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After completing a modification on the P-38s that enabled them to carry two 165 gallon belly tanks plus four 500 pound bombs, the ground echelon composed of eight officers and thirty-seven enlisted men, commanded by Maj. Wolfe, left on July 9 for an undisclosed destination.
The officers included Lt. Col. Neveleff of the 15th AF A-2: Lt. col. Gomez, 306 Fighter Wing A-2: Major Wolfe, 82nd Fighter Group, S-4 officer: Major Weld, group S-3 officer, Capt. Kearl, group engineering officer, Capt. Warg, 306 Fighter Wing communications officer, Capt. Turner, group armament officer, Lt. Barlow, group ordnance officer, Mr. Hollinger, Lockheed technical representative, and Capt. Sperling, assistant S-2 of the 31st Fighter Group. The enlisted men were made up of the best qualified men for their particular jobs, headed by Master Sergeant John Urech.
This detachment left Foggia at 8 AM July 9, arrived in Bengasi, Tripolitania at 1PM where they stayed an hour then took off for Cairo arriving there at 5PM. The night was spent there, with a departure July 10 at 10AM for Teheran, Iran, where landing was made at 5PM. The entire detachment stayed there for two nights and a day. On the second day five officers were able to obtain visas and leave by transport for Russia. The rest of the detachment was forced to wait eight days before they were able to get visas despite extraordinary efforts made in their direction
The entire detachment was again brought together at Poltava, Russia, which the was final destination for all except two officers and twelve enlisted men who left the next day for Mirgorod, Russia, which was only twenty minutes flying time from Poltava.
On 22 July, the first mission came in to Russia. Forty-eight planes of the 82nd Fighter Group landed at Poltava and 23 planes of the 14th Fighter Group landed at Mirgorod, thus being the first fighter shuttle raid completed to Russia. The P-51s acting as escort set down at Piryatin.
Due to past experience of losses suffered from enemy bombings of the airdrome, the problem of dispersing aircraft arose. It was finally agreed that 24 planes would take off from Poltava at 6PM, 12 planes going to Zap orazhe, and 12 planes going to Kharkov. They were to return to Poltava the following morning by 4AM. No planes were dispersed to other fields from Mirgorod.
Numerous difficulties were encountered by the ground crews at both Poltava and Mirgorod. Thousands of anti-personnel bombs had been dropped on both fields by the Germans in their earlier raid on the 8th Air Force B-17’s as well as fragmentation bombs. Even though no casualties were suffered from the anti-personnel bombs, they were a constant threat to the men as well as to taxiing airplanes since they were small and hard to see in the grass. Four thousand of these bombs were blown up by Russian demolition squads during the stay of the task force in Russia.
Shell fragments lying on the field caused more trouble than the anti-personnel bombs. These fragments necessitated the changing of sixteen tires punctured and torn beyond repair by the sharp fragments.
At Poltava our ground crews were aided in maintenance on the planes by the Russian soldiers. Even though the P-38 was entirely new to them, these Russians picked up the work fast. Their eagerness to learn and fine spirit of cooperation was commented on by all of our crews. The Russians showed a marked inclination to take everything apart even if they couldn’t put it together again. Russian officers usually stood around taking notes. This was purely one-way affair, since Russian aircraft were conspicuously absent from sight and a frosty reception was accorded any attempt to get information on the Russian Air Force. The permanent American ground crews on this base, although trained on B-17s, also proved of considerable assistance in maintaining the airplanes. There was, however, a definite lake of cooperation and coordination between the Eastern Command and the base staff, which on one occasion caused an hour’s delay in take off of the mission due to delayed fueling of the planes. Through the indefatigable efforts of Major Joel a. Wolfe and his assistants, Lt. Barlow, Mr. Hollinger and Sgt. Urech, a very high percentage of the airplanes were kept in commission. The fine work of the enlisted men, headed by St. John Urech was above reproach. The speed at which they had to work plus the lack of supplies and equipment made their jobs far more difficult than under normal conditions but all the obstacles were overcome due to the men’s skill, ingenuity and past experience with similar problems.
