This
was their mission to remember! It was June 4 and they
were alerted for a day mission to Kobe. Crew 47 was assigned
deputy lead but assumed lead when "lead" didn't show.
A group of twelve fighters at 3 o'clock were making ready
for their passes. One started in but backed off when the
tracers began to fly. When they had gained about 3 miles
on the formation, they all turned at once. Fighters were
coming in at all angles but mostly head on. As "lead"
and on auto-pilot, the men of P-47 could do nothing but
sit, watch and wait.
It
was mid-morning and most of the fighters were coming out
of the sun. One lone fighter was spotted coming in from
the left; Gabe swung around and blew it apart. Later Gabe
would receive credit for this one. They were about fifty
miles from the target when Gabe started to set up for
the bomb run. The fighters stopped their attack and the
flak began. Bombs were out at 0856 hrs. and the results
looked very good.
On
the breakaway, a fighter made a pass in front and above
and as he did, dropped a bomb of his own. It was phosphorous
and as it exploded, white smoke caused by the burning
pieces streaked out. It did not appear to do any damage!
It was a good thing the fighter attacks had stopped for
they were down to only a few rounds of ammo in each turret.
Back
at Guam they found that several pieces of phosphorous
had burned into the wing and an engine nacelle. Someone
had taken a great photo of the explosion but it disappeared.
For this mission they received the Distinguished
Flying Cross for making a most successful raid by
assuming "lead" and hitting the target area 100 percent.
Missions
were going well but not for Jerry Zee. The crew had 18
missions in three months. Jerry Zee had developed kidney
stones and would be grounded indefinitely. Hart's leg
injury forced him to be grounded and replaced by James
Sherrer. We would take a rest in Hawaii; it was so ordered.
Two
weeks later as A/C, Weston and company were off to Tokyo.
It was his first mission as A/C and almost his last. One
more mission and the War was over.
For
the remainder of Weston's tour he would fly McNeece's
P-41 and that crew until they
all went home on points. Ralph would change the plane's
name to the "City of Santa Barbara" from the "City of
Wilmington" but left the "Hell's Belle" there.
There
were a number of flights north. Searches for prisoner of
war camps, Display of Force on Sept. 2, and transporting
men to Saipan for their trip home were important tasks that
had to been done. It really was time to go home. |