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Today I got the MACR (accident report) of the crash that caused my Dad to bailout. It is interesting reading and gives a surprisingly comprehensive account of what happen when. The mortality rate among the Jolly Rogers was staggering, 100 planes and 820 crewmen between 1943 and 1945. You know this is dangerous work when two Photo-Recon photographers in the South Pacific received the Medal of Honor. This incident happened a little more than 5 months before he shipped home. I wonder if he was waiting for it.
This will give you an idea where everyone in the crew was stationed, they went out the bomb bay and the camera hatch.
The distance between Nadzab New Guinea and Muong Man Vietnam is 2930 nautical miles one way. The B-24 has a maximum range of 3000 miles and a service range of 2850 miles so the bombing run was done in two legs. First with the 1500 mi, 6 hour trip from Nadzab to McGuire Field, San Jose, Mindoro. Then from McGuire to the rail yards at Muong Man another 850 miles as the crow flies. Since the raid was scheduled for the 28th they likely flew in to McGuire on the 27th. Their Liberator would have been checked out. Fuel topped off and bombs loaded ready for them to take off in the morning. They were about 3-4 hours from the targeted rail yards, I don’t know how long it took them to bomb and head home but they ditched just before 6 pm. My guess is the yards were bombed early afternoon and they stayed for about an hour or less hitting their targets finishing up about 3pm.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, FEAF (FEAF)]: B-24s pound the railroad yards and rolling stock at Muong Man and Phan Rang, French Indochina. On Formosa, B-25s and fighter-bombers attack targets at Koshun, Shinei, Tairin, Ensui, Kohyo, and Kobi and attack numerous targets of opportunity at many other locations. On Luzon island, B-24s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit Cagayan Valley targets while other fighter-bombers support ground forces in the Balete Pass, Baguio, and Ipo Dam sectors. In Borneo, B-24s, B-25s and fighter-bombers attack Tawau, Kudat, Langkon, and Sandakan, and hit targets on Tarakan Island.
Their orders came down from 5th Air Force HQ, through Division and Wing HQs to the Bomber Group and crews the night before on the 26th. The Bomber Group was busy. Everyone had a job at HQ from planning the actual route taken, to rechecking intelligence and maps. The Group Bombardier's office assessed target conditions and used wind, a/c speeds, drift and heading data to compute bombsight settings for the attack altitude. This was all done again at McGuire.
A schedule was established so the Group would be ready on time. Working backward, planners needed to allow at least an hour from the first take off for formation assembly (longer if the weather was poor); 10-15 minutes for marshalling and taxiing; 10-15 minutes for starting engines; 10 minutes for crews to board a/c; an hour before engine start for crews to inspect their a/c; an hour for main briefings; an hour for breakfast; and 30 minutes for crews to be awakened. Reveille for combat crews was therefore about five hours before take off time.
There were four other planes accompanying 44-40721on the 28th. But there was still much to do before they took off. As soon as the Bomb load was determined Ordinance assembled the necessary bombs from the bomb dump and moved them on carts to the specified aircraft.
50 caliber bullets were loaded at various places within the plane for the gunners to distribute as necessary and the machine guns which were removed for cleaning after every mission were also returned.
About 3 hours before take off the ground crews would check out the designated planes. They started by manually turning the propellers to move oil into the engine and gasoline out. The crew chief climbed in the cockpit and began the checklist for starting the engines. Number one engine was always started first because it ran the plane’s electrical generators. The planes were then fueled up and the oxygen tanks located inside the plane were filled.
According to photo lab technician Harvey DeVoe, two to three lab personnel installed a camera in the floor hatch (between the waist area and the tail) of designated B-24s. They then attached trip wires to a bomb or bomb shackle. When activated, the camera took photos automatically at pre-set intervals until it ran out of film. The developed photos were used to analyze bomb strikes at the target and thus, mission effectiveness. An electric blanket covered the film section and camera mechanism to keep the camera from freezing up at altitude.
The air crews were awakened about 3am, showered and shaved, ate breakfast and were briefed again on the mission. After breakfast there were always chaplains or priests available for those wanting Communion and Conditional Absolution. Then everyone was briefed, going over the mission map again, their route marked in colors.
Crews were told the location and importance of the primary and any secondary targets, camouflage in use, the route, check points, mission procedures, enemy defenses (both flak and fighters), and forecasted weather conditions. The briefing ended with a "time hack" to synchronize watches.
