February 10, 2007

Howdy, Jim...

For awhile now I've been writin' to you about aviation heroes like Alan Shepard, Neil Armstrong, Butch Voris - famous guys from dramatic, historic times. Well, it occurs to me I've known lots of other heroes during my lifetime: some pilots, some policemen, firemen, even a few fellow Infantry dogfaces from Korean combat half a century ago. Of course, few of them ever became famous, but they're no less heroic than the people I usually write about, folks whose achievements propelled them into public view. I figger there are thousands of heroes out there...some, real close to home.

Take my Uncle Richie, for instance, a retired postmaster from New Jersey. Tall, good-lookin' guy even now in his 80s. Always sorta reminded me of John Wayne. Richie was a pilot before World War II, ended up flyin' as navigator aboard a B-17 named "Liberty Belle" during the war. His very first bombing mission in December '43 was a nightmarish journey across the English Channel to Emden, Germany. Liberty Belle was in the shop so they flew a spare. As they reached the target, the Flying Fortress right in front of Richie's took a direct hit as it dropped its 500-lb bombs. In a flash, Richie's revered squadron commander and his entire crew were erased from the face of the earth; a helluva first mission for 2nd Lt. Richard L. Watson, just a day after his 24th birthday.

Richie's crew trained as a team back in the States before heading overseas - not in a B-17 but in RMS Queen Elizabeth, then a troop ship garbed in wartime colors. In England, they joined the 570th Squadron, 390th Bomb Group (Heavy), 8th U. S. Air Force at Framingham. The 390th proudly wore the "Square J" insignia on the tails of its B-17s and flew from a farmer's pasture that was pressed into service as Station 153, an American bomber base.

Happily, all ten of Liberty Belle's crew survived the war. But today only Richie and Andrew Anzonas, the flight engineer, are still living. Andy was the fellow who kept Liberty Belle flyin' through those flak-infested skies over Europe. No mean feat, given that Belle, in Andy's words, was a lemon. Her engines squirted oil out the cylinders, props had to be feathered, turrets froze up, guns jammed; Belle had more than her share of maladies, which often meant falling out of formation and straggling home alone through enemy skies. This happened for fully a third of the missions Richie flew, leaving Belle to be prime meat for roving ME-109s and FW-190s. But somehow the crew always got her home, usually full of holes with an engine or two dead.

Whenever they lost formation Andy had to leave his top gun turret and feverishly manipulate their mangled engines to keep Belle afloat. Five gut-wrenching times, Richie had to navigate home without a formation to follow while Belle's gunners stared grimly toward infinity, seeking those tell-tale glints on the horizon that signaled enemy fighters.

For awhile, Liberty Belle was the 390th's only 'G' model B-17 - a chin gun turret under its plexiglas nose. Andy was sure that turret was a field modification, that Belle was really an older 'F' model. How else could you explain all those break-downs stranding them over enemy soil? But despite her frustrating mechanical problems, the Liberty Belle enjoyed a strong love-hate relationship with her crew. What the hell, didn't that balky Boeing always get them home safe and sound?

Every cross-channel mission was hairy, and the Belle took more than her share of combat damage. On one mission a hot, jagged piece of flak tore through the fuselage, bare inches from decapitating Uncle Richie. On top of that, having the only 'G' model in the formation became a drag - literally. Belle needed higher power settings to stay aloft with that big chin jutting into the slipstream. More power, more fuel; they'd often land at Station 153 on fumes.

On Richie's 15th and final run -- Brunswick, Germany -- 21 planes of the 390th formed a wing with the 95th (Square-B) and the 100th (Square- D) Bomb Groups. German fighters tore viciously into the wing, as usual, paying special attention to the 100th. For whatever reason, German fighters singled out the 100th BG's B-17s, tearing into their ranks and ripping their formations to shreds...bombers fell in flames as scores of parachutes blossomed over Europe. They weren't called "The Hard Luck 100th" for nuthin'. The 390th paid a high price just for flying close to the 100th. Between fighters and flak, Belle took a horrible beating, especially this day - February 10, 1944.

