Memorial Day - War Story

[muff528 3]

I may have posted some version of this before. Not sure if it was here or another forum.

Loyd and Marion were not strangers to the realities of aerial combat. But, far from being old battle-hardened warriors, Loyd was just 17 and Marion only a couple of years older. As crewmates aboard "Panting Stork II", a B-17 assigned to the 452nd Bomb Group, they had become close friends. In January, a few months earlier, their B-17 had been shot down and had made a forced belly-landing near Buchy, France during a raid on Frankfurt. There they met Renee, a young lady with the "French Underground". As "evadees" she aided them in their escape to Allied lines and they ultimately were
returned to their base in England. But that was not to be the end of her help...

Now it was early morning April 7, 1945 and the war in Europe was entering it's final month. Their squadron, the 730th, began the day much like any other Saturday as they prepared for their mission. After breakfast of what we now call "Spam" and something they referred to as "eggs", they were briefed and began preparing to board their assigned ships for the raid. Their target that day was to be an airfield near Kaltenkirchen in the vicinity of Hamburg and the Elbe River. Their original crew had been dissolved and the two friends had been separated and assigned to different crews. (I am not sure why their crew had been separated but my best guess is that at this late date in the war it was more efficient to use them as replacements for other existing crews that needed them). When my dad's crew arrived at their assigned base in February 1945 their navigator had elected to go to H2X radar "mickey" school and they needed a replacement. After shuffling a couple of the positions around within the crew, Loyd was assigned to my father's crew as "togglier". Dad's crew was assigned that day to what had become their regular ship, "Up 'n' At'm", a B-17 formerly known as "Silver Shed House". (Dad said that he'd never heard of any bombers named "Shed House" and that the names had probably been "cleaned up" by the censors when they were referred to in reports, etc.) Marion's crew was to fly "Snake Eyes" today. The two friends had gotten into the ritual of seeking each other out before each mission and exchanging the words, "See you at tea time" ...a sort of superstitious rite. But this day they somehow missed each other earlier and now the aircrews were mostly boarded and props were turning. As my father (flight engineer) went through his checklist he heard a loud banging on the waist door. When he went to check it out he saw that it was Marion. Marion asked Dad to tell Loyd "See you at tea time". Dad closed the door and the day was on.

The slow, tedious task of "forming up" (into their assigned slots within the "combat box" formation) and joining other Groups to form the bomber stream was mostly uneventful. Loyd and Marion had always tried to keep up with each other's position and "Snake Eyes" happened to be in its slot a bit ahead and above the position of "Up 'n' At'm". Dad had a pretty good view from the top turret. The bomber stream had progressed to well inside enemy lines and as far as Steinhuder Lake to the south of Hamburg before they began to see Me109 fighters "swarming" through their formation randomly from all clock positions. Me262 jets and experienced Me109 fighters were above the formation keeping the escort fighters busy. There seemed to be no coordination to these swarming attacks. In earlier encounters the fighters were much more deliberate and the attacks followed a disciplined tactic. These random actions of the fighters today was completely different and created an overall air of confusion. A pair of 109's came in from 6 o'clock just as Dad was rotating the turret to the rear. He said he tried to follow one fighter but the turret lagged just behind as he was firing. That Me109 crossed their path and rammed another B-17 in the waist. That bomber buckled and broke into two pieces as it fell. (After debriefing the bomber crewmen when they got back they would assign "kills" to the gunner whom they thought had the best chance at it since each 109 was probably being shot at by dozens of guns at once. They assigned this one to Dad, his only "kill" during the war. It wasn't until many years later that we all learned that this wasn't a kill at all. The rammings were intentional and many of the German pilots, including this one, lived through their attacks.) Almost immediately after that ramming attack Dad remembers a fighter diving from behind and pulling up into the nose of "Snake Eyes" destroying both aircraft. Dad described seeing the wing of that Me109 fluttering down over his turret like a leaf in the wind as they passed through the falling debris of both planes. He said he remembered the image of that wing and its black "cross" marking as it fell as plainly as the day it happened. Sadly, all crewmen of "Snake Eyes", including Marion, were KIA. Incredibly, that Luftwaffe pilot also survived. Several bombardment groups within the stream were attacked by the ramming fighters but the 452nd sustained the greatest losses. The 452nd BG received the Distinguished Unit Citation (now Presidential Unit Citation) for that action.

Sometime after the war, according to his family, Marion's body was returned to the USA. Renee had located his body in Belgium and with her help Marion finally made it home.

If interested, some search terms for more info on this desperate Luftwaffe tactic: Rammkommando Elbe, Rammjaeger, Sonderkommando Elbe. Mostly flown by inexperienced pilots with stripped down aircraft, they were told to clip the flight surfaces of the bombers and, if necessary, bail out. Probably not as easy as it sounded.

Interesting page from Marion's diary from the day before:

(mission #) "24. Apr. 6th. GERA. Flew with Owens in Snake Eyes. Objective - Rails. Opposition - None! Comments -

Bombed from 15,000 - Good bombing results - long haul - bad landing"

[LongWayToFall 0]

Cool Story. Thanks!

[muff528 3]

Thanks! I've been collecting details of this story (and others) for a few years. I'd heard my father tell the story of the B-17 ramming and his "kill" for years. Then I started doing some research and I and my dad were stunned by the amount of interest and information that could be had. The real breakthrough was when I was contacted by Marion's relative who had his effects, especially his diary. Marion's relative had been communicating with a couple of the German participants and he put me in contact with them. They are working with a group of very serious WW2 researchers and they wanted to get my dad's input and experiences. In turn Dad could provide Marion's family with some details of his friendship with Marion and Loyd. Dad was intensely interested in the research progress. He even agreed to participate in a PBS special about local WW2 vets before his death in 2008. I am hoping to locate any relatives of Loyd and clear up a couple of questions. Actually, I am doubting his age as remembered by Dad and also the spelling of his name.

I would encourage anyone to interview their relative about their war experiences ...especially WW2 vets and Korean War vets. Time is not on your side. Get it down on paper. Better yet ...tape! No detail is too small or insignificant to record. A small detail may not mean much at the time but it will to someone. Marion's family did not know about the "See you at tea time" ritual until they heard from Dad.

[muff528 3]

Bump ....on the 70th Anniversary of this event.