At Mirgorod, the 24 planes of the 14th Fighter Group were taken care of by Capt. Amos S. Turner, Capt. Spencer L. Kearl and twelve enlisted men, with Master Sergeant Hartman acting as line chief for this detachment. No Russians help with maintenance at this base but without the help and cooperation of the permanent American party here it would have been very difficult to have kept the planes on flying status. The lack of spare parts here was the most difficult thing the engineering section had to compete with, but enough was obtained to get the plane in commission in time for the missions. The lack of armament personnel was also very acute. It was necessary for Capt. Turner and T/Sgt John Reese to check the guns for all the planes to see if they had been properly taken care of before each mission.
The living conditions at both fields were good, however the men at Mirgorod were the better established. At Poltava the officers and men lived in tents and slept on cots. The food was good, but sanitary conditions were poor with the result that numerous pilots and enlisted men came down with dysentery, causing a number of pilots to be ground and some of the ground crew to miss work.
It is of interest to note that every building of any size around Poltava had been blown up by demolition squads, either German or Russian, except for the HQ building at Plotava. This building had been mined by the Germans, with an arrangement for detonation of the explosive through a radio receiver out in the fields picking up an impulse from a German plane on a special wave length. The device was discovered only after occupation of the building.
At Mirgorod both officers and men lived in brick barracks. The food was mostly “C” rations but was well prepared.
The Russian civilians were friendly. The Americans were able to date the Russian girls and in some instances were invited to homes to dine with the Russian families. This was more true at Mirgorod then at Poltava, however at the dispersel fields where the pilots took the planes overnight, the local soldiers and population were also most friendly and most of the pilots went to dances there. It was primarily at Poltava that the Russians appeared to have been instructed to keep their distance, and there were instances of Russian girls being beaten up for going out with Americans. There were very few things to purchase in Russia outside of food and drink at the special Russian army restaurant at Poltava. Even if there had been, the prices were so high because of the unfavorable 5-1 rate of exchange that it would have been difficult for most of the Americans to purchase anything. On the other hand, the Russians offered fantastic prices in rubles for the tangible goods such as wrist watches, etc.
Two missions were flown from the Russian bases by the P-38s, with the planes returning to their Italian bases after hitting the second target.
The officers stationed at Poltava left July 31 for their return trip, while the two officers stationed at Mirgorod left on August 1. The enlisted men were left behind per orders in anticipation of the second shuttle trip.
It was interesting to note the differences in temperature in the different countries. On leaving Russia the temperature was 81 degrees, and on arriving in Abadan, Iran, the next day the temperature read 124 degrees.
The trip back for the officers was uneventful, staying in Teheran the first night, then by the way of Abadan to Cairo where a day and two nights were spent. The next night was spent in Tunis, and on the following day, August t, the officers arrived at Foggia. The return trip was made in C-46s and C-47s of the Air Transport Command.
The enlisted men left Russia on August 5 for Teheran following the second shuttle mission. One of the groups was in a plane that became lost, ran out of gas and had to land in the desert forty miles from Teheran. After walking several miles, two of the men were able to find a telephone and contact the airport at Teheran and have gasoline sent out. The plane was able to take off and then land the men at Teheran.
The second and third nights were spent in Cairo. Then on August 10 the men were landed at Foggia. This completed the ground echelons’s work for the fighter shuttle raids to Russia.
II. Operations and Intelligence.
As a member of the advance ground party of the Frantic 3 Operation, I boarded one of the three C-47’s which took off from the base of the 82nd Fighter Group, on the morning of 9 July 1944. Our party consisted of one officer, (Lt. Col. Neveleff) of the 15th Air Force Intelligence section, two officers of the 306th Fighter Wing, (Lt. Col. Gomez, Intelligence, Captain Marg, Communications), 5 officers of the 82nd Fighter Group, (Major Wolfe, Engineering, Major Weld, Intelligence, Captain Kearl, Engineering, Captain Turner, Armament, and Lt. Barlow, Ordnance), one civilian representative of the Lockheed Aircraft Corportation, (Mr. Hollinger), and 37 enlisted mechanics, of the 82nd Fighter Group.
