WWII My uncle Gordon

[pwd72s]

The way I heard this tale, 2nd hand from my father...well, my Uncle made light of this:

USAAF B-17 Crash nr Manston. 12th September 1944.




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USAAF B-17 Crash nr Manston. 12th September 1944.

« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2017, 23:15:28 »



Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress 42-38093. 367th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, US Army Air Force, based at Thurleigh Bedfordshire.
Pilot Lt Gordon L Donkin.

On the 12th September 1944 the 306th BG took part in a raid on the Ruhland oil refineries south of Berlin, part of a concentrated effort by the USAAF to destroy German fuel supplies.
367th BS sent nine aircraft, with Lt Donkin's 42-38093 as the lead aircraft of the lower group. North of Berlin the group came under heavy flak and fighter attack, 367 squadron losing four aircraft to fighters and 42-38093 badly shot up. In 42-38093 the tail gunner was killed, the radio operator and top turret gunner wounded and one of the engines shot up. The aircraft continued to the target and on the return flight came under renewed fighter attack with another engine and the intercom put out of action.

Escorted part of the way by P-51 Mustangs 42-38093, now with just a single engine, crossed the English Channel rapidly loosing height. As soon as the English coast was crossed Donkin ordered the crew to bail out but only four had time to do so. On the final approach to Manston the last engine quit and the aircraft crash landed on a smooth area, crossed a ditch and knocked down a search light tower before coming to a halt, then catching fire, the bombardier being killed in the crash.

The crew.

Lt Gordon L Donkin: pilot. Injured in crash.
Captain Donald C MacDonald: Co-pilot. Injured in crash.
2nd Lt Gerald A Weiler: Navigator. Injured in crash.
Technical Sgt Clarence B Tuers: Flight engineer/top turret gunner. Wounded in action.
T Sgt Willard M Colvin: Radio operator. Wia.
Staff Sgt Norman Morrow: Ball turret gunner. Injured in jump.
Sgt Lawrence G Joslin: Waist gunner.
Capt Arthur S Hostettler: Bombardier. Killed in crash.
S Sgt Jack B Eppler: Tail gunner. Killed in action.



http://www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=19856.0

[Bill Douglas]

A horrific attrition rate for these guys and all air crew during the war. I'm pleased Gordon survived it.

My old Ace pilot and friend Marty Hume said he and the regulars would sit at one table up the end of the mess hall. He said he didn't introduce himself or say hello to all the young guys on the Monday as they would be dead by the end of the week.

He and the other members of that table all survived the war.

[tabs]

I had two friends that flew out of England for the 8th. One was a P51 pilot who knew Chuck Yeager and socialized with him. The other a B24 pliot.

[recycled sixtie]

The policy for the US bombers in WW2 was to do daylight bombing and the Commonwealth/RAF was to do night time bombing. The attrition rate for the RAF bombers was five percent so after one tour of operations(20 missions) one flight crew member would in theory be dead or missing in action.

I have not researched the US bomber attrition rate but I would guess it would be higher as daytime flying would make them more visible to enemy fighters and anti aircraft guns. The thinking would be that it was easier to find the target in the daytime.

My father never talked about his wartime experiences but my mother passed on as much info as she knew to me. Thanks to your Uncle Gordon for his service.

Cheers, Guy

[pwd72s]

My Uncle...one of the gentlest men I ever knew. Not an ounce of Macho in him. Obviously, he didn't need it. A "been there-done that" thing.

Indeed..they were the greatest generation.

I read the link on the Ball Gunner who bailed out, was injured. After landing, he couldn't stand up. Passed out, woke up with Brit soldiers standing near him. Turns out he was lucky he couldn't walk because he'd landed in a mine field! Brits, knowing the path, carried him out. Also reading his account, I learned that not all crews got the Memphis Belle crew treatment of PR at home. Nope...after his 35 missions, sent to the west coast for B-29 training to be used in the Pacific. Lucky for them, the Enola Gay did her thing, and the war was over.

[Seahawk]

Paul, I hope you don't mind if I insert another fine man into this thread.

My MIL remarried after her divorce. Great guy, very successful, at least a decade older than her. He was a great dude.

I posted about his death a few years ago.

We are moving the MIL and cleaning out her house.

Yesterday, I found his logbook from his time as a Naval Aviation Cadet at NAS Glenville in 1942 or 43. Complete surprise. Rife was at Penn when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He volunteered like so many others.

