Evening star., 1943-04-21

This story OF an American
bombing squadron iDhich fought
around the ,Dorld 1Dds ,Dritten By
Capt. Ro,Dan T. Thomas of Boyle,
Miss, in Algeria shortly before
he and other members OF the
outfit returned to the United
States for the first time tn 16
months.
By CAPT. ROWAN T. THOMAS.
SOMEWHERE IN ALGERIA (P).
There is so much to tell about
the Middle East campaign that it
Is impossible to cover it all in this
letter. But victory finally. came
after months of intense bombing.
During the height of the advance
through Libya. we would occupy
German airdromes just one day
after the ferries pulled out. We
moved so fast that we were eating
German bully beef and other Ger
man rations which they had aban-
doned.
Gen. Louis H. Brereton COM
mended us for our fine work. Air
Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder person.
ally commended us and said he
considered that our work contrib
uted greatly to Rommel's defeat.
Symbolic of the damage wrought
by bombing was the Port of To-
bruk, attacked so necessarily the
boys called it the milk run" When
we flew over Tobruk after its cap
ture by the British, there were 81
wrecked ships visible from the air.
The bottom of the harbor must
have held many more. There was
a submarine just under the water
which had dead men caught in
the coming tower. The entire
dock area was full of holes or razed
by fire. The scene was unadulter-
ated destruction.
Then we were needed in Tunisia
and so the squadron was on the
move once more. We said good
bye to Col. Mickey Mcclure, our
able commander, and to our re-
spected squadron commander, Maj.
Jack Toomey eve. were nicknamed
''Toomey's Flying Circus" in Egypt
Under the leadership of Maj. J. B.
Hoist of Savannah, Ga, an expert
enced and capable pilot who had
led some of our most successful
raids, we prepared to make the
flight to Tunisia.
Mentioning Maj. Hoist reminds
me of several incidents. Maj. Hoist
and his red-headed co-pilot, 1t.
Leonard j. Pinky) Gossard. Of
Lodi, Ohio, and navigator. 1t. Scott
Douglass of Baraboo, Wis, once
led six-Fortress raid which sank
q boat and submarine from 5000
feet over a well-defended area. A
submarine is difficult target from
even a low altitude
On another occasion Maj. Hoist,
with Its. Gossard and Douglass,
were flying on a patrol mission over
the Gulf of Kutch near India. Three
engines went out for some uneX-
planned reason and a forced landing
was necessary.
1t. Douglass, as navigator, gave
the position to the radio operator
and the direction and velocity of
the wind to the crew Then he and
the crew bailed out over the water
just at the proper time, for they
all landed on the sandy shore. 1t.
Douglass was bruised and scratched
Che was dubbed "aches and pain"
after that, but managed to COL
lapse the chute of a sergeant who
was being dragged numerically
over sharp rocks. Another sergeant
broke his leg, but there were no
other serious injuries.
Meanwhile Maj. Hoist and 1t.
Gossard made successful water
landing and shucked out of the
plane in record time, unhurt. The
position had been radioed to the
base before the crew bailed out and
subsequently all were located by
Maj. Robert Tash of Walla Walla,
Wash, who drove through the jun
giles to pick them up.
But to get back. to the trip to
Tunisia. It involved an all-night
fight over enemy lines. We wrapped
ourselves in G. I. blankets after TAX
ing off from an advanced desert
base. Just a few minutes after the
Germans had bombed a base 30
miles away and lost four bombers
You've never seen anything until
you've watched four bombers come
rocketing down afame from 10000
feet and explode like sunrise at mid
night.
One plane was trapped in a storm
around daybreak just west of the
enemy lines. Pilot Earl Goodrich
of Boston; 1t Clayton Smith, Seat
tie, and 1t. Edgar Rocky) Stoner,
Huntsville, Ill, had a rough fight
with the elements. The plane went
into a spin, but the pilot managed
to pull out and made a wheels-up
landing in the desert. All eventually
got back to Allied bases. The re-
mainder of the ships reached their
destinations on schedule.
On the Tunisian front we have
been a part of the 18th Air Force.