This information was largely based on the work of Photo-recon and Mapping. Navigators, bombardiers and gunners had their own specific briefings. They would mark every important part of the route from enemy fighters to where they would release “chaff” the shredded aluminum pieces meant to jam radar.
After the briefings the crew would get dressed in their flight suits gather up things like Flak jackets and escape kits they might need. The B-24 was not heated or pressurized.
The air inside the plane was the same temperature as that outside. This required human adaptation to a harsh environment-frequently down to -40o C or lower. So, heavy underwear, heavy socks, regular uniform shirt and pants, heavy electric jacket and electric pants (a sturdy suit with copper heating wire running throughout), electric gloves, heavy shoes that fit inside sheepskin boots, a wool scarf and, of course, a parachute. As I recall, we would often have a chest pack 'chute as a back-up. "When aloft, add an oxygen mask, a flying helmet, goggles, and a flak jacket when needed. Finally (!) a steel GI helmet fitted on top of the flying helmet.
When all this was done they were taken by truck to their planes. The waist gunners would install their 50 caliber guns and the ground crew would handle the turrets. The crew chiefs and pilots did the final ground check. All the other equipment like Flak jackets and life vests was put at the respective crewman’s station. The crew then took their places for take off.
The pilots started engines again. By this time, the Group Operations Officer was at the control tower. He would supervise the take off and handle any problems. Flying Control fired a green flare as the sign to start taxiing. Each pilot knew his assigned place in the queue; the general order was lead, then high and low squadrons in the formation. In turn, each pilot signaled the ground crew to pull away the wheel chocks and then moved his ship onto the taxiway. Eventually, the Group and section lead planes stopped at the head of the runway, with a bomber's length between each plane lined up behind them. Depending on the number of planes, the entire taxiway could be filled. The noise of over 100 open-exhaust engines running and the frequent squeal of brakes was deafening. Each bomber used about 60 gallons of fuel during this period.
As one plane took off the next would move into position. They would fly in a straight line for several minutes then headed for the predetermined assembly area. Once the group was together, they headed for the target. At cruising altitude of 20,000 feet the temperature would be about -40, so it was imperative to have heated clothing to stay functional. All of this added equipment weighed about 75 pounds and made moving around difficult at best. At about 8,000 feet the whole crew goes on oxygen.
There were 11 airmen in the crew including my Dad. Everyone had a specific job. Pilot Saul Cohen and Co-pilot John Murphy had to know the job of every crew member incase they would be called on to perform it. The B-24 was a lot of plane to fly and the Pilot would need to be spelled from time to time.
The Navigator John Mahrt, was responsible for directing the plane to its objective and back home. Navigators used a variety of equipment to accomplish this including old fashioned dead reckoning. Most often, radio navigation was used but was also easily jammed.
Joseph Gaydoz was the bombardier. The success of the mission revolves around the talents of the bombardier.
When the bombardier takes over the airplane for the run on the target, he is in absolute command. He will tell you what he wants done, and until he tells you "Bombs away," his word is law. A great deal, therefore, depends on the understanding between bombardier and pilot. You expect your bombardier to know his job when he takes over. He expects you to understand the problems involved in his job, and to give him full cooperation. Teamwork between pilot and bombardier is essential. Under any given set of conditions -- groundspeed, altitude, direction, etc. -- there is only one point in space where a bomb may be released from the airplane to hit a predetermined object on the ground.
Before any of this could happen he would first have to arm the bombs. They weren’t armed until in the air and close to the target in case of a crash landing or having to drop them along the way. He would have to go to the bomb bay and remove the cotter pins that kept them from detonating accidentally if dropped and collect all the ID tags from them. ID tags were confirmation of the bombs dropped. Doing this on the narrow 10” catwalk between bomb bays was dangerous and often bombardiers would do it without their parachute or oxygen bottle to make it just a little easier.
Somewhere over the ocean before they got to the target the gunners; Charles Sarno, Frank Searles, Robert Stilson and Joseph Peters test fired their 50 caliber machine guns. These air cooled Brownings would fire between 750-850 rounds a minute but were fired in bursts to keep from over heating the barrel. Gunners had to be ever vigilant for enemy fighters who had an advantage of being faster and more maneuverable. Bombing missions like this one were flown without a fighter escort. This is not to say the gunners on B-24s didn’t get their share of enemy aircraft.
