24 FLYPAST March 2018
VIETNAM OPERATION LINEBACKER
“The SAM missed us by less than 50ft. The
proximity fuse should have detonated the
warhead, but it didn’t. Somebody upstairs was
looking after us on that mission”
of a SAM that had come right under
the nose.
“The EWO had reported an
extremely strong signal, and he was
right. It’s hard to judge the miss
distance at night, but it looked like
[the SAM] missed us by less than
50ft. The proximity fuse should have
detonated the warhead, but it didn’t.
Somebody upstairs was looking after
us on that mission.
“After 26 SAMs, I quit counting
as they were coming up too fast. It
appeared from the cockpit that they
were now barraging missiles in order
to make the lead element turn away
from its intended course.”
This mission was executed as
planned. Although a few of the
SAMs came close, none hit any of
the attacking B-52s. Most of those
that were observed were far away
and their guidance was erratic.Control of the skies
The US won control of the skies
over North Vietnam in just 11 daysdue to a combination of firepower
and successful tactics. Before long,
its aircraft could go anywhere
without significant threat from
SAMs and MiGs. The time had
come to press home the advantage.
Maximum effort raids could be
mounted with battle-seasoned
crews on any target in the North
Vietnamese homeland. But, at this
point Linebacker II was terminated.
Some American prisoners of war
(PoWs) had waited for this moment
for a long time. They had seen the
bombs fall at a distance for years.
But the B-52s were flying so close,
they felt the walls at their camps
rattle from the vibrations. To most
of them it was a sign that the war
was coming to an end.
The senior PoW in the ‘Hanoi
Hilton’ was Colonel John P Flynn.
He commented on the effectiveness
of Linebacker II: “When I heard
the B-52 bombs going off, I sent a
message to our PoWs to pack their
bags because we were going home.”Inbound to the target, the SAM
signals became stronger. Captain
Redmon, the electronic warfare
officer [EWO], reported three
strong beams tracking them. The
lead aircraft ordered the formation
to start threat manoeuvres. The
navigator, Major Francis, reported
that they had picked up the
predicted 100-knot headwinds,
giving the enemy more time to
attack.
“The SAM’s really started coming
up. It was apparent that this was
no ‘F Troop’ [rookies] doing the
aiming. The missiles lifted off and
headed for our formation. All six of
the first missiles fired appeared to
maintain their same relative position
in the windshield.
“Another of our crew reported
from the tail that he had three
more SAMs at six o’clock [directly
behind] heading for us. It was about
100 seconds prior to bombs away
when the cockpit lit up like it was
daylight; this was the rocket exhaustTo p
An F-4D of the 8th TFW’s
497th TFS taking on fuel
from a KC-135, August- NOLAN SCHMIDT
Above
On occasions, B-52s were
engaged by MiG-21s. This
Stratofortress carries two
MiG ‘kill’ tallies.
WAYNE YOUNGAbove right
A General Dynamics F-111
and an LTV A-7D Corsair
II head for targets deep
into North Vietnam in
December 1972.
ED SKOWRON