HELL FROM HEAVEN

Chapter 33

Mission 29 - A Near Collision - April 19, 1945

By Leonard Streitfeld, Bombardier, 600th Squadron

After our last mission on Friday, April 13, we were fortunate to have several days off during which time we managed to get to London again. Everyone was hoping that when we returned to our base we would have been notified that we no longer had to fly another mission.

All of us followed the news in the newspaper and felt that it wouldn't be long before the war would end. We kept reading of missions that the Eighth Air Force Bomb Groups were going on and considered ourselves lucky that we were not on them since some planes were lost.

I picked up some more films at Kodak and left some to be developed. All my films were coming out really good and I couldn't wait to show them to my family when I returned home and give them some idea as to what we went through.

I met my standing date Nancy again, went out to dinner and spent the evening with her. We talked about the war coming to an end soon and what it would be like without American soldiers in England.

Many of the girls were pressuring the G.I.'s to get married so that they could come to America. Even I had a proposition from one of the girls I knew to get married but it was way, way out of the question for me. I had college to finish and had no intention of letting anything steer me away from that.

The few days I spent in London were enjoyable but knew that I had to return to our base and probably fly some more combat missions.

I returned to Nuthamstead on April 18 and talked to many of those who flew missions. I asked how rough they were and if anyone was shot down? We did lose some planes and it was a pity since at any time the war was going to end. The question was when?

The following morning, Thursday, April 19 we were awakened as usual. We had our square eggs, coffee and toast and went to the briefing. We were informed that we were going to bomb a small marshalling yard near Reisa.

We were also instructed that if our plane was hit by flak and could not make it back to either France or England, we should continue flying east until we were in Russian occupied territory.

As a matter of fact, we were given an armband to put on if that should happen. It had the American flag on one side with the words Ya Amerikanets and some printing in Russian, which translated said, “Please communicate my particulars to American Military Mission Moscow.” We were also given instructions as what to do if we should fall into Russian hands.

I joked with my crew and told them that I would start bringing my pocket chess set just in case that happened. I told them that they were great chess players since it was their national pastime, it would help establish some rapport.

We got our flying gear and were soon on our way. The mission went smoothly and after the bomb run, we released our bombs. My diary says that we pranged the target, but made one little miscalculation. We didn't turn off in another heading soon enough after, Bombs Away and that's when the flak started. It was very accurate and our squadron had a lot of it. We got several holes in our ship but no one was wounded.

I kept finding it hard to believe that the war was almost over and here we were flying missions and getting shot at. They never seemed to let up. We were lucky this time but what would the next mission be like if we had one.

The following event happened at about this time but it is not recorded in my diary. However, in speaking with my co-pilot, waist gunner and engineer recently, they will confirm the following although the exact date is uncertain. I believe it was after the mission just described.

We had just completed Mission twenty-nine and our Bomb Group was approaching our base in Nuthampstead when we had an unbelievable and almost tragic close call with another Bomb Group. We were flying at a fairly low altitude when we noticed in the distance another Bomb Group at the same altitude coming in our direction. I was told these planes might have been the 91st Bomb Group from Bassingbourn and in our Wing.

As the planes got closer we realized that we were on a collision course. Neither Group turned in another direction and we continued heading towards each other. It seemed like we were going to have a head on collision in seconds and when we met, the other Group flew over us at a distance that appeared to be about fifty feet and could have been less. In a flash they were past us. It would have been a major catastrophe if they were flying any lower or our Group any higher. Apparently, no one made an issue of what had happened but just for the records I felt that it should be mentioned. We were all rattled when we landed. This was the closest we ever came to a mid-air collision.

The next mission we flew was chilling to Hank and myself but for reasons you would never suspect.

 

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