26 May Mission 12b – March 6, 1944

At 7:45 am the first B-17 bombers took off from English airfields with others following at sixty-second intervals. It took about an hour for them to assemble into their formations … even before that hour was over the German radar had picked up that something big was heading their way, and fighter and flak units were alerted.

In less than 3 hours, the Liberty Lady would have reached Cromer, a city on the northern coast of England. She then flew over the North Sea through stronger than expected headwinds toward the Dutch Coast.

At 11:30 am the Luftwaffe reported that the bomber stream, now 100 miles long, had crossed over into Germany.

The 1st Bomb Division flew over the flak zones at Zwolle, a city just north of Amsterdam. One of the bombers, also of the 40th combat wing, was badly damaged and the crew had to bail out.  Too close for comfort to our Liberty Lady.

By 12 noon they were well into Germany. The German fighters were brutally attacking, particularly as they neared Berlin, the nerve center of Germany, and shot down many of the B-17’s.

368th Squadron Mission Loading List for March 6, 1944 – Liberty Lady is “MISSING”

Shortly after 1 pm, the 1st Combat Wing leader headed for the assigned target, the Erkner ball bearing works. However, at a critical moment, clouds obscured the target. The leader ordered the groups behind him to call off the run on Erkner and drop their bombs on other targets. The 306th flew into an area dense with anti-aircraft gun batteries. Many of the bombers were seriously damaged.

At this point, I have conflicting reports. In Target Berlin, the author reports that both right engines were knocked out by flak. In the book “First over Germany,” (story of the 306th BG) author Russell A. Strong recounted that “an engine was lost.”

The son of pilot Charles W. Smith settled the confusion. He explained that the Liberty lady was hit in one of the engines, “but the critical problem was that not only did the round take out the engine, it drained the oil, so that they couldn’t feather the prop. Thus, the flat surface of the propeller was presented to the slipstream, markedly increasing the drag and slowing the plane. Dad estimated that it was the equivalent of losing 1.5 engines.”

The pilot knew they could never make it back to England. It was impossible for the wounded fortress to stay in the formation, and as a straggler, it would be an easy target for enemy fighters. In order to hide, Smithy quickly flew the Liberty Lady into the low clouds north of Berlin …

Egad.  Now what?

To be continued …

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