/8th Air Force
Today is the 66th anniversary of a red-letter day in the history of the 492nd, for which I have mixed emotions.
Three of the 492nd Bomb Group's 67 missions earned them the unwanted moniker of the Hard Luck Group...
2nd Lt Charles Arnett's POW ID card
click image to enlarge
(plus view 9 crash photos)
| 19 | May | 44 - Mission 05 to Brunswick |
| 20 | June | 44 - Mission 34 to Politz |
| 7 | July | 44 - Mission 46 to Bernberg |
Mission 5 to Brunswick would cost the 492nd...
| 8 | aircraft lost |
| 43 | men killed in action |
| 3 | men wounded in action |
| 34 | men taken prisoner |
My father was one of those taken prisoner.
Not his finest hour.
Shortly before beginning the bomb run, the Luftwaffe attacked the group twice with 40 fighters firing canons and machine guns. It was the third mission for the Arnett Crew 717, flying the Boomerang. On their right was the Brague Crew 718, which exploded in a massive fireball. On their left, the Bridges Crew 702 was clipped in the tail by an Me-109 and forced to attempt to limp home. My father's B-24 lost two engines in the assault. They pulled out of formation, salvoed their bombs and struggled toward home. They made it to the channel on two engines when a third conked out, forcing them back to Nazi-occupied Holland where they crashlanded in a tulip field, killing one crewman in the violent crash.
Jim Easley is the only man left from the Arnett Crew 717. My brother Paul and I called him this morning to wish hime a Happy Crash Day. He says that hardly a day has gone by in the last sixty-six years when he hasn't relived the memory of that day. Yet, as traumatic as it was, it continues to be a special day for him.
For my father it was definately the lowest point in his entire life. He felt he had let down his crew, his squadron, his bomb group... even his country. All that training seemed to him to have been in vain. He and his crew had set out to make a difference; to give Hitler that knockout punch he so badly needed. My father's photo on his POW ID card shows just how down he was. He spent the next eleven months in Stalag Luft III in the company of thousands of men who had survived near-death experiences, feeling they had failed. Their trauma turned out to be part of the price for victory.
For those in the 492nd that made it back to North Pickenham that day, it was a sobering experience that stuck with them as well. The harsh reality of war had sunk in. Their youthful air of invincibility would be hard to maintain.
 |
|
“66 years ago: Bad trip to Brunswick”
Mark Arnett wrote...
Thanks for reminding us of this mission Dave. And I'm glad to hear that you called JIm and thanked him for all they did on this day.
Rick Centore wrote...
You bring up a good point in regard to the loss of 34 aircraft on Missions 5, 34, and 46. Those losses not only gave the group the "Hard Luck" reputation, but were instrumental in the decision to disband the group after 89 days in combat. On the other 64 missions the 492nd lost 21 aircraft. Though it may sound callous, such a loss rate was sustainable and acceptable in the dangerous game of heavy bombardment.
David Arnett wrote...
I suppose everyone involved in the air war knew that the price of victory would be high, but figured (or at least hoped) that it would happen to the other guy.
I think we'll find that every time a bomb group had a "milk run" mission, it was because some other group got hit by the Luftwaffe instead. The circumstances that allowed the 492nd to suffer such losses on those three missions can ultimately only be chalked up to the "fortunes of war."