Inferno--The True Story of a B-17 Gunner's Heroism and the Bloodiest Military Campaign in Aviation History by Joe Pappalardo

Author:Joe Pappalardo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

CHAPTER 9

CHECK’S 25TH

June 26, 1943. Raymond Check is at the controls of Chennault’s Pappy. It’s not a tough target, as far as it goes, and he’s with an old friend. Lieutenant Colonel James Wilson, a former squadron leader volunteering to be with Check today, is his co-pilot. He’ll be ready for tonight’s party celebrating the final mission and stick around for Check’s wedding to the American nurse, planned the next day.

Today’s mission is comparatively simple: about two hundred bombers take to the air and strike a handful of German air bases in France. The bulk heads to an air depot near Villacoublay, but thirty-nine are tasked with striking the German air base at Tricqueville. The 306th supplies twenty-one B-17s for the attack. There’s a new group commander in the sky, Lack Robinson, who is replacing Putnam. The trip is short, enough so that a dozen Spitfires will be joining the 306th in France as escorts. So everything is set up to go smoothly.

But Tricqueville is now the home of JG 2. It’s the end of an era for the Jagdgeschwader “Richthofen” as their commander, Walter “Gulle” Oesau, is promoted to Jagdfliegerführer Bretagne, the flight leader for Brittany. On July 1, 1943, he’ll hand the reigns of JG 2 to Egon Mayer. That’s still weeks away: today his men are busy defending against the raids on their own airfields.

The Allied raid on Tricqueville seems uneventful. The flak is negligible and even the few shells at their altitude are well behind the formation. The bomb run begins but the sun is bathing the front of the airplane and making the bombardier’s job even harder. The bright light is also masking a larger threat—a dozen Fw 190s from JG 2 ready to attack.

They strike during the final seconds of the bomb run, after the flare’s been fired and the bomb bay doors open. They come in pairs, making frontal strikes on the lead bombers in the squadrons. That includes Chennault’s Pappy. One of the fighters dives, unloads on the nose of the bomber, and peels away. A 20mm shell punches through the windscreen and explodes, tearing into Check’s neck. Another shell sparks a fire that sweeps over Wilson’s hands and melts his oxygen mask.

The Spitfires react, chasing after the fighters, but the damage is done. Wilson’s wounds make it impossible to fly the bomber; he’s steering with his elbows. There’s more pandemonium as another fighter attack detonates a box of flares behind the pilot’s seat. The fighters withdraw as the escorts engage them.

Things would have been even more tragic if Lieutenant William Cassedy wasn’t onboard. He’s Check’s normal co-pilot and refuses to sit out the captain’s last mission, instead serving as a waist gunner. He dashes to the ruined cockpit, replaces Wilson, and takes control. The rest of the crew put out the fires and the plane continues west. Cassedy, seated next to the corpse of his friend, guides the plane home to England. Check is the only man killed onboard a bomber that day, but five B-17s are downed over the various airfields, leaving fifty men MIA.

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