Evening star., 1942-06-27


the paddy fields and pagodas at this
level. the pilots revealed. The crews
were astonished at first when people
waved hats and handkerchiefs and
cheered them as they passed.
One of the pilots, 1t. Bower. said:
Il had never before flown so low
without landing"
Mai Greening recalled.
-Four neW-type Jap ships flew at
us while We were still some distance
from Toxic" he said They were
behind us and seemed fairly fast.
Objective Well CamOuflaged.
I'VE Rugged the ground as tightly
some power lines in the hope that
some of the ships might crash into
them. They didn't. But We shot
down two and the others gave us
little trouble. for by that time we
had reached the target.
Our objective was a gasoline re-
fnery and storage works. 1t was
we'll camoufaged but We had no diff
ficulty picking it out. When our
bombs dropped. there were great
sheets of flame and a terrific ex-
plosion that threw the co-pilot and
me right up out of our seats. even
though we we're belted. and banged
our heads against the top of the
cockpit
While over the city my mind was
intent on the job, of course. But
remember that l also kept thinking,
Oh. if my wife could see me now.
Col Hilger. who led the raid on
Nagoya, reported that his crew
never saw a pursuit plane and
wasn't even fired on by anti-alrcraft
guns until we were up about 900
feet and nearly on our objective
The assignment" said Col. Hill
ger. was to bomb an aircraft works.
an oil storage warehouse. a military
arsenal and a military barracks.
we saw bombs hit all four tar
gets and left the barracks burning,
The anu-aircraft fire was very in
accurate. II didn't bother us at
all When it started, our rear gun
ner yelled over the telephone, Hey.
they're shooting at us, just as If
that wasn't allowed"
Anti-Aircraft Inaccuracy.
The inaccuracy of anti-aircraft
fire was noted everywhere.
Life aboard the planes before and
after the actual raid was described
as quite normal. Each crew mem
Der was concentrating on his job,
reviewing in his mind the obstacles
ahead and devising ways to over
come them.
When not too busily occupied. the
men munched candy bars or drank
water.
All admitted to feeling of tense
ness and excitement as they neared
their objectives. During the attack.
however. this feeling changed to one
of calm intensity as each man bus
led himself with his job. This was
what they had all volunteered to do
and they meant to do it. Fear played
no great part in their emotions of
the moment. While the attack was
the high point of the journey no
man had expected anything better
tnan capture by the enemy and all
were quite aware that the most
difficult phase of the flight lay
ahead.
The lack of pursuit opposition and
the lack of warnings between cities,
were some of the factors which
mystifled, and continue to mystify,
all who took part in the raid.
AS to the quality of enemy fire
and attack, one flyer dismissed it
with the curt remark. "the most
opposition we had was from a group
Of japanese kids playing on beach.
We passed over them at about 20
feet and they threw stones at us"
Nobody realized We were enemies
until the bombs dropped" explained
Sergt. Saylor, an engineer-gunner.
The Japs simply didn't think it
could be done If the same thing
happened to Washington. we might
act the same way. for it just doesn't
seem possible till you see it,"
Shakes Fists at Flyers.
Numerous examples Of the result
ing CONSERVATION were cited. Some
observers saw armored cars with
troops dashing wildly through the
streets to man. anti-aircraft gun
batteries. Several others reported
that the anti-aircraft fire itself was
crafty aimed. with batteries on the
low hills surrounding Toxic ripping
down into the city. doing more dam
age to houses and buildings than
to the fast-f1ying bombers. AS one
ship swept low on its way out. the
crew could see people shaking their
fists in impotent fury.
All planes in the raid were Army
Air Forces BIS medium bombers.
To lend individuality to their ships,
crews painted nicknames on most Of
them.
Among the names adopted were
"Ruptured Duck" "Hari-Kari- Ell"
Anger Angel" and "Whirling Der
wish" One plane sported the chem
ical formula for INT.