The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-07-20
Eye Witness
Relates TuIe
OF BOMBING
PAGE FOUR
BY RICHARD ID. Nc MILAN
United Press STAFF CORRESPONDENT


Aboard Flying Fortress Returning
from Rome, July 19.-tUP) - ODE
layedD-I saw Rome burn today I'M
der a terrific weight Of American
bombs dropped by miles-long lines
of planes that turned into blazing
ruin a major link in Mussolini'S
shaky military machine.
Certainly Nero's famous fire was
only a flicker compared with the
awful volcano of yellow smoke and
red flames bursting from military
targets as the Fascist capital felt
Allied aerial might for the first
time.
And this much I know-the adj
monition to refrain from hitting any
of the city's religious monuments
was carried out insofar as was hu-
manly possible. Our bombs hit where
they were supposed to- in the mar
shalling yards where trains are
made up to ship Axis soldiers and
supplies. The approach was made
so that no planes flew over Vatican
City.
Waves of Planes
Coming toward the coast through
the brilliant sunshine of an Italian
summer day, we could see fires
from 80 miles at sea. The first boml>
had hit only about 20 minutes be-
fore ours we're dropped. The air
fleet was gigantic-waves of Fort
resses, Liherators, Marauders, Mitch
ellis and Lightnings.
Fairly heavy flax was encountered
but we saw only two enemy fighters
and they veered off as if afraid OF
our planes.
Our first sight of the Rome area
was blanket of smoke mushroom
ing in the still hot air and growing
larger as we roared across the cost
35 miles from the city.
We came in over the coast in the
Fortress "Flamingo" at 10000 feet,
flying opposite the Tiber until we
reached Lake Bracciano. when we
turned to go over Rome. The bomb
ing was as simple as this: AS black
puffs of anti-aircraft burst about
us, the 21-year-old bonbardier, Enc
Lieut.. Reginald Thayer, Jr., yelled
above the motors roar: Bomb bays
open!'
Bombs Away"
The CLOCK tucked to 1882 a. m.
Then Thayer yelled, bombs away"
The 5OO-pounders spiraled down.
Then the other planes in our forma-
ton dropped their bombs into the
flaming maelstrom below. Red
rooted houses and villas simmered
in the white sun beside the Tiber
in the unbombed parts of Rome.
I stood on tip-toe between Pilot
Capt. j. r. Mode of Spokane, Wash,
and Co-Pilot End Lieut.. Tom A.
Smith of Tyler, Tex, trying to see
our target-the Lorenzo marshalllng
yards, one of the Rome bottlenecks
for north south italian rail traf-
fic. Mode held up his forefinger and
thumb in a sign showing the results
were excellent.
After we passed the target we fol-
lowed precise maps to avoid flying
over st. Johns Lateran. The noise
was terrifying - I'll bet Mussollnl
hears it," said one creWman. I'll bet
he is covering in the dugout in his
palace"
Not one of the planes in our for
nation was touched by flax.
Visibility was perfect. Vatican
City, more than four miles from
our target, shone in the sunlight.
These men on this plane felt no
conjunction - they were carrying
out a Job they consider essential -
and I feel the Fascists have had
their biggest morale and military
shock since Africa collapsed.
There were several thousand
American airmen over that target,
but now and again among them was
such a man as the observer In our
plane, a Britisher.
II watched the bombing with a
certain feeling of justice" he said.
my home and whole street in
were wiped out by Axis
bombing raids
Mode, who had been on 26 previ-
GUS raids. was made a squadron
leader just before the Rome attack.