Joseph P Wheeler

Military

At 12:45 AM of the morning of Friday, March 24th, 1944, PFF planes of the 422nd Squadron, loaded with leaflets and six 500 lb g. p. bombs, started their take-off on the short runway that led over our site. My barrack vibrated as the first ship roared over. Lying in my bunk, I heard the tugging groan of the next one coming out. It sounded very peculiar and the plane didn't seem to be gaining altitude. Suddenly there came a crashing cracking noise. At that sound, I pounced out of my bunk. The earsplitting din grew even louder and seemed to be closing in on my barrack. My heart pounded wildly as I contemplated the roof and walls falling in on me. And suddenly there was a tremendous roar! I yelled at the top of my voice to the men in their bunks, 'For God's sake, get out!'Clothed only in my underware, I opened the rear door of the barrack and headed out. I ran smack into a blazing inferno. It looked as if I chose the wrong door, and for the monent I thought that the other end of the barrack had been hit. Surrounded by flames, I turned on my heels and headed in the direction of an air raid shelter to take cover before the bombs exploded. Then I thought of the men in the barrack next to mine, which had been squarely hit and was now engulfed in flame. So I kept running, but to the officers' quarters to rouse them and get to a telephone to summon ambulances and notify the fire station. Meantime, startled men were running for their lives in just their brevies. After the initial shock, and following the almost automatic performance of emergency action, all at once I was cold. I went back to my barrack for some clothes. I opened windows to prevent breakage from the concussion of exploding bombs, all the time worrying that they might blow while I was in there, just 70 feet from them. I dressed quickly and proceeded to the blazing barrack next door to be of whatever help I could there. One man came staggering out, gushing blood and terribly burned, utterly dazed. I recognized Jack Grinsburg with whom I had been speaking a few hours before the accident. I took him to the next barrack, covered him in blankets, and summoned atruck to transport him to the hospital. Another man came running out, blood spurting from a deep gash in his head. Flames and flares were glowing and ammunition exploding all over the place. We were searching for unexploded bombs and trying to locate any surviving crew members. All of these events took place in a very short period of time, even though it seemed like an eternity as it was happening. One bomb went off and then, three minutes later, the second one, which caused the entire site to tremble. Both were low order detonations caused by excessive heat. In the meantime, four other bombs were located by the ordnance officer. Thataccounted for the six bombs aboard. The scene was one of complete bedlam with personnel, trucks, ambulances and field fire equipment trying to organize the rescue of men and bring the fires under control. The British fire company arrived, and they helped considerably. What happened was this: on the attempted take-off, a wing of the plane hit a tree, causing the plane to veer to the right. It cut off one corner of the first barrack, caromed easterly and sheared the top off the barrack next to mine, spraying gas all over the area, from the fully loaded fuel tanks. The men in the barrack that was hit were asleep and became virtually entombed by flaming debris. Another 20 feet and my barrack too would have been completely involved. Momentum carried the plane onward and it demolished a little farm house just beyond the runway, killing two small children sleeping in their beds. The mother and father escaped without injury, but the woman was pregnant. The shock brought on the premature birth of the baby on a country lane, and the child died. Like many others, I was up all night, rushing to where ever help was needed. I reported to higher headquarters and, when daylight broke, we continued searching. The bodies of eight men from the burning barrack next to mine were removed. The names of the men killed in that barrack [have been entered separately. Search 305th BG lists; 'Killed In Servcie 24 March 1944' in 'Experience' field 43. ]The names of the men injured from that barrack [have been entered separately. Search 305th BG lists, 'Injured 24 March 1944' in 'Experience field 43. ]The entire episode was a horrible nightmare and something I shall never forget.



GC/ DUC/ EAME/ WW II VM

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Units served with

Unofficial emblem, 305th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Revisions

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Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / widow