FIRST MISSION

This was the first mission that the 322 made after a few Days of training. And I mean we did some training. Or it was for me anyway.

We got up early on that Friday morning May 14 1943 and went to the briefing. That was when I learned what we had to do. O I knew we were to bomb and strafe the enemy but I did not know that we would broadcast a day in advance of what target we would hit or that we would use thirty minute delayed fuses on our five hundred pound bombs. "Boy what dopes the Americans are". We did this I was told so the Dutch people could get out and that no one would be hurt. "Hey what about us". They did not answer back and say we will not shoot at you or any thing like that. And honest our plane "Too Much Texas" had one engine shot out over that target and a third of the tail missing. None of the fellows were hit in the plane but we though that we would have to ditch at any time. There we were one engine and a long way from our base over the North Sea. The pilot instructed us to prepare to ditch so I sat down with my back to the front of the plane. I braced for a big jar. we stayed that way about ten minutes or less and I called up and asked what was the matter. Lt. Robert Fry "Fearless was his nick name" as he would take risk at cutting off one of the engines of the B-26 and fly on only one engine. This was good as that was all we had to get us back to England. I got out of the ditching position and went up to stand by the pilot and copilot. As we left the coast of Holland I could see the Germans turning their big guns around to shoot at us as we flew out over the North Sea. There were big splashes of water in front of us and we would fly through them. Honest I believe we were about twenty feet above the sea. After we gained a little altitude, I went back to the radio compartment and I tried to get a contact in England but after I gave the code the radio would make the loudest noise and drowned out my message. But I got a bearing on a couple more stations and helped Lt. Fry to go in the right direction. We landed at the first base we saw in England and this was only about ten miles from our home base now that is doing some good navigating with the radio signals. I did have to switch channels several times to keep a clear sound. The Germans seem to block every way I would turn.

SAFE IN ENGLAND
This was after we had one engine shot out and part of the tail shot off. It is recorded that “Too Much of Texas” Was the first B-26 To fly over the North Sea on one engine. There were other B-26 that did fly over the North Sea on one engine but that was later on in the war. After we landed at Great Ashfield I looked back at Too Much Texas and it looked as if it was all tucked out with only one engine and half of the tail was off and the bomb bay doors were opened. Sgt. Wilford Powell drove a truck from our home base to pick us up. Sgt. Powell was from my hometown, Columbia Miss. Oh by the way that is how the plane got its name. As nearly every one but myself was from Texas and I just spoke up and said that there was too much Texas on board. So we gave the plane that name "Too Much of Texas". Lt. Fry told me later that the plane made a good name for it's self as he flew her around forty missions before he too was shot down and was a POW. He was placed at STALAG III. This was an officer's POW camp. The movie "The Great Escape" was on the words that came from this camp. I understand that. The KRIEGIES that were there did make a great escape and that fifty of the POWs were murdered. Hitler said to kill all of them but Goren said that the English would not allow it. There is a plaque of the fifty that were murdered. It is said that they were taken out ten or twelve at a time and shot in the back of the head. No there were no bodies as the Germans had each and every one of them cremated. This was told to me by Lt. Fry and I believe him. I have no record of this happen and I don’t think I will look it up. If it were not so well so be it. They were not treated too well in that place anyway. I found out later that I was very lucky by being repatriated, as I did not have to go on the death march that the other boys from XVII-B had to go on. I read about it and talked to some of the boys that did. I may be able to put something in this web about just what happened to them. I know I just ramble on but it is hard to write about most of those things so I'll just ask you to read and think of what one had to go through. Thank you for your time.
Read about my Second Mission

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