Sources: conversations/presentations by Milton Hamill, and material from his journal shared with me for publication in the chapter newsletter, “Briefing”. lda 3/22/16

Milton (Milt) Hamill

Radio Operator/Gunner, 303rd Bomb Group, Molesworth, England

In 1942 the US Army Air Force was still writing the book on strategic bombing. Bomber formations were small, and the German Luftwaffe was at its peak strength. The fighter escort available at the time, mostly British, could only provide cover for a very limited range.

The odds on surviving a 25-mission tour were long. Milt kept a daily journal of his missions and allowed me to publish a few excerpts from it in the 8th Air Force chapter’s newsletter. The following is paraphrased from that story.

Nov. 23, 1942- St. Nazaire, France: “Lt. Hunerford got me out of bed to fly as an extra gunner on Reino’s plane. After running around gathering up gear, we took off for St. Nazaire at 11:00. We encountered no opposition on the way to the target and dropped our 2,000 bombs. German flak was heavy. Something happened to Capt. Fulgum’s plane and they bailed out. Another B-17F went down into the sea. After we got out of the flak some FW-190s attacked us”. The group was split up in the battle and Milt’s plane was part of a six-plane formation being worked over by the enemy fighters. “The planes came in from Hall’s side (the other waist gunner). I got some nice shots off. Rukes shot one down”. On one pass an enemy fighter shot a 20 mm cannon round through the waist near Milt.

“Hall and I just looked at each other, we didn’t know what happened. I went back to shooting. When we landed, we found that our ball turret gunner had been hit in the back by flak. Our plane had a few hits on it but nothing to serious. Think we made some good hits on the target”.

Dec. 6, 1942 Lillie, France: “Got up at 6:00 AM for the raid. We took off at 10:30. About two hours later we met our escort of British Spitfires. The enemy fighters attacked, but the Spitfires kept them off of us. Some FW-190s did come through the formation, one shot a bullet hole though the radio room just inches from my face. I could feel the wind coming through the hole.

If it hadn’t been for the fighter escort there would have been a lot of damage”. “Jersey Bounce” (Milt’s plane) was the most damaged with hits in the wing, #2 engine, radio room and tail. “The raid was successful but I couldn’t watch the bombs hit due to attacking enemy fighters”.

Dec. 12, 1942 Rouen, France: “Up at 6:00 AM again, the target for today was supposed to be Romilly-sur-Seine just southeast of Paris. We had an escort part of the way into France. The FW-190s hit us right after the escort left. We were in combat for about 2 hours. Saw a man bail out of a B-17 just as it went into a nose dive and started to spin. More crew were thrown out in the spin. I kept talking on the interphone reporting everything I saw, as well as enemy fighters.

One plane (fighter) at 3:00 dove straight for the radio room. I couldn’t get my gun on him so I talked to the other fellows as they shot, telling them to do better. One round from the fighter went about a 1 ½ to 2 feet behind me. It went through the bomb bay just missing the bombs by inches. Another round went through the wing hitting one of the superchargers. Rudder cables, the #2 engine and the hydraulic system were also hit.

The pilot reported two planes coming in at 12:00. The pilot suddenly stopped talking and I heard a loud bang. I saw two FW-190s go right past me on both sides of the plane with parts of our plane following them. I called several times to see if everyone was ok and finally got a “yes” so I didn’t think anything else of it. We ended up bombing Rouen, our 3rd alternate target, picked up our escort and headed for home. Once over England, Hood and McCall came into the radio room with blood on their faces. I didn’t know what had happened”. The bang Milt heard was a 20mm shell going off in the nose injuring the navigator and bombardier. “ A little while later we landed and an ambulance met our plane on the runway. Almost the whole squadron gathered around and camera men took pictures of the damage. Once again the “Jersey Bounce” was the most damaged ship. It was my 5th mission, the worst so far. It was clear the crew of the Jersey Bounce was living on borrowed time“.

Dec. 30-31 1942: “I missed the next two raids on Romilly-sur-Seine and Lorrient, France since my plane was too badly damaged to fly“.

Jan 3rd 1943 St. Nazaire, France: “ We left at 9:30 AM, things were quiet over France until we got near the target, then things started happening. Kinney got out of the ball turret because his feet were freezing.* Someone had to go into the turret so the Germans wouldn’t attack us from below. I just knew how to make the turret go around but nothing else.

My gun position (in the radio room) wasn’t as important as the others so I called the pilot and told him I was going in it. I really wasn’t dressed for it and had a tough time getting in, but finally made it. It was cramped in there, I couldn’t even take my gloves off and could just barely reach the main switch. The B-17 on our left took a direct hit in the cockpit and dove down in front of us. Nolan did a great job of flying that day, he pulled our plane up and then dropped the nose to prevent it from stalling. Thought my number was up! Flak all over, I saw two FW-190s below us so I got my gun sight on them and pressed trigger. Nothing happened, the guns wouldn’t fire. I saw two more B-17s go down. One, Lt. Clark’s, was in flames, don’t think anyone got out. We made it to the target, dropped our bombs, it was a long trip home. After landing we found that we had a runaway prop and a large flak hole in one of the elevators. Group lost four ships today one from our squadron”.

Milton survived his 25 mission tour at a time when the odds were defiantly against doing so. Later he would become the North Texas Chapter’s (8th Air Force Historical Society) first elected president.

Note: In those days all American service personnel wore “dogtags” with their name, rank and military serial number. - The tag also had a single letter code for the person’s religious affiliation. Soldiers and airmen of Jewish faith could opt to have their dogtag marked with a Catholic “C” or Protestant “P” if they wished.

Milt was proud of the fact that he not only volunteered for duty as an air crewman flying over Nazi Europe, but did so with his dogtag proudly stamped with a “J”. Milt may have been short of stature, but he was tall on courage. He was awarded the Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

*The Sperry Ball turret on a B-17 was so small that an airman wearing the heavy fleece lined clothing commonly worn by the rest of the crew wouldn’t fit in the ball turret. These gunners relied on their electric underwear, gloves and socks to keep them from freezing. A short or broken wire in a glove or sock could result in frostbite and possible loss of fingers or toes.

Sources: conversations/presentations by Milton Hamill, and material from his journal shared with me for publication in the chapter newsletter, “Briefing”.