When I joined the 416th Bomb Group in Melun, FR, ten miles outside of Paris, they were changing from the A-20 to the A-26. Douglas technicians explained operation of the systems. I had completed two and 1/2 years of engineering at the U of IL That background helped me understand those systems. I flew all my 4s missions in the A-26. The A-26 was initially designed for use with a 75 MM in the nose. Therefore that configuration eliminated space for a co-pilot. I read that twin engine bomber low level flights in the ETO were disastrous.



I was checked out in the A-26 by sitting in the jump seat for a takeoff and landing by Capt Miller.That procedure was repeated with Miller in the jump seat. I had five more hours of flying before my first mission which was just after Christmas, 1944. I had previously flown twin engine B-25s and A-20s so wasn't surprised that the A-26 handled much differently with bombs. I flew my first mission in the number six position. I was wringing wet when I returned from my first mission. That happened just once. I eventually flew from the number two position. The lead ship, which had a bombardier-navigator, was #1 #2 and #3 were right and left of #1. #4 was below #1 and #5 and #6 were right and left of #4. During pre flight briefing we were told the time between the release of each bomb. We opened the bomb bay doors and dropped the bombs when the #1 did. My right engine quit while I was on a cross country training mission. I landed at 3:30 PM. After midnight the crew chief carne to my tent to tell me that it the problem was the right engine induction system and that it was now ready to go. This was far different than when I was in Florence, S. Carolina where there were no crew chiefs.



During a cross country training mission I saw an animal tethered to a stake for feeding resulting in a big symmetrical circle where the animal had eaten.



After a bomb drop I had my gunner verify that the bombs had dropped. On one mission there was a 300 pound bomb hung up on the bomb shackles. The gunner removed the fuze after I closed the bomb bay doors. While descending through rough air, the bomb broke loose and rolled around on the bomb bay doors. Before landing, the tower told me not to open the bomb bay doors. I asked Fred Stemmler, my crew chief, at one of the reunions how he got ride of the bomb, ordnance told him to "open the bomb bay doors."



We transferred fuel before reaching the target to tanks low on fuel to minimize chances of an explosion in case of a flak hit. A pilot who had completed a B-17 tour, said that he was out of fuel while returning from a mission. I had fuel for four or more hours at that time. He and his gunner died. Fuel guages are used by the pilot to determine when to stop transferring fuel.



Before advancing, the army bombed the enemy from the ground. Late in the war one of our missions was to do that type of bombing. While I was flying missions a Martin B-26 Group lost 16 out of 36 aircraft to bandits, enemy fighters, on such a mission. Obviously they didn't have fighter coverage before crossing the bomb line. We rendezvous with fighters before crossing the bomb line. We were in France you know.



I went out one night to the two holer (latrine). It was cold, there was snow on the ground. The man pn the other hole said that he was a bush pilot in Alaska and that his wife agreed to go to Alaska with him if he would pre-heat the seat. So he did.



After a mission I was debriefed and went to my tent to rest. On two occasions I flew a second mission, when one is 23 years old the adrealine flows and you are ready the second briefing.



One afternoon we had a late, long mission. After the drop we reduced our manifold pressure and engine RPM to conserve fuel. It was dark when we arrived back our base. All 36 of us were low on fuel. One pilot received permission to land first. That pilot then called his flight leader to thank him. Another pilot said "Don't thank him, thank God!" Amen!



On another mission ilt was very cold and foggy. The tower repeated eight seconds between take offs. my thought were that I'm the pilot and need more time. While waiting for takeoff I felt my flak suit pressed against my chest. While accelerating during takeoff I had to use my directional gyro because I couldn't see the sides of the one airplane wide runway. During that takeoff there was a strange noise which I later thought was ice from the propellers. The fog was about 200 feet thick. The mission was uneventful after takeoff. It was one of the few mission that we later discussed. Two airplanes exploded on takeoff and eleven were killed. The Commanding Officer, Ted Aylsworth, later explained that Air Corp Headquarters would not believe that visibility was that bad. I later learned that some pilots refused to take off under those conditions. The other pilots and I decided not to sweat out missions, we had a philosophy that when your number was up, that was it! On my 35th mission I was to fly in the number two slot. A tractor caused me to get stuck off of the taxi strip. When I finally got off of the ground, the Group had completed their 360 degree turn and were heading for the target. One flight had only five airplanes so I joined it. I flew in the number 5 slot, just below the number 2 position where I was scheduled to fly. Over the target the airplane in the number 2 slot took a flak hit. Pieces of that airplane hit me. I later thought "that was supposed to be me." I guess it wasn't to be, but I did sweat out my next missions more then usual. I would sometimes sit in the cockpit for over five hours and never had to urinate. A friend told me that adrenal was the reason you emptied your bladder before the mission. As I recall, the urinals were always busy before missions. Before a mission the crew chief pulled the wheel chocks, saluted so the pilot could taxi out. One one mission my crew chief, Fred Stemmler, waived me off after saluting. Then he climbed up and tapped me on the flak helmet several times. Fred told me later that he had never lost an airplane when he did that.