In Hostile Skies: An American B-24 Pilot in World War II (North Texas Military Biography and Memoir Series) by James M. Davis

Author:James M. Davis [Davis, James M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
Published: 2006-03-14T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 6

Our Early Missions

It was about 4:45 P.M. when Frank and Mackey returned to the hut and told me that we were on the alert list for tomorrow’s mission. I thought they were joking, but they were not. I put on my clothes and went over to the bulletin board to see for myself, and sure enough my name was there. I continued to have the feeling that we were just a number.

My spirits were as low as they could get. It had now been six weeks since I kissed Jean and said goodbye. I had been on the move ever since and, as a result, had not received any mail. Not having any letters from Jean or any of my family was very discouraging. Later that day I attended mail call, hoping that maybe I would get at least one letter, but no such luck. I returned to our hut and my crew gathered and we talked about the next day’s mission. We all tried to joke and see the lighter side, but there was not much to laugh about—at least for me. I still had fresh memories of the mission I flew earlier that day and how lucky I was to survive. I could not concentrate too much on tomorrow’s mission for thinking of the one I just finished. Because the mission would be the first for my crew, they were excited.

I was busy thinking of what happened this morning and what might happen tomorrow. I would be responsible for all the details from the briefing, going through preflight, starting the engines, taxiing out, taking off, and finding our place in the formation. All of this had to be done in precise sequence and timing. I was unsure whether I could keep all of the information in my head. I was also concerned that I would have to fly the entire mission, because we had not had the time or opportunity to teach Ed formation flying. I had thought about discussing this problem with my squadron commander but hesitated because he probably would have taken Ed from my crew and given me someone else. Ed was such a fine person and a good pilot that I did not want to lose him; so, I decided to keep my mouth shut. It was tough enough to learn in the training program, but to learn it while flying combat was even more difficult. In fact, he had not even had the opportunity to learn to take off or land the plane. I was aware of that, but I always felt if something happened to me he could get it safely on the ground.

Not having slept last night, the events of the previous mission should have been enough to make me sleep. However, after I learned that we were scheduled to fly tomorrow, I forgot all about being exhausted and had difficulty sleeping. About two o’clock the next morning I heard the sound of trucks being started, and I knew it would not be long until I would get my wake-up call.

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