Pilot: 2LT Richard Archer
Plane: B-17F-20BO-42-31439 Devil's Daughter
Squadron, Group: 79th, 509th
High Squadron, Middle
Primary Target: Ploesti, Marshalling Yard/Oil Storage
Secondary Target: NONE
Mission Date: 05 APR 1944
Mission Number: 20-4
Position | Rank/Name | Mission Number | Previous Kills | Mission Kills |
Pilot | 2LT Richard Archer | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Co-Pilot | 2LT Isaac Blackburn | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Bombardier | 2LT Fred Fuller | 4 | 1, 3x 0.5 | 1, 5x0.5 |
Navigator | 2LT Lawrence Monroe | 4 | 0 | 1 |
Engineer | T/SGT Alex Kozmenski | 4 | 1, 3x 0.5 | 3x0.5 |
Radio Operator | S/SGT Allen Kirby | 4 | 0.5 | 0 |
Ball Gunner | SGT Samuel Carter | 4 | 2, 3x0.5 | 3, 0.5 |
Port Waist Gunner | SGT Ray McKenzie | 4 | 0 | 0.5 |
Stb. Waist Gunner | SGT Charles Flanagan | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Tail Gunner | SGT Matthew Wolf | 4 | 5, 2x 0.5 | 1, 4x0.5 |
I do not count FCAs and tally FBOAs separately. Combined FD are shared between gunners that managed to get FBOAsBomb Run: On-Target, 40%
B-17 Damage:Fried Nose Compartment Heat
Shredded Navigator charts
Destroyed Control cables
Cracked Pilot windows
Busted Bomb-Bay Doors
Destroyed Ball Turret Guns
Missing Ball Turret (after landing)
Damaged Tail Gunner Oxygen
Destroyed Tail Guns
Destroyed Engine #1
Malfunctioning Engine #2
Destroyed Engine #3
Destroyed Landing gear
Shredded Starboard Flap
Damaged Port Wing Root (x2)
Heavily Damaged Rudder
Inoperable Ailerons (both sides)
Completely bullethole-riddled plane (33)
Crew Casualties:
2LT Fred Fuller - (LW) leg wound, 2 day RTD
2LT Lawrence Monroe - (LW) neck wound, 2 day RTD
2LT Isaac Blackburn - (SW) hip wound, 5 day RTD
Claims:2LT Fuller: 2 Shared FW190s, 2 probable FW190s, 1 Shared 109, 1 confirmed 109
2LT Monroe: 1 Confirmed FW190
T/SGT Kozmenski: 2 Shared FW190s, 1 Probable FW190
SGT Carter: 1 Probable FW190, 1 Confirmed FW190, 2 Confirmed BF190s
SGT McKenzie: 1 Probable ME109
SGT Wolf: 1 confirmed 110, 1 shared 190, 1 probable 109, 2 shared 190s
Peckham Points: 531, CAT-E
Landing: Belly Landing at Lesina
Promotions/Awards:Purple Heart for 2LT Fuller, for wounds sustained on 05 APR 1944 during a bombing mission to Ploesti, Yugoslavia
Purple Heart for 2LT Monroe, for wounds sustained on 05 APR 1944 during a bombing mission to Ploesti, Yugoslavia
Purple Heart for 2LT Blackburn, for wounds sustained on 05 APR 1944 during a bombing mission to Ploesti, Yugoslavia
Air Medal for 2LT Fuller, for destroying a total of 5 enemy planes
Air Medal for SGT Carter, for destroying a total of 5 enemy planes
Air Medal with bronze oak leaves for 2LT Fuller, SGT Carter and SGT Wolf, see attached Request
After Action Report"Aight boys, this is gonna be a long one. Don't forget to pack some sandwiches for the way, don't want any of you complaining again that you're getting hungry while up there!"While going through the pre-flight checklist, Lt. Archer turns to his co-pilot
"Not sure about this one. If some of the more veteran members in the base are to be believed, Ploesti is gonna be a very long, very dangerous flight. Jerries have turned the whole area into one big Anti-Air zone. One of the other local groups apparently had an almost 50% casualty rate... Any sign of problems, we turn around. Got it? I don't wanna lose of the guys because we needlessly pushed ahead."
