IslandswhereSecondLieutenantHoward
Saar had ditched when hit by flak. Two men
were seen taking to their liferaft before
they disappeared. Post-war the worst fears
were confirmed when it was discovered
thatSaarhadbeenshotwhilestillinthelife
raft by Japanese troops ashore. His gunner,
StaffSergeantAlMartin,wascaptured,but
executed at the outpost of Foeli the follow-
ing month.
The lead Mitchell departed Noemfoor
first.Withthenoseart‘SevenDayLeave’
painted on the port side of its nose, the B-
25D (serial 41-30611) still retained the
brightgreentailtipsofitspreviouscombat
unit, the 408th BS, from which it had been
transferred in January 1944. The target was
Langgoer’dromeintheKaiIslands,some
300nauticalmiles(556kilometres)south.
TheHavocsdepartedbehindtheMitchellat
four-second intervals and climbed to 12,000
feet through gaps in the alto-cumulus cloud
above. Leading the mission in the Mitchell
was group commander Colonel Milton John-
son. The first flight of six aircraft would zig-
zagwhenapproachingthetargetandthose
manoeuvres were followed by the second
flight. In the final stage of the approach the
formation changed direction every twelve
seconds, hoping to throw off the aim of the
Japanese AA gunners. Unfortunately, Sum-
mers’ A-20G was placed on the extreme left
ofthelastflightandthebombrunwaslong
enough for the gunners to place a box bar-30 |FLIGHTPATH
partment. He had developed the concept
afterhearingofthemassivelossesofBlack
Sunday,abaddayfortheFifthAirForce
when37aircraftwerelosttoatrocious
weather on 16 April 1944. The gunners who
ditchedthatdayalldrownedwhiletryingto
exit the aircraft. There were heavy radios
andtransformersmountedonaluminium
extrusions in the fuselage just ahead of the
turret.Thesetorelooseonimpact,slam-
mingtheradiosforwardwhichcrushedan-
ything in the gunner’s compartment. Stay-
ingintheturretthusseemedamoreprudent
option than bracing in the compartment
below. Construction plans for the A-20G
showed Summers that the fuselage was re-
inforcedtocarrytheweightoftheMartin
turret. Engineers told him, in order to shat-
tertheturret’sPlexiglas,asingleblowfrom
a crash axe was all that was required in
flight, several blows if stationary. Pulling
thebreechlocksontheturret’stwo.50in
calibre machine guns dropped the ammuni-
tion into the cans, and then drawing the
cans’ locking pins in turn dropped them out
of the turret. To prepare for impact the gun-
ner could hook his heels into the turret foot-
rests, then brace his knees against the ar-
mour plate.
Foremost in the minds of the pilots clam-
bering aboard that morning was that a few
weeksprior,on11September1944,they
hadlostacrewonasimilarmission.The
target had been airfields in the Halmahera
rage around him. Positioned only fifteen
metres from his flight leader, wing tips
aligned, Summers was leaning forward to
close the bomb bay doors when he was
bracketed by four rounds of ack ack, three
between him and his leader, with the fourth
hitting the port engine. The blast blew out
the cockpit Plexiglas panel where his head
had just been.
“Two violent bursts exploded to the
left and shook plane so severely I
thoughtIhadbeenhitbutcouldnotas-
certain the extent of the damage. Evans
called in that the jarring had displaced
some equipment but he had since re-
placed it. Levelled off at 5500 feet and
headed 065 degrees for home. LH en-
gine began to run intermittently, saw a
hole approximately ten inches in diam-
eter in lower part of cowling and a four-
inchgapinleadingedgewing.Agash
on LE of RH wing also appeared.”
Summers estimated it would take only thir-
ty minutes for the struggling radial engine to
deplete its reserve oil tank before it seized.
This would leave just enough oil to feather the
prop. Meanwhile, the gunner riding in nearby
A-20G‘MYJOY’toldhispilot,SecondLieuten-
antMattMontee,byintercomthathethought
Summers would probably have to ditch. Sec-
ond Lieutenant Don Kline, also flying escort,
closed up on Summers’ starboard wing and
stayed there. Summers tried all radio frequen-
cies, finally activated Channel C, then tappedMatt Montee’s ‘MY JOY’ escorts Summers for part of the
return journey. ‘MY JOY’ eventually displayed the most
colourful art of all the 417th BG A-20G Havocs. The name
was applied to both sides of the fuselage by an
unidentified artist at Noemfoor a few days before the 1
October 1944 mission. A redhead gal later complemented
the name, again applied to both sides. The lady in question
held an umbrella and wore a transparent raincoat and red
high heels. Montee was raised in the Philippines where his
father was posted with the U.S. Army.[[email protected]]