Am gradually becoming an experienced combat crewman, believe me, especially after today's mission.
On December 15th, Herman flew in the B-17 “Ration Passion” again. Lt. Reed was the pilot and Steve (navigator from his regular crew) flew next to him in the nose.
Thurleigh to Kiel
“The target for today was Kiel, and that in itself should have been a warning, but ignorance is bliss at times, and this was one of them, but I wised up in a hurry, a damn hurry.”
In 1999, Herman’s pilot “Smithy” mailed him two pages of the Squadron Diary for the 368th Bombardment Squadron, December 1 thru 26th. I am trying to track down how I can find the other months (November 1943 and January thru March 1944.)
Kiel was a major naval base in Germany, and submarines were built there. It is a port city located in the north of Germany … on the map see that Nazi-occupied Denmark is just above it.
From the 368th Bombardment Squadron Diary for December 13, 1943:
KIEL – The first trip to Kiel since July … and this time Lt. W. Dale Reed and his crew drew all the excitement … While the squadron and Lt. Gay, flying in the Composite Group, carried in to bomb through the solid overcast and return to base without further incident, Lt. Reed elected to follow and bomb alone, no mean venture over Germany’s great naval base. Subsequently he and his crew crossed Denmark, losing altitude ‘til a JU 88 engaged them in a rare duel which forced them to dive to cloud cover at 4,000 feet with one engine on fire. The enemy found them again, however, only to be out-maneuvered and raked by the bombardier, Lt. Herman F. Allen, the top turret, Sgt. Carl Heuser, and the left waist gunner, Sgt. Donald Courson … Having thus disposed of the JU 88 by setting both her engines on fire, our crew next took on a convoy single-handed at deck level, then finding no further opposition, the boys threw guns, ammunition and everything handy overboard to lighten the ship – and turned up coolly at base without a single injury.
“As I sat down to mess this evening, frankly, a few hours before I never expected that. There was a time when I actually wondered when I would be writing you again – and from where.”
Hard to write this with a dry eye, Daddy.
Karen Allen
Posted at 08:40h, 05 MarchPati – I can’t wait for the movie! Seriously! I find myself literally pulled into ‘that place, that time’. Maybe because I fly so much these days – the literal impact of imagining that these servicemen – one of them being Herman, were in a plane; shooting at other planes, diving for cloud cover; manuevering to shoot at targets: other planes, ships, cities; engines on fire; almost out of fuel, taking on rounds of ammunition – the fortitude it took to keep the pace, day after day. It is no wonder that Herman has no desire to travel – he’s done enough for all of us in his lifetime! War is hell – literally; and sad to think that this same scenario is being played out today, as we sit and read of Herman’s adventure > 60 years ago; in Iraq.
Thanks Pati, again for your work on this project. karen