Just before reaching the drop zone, Lt. Archer calls out over the intercom
"Damnit, they hit Isaac! Alex, drop down from your turret, and help me keep her steady so Fred can try and drop the bombs. Flak's already unsettling us enough. Also, one of you schlepp Isaac out of here and start first aid. This blood isn't looking good"While flying over the Adriatic Sea, Lt. Kozmenski informs the pilot of a mechanical failure
"Seems like one of those bastards put some bullets in Engine #2, she's starting to seize up. Not sure if we can make it back to Giulia on a single engine."Lt. Archer calls out one last time via the intercom, just before attempting a landing
"Argh, the damn landing gear got shredded... Everyone that can, jump! Don't wanna risk your lifes in a crash landing!"
Late in the afternoon, a clerk came into the 79th squadron office.
"Sir, I'm carrying a telegram from Lesina Airbase. The Devil's Daughter landed there"
The telegram reads as follows
DEVILS-DAUGHTER-REPORTING-IN-STOP-BELLY-LANDING-IN-LESINA-STOP-PLANE-CAT-E-STOP-AWAITING-CREW-RECOVERY-STOP-WILL-GIVE-DETAILED-REPORT-ON-RETURN-LT-ARCHER-STOP
Three days later, sometime in the afternoon, a C-47 lands on the landing strip of Giulia airbase, and after it has come to a stop, a 10 man crew start filing out of the plane. One guy tries to hobble out of the plane with crutches, but has to be helped by other crew-members.
Lt. Archer makes sure that everyone is alright, before briskly walking towards the squadron command hut.
As he's entering the Major's office, he salutes his CO, and starts talking before the Major can even get a word in
"Good Morning, Sir. My apologies for my disheveled look, but it's been a long three days for me and my crew. I'm in need of a proper shave, a hot bath and some warm food."While handing over a stack of papers, he continues talking
"Here is a detailed written report about the Mission to Ploesti, Sir. I've attached any relevant technical and medical reports, and written up some award requests. I'll leave you to read it in peace, while I go and check with the Flight surgeon about my co-pilot's wounds. That Surgeon in Lesina is good, but not as good as ours. I'll give you an update soon, Sir."Lt. Archer turns around again just before leaving the office.
"Oh, Sir, if you get any notices about an altercation that my men might have had with some of the fighter pilots in Lesina, just know that they threw the first punches, while me and my men restrained ourselves and only defended ourselves."REPORT - CONFIDENTIAL
We took off with no problem, but as soon as we hit Yugoslav airspace, we were attacked by a a pair of ME110s. One was driven off by our escort, while the other one approached us from behind, which gave SGT Wolf in the tail the perfect opportunity to down it before it even got close.
A while later, a second flight, this time consisting of 5 FW190s, threatened our bird. Our Bombardier and Engineer managed good hits on a few of them, but we're not sure if they were destroyed. Their group leader, who seemed to know what he was doing, managed to rake us from top to bottom, destroying our navigator's charts, throwing shrapnel through the whole plane, and most likely also destroying our landing gear. When he lined up for a second run, the combined firepower of our Engineer and Tail Gunner made short work of him, sending him tumbling down to the ground in a fireball.
We were then left to our own devices for a while, until we were about 75 miles from the dropzone. 2 BF109s, as well as a FW190 tried to attack us. With no escorts anymore, we were left to our own devices, but my gunners were ready. An inexperienced BF109 was quickly shot down by our Engineer and Bombardier combined, while our navigator got some lucky hits on the FW190, sending it into spin, after which a chute was seen. The remaining 109 hit us in return, but didn't damage anything critical. After our Tail Gunner again shot at the remaining BF109, blowing numerous chunks from his plane, it decided to break of it's attack before it could hit us a second time.
The worst was still to come however...
While on the last part of the approach, 3 FW190s dove on our bird again. The Ball Turret Gunner managed to hit one of them hard, but another soon shot the ball turret guns in retaliation, while the third hit our windows. Luckily they didn't break, but there were some large cracks in there, and it looked dicey. I ordered Sgt. Carter to leave the ball turret while he could, and just help the other crew members where he could.
Immediately afterwards a second flight tried to attack us, but they were driven off and shot down by the other gunners in the formation. Our protective formation again proves it's worth!
Then a third flight, consisting of 4 FW190s broke through. We managed to shoot down two of them, the Bombardier working from the front, while the Tail Gunner made sure to finish them off. Despite this, they hit our rudder and our fuel tanks, but thankfully they sealed up. Worse was however, when my Co-Pilot cried out in pain. He slumped forward agony, pushing heavily on the yoke, almost making me lose control. I quickly got the engineer to drag him out of his seat and help me keep the plane steady just before we dropped the bombs. The Ball turret gunner started first aid immediately on Lt. Blackburn, trying to stop the bleeding as best as possible.
