Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-03-09

a
sAssssS sss& in the room.
Henry McLemor.. Among them
was Capt. Billy southworth. tail.
good looking SON of the Billy South
worth who led the Cards to victory
over the Yankees in the last World
Series.
The radio was going and BIC
was playing its usual sad, melan-
choly air-something by a composer
who apparently had been frustrated
IN love at least a dozen times.
Turn that damn thing off and
get some German music" a pink
checked pilot from California said.
Some one gave the dlals twist and
from Germany came swing record
ing of Don't Sit Under the Apple
Tree"
That's more like it," Jltterbug
pilot from Massachusetts said. The
! ferries stink on ice but at least they
| give us some music We can listen to
without going to sleep"
/ 1t made you feel funny. Here
were boys only few hours from
! taking off in the hope Of dropping
/ thousand Founders on Germans, lis
/ tening to music from that country
and the heavy unintelligible accent
/ of the announcer. 1t was entirely
! possible that before another sun
set the station they were listening
to would be wiped out by their ex-
plosives.
All Reacted Differently.
For two hours I sat and watched
the reaction Of the boys who were
about to take off on mission in
which they would gamble their lives.
| There wasn't pilot in the room who
didn't know what he was up against.
Not one of them had ever come home
from a mission without missing
death by the proverbial whisker and
all of them had been on eight or
more operations over enemy terri
tory. They all reacted differently.
/ Capt. Southworth laid out his bat
/ tie dress-a uniform which isn't
strictly regulation but which is
awfully smart. 1t cost him better
than 500. IF they get me-" Billy
said, they are going TO get a we'll
/ dressed American. If they shoot me
down or have to bail out, they are
going to look at an American who is
all dressed up and ready for any
party. If have to spend the night
In Berlin, want them to know that
the Southworths are fancy people"
You are nuts, Billy" said Calhoun
from Birmingham. IF they get me,
they aren't going to get anything
they can salvage I am going to
wear the worst stuff 1 have, including
pair of socks that haven't been
mended since left Birmingham"
Wonders About Otto.
'I wonder if We will see Cousin
/ Otto on this trip" said the pilot
from Brooklyn, The pilots all specu-
| lated on this and agreed that Cousin
Otto probably would be around.
/ Cousin Otto, I learned, is a German
pilot who flies a Focke-Wulfe and Is
one of the hottest things in the air.
All the boys know him. They swear
he has come so close to them that
they know he has green eyes, one
gold tooth, little red moustache and
cr,e We rret+v 0ooI I,1CliSh
They will tell you that Cousin
Otto, as they have nicknamed him,
dives through their formation at $50
miles per hour and takes his chances
on scoring with his guns or getting
knocked of. All Of them want to
get Cousin Otto. 1t would be a
feather In their caps, but they speak
Of him with what borders on regard
and affection. They know he is a
hell Of a flyer and they have for
| him that feeling that exists between
men who look at death in the skies.
AS We talked in Capt. South
worth's room We could hear the
ships being loaded. There was the
whine Of tiny portable generators
which ordnance men use TO provide
them with light as they hoist the
bombs into the bay.
Wander Out on Field.
Around midnight the pilots started
excusing themselves to wander out
onto the field. They wanted to see
what their ships were carrying.
walked with Capt Southworth and
watch his ship, the Bad Check, so
named because 1t always keeps
bouncing back, get her bellyfull Of
bombs.
AS the last snub-noSed bomb was
fastened and the bays closed. Billy
said goodnight to the crewman In
charge with, We will hit something
for you, kid" That's all we ASK"
the ordnance man said.
The lights went out all over the
field We stumbled through the mud
to our quarters, Before he went
into his room Southworth turned
and took one final look through the
darkness. We could still see the tail
OF his Fortress "A helluva ship"
he said. "A helluva ship Sweet
dreams, Bad Check, sweet dreams"
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