A red-hot chunk of flak shattered the plexiglas nose of Liberty Belle, somehow missing Bob Smith, the bombardier. More shrapnel tore through the fuselage, ripping oxygen lines and taking out half the plane's electrical power. The crew's electrically heated suits failed, and at those altitudes in the dead of winter temperatures inside Belle plummeted to a bone-numbing 72 degrees below zero.

Ball turret gunner Charles Clute turned purple suspended in his tiny cage from the belly of Liberty Belle. The crew thought he was dead. All Belle's guns froze except Andy's top turret and Richie's single .50. But even as the wounded Liberty Belle staggered through the air, Andy fired off a long burst at a 109; the crew saw pieces rip off the enemy fighter as it gave off smoke, but the guys were too busy tryin' to stay alive to watch it go down.

With so much battle damage and that chin turret draggin', the Belle's engines were fairly howling to keep her in loose formation. The channel was an extra welcome sight that day with fuel gauges touching 'E.' As Belle flew down final into Framingham an engine quit, another gave out on the runway, and before they could taxi to their hardstand the last two shut down. Clute, waist gunner Harry Altham and Richie were rushed to the hospital with frostbite. Clute and Altham sat out a couple of missions, but Richie had flown his last - his feet were so severely frostbitten he was sent stateside.

Standing, left to right: Albert Bell, Pilot; Richard Watson, Navigator; Robert Smith, Bombardier; Jalmer Dahl, Co-Pilot.
Kneeling: William Burns, Radio: Andy Anzonas, Flight engineer; Herbert Pease, Tail Gunner; Harry Altham, Waist Gun; Robert Baker, Waist Gun; Charles Clute, Ball Gunner.

Liberty Belle's crew remained intact after Richie left, and they all got a much-needed respite two weeks after that bloody Brunswick mission. While those happy fellows frolicked in London, another crew took a patched up Liberty Belle back to Germany on her 19th combat mission. She was last seen ablaze over Regensburg. Four of that 10-man replacement crew survived as kriegies - POWs in a stalag luft camp for allied airmen.

Just a month later, P-51 and P-47 fighters with belly tanks could escort bombers all the way to Berlin and other distant targets, greatly increasing the bomber crews' odds for survival. By mid-1944 the 8th Air Force reached peak strength - 200,000 people - and could send streams of 2,000 bombers and 1,000 fighters deep into Europe.

But those early bomber crews had paid a helluva price. By war's end the 8th Air Force suffered 47,000 casualties - more than all other U. S. Air Forces combined. Their casualties were so high that when Uncle Richie flew his 15th and final mission the odds were that a B-17 crew might survive 11 missions. Belle, Andy's durable lemon, had beaten the odds.

Today, Richie is retired in San Diego, CA with my Aunt Isabel whom he married at war's end. Andy Anzanos is a volunteer docent and Director of Operations for the 390th Memorial Museum, part of the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, AZ. Uncle Richie, Andy and other brave men of the 390th who survived hellacious air combat over Europe gather in Tucson every year to sit in the shadow of a beautifully restored B-17.

They visit the past, share the best and worst of wartime memories, and quietly salute their fellow crewmen Gone West.

-bb-

Addendum:

"Liberty Belle" was a play on words honoring Albert Bell, the original Belle's pilot. Another 390th B-17 was named Liberty Belle later in 1944 and flew until February, 1945 when it was damaged beyond repair.

A third Liberty Belle is flying today. The Liberty Foundation in Tulsa, OK has restored a B-17. On its tail is the famous Square-J of the 390th BG. It flies all over the U. S. In fact, the public can reserve flights in this rebuilt Fortress by calling 918-340-0243. The Foundation's goal is one day to take its Liberty Belle to Station 153, Framingham, England, and fly again its wartime bombing routes. For more information: www.libertyfoundation.org.

There's more to learn about the 390th Bomb Group at www.390th.org, and you can revisit the air war in Europe at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum at Pooler, GA, near Savannah, www.mightyeighth.org, or you can visit Flight Engineer Andy Anzanos' website at: www.andyanzanos.com

Next time..

Bob Button.
2/14/2007

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