january 2016 AH 15PHOTOS: COURTESY OF JOHN L. CHASE
And of course we were still
carrying two parallel racks
of bombs, each weighing
more than 2,000 pounds.
We had been briefed against
dropping them over land,
but now that we were over
open water we could defuse
the bombs and dump them.
Almost simultaneously we
feathered the props on the
useless engine, shut down its
fuel supply and advised the
base of our situation, request-
ing escort.
At that point one of
our gunners spotted a
Messerschmitt Me-262 jet
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wing, paralleling our course.
Then another crewman
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single-engine plane headed
straight toward us.
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oncoming plane, and our
gun turrets swiveled in its
direction. After several tense
minutes, we recognized it as
a red-tailed P-51 Mustang,
which we later learned
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the 332nd Fighter Group,bomb using radar, an inaccu-
rate method. Fortunately the
overcast meant that enemy
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inaccurate, and we watched
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German forces were then
retreating through Italy,
mostly heading for Germany
via the Brenner Pass. The
376th was one of several
bomb groups assigned to cut
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target in late February was
a railroad marshaling yard
close to Linz, Austria, near
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We had been warned that
it was protected by an esti-
mated 200 German 88mm
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we were most vulnerable,
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10-mile bomb run.
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Adriatic Sea. We had just
made our turn over the IP
(initial point) and leveled
out so that the bombardier
could take control when the
squadron was enveloped
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and ahead of us, which was
still carrying its bombload,
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lence and debris, our bomber
corkscrewed violently down-
ward and more than 90
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and I struggled at the con-
trols and managed to recover
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nearly a half-mile behind
and about 500 feet below
the rest of the formation.
Fortunately, even though our
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to be functional.
But we did have one
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grazed the upper arm of
radio operator Jim Foster,
who was manning one of the
waist guns. In combat, the
bombardier was the desig-nated medic. Summoned via
intercom, Lou Rosenman
negotiated the awkward
trip from the nose compart-
ment across the passageway
between the armed bombs
to reach Foster. After cutting
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he applied sulfa to the wound
and bound it up with a
Carlisle bandage. Rosenman
then readied the syrette of
morphine packaged with the
bandage. After inserting the
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discovered the syrette was
frozen too hard to inject. So
he withdrew the needle and
placed the syrette inside his
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Rosenman had forgotten to
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before doing so, he acci-
dentally injected himself.
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out. Happily, both gunner
and medic-bombardier sur-
vived—one with a damaged
ego, the other having earned
a Purple Heart.
As we attempted to rejoin
our squadron, we discovered
that our left outboard engine
had failed, due to a severed
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solo, crossing the northern
Adriatic coast at about
12,000 feet—a tempting
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who that pilot was, we
certainly appreciated his
timely intervention. The
Messerschmitt had dis-
appeared, and the P-
remained in formation with
us until we were in friendly
territory. Then, with a
snappy salute, its pilot turned
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base near Verona.
We landed safely and
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crewmen who gawked at
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as we tumbled out, grateful
survivors who alternately
hugged and punched one
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ing at his crew and battered
bomber and, remembering
our 15-mission requirement,
said, “Well, only 11 more
missions to go.” With that in
mind, several of us stopped
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quarters to pick up will
forms. But while we were
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enced the kind of terror we
had faced on number four.
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more combat missions by the
time our tour in Italy ended.
In early April our group was
ordered to travel by military
bus to Taranto to board a
ship that would take us to
Newport News, Va. After
a 10-day leave, we were to
report to Grand Island Air
Base near Lincoln, Neb.,
to be trained in the B-
Superfortress.
Those plans would be
canceled. The war in Europe
had ended, and two devas-
tating bombs were soon to be
dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. The atomic age
had begun. As they say, “The
rest is history.” As we flew
through the
turbulence
and debris,
our bomber
corkscrewed
violently
downward and
more than
90 degrees to
the right.ready for action Chase
(left) talks with pilot Dwight
Stauffer during their time with
an Overseas Training Unit,
shortly before they flew a
new B-24 to Lecce, Italy.