Kenneth Laughrun was the Engineer responsible for working closely with the pilot, they were the most knowledgable about the plane generally and familiar with every job necessary for a successful mission. The Engineer would constantly monitoring fuel consumption, engine operation and the general well being of the plane. The Engineer was the one who made sure fuel was getting to the engines and advised when fuel was getting low along with estimated time remaining in the air.
Robert Stilson was the armorer and gunner, he made sure all the gunners had enough ammunition.
Lester Gregory was the Radio Operator. Generally radio silence was maintained during a mission. The radio operator spent his time monitoring morse code for any updates regarding the mission and weather. He was also responsible for the internal communication radio system and assisting with radio navigation. On most planes, the Radio Operator also did double duty as a gunner.
My Dad, Arthur D Hoffman was the photographer that day. Aside from setting up the cameras to take pictures over the appropriate targets and manually taking pictures if necessary I don’t know what other duties he may have had. It would seem logical that he was trained in at least one other duty he could take on if necessary in an emergency.
All of this took place without a hitch, the mission was successful and they were on their way home, nearly there, flying in the number five position. Close to McGuire the number four engine stopped. Immediately Capt Cohen called Engineer Laughrun who assured Cohen there was enough fuel to make McGuire. Cohen notified the squadron leader and then tried to restart number four with no success. You might ask how this can happen. When the service range of a B-24 is listed as 2850 miles it is an estimate, best guess of an average B-24 performing to its design potential. There are so many things that can and do go wrong from erratic and defective gauges to a plane that is just a gas hog to bad weather.
After Laughrun’s assurances 44-40721 would make McGuire with fuel to spare numbers two and three went out. Cohen had already alerted the formation leader and put the crew on bailout standby when he feathered number four. The crew would be leaving their stations and moving toward exits as quickly as possible. They would grab their parachutes and Mae Wests and leaving their oxygen bottles behind. Even if they were at high altitude it was recommended to jump without the oxygen and black out, airmen would come to in plenty of time to pull their rip cords. Luckily Cohen had brought the plane down to about 5,000 feet “easy” and safe jump distance. Remember too, the crew was wearing about 75 pounds of extra gear. I don’t know if there was time to remove any of it.
Everyone except the pilot, co-pilot and engineer were on the flight deck ready to go at the signal, a buzzer. With three engines out and the plane’s reduced speed the flight deck would be relatively quiet. The buzzer sounded and the Bombardier and Navigator left through the bomb bay doors. A moment later the tail gunner, photographer, upper turret gunner, radio operator, armorer and nose gunner jumped in that order from the camera hatch. The plane was now at 3000 feet and the pilot, co-pilot and engineer bailed out from the bomb bay. My father reported all chutes opened, with the aid of other observers all crewmen’s chutes opened and they appeared to land without difficulty.
Jump, count to five and pull your rip cord. What they don’t tell you is when your chute furls you are jerked and yanked to a near stop. Each crew member jumped with a one man inflatable raft, most were lost in the process. When landing on the ground you look for a safe place, in the water which can be as hard as concrete when you hit, they were concerned with staying as close together as possible.
Once in the water get out of your chute as quickly as possible and inflate your Mae West. I would think there would also be some shedding of the extra 75 pounds of equipment, your movement would have to be free to allow you to swim well enough to gather with your crew at a pick up point. Once the crew was together a dye marker was released to aid in rescue. They were in the water 30-45 minutes and were picked up by a PBY Catalina. 44-40721 flew away from the survivors and as it lost altitude the left wing touched the water and it sank into the Pacific.
The Catalina circled twice more looking for the two missing crew members, another Catalina continued the search but Sarno and Mahrt were never found. No one knows for sure what happened, their chutes opened and they looked like they would be OK, but much can go wrong. They might have been pulled under by their chutes, knocked out on impact or sharks. Although none were reported they were a constant concern in the warm waters of the Southwest Pacific.
They were exhausted, wet and happy to get back to McGuire. They would be debriefed and each crew member would give their account of the events. They would have stayed at McGuire for a few days and then returned to Nadzab ready to fly.
The day after the ditch and bail out the bombings continued, 100+ B-24s took off from Formosa to finish Muong Man.