· RUEL SK

The Aftermath
125
Chapter 6
THE DAY AFTER
In Tibenham, the day started just as the day before, orderlies had done their wake-up
job, sending anxious ainnen to the briefmg room. There, they were told that the 445 tb BG
was returning to Kassel! That was enough to scare hell out of the seasoned veterans. Ten
planes took off, including Patty Girl, the only plane from the previous day's mission that
was airworthy. This ten-ship bomb group was led by Lt. P. D. Riblet Jr. with Capt. Rowe
D. Bowen Jr. (Executive officer of the 70l 5t Squadron) acting as the Conunand Pilot.
As the other survivors did, Patty Girl's regular crew remained on base. They sat
quietly and watched the cleaning team inventory and pack the belongings of those who had
not returned. The ground personnel emptied the lockers and rolled up blankets and covers.
It was the ultimate sign that a roonunate was gone.
Lieutenant Glen Lowe of the 702 nd Sqd. was waiting for transport back to the Zone
Of Interior (ZOI). He had fmished his tour earlier in September. His original bombardier,
Lt. Ira Weinstein, was MIA with Donald's crew. Lowe helped to sanitize the lives of the
missing airmen. As the personal belongings were sent back to the States, the custom was to
sort through them so nothing embarrassing would go home, such as a married man's letters
from a British girlfriend.
The FRENCH crew
After breakfast, tail gunner Herbert Schwartz and his friends proceeded to look
around the base which was a station for the Luftwaffe. "There were many wrecked FW­
190s (this was my frrst real close look at the fighter), Me-109s and Heinkel 111s. We
picked up a few souvenirs. During the morning, we saw two operational missions take off.
"This particular group of P-47s were the boys who had already gone out in support
of General Patton's ground forces. General Patton had rewarded them with champagne,
cognac, etc., which they really did appreciate as these beverages originally belonged to the
Germans.
"Our officers returned from the chateau with enough champagne and other hard