The Kassel Raid, 27 September 1944 by Eric Ratcliffe

Author:Eric Ratcliffe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / World War II
Publisher: Air World
Published: 2021-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Out on the port edge of the squadron, 2nd Lt William Golden’s Ole Baldy was hit by multiple Fw190s, which took out an engine and the tail turret and put a huge hole in the starboard wing. William rang the bail-out bell. In the fuselage, waist gunners Sgts Edward Feltus and Robert Bagley dragged a dazed tail gunner from his shattered turret and pushed the dazed rear gunner out of the back hatch as they received the signal to bail out from the radio operator Sgt Jack Erickson. Erickson was frantically hand-cranking the bomb bay doors but had only managing to get them partially open before top-turret gunner T/Sgt Earl Romine closely followed by co-pilot Lt Christie dived though the narrow opening into the freezing air. Second Lts navigator Edmund Boomhower and bombardier Theo Boecher went out through the nose-wheel doors leaving William Golden at the controls as seven remaining members of the crew managed to jump. It’s not known if the tail-gunner Sgt Norman Stewart was unable to operate his parachute because he was incapacitated or it failed, but his body along with the unopened chute was found and buried by a local farmer. He and William Golden paid the ultimate price.

By 10:07 that morning the attacks had largely eased, mainly because the Germans had run short of fuel and ammunition. P51 Mustangs from the 361 Fighter Group had heard the frantic calls for help and arrived to chase off the remaining fighters. A flight of four P38 Lightning fighters also turned up and several dogfights started as they took on the remaining German fighters. S/Sgt Jack Laswell, waist-gunner in Lt Smith’s crew, saw four P51s dive into about twenty-five Fw190s who were at a serious disadvantage because of their weight from the armour. They had uprated BMW 801 engines but that meant an accompanying heavy fuel consumption and lack of manoeuvrability. But it was too late to save the group. Lt Leo Lamb, flying a Mustang in the 376 Fighter Squadron, call-sign Titus Blue 2, was rammed by an Fw190, was unable to bail out and crashed near Siebleben, adding to the growing list of dead airmen. The toll now stood at more than 100, with more to join them over the next few hours.

In the space of six or eight minutes, the 445th had lost twenty-five Liberators – twenty-three shot down or blown up – leaving wreckage strewn across western Germany near the little villages of Richelsdorf, Willems, Herleshausen and Schiffenberg. Another two American bombers were about to crash-land south of Koblenz, and the remaining B-24s, some badly damaged and with wounded on board, headed west, trying to make for friendly territory.

The German Sturmgruppen retired as well, running low on fuel and ammunition and trying to avoid the pursuing P51 and P38s. They headed back to their bases, having lost 29 fighters with 18 pilots killed and 8 wounded from the return fire of the desperate defending gunners of the 445th and the belated fighter escort.

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