to figure out how we did it. "How did zey know?" IIRC, a German general was quoted--"War is chaos. Unfortunately, the American army practices this every day".
Yes, the US Army has lots of practice regarding chaos. It's like a way of life at times.
DeleteI think it was Ras that taught me the trick that when I armed the Master Arm switch to shift my hand to the bottom of the stick grip so it would be a conscious act to reach up and hit the pickle button or pull the trigger. The pickle button on every fighter I flew was less than an inch away from the trim tab to the left and the trigger, with your thumb on the trim button, was under your index finger. Worked for me. After learning that trick, while I missed a lot of targets , it wasn't for an inadvertent pickle.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this is a lesson learned from the mission you describe, but we were also taught to attack a target in a CAS (Close Air Support--essentially Troops in Contact) or BAI (Battlefield Air Interdiction--CAS only a little further behind the front lines) on a parallel heading to the friendly front lines. Left and right errors are much easier to avoid than long or short, especially in a level attack.
Good Story, Sarge. Thanks.
General Bradley wanted the air attack to run laterally to prevent the inadvertent bombing of friendlies, however...
DeleteA lateral bomb run, the air chiefs pointed out, meant approaching the target area on its narrow side, that is to say along a narrow corridor. In an operation on the scale requested by General Bradley, this would cause congestion over the target and make the completion of the attack impossible in the brief time desired. To gain the effect of mass, the bombers had to approach from the north over the heads of the ground troops. Admitting that this posed some dangers to the ground troops, the air chiefs noted that the highway would serve as a clearly distinguishable "no bomb line." In addition, the less effective enemy aircraft interference during a perpendicular approach would enable pilots and bombardiers to bomb more accurately. (Page 220 from the source quoted in the post.)
Bradley was smarter than the airmen, by a lot. Especially if one realizes that Air Chief Marshal Leigh-Mallory was one of those air chiefs. It would be hard, in my view, to find a less competent man to lead an air force. (Yes, I have an extremely low opinion of Leigh-Mallory.)
Not as low as my opinion of him.
DeleteAh, you know him then.
DeletePrecision heavy bombing... Yeah... No...
ReplyDeleteIt was a good idea, and in a known area, under good conditions, potentially possible.
Add flak, fighters, mechanical mistakes, heavy cloud cover, multiple layers of air moving against each other (all found in Europe, and moreso (especially the wicked wind situation) over Japan.
The Brits gave up early on trying to bomb precisely, except for some specific units with specific missions. We just kept trying and trying and faking it.
Medium and Attack Bombers were better suited for this type of roll, but, of course, couldn't drop the weight that the higher flying heavies could.
Compounding the situation, as RTH447 said, was the whole 'lead plane drop, everyone drop' concept. What happens if the lead plane doesn't drop, or drops incorrectly?
War sucks.
Well Beans, If you remember SAC, their mindset, ever since Douhet, was to bomb the enemy's homeland. Training, equipment and tactics were developed with that in mind. Basically if the bombs hit within the target city, that was a success. However, war has a way of changing the requirements. The problem is a new mission requirement requires requires training, training takes time and time, in a war, is a very expensive commodity.
DeleteBTW, that is true for all branches of the military and all the warfighting capabilities within each. 8AF just was the stuckee in this instance. Spent a lot of time at Army Command and Staff explaining why 1)CAS was a last ditch use of air power. 2)Why the F-15 couldn't do CAS. 3)Why the AF preferred to do BAI (Destroying the bad guys before they start shooting at the good guys seemed to go against logic I guess). Similar circumstances were experienced by the other Non-Army officers going through the program.
Yes. War sucks. Losing a war, sucks worse.
Beans - The USAAF actually was able to carry out precision bombing with some success, especially after their fighter escorts could make it all the way to the targets. In this instance, the use of the heavies to support the ground troops was an inherently bad idea. They had neither the doctrine nor the training to do that. The bomber generals pointed that out, but the guys on the ground wanted a LOT of bombs on German foreheads in a short amount of time. There weren't even medium bombers to do that.
DeleteHeavy cloud cover was the big problem at the opening of Cobra, Luftwaffe fighter opposition was minimal and would have been welcomed, another opportunity to kill German pilots. The idea of everyone dropping off the lead aircraft was a good one. Typically that was supposed to be the best crew in the squadron, but malfunctions happen. All is chaos in war, there are no perfect plans.
Juvat - Shack!
DeleteSarge have you come across a number of B-17s were in a Squadron back then? To many and that theory of when to release spreads them out a bunch. OTOH everybody trying for the same aimpoint can also be problematic (one definition of problematic is "midair").
DeleteAccording to this site "about 16".
DeleteA tight formation for a B-17 squadron isn't quite the same as for fighters, but still they flew fairly close for mutual defense. "One definition of problematic is 'mid-air.'" Yes, yes it is.
DeleteSixteen total aircraft in a squadron might be right, but typically squadrons would fly in a combat box of 12 aircraft.
DeleteNice article. Spacing and altitude control between the lead element and the Low/Low element behind would have to be very precise as the guys in the back are flying into the bombs falling from above.
DeleteLikely I have linked this here before. It is a treasure trove of records from my dad's bomb group over at Smugmug.
