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W. Earl Hall World War II stories, 1944
1944-08-26 Letter #11
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slug-Yank Flyers-4 Passed for Publication 26 Aug 1944 By W. EARL HALL Globe-Gazette Managing Editor (Letter No. 11) London--(Air Mail)--Winston Churchill once caught the world's imagination by eulogizing the royal air force in these words: "Never have so many owed so much to so few." After spending 2 days with our own "Hell's Angels," a bombing group with an unsurpassed record of courage and effectiveness, I have a new understanding of what the prime minister meant. I'm ready to apply that picturesque appraisal to our own flying forces. I've seen our flying fortresses zoom down the long runway, take to the air and wing out toward a target in Germany in large numbers. This was in the early morning. I've watched them, in late afternoon, sit down on that same strip--some with motors shot away, some with flat tires, some--most of them,--with plane bodies riddled with flak. I've watched ambulances scurry toward base hospitals bearing wounded crew members. I've watched our boys file into their "interrogation hall" for their coffee and doughnuts, served by 2 young women of the Red Cross. I've heard these lads in their first report on how "rough" the flak was over their strategic target in Mersburg--a giant synthetic gasoline plant. I've heard them relate how 2 of their planes were shot down. I have heard them discuss how in one case the ill-fated fortress had exploded in mid-air, with instant death for the entire crew. Several boys carried in their pockets the pieces of flak which had lodged in their plane on the target run. I've heard these "lads make anxious inquiry about their buddies on other planes--especially those who had been carted off to the hospital. I've messed with these boys and heard them speculate on where their run the next morning might be. I've stood by as they received this information and proceeded with their preparations for a flight across the North sea to an industrial target north of Berlin--one calling for special type of bombing. I've heard these lads wisecrack and laugh as they made ready to face danger--even death. I've listened to their chaplain tell what a "wonderful bunch of kids" they are. I've answered a hundred and one times the question: "How are things back home." I've heard these lads debate whether the fly bombs falling on the south of England might not be worse than manning a flying fortress. I've heard these lads compare notes on where the first flak fragments penetrated their armor, where the going was toughest, how they met the situation when certain members of their crew were wounded. I've heard them ribbing each other about the superior accuracy of their bombing on this particular mission. I've seen them pore over the photographs showing the results of their mission--pictures developed and printed a few minutes after their return to base. I'm ready--fully ready--to agree with Churchill in his estimate of the general role of aviation in this war. More specifically, I'm ready to agree with the group chaplain who called 'em "wonderful kids." They ARE wonderful kids doing a superb job in this war. My hat is off to them--every last one of them. -- 30 --
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slug-Yank Flyers-4 Passed for Publication 26 Aug 1944 By W. EARL HALL Globe-Gazette Managing Editor (Letter No. 11) London--(Air Mail)--Winston Churchill once caught the world's imagination by eulogizing the royal air force in these words: "Never have so many owed so much to so few." After spending 2 days with our own "Hell's Angels," a bombing group with an unsurpassed record of courage and effectiveness, I have a new understanding of what the prime minister meant. I'm ready to apply that picturesque appraisal to our own flying forces. I've seen our flying fortresses zoom down the long runway, take to the air and wing out toward a target in Germany in large numbers. This was in the early morning. I've watched them, in late afternoon, sit down on that same strip--some with motors shot away, some with flat tires, some--most of them,--with plane bodies riddled with flak. I've watched ambulances scurry toward base hospitals bearing wounded crew members. I've watched our boys file into their "interrogation hall" for their coffee and doughnuts, served by 2 young women of the Red Cross. I've heard these lads in their first report on how "rough" the flak was over their strategic target in Mersburg--a giant synthetic gasoline plant. I've heard them relate how 2 of their planes were shot down. I have heard them discuss how in one case the ill-fated fortress had exploded in mid-air, with instant death for the entire crew. Several boys carried in their pockets the pieces of flak which had lodged in their plane on the target run. I've heard these "lads make anxious inquiry about their buddies on other planes--especially those who had been carted off to the hospital. I've messed with these boys and heard them speculate on where their run the next morning might be. I've stood by as they received this information and proceeded with their preparations for a flight across the North sea to an industrial target north of Berlin--one calling for special type of bombing. I've heard these lads wisecrack and laugh as they made ready to face danger--even death. I've listened to their chaplain tell what a "wonderful bunch of kids" they are. I've answered a hundred and one times the question: "How are things back home." I've heard these lads debate whether the fly bombs falling on the south of England might not be worse than manning a flying fortress. I've heard these lads compare notes on where the first flak fragments penetrated their armor, where the going was toughest, how they met the situation when certain members of their crew were wounded. I've heard them ribbing each other about the superior accuracy of their bombing on this particular mission. I've seen them pore over the photographs showing the results of their mission--pictures developed and printed a few minutes after their return to base. I'm ready--fully ready--to agree with Churchill in his estimate of the general role of aviation in this war. More specifically, I'm ready to agree with the group chaplain who called 'em "wonderful kids." They ARE wonderful kids doing a superb job in this war. My hat is off to them--every last one of them. -- 30 --
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