HELL FROM HEAVEN

Chapter 34

Mission 30 - The Cold Feet Mission - April 21, 1945

By Leonard Streitfeld, Bombardier, 600th Squadron

Two days later we were on another mission. I will not forget this one and neither will Hank. This was Mission thirty and we call it, "The Cold Feet Mission." We laugh about it now but it wasn't funny then.

We had been flying in the same plane for several missions and it was heated. We liked it very much since many of the planes we flew in were not heated making it bitter cold and absolutely requiring the use of our heated suits to keep warm.

Let me mention something here that perhaps you have wondered about. When we came to the base, we thought we would be assigned to a B-17 that was going to be ours for all of our missions. This turned out to be untrue since many planes would be severely damaged and require several days to repair by the ground crew. In the mean time the crew of that plane would fly in another plane. I personally don't know of any crew who flew all their missions in the same plane. It just didn't happen to us.

The weather was very mild and this day we were supposed to fly a short, low altitude mission. I got a bright idea that turned out to be stupid. I suggested to Hank that, "Since it was going to be a short, low altitude mission and the plane was heated, why don't we fly in just our regular uniforms without the heated suit and the heated shoes."  He always agreed with me and this is one time that I wish he hadn't.

When we got our gear together, flak suit, goggles, helmet, etc. and were taken to the plane, the first thing we realized is that we were going to fly another plane. The one we were in previously was being repaired due to the flak holes it received. The new plane did not have heat.

This, in itself, wasn't too bad since it was not going to be a long mission and we would be flying at a low altitude.

However, before we took off, we were informed that the mission we were to go on was scrubbed and we were going to Munich. It was going to be a high altitude, long mission. Hank and I were kicking ourselves but it was too late to do anything about it.

I was navigator that day and as the altitude gradually increased, the temperature got colder. I had all I could do to just hold a pencil to record my log. Hank had a similar problem with the cold just holding on to the throttle.

We went through a cold front on the way to the target that made the plane even colder. Our feet were numb and tingled. My toes felt like blocks of ice and I am sure that Hank was blessing me for the bright idea. The temperature in the plane was about 30 below zero and we had to keep moving to keep our blood circulating.

Fortunately, the city was completely covered with clouds and we did not receive much flak that was the only good thing about the mission.

One funny thing that did happen was when I stood up and was looking out of the navigator's dome towards the pilot. I stamped my feet on the floor hoping it would help me keep the circulation in my toes. When I did this it had the sound of flak exploding under our ship.

Al yelled, "I hear flak, I hear flak" and kept turning his head back and forth to see where it was. I couldn't help but laugh watching Al frantically trying to see the flak and I think he got mad when I told him it was I stamping my feet. However, I did notice Hank also laughing since he too was stamping his feet.

With a lot of discomfort, we finally left Germany and decreased our altitude to the point where it was more comfortable. We were in the air about ten hours but it seemed much longer. When we finally arrived at our base, I couldn't wait to get some hot chocolate that the Red Cross had waiting for us. and I must have had a quart of it. It felt awfully good going down.

One story that was circulating around when we landed showed that the Eighth Air Force had a sense of humor. With all the death and destruction we were responsible for, it was only a question of time before someone would get this bright idea and pull it off.

We bombed Germany with hundreds of thousands of bombs and one Bomb Group, which will remain unnamed, completed the job. The expression, "We bombed them with everything except the kitchen sink." could no longer be said. Yes, this group dropped a kitchen sink along with the bombs on a target. It would be hard to explain to the family of the unlucky person who was killed in the bombing that a kitchen sink hit them. This story was good for a laugh and we were sorry that we didn't think of it first.

We were constantly wondering if we would have to fly another mission. The answer was yes and it turned out to be one of the most tragic missions of all.

 

HELL FROM HEAVEN by Leonard Streitfeld, Hammonton, New Jersey. Library of Congress Catalogue card number: 94-092215. HELL FROM HEAVEN is available in the 398th PX.

 

Personal History Information
  1. Veteran: Leonard Streitfeld
  2. Bombardier, 600th Squadron
  3. Date of Personal History: January 2004 Web Page submission. Excerpted from HELL FROM HEAVEN by Leonard Streitfeld.
  4. Author: Leonard Streitfeld
  5. Submitted to 398th Web Pages by: Leonard Streitfeld