Deletehttps://447bg.smugmug.com/
Here I have drilled down under "Loading Lists" to Jan. 2, 1945, my dad's first mission. It kind of gives you an idea of the squadron layout. My dad is "Thompson" in the upper left flying A/C #712. Although he was assigned to 711 squadron, he flew this mission with 708 Squadron. I have always been curious about the purpose of the 3 M-26 flares he was carrying. Perhaps as a "sign post" in the sky for the next group behind to drop on, in case they had lost their bomb sight?
https://447bg.smugmug.com/LOADING-LISTS/1945/January-1945/193-Jan-2-1945/i-SnvkXVc/A
juvat - Flying into somebody's bombs from the high element was always a possibility. I've seen photos where it did happen.
DeleteRHT447 - I haven't seen that before, what a great reference. (And on to the sidebar it goes!)
DeleteI believe one of those reasons for the flares was to signal wounded crewman aboard as the bomber approached for landing. Ambulances would meet them.
Deletejuvat--That was my thought when I first saw the notation. Then I saw a photo of one and realized that was not correct. Today I found this--
Deletehttps://bulletpicker.com/flare_-parachute_-m26_-an-m26.html
Likely they were carried in the bomb racks.
RHT4477/
DeleteHad a fraternity brother (Lanny C. Hendricks, Jr) from Orlando @LSU whose Father Maj. Landon C. Hendricks was a B-17 SQ CO of the 533rd BS, 381st BG, who was shot down and KIA on his 37th msn to the Focke-Wulf plant at Anklam, Germany on 9 Oct 43. Ten aircrew lost, KIA/MIA. Was awarded Silver Star/Purple Heart posthumously...plus Air Medal w. 3 Oak Leaf clusters for msns already flown.* Only saving grace out of that miserable outcome was that, as a "sole surviving son" Lanny avoided the Vietnam meat-grinder (tho he did in-list in the Marines and complete basic tng--until they discovered his status and discharged him, lol.)
* Other awards besides the standard theatre campaign medals were an Army Good Conduct Medal (which, according to my Dad, were very hard to come by in those days [compared to now], and the Presidential Unit Citation for his SQ while he commanded it). Lannys Father & his crew are memorialized at the American Cemetery "Tablets of the Missing" in Cambridge, England.
juvat - Flares were used to signal wounded aboard. But not the M-26.
DeleteRHT447 - Used for photo and observation runs at night. Acted like a really big flash bulb.
DeleteVirgil - Yes, the Good Conduct Medal was not automatic in those days. My Dad never got one, of course, he was a bit of a hellion in his teens, which is when he was in the Army, 17-18-19.
DeleteHey Old AFSarge;
ReplyDeleteI remembered reading about this one, the Allies were desperate to try to break out of the stalemate that they were in and get out of the hedgerow country and get into the broken field running that Patton was chomping at the bit for. Friendly fire ain't friendly. If everything had worked right, it would have been really good...IF. but hte vagaries of war. The Precision daylight bombing wasn't quite there if the weather didn't cooperate. Excellent Post :)
Weather always gets a vote! (As does the enemy.)
DeleteI can only imagine what the veterans of the 8th AF must have thought about the development of precision munitions delivered from CAS/BAI fighters and bombers. The first Gulf War must have been 'interesting' to those old gents. And to Sherman tank crews as well! I'd read a story along the lines of The Final Countdown but having an M1A1 or other modern main battle tank (or even better, a squad of them) loose in Operation Goodwood - although I'm not sure even their armor could handle a round from an 8.8cm gun. Speed would certainly be the tanker's friend in that scenario.
ReplyDeleteAnother of the "what ifs" of history.
Delete(I love that movie. "Splash the Zeroes. I say again, splash the Zeroes.")
(Don McCollor)...Probably could stand up to an 88. An account in Desert Storm of another M1A1 tank trying to destroy a disabled sister tank had a hard time. A stationary target, with no opposition, at point blank range. And they knew exactly what to aim for.
DeleteThat armor on the Abrams is pretty tough, much tougher than WW2 armor.
Delete(Don McCollor)...(As I remember it) Martin Caidin in "Flying Forts" told of a strike on an airfield on the outskirts of Brussels. To minimize flak, the bomb run was made over the the city. One squadron lead bombardier fixed his Norden bombsight on the corner of a small park to get wind drift, then disengaged it, and searched for the target ahead. The bombsight did not disengage. The B17 lurched up as his bombs fell away still unarmed. But the other B17s bombed on his signal. As he watched in horror, strings of bombs tore through rows of collapsing apartment buildings lining the park. He was maybe twenty years old, but at the debriefing, he looked sixty. Then he was told of a report from the Underground. The Germans had commandeered the apartments for their own use, and only a very few Belgium civilians had been killed...
ReplyDeleteThe old, "I'd rather be lucky than good" situation!
DeleteThe second half of that saying is “Luck is more reliable”.
DeleteHeh.
DeleteIn basic training all those years ago, the CO told us that accidents are 1/2 of any causalities. Seems high, but I'll bet it is substantial.
ReplyDeleteHalf seems high, but training does kill quite a few troops every year.
DeleteHas that Flying Fortress got an Indian decal on the nose?
ReplyDeleteI think it crashed on landing. http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/6383
DeleteMatthew #1 - Yes it does! Good eye!
DeleteMatthew #2 - Yup, it sure did, on 22 June 1944. Tail number matches 23312 K.
DeleteGood eye for detail Mattthew!
The decal would be racist wouldn't it Sarge.
ReplyDeleteNot in my book. To me it's a salute to proud warriors!
Delete