Flak was also strong, and hit us hard. They apparently took out the tail guns, as well as hitting Engine #2. As we were just over the drop zone, my Engineer and me throttled the engines up, while I ordered the bombardier to drop them at the first available chance he saw. Despite the smoke over the target area, coupled with the unsteady plane thanks to the flak, Lt. Fuller managed to hit the target, dropping about 40% on target.
Turning around, we had a short few minutes of respite, where I ordered the Tail Gunner to take over first aid duties (bleeding has been stemmed, but Lt. Blackburn was still in a lot of pain), after which the ball turret gunner took over the top turret position.
It was a good idea I did, as a lone Bf109 appeared shortly after, but was downed without mercy by our Ball Turret Gunner.
Without any tail or ball turret guns, were were very vulnerable from the back, and with the Tail gunner giving first aid, we didn't even have anyone able to give us advanced warning if any bogies approached us from the rear. Still, there was nobody I could spare to be a lookout.
Afterwards, a flight of 4 BF109s attacked us. 1 was quickly shot down in a ball of fire by the chin turret, while the Port Waist gunner got some decent shots of on another. The third one, which looked to be a new pilot, pulled a risky move, and managed to rake the plane with bullets. He destroyed the aileron controls, managed to wound our bombardier (luckily not seriously), and also damaged the bomb bay doors. After that, the top turret quickly eliminated the Jerry before he could try something like that again.
Flak was back again with a vengeance. It found us again, wounding our navigator (a small cut in the lower neck that bled like crazy, but turned out to be relatively harmless), and puncturing our fuel tanks for a second time this trip. Luckily it sealed after just a few moments.
Then we were left to ourselves again. I had the Radio operator help with some quick bandaging on both the bombardier and the navigator, before deciding that it might be a good idea to have him patrol between his radio room and the tail section, just to make sure we didn't have any bogies trying to pull a sneaky move.
We were left to our own thought for over an hour. Lt. Blackburn's aching steadily grew weaker. Our Tail gunner said he had lost a lot of blood, and he was trying his best, but with only limited equipment onboard, there was nothing he was able to do. He asked if he should administer a second dosage of morphine. I hesitated, but I knew any more would be fatal. We'd just have to hope were weren't too late when we landed...
Sometime over Yugoslavia, what appeared to be a lone FW190 attacked us. His expertise was visible from the way he handled his plane, and our gunners didn't stand a chance. We tried to guard him off, but to no avail. He put some decent shots into us, including the starboard flaps, the oxygen supply in the tail and a whole lot of holes. It went from bad to worse however, when we were suddenly shredded by a second, unseen FW190 from the back. It seemed our friend didn't come alone, and he had brought a second Ace along to help him out, trying to take our bird down.
The second FW190 managed to hit the nose compartment heat and Engine #3, forcing us to shut it down and slowly drift out of the formation, while also quickly losing altitude.
While they were lining up for a second pass, our Ball Gunner managed to hit one of them hard, sending him tumbling down to the ground. The other plane redoubled his efforts to shoot us down, destroying my control cables, and hitting Engine #1. Luckily, I wasn't forced to shut it down right there, and damage only seemed superficial. My bombardier then managed to get some hits on him, throwing off the FW190's aim and diving down afterwards.
Just after crossing into the Adriatic, Engine #1 started to seize up, forcing us to shut it down as well. The Engineer quickly did some calculations, and even with the tailwind, we wouldn't be able to reach Giulia. We thought about flying until we reached land, trying to turn around and all jump. However, with Lt. Blackburn in dire need of medical aid, we decided to try and land, despite having no controls (apart from a rudder) and only a single working engine. After quickly checking the - ruined - maps from our navigator, we decided to try and land at Lesina. It was the first available landing strip, even if it would be a very tight squeeze. We radioed in that we would be attempting a landing at their runway, and that we had multiple wounded men on board that would need medical aid.
We managed to get over dry land, while I started to instruct the engineer about how to help me with landing the plane. He'd been behind the yoke a few times before to relieve me or my co-pilot, especially on some of the longer flights, but this was gonna be a wholly different beast. I tried to hide the anxiety in my voice, but I don't think I was very successful, as I could see the sweat forming on his forehead, while he gripped the yoke so tightly his hands turned fully white.
