8th Air Force Navigator

[PatM]

A neighbor of mine was a navigator in B-17s and B-24s in Europe. I am going to sit down with him this week to ask him about his experiences. Aside from his training, units, and stories that he can remember, is there anything in particular that you guys would ask?

[Tom Crawford]

I'd be curious o know if he got his navigational training at Selman Field,
Monroe, Louisiana...Tom

[RyanShort1]

When I talk to veterans I try to ask them about their training, pre-war background, why they joined up and what the atmosphere was like in their community in the early war years, and I try to always ask them what their most memorable experience from the war was, and what they did post-war.

I had the opportunity to interview about 8 veterans today that were out to see the Collins Bomber tour. One of the veterans started out joining the USAAF voluntarily, became a B-17 pilot rose to the rank of squadron leader, flew for a 2-star general post-war, flew Churchill around (for a week or so?) and flew B-52s in Vietnam. A MOST interesting story.
A lot of the guys were pretty emotional seeing the old planes and remembering stories. Just always remember to be patient with them. Sometimes they just can't tell the story, even today. I got one guy telling me a story, and halfway through, he started crying and was unable to go on because of (as his wife told me) some buddies of his that had died on the mission. I was most distressed as the story sounded pretty interesting, and I'll probably never know the rest of it.

Hope your interview goes well.

Ryan

[PatM]

I sat with my neighbor, George Baird, for about an hour-and-a-half today. He was a lead navigator in the 493rd Bombardment Group, 860th Squadron.
His first missions were flying B-25s out of Hyannis, MA on sub patrol (they never saw one). They then transitioned to B-24s and flew to a new air base at Ipswich England. Because the rest of the group was flying B-17s, they flew smaller missions against targets such as buzz-bomb sites. His first mission in Europe was on D-day. They received B-17s later. He preferred the B-24 because it was about 10 kts. faster.
The worst missions he could remember were against heavily defended oil refineries at Merseburg. Something that I thought was interesting was that they ALWAYS flew at 27000 feet. Flak was often confused by chaf that they dropped, but not often enough. No one in his crew was ever injured, but the aircraft often returned full of holes. A few times they returned on three engines, and once on only two! After one mission, a fellow navigator showed him a chunk of shrapnel in one hand, and the heel of his boot in the other.
They always had Mustangs as escorts, and the only enemy fighters that he could remember were Me-262s. He was lucky in that they attacked the groups in front or behind his own.
Funny stories? His co-pilot was fond of urinating in a condom, letting it freeze at altitude, and dropping it with the bomb load. That obviously brought them good luck.
His B-17 was named the "Bonnie B" after the pilot's daughter. The pilot's name was Brock (or Bruck), and he died shortly after the war in a crash involving a B-25 on a ferry flight.
George showed me a great photo of his crew in front of their B-24, but I was afraid to ask if I could borrow it to scan. Maybe later.
Today's conversation was time well spent. He was as enthusiastic about my interest in his exploits, as I was in the exploits themselves. I am hoping that I can get him to come over to Republic Airport with me when Yankee Lady is there on Memorial Day, or when the Collings Foundation is there at the end of the summer.