THREE SECONDS TO FIGHTPage Three
|
� � The Fortresses were there at the start, but they soon disappeared while we battled. It was one of the toughest fights I have ever been in. � � We lost two men, the fellow who went down eating the chocolate bar and Bill Lovell, who was reporteed missing in action. Bill shot down one Jerry. That fight explains why you read in the communiques, "All our bombers returned safely." � � A strange thing happened one day when I was over the Mediterranean twenty miles north of Phillipville with two other Lightnings, one piloted by Major Hubbard, another by a lad named Umphrey. "Umph" was a funny kid who liked to smoke a cigar when flying. He could do this on low-level missions because we didn't use oxygen until above 10,000 feet. On this morning we were waiting around for the fog to clear, so we could palnt some bombs and strafe a railroad yard. � � We spotted a huge, three-engined Italian bomber, a Cant Z. 1007. He was black with a white stripe around his belly. He had already seen us and was burning his three engines to get away. Hubbard made a pass at him. I thought: " I'll hold off and let the Major finish him." � � About the same time, the Major said afterward, he thought he'd let us finish the Eyrtie. � � This Alphonse-and- Gaston stuff almost let the Italian get away. But Umph came in shooting. I parked right behind the Eyrtie, just in case. After Umphrey finished, I got in a bust. The nose of the Eyrtie raised, then he rolled over and dived straight down. At 500 feet, he burst into flames. When he hit the water, it seemed as though there wasn't a piece big enough to pick up. � � The Eyrtie had a lot of firepower and he did some good shooting before we got him. My plane was shot up. After I checked myself over and didn't find any holes in my skin, I looked around for my companions. I saw Umphrey's Yippee below me and could see that he had a leak. I tried tocall him and warn him but I got no reply. He kept on going down, as though he intended to buzz the debris on the water. |
|
� � At 1,000 feet, his plane flattened out and I thought he would bail out. Instead, it nosed down again. The plane landed smoothly on the water and scooted along like a motorboat. I followed it until it sank. Umph never did try to get out. I guess the plane must have been flying itself and perhaps Umph was sitting there with a cigar in his mouth -- dead. He too was reported missing in action. � � After four months of constant flying in all kinds ofmissions from 50 to 30,000 feet, as one of my citations put it, I was told to go to Casabalnca and teach the pilots of new Lightning squadrons what my outfit had learnd the hard way. In 49 missions I had never been scratched -- the old Roberts luck held out. Then I was instructed to come home and teach the new pilots on this side what they can do with P-38s. � � What I did tell them is this: The only limit to what you can do with the Lightning is the endurance of the pilot himself. The armchair strategists think that if you fly three hours escorting bombers, fight three minutes, then fly back home for three hours that is an easy day's work. I'd like to get some of them strapped in a P-38 at 35,000 feet on oxygen and see how fresh they would be when they got back. � � My money's on the P-38. When we hit Africa, the Jerries had control of the air. We took it away from them because we were better trained and had a better plane. � � Considering what we were able to do with only a handful of them, my bet is that when we can put 2,000 of these fighters over Europe at one time, the air over Adolf's fortress will be ours. |
RETURN TO THE BIO � � � RETURN TO THE 1ST.FG
Unless otherwise noted, all content � copyright The Art of Syd Edwards 1998-1999. All rights reserved and reproduction is prohibited.
