Bombing and the Fear Within Us

The flak started 30 minutes before the target. And that was always the worst part. But flying now the Ruhr was one of the( inaudible ) I'd like to put because see, we did 23 trips to the Ruhr. And the Ruhr was 26 cities within 60 miles, so it wasn't one city, it was a huge valley. And it was, oh, they called it Happy Valley which was exactly the opposite to what it was. But when you went down through there, you were there for several minutes. To fly, you were going to be in there for 15 minutes at least, then over the target. So, what I would try to do was just, each pilot had different tactics, some would weave and that. I always figured the straight line through, was the quickest way to get in and get out. And if you saw search lights would cone a fighter, or bomber and then they'd all zero in on it. And than I would fly as close to that as I could, figuring that there not, there weren't going to be anymore search lights. Others might fly away from it, I'd fly close to that cone. And another tactic I‘d use, is I would always come in about a 1,000 foot higher than I was suppose too, but at the right moment I would dive off that 1,000 feet. So, I was going through the target for the bomber to get the right height and that.
But you see, you'd be given a certain height the bomb had and a certain speed. And than your bomb site would compensate for that. So if you didn't fly at that speed or that height, you were giving him a break So, I would concentrate and listen to and do what Gordie told me, it would be "Left, left, right, right, steady, steady, steady. Bomb's gone, let's get the hell out of here." And he never..32 trips( Inaudible ) that was his words after it was, "Bomb doors closed, let's get the hell of out here!"
But you gained a little speed and you came out the other end. So, those were little tactics that I had. Others would had different ones. But no, you mentioned, there was a lot of fear. You, you couldn't help but have fear. And I remember being scared so many times. I guess, 32 times, I think I was scared, and but then when you got out into the darkness, then you relaxed which you shouldn't do because that's where the fighters were waiting for you.
I had to be calm. And many times, I had shut my mic off, so they, because I wouldn't make it. But basically, the pilot, they depended on him. And you depended on them. And at no time did I ever hear anybody cracking up. Like my own crew, they were good, I know there was cases where boys broke down. I can't blame them. But in our case, they did their job and they did it like men, as I said. And they were sure they were scared. And I remember my mid-upper gunner told me after the war, he said, one time I was over a place called Dusseldorf and he said, "I don't care what they do, If we get back from this, if they shoot me if they want. I will not fly again." But the next night, he was out there again, ready to go. And so, there was fear and lots of it.