The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-02-27
y WALTRR CRONKITR

fDN tart VA .nsnsn~. ta
ny WALTER CRONKITE
United Press Stan Correspondent
U. 8. Flying Fortress Base Some
where Ia England, Feb. 2T-e(UP)--
Il was q hell $4,000 feet above the
earth, q he'll Of burning tracer bull
lets and bursting flax, Of crippled
Flying Fortresses and flaming Ger
man fighter planes.
I rode o Flying Fortress into the
Maidst ok it with the 9th q. 8. Air
F0rce on their raid on the wilhelm.
sl1avei1 naval base In northwest
Germany yesterday.
For two hours ! sat through q
vicious -gun duel with twisting and
turning E'ocle Wulf 100 fighters and
held tight while he lodged savage
aiiti-aircraft fire. My reward was
to see American bombs falling TO-
ward German soil.
Luck was with us and our Fort
ress came through the torrent
without damage. Other formations
caught the brunt Of the fighter
blows and we saw F'ortresses and
LiheratorS plucked from the flights
around US. Altogether, seven planes
are missing.
We knocked out our share Of
fighters, and as we swept back over
the North sea we saw great pillars
Of smoke pluming from the target
area.
It was the first time correspond.
entS had been permitted to accom-.
payly the Flying Fortyesses or Lib
orators on any Of their raids over
Germany or Occupied France. Eight
reporters had qualified TO 60, but
one was III and another was aboard
a ship which turned back because
Of technical dif1culties.
~ We were skirting the Risian Is
lands and still an hour from the
target when our tail gunner, STAFF
Sgt, George w. Henderson, 20, Of
Columbus, Kan. sighted the first
of the enemy fighters. Over the
inter communication system, he
said:
"Looks like enemy fighters low at
8 o'clock-about six or seven Of
them"
"six o'clock" In aerial parlance
meant directly behind the plane.
It didn't take the fighters long
TO close in on US. Meanwhile, ! was
trying to scrape the frost from the
window In the plastic nose Of the
plane In order to see.
Tbs fighters came toward us with
guns splitting. We couldn't hear
them because Of the noise Of our
own engines.
Our tail gunner was the first TO
open up. We could feel the vibra-
tions set up by his rafting gun.
Then tbs waist gui1nerS, Sgt. Ed
ward ZeNtIarlnoS1, SO, Of TalUe Lake,
Calf, Ahd STAFF Sgt. Onward L.
Kinds, %, Of Los, Angeles, Calf,
took over. as
Heck Balk, 20, OF Temple Tex,
veteran Of 10 missions, was banging
away from, the ball turret on the
belly Of the plane.
A squirt Of flames Immediately
overhead disclosed that Tech. Sgt
Charles =. zipfel, az, Of Siegel, Pa,
had Joined In from the top turret.
Then the enemy planes swept by
and the bofnbaydier and navigator
In the nose Of the fortress begal,
firing their guns. Clips Of empty
cartridges flew around the tiny
compartment and the stencil OF
burning powder filtered through our
oxygen masks.
The boEbardier, LIST Lieut.. Albert
w. Dieffenhach, 20, Of Washington,
D. O., turned around and lifted his
thumb. That meant that our tracers
had at least scared off the attack
ing enemy.
The anti-aircraft fire began Is
we started the bombing run into
Wilhelmshaven and didn't END until
we had passed the last tiny PEN
tnsula Of the continent.
The first flash broke some dis
lance below and to the left Of US.
There were tiny bursts Of flame and
small puffs Of black smoke that
gradually grew larger as the wind
dispersed them. It surprised me not
to be able to hear the burst.
Then bursts appeared In front Of
US: then to the right and not near
" 50 far away.
TT looks like they are laying
out . carpet Of that stuff for U.s."
one gunner said.
I watched. fascinated, as the big
fortresses above and below took
evasiye turns and narrowly avoided
flax, forgetting that some Of the
bursting shrapnel might pierce the
nose OF our own plane.
The crew told me that there was