At approach, I tried to lower the landing gear, but it wouldn't budge. In a split-second decision, I decided that with all the damage we had sustained already, a belly landing was going to be extremely risky, and it would probably be best if everyone jumped with their parachutes, while the engineer, my - now silent - co-pilot and I stayed behind and tried to save the bomber. Everyone started to make their way to the exits as quickly as possible, but our navigator came up to the cockpit area, pushed our tail gunner away and told him he'd take care of Isaac, and he should jump. While the tail gunner sputtered and grumbled a bit, he relented, took a chute and jumped.
(OOC: I realized I didn't want to lose a very experienced tail gunner, so swapped him out with the navigator)Before the bombardier managed to jump, I yelled out to him:
"Just in case, take care of em, will ya?" He looked back at me, nodded and jumped out of the plane. A quick look from the top turret confirmed that all 6 chutes deployed properly, and we soon saw them all drifting down slowly.
"Alright gents, this is it. I'll try to be gentle. Alex, yank that yoke back as hard as possible as soon as you feel the ground, got it? And push those pedals as if your life depends on it." (OOC: total Landing modifier of -8)I managed to hit the beginning of the runway, giving us the longest distance to come to a stop. The cockpit instantly filled with the creaks and groans of metal dragging over the ground. I saw planes, tents and wooden huts flash past me, before I almost instinctively closed my eyes. We tried to slow her down as quickly as possible, but we still used up the whole runway, sliding into the field behind it, before finally coming to a sudden stop.
I carefully opened my eyes again and looked around. Alex was as white from shock, while Lt. Monroe had thrown himself on Lt. Blackburn to shield him from the worst of the crash. A quick shout confirmed everyone was well - under circumstances. Quickly clambering out of the plane, we extricated Lt. Blackburn and quickly handed him off to the ambulance that came speeding our way. Lt. Monroe also jumped in the ambulance to get his neck wound checked out, while my engineer and I were left alone for a quick second after the ambulance sped off back towards base again.
I felt dizzy from the whole ordeal, and if Alex hadn't caught me, I would've probably hit the dirt right then and there.
"Easy does it, Sir. Don't fall over just after you got us all down safely. That's the most important thing... Now, let's go meet the base commander."The next few hours went by as a fever dream, and I can only remember a few flashes. Shaking hands with a few officers, meeting the base CO and XO, driving in a jeep back to the wreckage and one of the mechanics going
"Yup, she's done for. CAT-E for sure", trying to organize sleeping spaces for my crew. I was offered a space from a friendly pilot - apparently someone who helped drive some of the bogies on our tail - but I can't even remember his name.
The only clear memory I have of the whole afternoon is pacing for hours on end outside of the surgeon's office, where he was working on my crew. While the bombardier and navigator quickly came out again and looked fine, it was almost dusk before the surgeon finally stepped out with news about Lt. Blackburn. "He's lost a lot of blood, but whatever happened up there, he must've had Lady Luck smiling down on him. It'll be a while before he ready to fly again, but he's gonna be fine".
(OOC: I burned 2 rabbit's foots on trying to save the copilot. First roll was a 6, second one wasn't that much better, but luckily the third roll was a 1)We spent the other 3 days loitering around the base, helping out ground crew if we could, and getting some drinks in the local bar.
One day into our stay, our bombardier and Navigator were released from hospital (and were allowed to fly the next day), while our co-pilot was released this morning. We settled any outstanding debts, said our goodbyes, and got a C-47 to fly to Giulia. One of their men flew with us, and he'll return it to Lesina.
I'm requesting the next available B-17 is assigned to us, so we can join in for the next mission again. Depending on our surgeon's estimate, we'll request a co-pilot from the spare crews.
On another note, 2LT Fuller, SGT Carter and SGT Wolf each managed to get more than 3 destruction credits during the last mission. For this impressive feat, I am requesting they are each rewarded bronze oak leaves to their Air Medal. I hope you agree with my judgement on this.
Signed,
2Lt Richard Archer
B17G-20BO-42-31439 Devil's Daughter
509(H)BG/79SQ
~~~
OOC:
I encountered a whopping 4 aces this mission... 2 of which appeared together just before leaving Yugoslavia. One of them managed to get a whopping 10 hits while he approached me from behind (no ball turret guns or tail guns anymore).
Also the enemy seem to have been snipers, wounding 3 out of 4 officers onboard, while not hitting any of the other crew.