The first stop on our trip of approximately 5000 miles, was the desert city of Benghasi. Landing on an airdrome still showing the scars of the long desert war, we lunched on fried eggs, sausage, and lukewarm lemonade. We took off for Payne Field, Cairo, at 1400 hours, and arrived at 1830. Our visions of a whirl at the night life of the city faded away, as we were told that we would be confined to the post. Consoling ourselves with hamburgers at the officers’ club we made the best of it.
Next morning we took off for Teheran, this time in two C-46s. It was an interesting trip, since we saw the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, Bagdad and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Between these points of interest, however, there was nothing but bare rock and desert. The air was rough during the entire trip, even at our cruising altitude of 12,000 feet.
Landing at Teheran was like entering a furnace. The temperature was well above 100 degrees, with the sun blazing from a cloudless sky.
We embarked on 2 ½ ton trucks for a drive through the city, and out to the Camp Amiribach, headquarters f the Persian Gulf Command. Here we were billeted in British double wall tents, since the permanent barracks were completely occupied. This camp compares favorably with any in the United States. The beautiful Officers Club and Mess is housed in a new brick building. Polish refugee girls, many of them exceptionally pretty, wait on tables, while older Polish women cook the food. The food leaves nothing to be desired. The bar is well stocked with wines, gin, and Vodka. Delicious ice cream is served quite often in the mess, and is always available in the Post exchange. An outstanding feature of the camp is it’s splendid swimming pool, where cool water afforded relief from the heat.
While the poor section of Teheran resembles most Arab quarters, a good propertion of the city is modern, with huge residences and well kept grounds. It is a wealthy city, and those who have profited from the vast oil resources of the country spend lavishly. 1942 Buicks, costing 35,000 dollars, crowd the streets. In the shops, cotton handkerchiefs cost as much as five dollars. Prices are set at whatever the traffic will bear, for there apparently are no shortages. Two modern hotels, the Park and the Ritz, are available to Officers. The open air dining rooms serve caviar, steaks, ice cream, chicken, and all the delicacies obtainable in the States. A steak dinner costs about six dollars. The orchestras, which are as good as our leading dance bands at home, play American music exclusively. The partons were either in military uniforms or American civilian clothing.
There was considerable delay in obtaining visas to enter Russia. On the second day, five visas were made available, and Lt. Cols. Gomez and Neveleff, Majors Wolf and Veld, and Captain Marg proceeded to Russia. The rest of us remained at Teheran for eight days until visas could be obtained.
We left Teheran on the morning of the 18 of July. We stopped at Rostov, because of an oil leak, and there had our first Russian meal. It consisted of soup made from chicken, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes, noodles, rice, and onions. Although a large bowl of this soup made an adequate meal, we also had caviar, buckwheat pancakes, rice and canned pineapple. The beverage was an imitation coffee made from parched barley.
Our aircraft having been repaired, we proceeded to the main American base in Russia.
We found the personnel there still nervous from their last air raid, and we were carefully briefed on plans for evacuation in case of an impending raid.
The next morning, I embarked on a Russian-flown C-47 for the base to which the 31st Group was assigned. According to American standards, the aircraft was greatly overloaded, but despite obvious tail-heaviness, the pilot made an excellent take-off and landing.
Arriving at the base, I went to the Intelligence office and met Captain Fletcher, the Base Intelligence Officer. He is a former Bomber Squadron Intelligence Officer, and has an efficient Intelligence set-up.
I learned that the mission schedule for the 16th July had been cancelled, and that it was doubtful if we would be told in advance when the task force was coming. This proved to be the case, but by checking with the weather man we were able to anticipate the arrival of the P-51s on 22nd of July.
Colonel Tarrant led the group, with General Strother flying his wing. After loading their personal possessions into trucks bound for the living quarters, the pilots gathered in the briefing room for interrogation. Squadrons were interrogated individually, 307th by Captain Fletcher, 308th by Captain Cobe, the base Operations Officer, and 309th Squadron by me. After interrogations, the pilots were fed, and then half of them went to their living quarters about a mile from the field, while the others took off for another airdrome. Weather caused them to turn back after half an hours, so they too were taken to the living quarters.