He had related to me that he was a NA Cadet and did very well at basic flying until instruments: He just didn't "get" it and was dropped from the program.

In those days, dropping from the NA Cadet program meant you went to the fleet as an enlisted man, which he did. He opted for PT Boats and spend a lot of time in the Pacific Theater.

Some pictures:

N3N aircraft he flew:



Log book snaps:


Solo is the first, hard part. The Navy is very particular.



58.5 hours and off to the South Pacific after training in PT boats. Here is a picture of his boat:



So young and so brave.

[pwd72s]

No problem Paul...like I said, the greatest generation. We needn't wait until veterans or memorial day to honor them. It should be a daily thing...

[brainz01]

Greatest generation, indeed. Amazing stories. They got it done.

Thanks for sharing.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[KFC911]

Awesome thread....thank you both!

[gsxrken]

My father’s earliest memory is from 1946 when his father returned from World War II. My father answered a knock at the door and ran yelling for his mom that “there was an army man at the door!”. (Can you imagine the world where this was how his family learned he was on his way home?) He had been in the battle of Okinawa and had to stay on afterwards, well after the surrender, as part of the occupying troop force. Since of course we had no Army base there, he and other soldiers had to fan out and live with a Japanese family. He remained in touch with them infrequently over the next 50 years. The only thing he ever said about the war were nice things about that family, and one time mentioned the fact that he carried a Browning Automatic Rifle. The horrors of the Battle of Okinawa alone resulted in 26,000 psychological casualties.
The Greatest Generation indeed.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by gsxrken

My father’s earliest memory is from 1946 when his father returned from World War II. My father answered a knock at the door and ran yelling for his mom that “there was an army man at the door!”. (Can you imagine the world where this was how his family learned he was on his way home?) He had been in the battle of Okinawa and had to stay on afterwards, well after the surrender, as part of the occupying troop force. Since of course we had no Army base there, he and other soldiers had to fan out and live with a Japanese family. He remained in touch with them infrequently over the next 50 years. The only thing he ever said about the war were nice things about that family, and one time mentioned the fact that he carried a Browning Automatic Rifle. The horrors of the Battle of Okinawa alone resulted in 26,000 psychological casualties.
The Greatest Generation indeed.

One kinda funny story I read about after the Japanese Surrender. During the early occupation, allied HQ was a hotel in downtown Tokyo. The guards were selected to all be between 6'2" and 6'4", all very tall compared to the much shorter Japanese.

[JCF]

Unimaginable....Superheroes


Still, I always feel the need to point out that "The Greatest Generation" thing never sits well with me. And this with the greatest possible respect for those men and women.
But greater than those who fought in the Revolution and formed a country out of a wilderness ? Or either side of the Civil War who after fighting each other in unimaginable ways rebuilt the Union that enabled the generation of WW1 to establish this country as a great world power ? And credit to those who fought unpopular wars after, and were willing to both protest and do their duty, some simultaneously...and what about those who served recently and serve now ?
I am in awe of them all and in equal measure and Paul, your telling of Don Malarky and the young vet at the pool hall - and stories of old enemies even, at reunions do not elevate any one of them above the others. There is nothing greater than any generation stepping up to risk life and limb for what they believe in.
- peace

[Nickshu]

My grandfather was a bombardier on a B-17 also out of England. I got a box of his stuff from my Grandma years ago and have lost track of it. Thanks for motivating me to go dig it up in the basement and take a look.

[Bill Douglas]

Ha, speaking of Japan after the war. As a kid I used to go duck shooting with a team of older guys. it was heavy alcohol and 12 gauge fire out of the blinds form 6:00am. One guy after a few used to start yelling in Japanese. I asked him "What does that mean." And he said "Next train to Tokyo." His job was to help get the railways back in order.

[R K T]

Greatest Generation in so many ways.

I've said many times that I'm amazed that I'm even here and amazed that my Dad made it through WWII.
He flew a TBF Avenger (torpedo bomber) and was taking off on a mission from the USS Wake Island when about halfway down the flight deck lost power. His plane went down right in the path of the Wake Island coming full speed ahead. Six months later his new plane was shot down.

He hardly ever talked about anything that happened back then but I have his locker with everything....flight books, medals, uniform, goggles, boots, etc. A total time capsule from 1945!
We have no kids to at some point pass all these things on. I've talked to a couple air museums about donating everything and was told that his things would not be on display but would be stacked up with other lockers in the warehouse. It sounds like museums are being inundated with similar donations as the WWII Veterans pass on.

My Dad