Weather caused cancellations of missions on the next two days, but on the 25th of July our P-51s escorted P-38s to Mislec, Poland. Servicing difficulties at a P-38 field caused the mission to take off an hour late, a circumstance which worked out very favorably for us. After having strafed a column of German tanks, two of our squadrons caught a formation of Stukas dive-bombing Russian positions. As a result, the group came back with 27 destroyed, 3 probables, and 6 damaged. There was a great exultation by the pilots of the 307th and 309th, and not a few expressions of envy from 308th, which did not engage. Colonel Tarrant, his face beaming, was jumping up and down shouting man, I never saw so many airplanes, we couldn’t miss.” 307th had an informal interrogation outside the briefing room, and found that they had destroyed more enemy aircraft on this mission than the entire group had ever destroyed on any previous day. Despite the fact that he had destroyed one, Major Brown was still soberly considering the 303 bullet which had barely missed his head, and wondering just why fate was looking out for him so carefully.
That night, we received word that our aircraft would return to Italy the following day.
It was a bitter disappointment to the base personnel, for they were most enthusiastic about the Group, ad felt that now they “were contributing to the war effort”. They evidently felt a bit futile concerning the long spaces between missions, when sheer boredom nearly drove them insane.
Next morning, the group took off for Italy by way of PLOESTI. The fact that all 47 aircraft got off is indicative of the splendid work done by the mechanics and engineering section of the base.
After working the rest of the day on records of the mission, I left for headquarters at 1630 hours. Arriving here, I found my haste was in vain, for we were ordered to remain indefinitely.
I was completely disgusted, as I was most eager to return to Italy. There was absolutely nothing to do, but the situation looked hopeless. When Col. Mason, deputy C.O. of the 82nd Fighter Group took off on the 28th with 13 other pilots who had remained behind, because of illness, he promised to try to have orders sent for us to return to Italy. Evidently he was successful, for at 2300 hours on the 30th of July, orders for our return came through.
We took off at 0530 the next morning, arriving in Teheran at 1430 hours. Our overnight stay at Teheran was uneventful, as we were all very tired. Next morning we took off for Abadan, near the Persian Gulf, and Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It was 140 degree F while we were there, but we stayed only long enough for lunch. They had registered a temperature of 170 degrees F. a few days before. The countryside was very pretty, most of it being date plantations.
We arrived in Cairo that evening, and registered at the Continental Savoy Hotel. The next morning we hired a guide and took in the pyramids and an Arab Mosque. In the afternoon, we visited the native bazaar.
We were told to report to Payne Field at midnight, in order to take off at 0200 hours. We were a sleepy lot when finally we took off at 0700 hours next morning, but he crowded condition of our aircraft prevented sleep. We landed at Benghasi and Tripoli, and for no apparent reason we were taken to Tunis instead of Bari. We stayed the night in Tunis, and next morning were flown to Bari and Foggia. It was a wonderful trip, but the best part of it was my arrival back at my group.
We were all highly impressed with the vast reaches of flat fertile land in Russia. The chief crops are apparently wheat, corn, potatoes, cabbage, squash, and tomatoes. There are large herds of cattle, numerous swine and sheep, and many domestic geese.
The Russians were wonderful in their attitude toward us, and were most anxious to show us a good time. The language difficulty was hard to surmount, but large portions of Vodka helped in the exchange of ideas. The Russians showed a tremendous admiration for our strategic bombing. In one Russian stage show I saw, nearly all the jokes concerned the low state of German morale resulting from our destructive air attacks. I believe the Russians are just anxious as we, to have friendly relations between our two nations.
22 July – Twenty (20) aircraft took off from San Severo on the shuttle run to Russia – Buzau and Zilestea Airdromes being the targets for the 82nd Fighter Group (P-38’s) to strafe, with the 31st Fighter Group and the 14th Fighter Group giving the escort and cover. Fifteen of our aircraft made the trip to Russia.
We arrived early at the target and circled a few minutes until fires were seen on the airdrome. We then saw some bogies climbing up behind and Major Warford led the attack into the enemy aircraft. Major Warford accounted for one ME-109 and one FW-190; Lt. Thompson shot down an FW-190 and Lt Grose leading Yellow Section destroyed one FW-190. There were the only victories in the group on this mission. A total of nine enemy aircraft were seen – seven of which were encountered. A single ME-110 was seen with the FW-190’s and ME-109’s.
Major Warford ended up alone at a low altitude and joined Lt. Col. Tarrant, and the remainder of the squadron rendezvoused with Captain Loving who was leading Blue Section. He set course for our Russian Base. His navigation was excellent and we arrived at base intact. The base itself was practically invisible from the air. It had a tin strip but the grass had grown up through it and made a natural camouflaged airdrome. We could hear Swanee tower, base control, calling and telling us to watch for flares, and we finally saw the field and the fourteen aircraft landed safely. Major Warford had landed ahead of the rest of the squadron.
Immediately upon landing were taken to a tent where the whole group was interrogated. The Russian base commander welcomed us to Lancaster Field through an interpreter. There was also a blonde Russian girl in uniform, also an interpreter, who received more attention. The Major said he could tell by our faces we were the pick of the crop. Captain Sperling, Assistant Group Operations Officer, was there to meet us.
We then went to the mess tents where the Russian girls did the serving. The girls faces were not hard to look at but the bodies were awe inspiring – arms like the village smithy. They were good natured and friendly. Some of the lads turned on the charm, but couldn’t overcome the language barrier.
We had to furnish an alert flight of four for airdrome protection. Captain Loving and Blue Flight stood it until six o’clock with Lt. Groze and Yellow Flight taking over until ten. Corn Willie was served both for lunch and supper.
Quarters were tents about two miles from the airdrome in a grove of trees and had to pass through one of those villages the Russians Germans capture and recapture in the news. Population 40 to 50 persons.
Children all looked healthy and waved to us each time we passed. Houses were clean looking with clay walls and thatched roofs. No young men were seen and all young women were in uniform and all the soldiers seen were old men reported sent back from the front for a rest – i.e. 12 hours out of 24 on guard and they were not kidding when on duty. Halt – Stoy was quickly followed by a report from their rifles – eager is the word.
23 July - Awakened very early at six A.M. There was a mission planned, but it was pushed back until noon and finally called off. The afternoon was spent in the sack and a good time was had by all.
The Group was taken to Piryatin to a movie that night – a Russian Musical – it was enjoyable, even though the plot could be seen only through the acting except a few lucky ones who drew the blonde interpreter. No one in the 309th test hopped any Vodka, but one or two of the pilots in the group tried it and came out the worse for the experience.
24 July - Stood down today due to bad weather. Nothing important happened; furnished alert flights and sack time.
25 July – Up early this morning for eleven ship mission to cover P-38’s strafing Mielec Airdrome in Poland. Many fires seen on the drome, but no enemy aircraft seen in target area. On the way to base a HE-111 was destroyed by Lt. Carey and F/O Shipley. The 309th joined 307th and two JU-52s were seen and destroyed one by Captain Loving and one by Lt. Zierenberg. 40-50 JU-87’s were sighted by the 307th and Lts. Carey and Seib and F/O Shipley joined them and were there when the hammer fell. Carey and Shipley’s guns jammed and Lt. Seib became the hero of the day by clobbering two Stukas and damaging two. The balance of the squadron was circling airdrome – saw niente. The boys all returned to Lancaster Field. Score for the day:
307th 20
308th 1
309th 5
Lt. Grose spent the day in the local hospital – some weird form of the G.I’s being the cause. That evening the 309th had to fly to an outlying drome for dispersal at Zaporozhe. Quarters for the night were barracks with row of solid wood bunks six to twelve inches apart. Some had a mattress; most of them had nothing but sleeping bags.
26 July - Up at 0430 hours this morning and flew back to Piryatin where we ate breakfast and was briefed for the trip home. It was a fighter sweep over the Ploesti area and no enemy aircraft seen by our squadron. P-38s were seen in a scrap. Fifteen aircraft landed at San Severo at 1515.
The 309’s score for the trip: 9 destroyed; 2 damaged.
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