Â· RUEL SK

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Preface 7 My parents remembered vividly the endless formations of U.S. heavy bombers cruising slowly over Belgium, looking like small crosses shining in the sun, but sometimes smoking. After the war, my father was with the Allied occupation forces in Germany. Lucien was then a Sergeant in the Belgian Military Liaison, attached to the British XXX Corps (Here with his fiancee, Julienne, my mother, during a leave in Belgium). In the forest one day, hidden among the trees, he found the tail of a Flying Fortress. He was deeply impressed by the overall dimensions of the thing, which was as big as a fighter! This began my interest in the history of World War II. As an 8 year-old, I had adopted unusual boyhood heroes w the American bomber crews. But they seemed as unreachable as Superman was for the other kids, like they were from some twilight zone and were still fighting a never-ending World Warn. An unexpected opportunity, more than twenty years later, changed all that and led to my first trip to the States. The place was Dayton, Ohio, the date was September 1996, and the subjects of my visit were the airmen of the 44Sth Bomb Group (Heavy). Finally, this young man from Belgium had the opportunity to meet his boyhood heroes. Among this group were the survivors of the most terrible beating a Mighty Eighth Group had ever sustained. At that time, no book was fully dedicated to this aerial carnage so I decided to make my modest contribution to saving a piece of history for the generations to come. I hope you will feel this account to be something more that a mere compilation of 47 Americans telling how they had lived their September 27 th , 1944. Its sometimes laconic style is caused by the fact that I stuck to the veterans' recollections. Some are more
C<strong>RUEL</strong> <strong>SK</strong>Y 8 disposed than others to tum their emotions and memories into words. I respect this diversity so I decided to use their replies to my questionnaire as the main source of information. Some readers may be disappointed by the many characters appearing in "Cruel Sky." Be patient, it will all come together. I have written this account in a somewhat unusual way, different in style from many other books. But the structure itself is a story, telling how individuals from different backgrounds were united in combat crews. That unity, however, was shattered when the crews were shot down. In Germany, they were individuals again. I have accented the individuality of men fighting in a global conflict. The whole process seems to be out of their control but they are part of it, and consequently, involved in its evolution - both actors and spectators.
Page 1 and 2: · RUEL SK .......~, , .
Page 3 and 4: Picture credit Front cover: Aircraf
Page 5 and 6: CRUEL SKY 4 PREFACE My name is Luc
Page 7: CRUEL SKY 6 I had to wait until Mar
Page 11 and 12: 10 CRUEL SKY Also: Bill Dewey, Pres
Page 13 and 14: 12 CRUEL SKY But Gotha had been in
Page 15 and 16: 14 CRUEL SKY The crews scheduled we
Page 17 and 18: 16 CRUEL SKY civilians living near
Page 19 and 20: 18 CRUEL SKY Second Lieutenant Carr
Page 21 and 22: 20 CRUEL SKY The navigators got a d
Page 23 and 24: 22 CRUEL SKY had just been repacked
Page 25 and 26: · The Pearson crew before leaving
Page 27 and 28: 24 CRUEL SKY Crew integrity was som
Page 29 and 30: 26 CRUEL SKY "I introduced myself a
Page 31 and 32: 28 CRUEL SKY pencils, plotter, and
Page 33 and 34: 30 CRUEL SKY then, for McCormic~ th
Page 35 and 36: -----4.__. " ["""""" ..,....,.."'..
Page 37 and 38: 34 CRUEL SKY props through and chec
Page 39 and 40: 36 CRUEL SKY Pilots were now increa
Page 41 and 42: 38 CRUEL SKY In the distance, other
Page 43 and 44: High-right element High-right eleme
Page 45 and 46: •••-T ••• High-high-r
Page 47 and 48: 40 CRUEL SKY leveled off at 23,000
Page 49 and 50: 42 CRUEL SKY tower. The officer in
Page 51 and 52: 44 CRUEL SKY turret. There was a sm
Page 53 and 54: The fight 47 Chapter 3 THE FIGHT (I
Page 55 and 56: The fight 49 disbelief of what was
Page 57 and 58: J Thejight 51 The ship went down ea
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The fight 53 seconds as the plane w
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The fight 55 The SEEDS crew A fligh
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The fight 57 Sergeant Charles Graha
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The fight 59 When an FW -190 attack
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Thejight 61 time to bailout." "The
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The fight 63 The force of the explo
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The fight 65 The BRUCE crew Twenty
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The fight 67 to look at the holes i
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Thejight 69 coming down from the fl
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The fight 71 brought confinnation,
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The fight 73 from going out of cont
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Thejight 75 bullets and then he sud
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The fight 77 shell hit the top turr
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The fight 79 the fuel transfer cont
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The modem knight A waist gunner re
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The Bail Out 81 Chapter 4 THE BAILO
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The Bail Out 83 Pilot Raphael Carro
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The Bail Out 85 "The jailer was qui
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The BailOut 87 Left waist gunner Wa
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The Bail Out 89 "About 40 minutes l
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The BailOut 91 to dump my chute. He
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The Bail Out 93 cord which would op
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The Bail Out 95 godly. With reinfor
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The Bail Out 97 "The questioning be
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The BailOut 99 Tail gunner Frank T.
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The Bail Out 101 "After a few minut
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The Bail Out 103 obviously a projec
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The Bail Out 105 the Jerries wanted
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The Way Back 107 Chapter 5 THE WAY
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The Way Back 109 navigator. Everyth
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The Way Back III flak opened up on
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The Way Back 113 storm of shells. A
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The Way Back 115 landing. Pilot Jac
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The Way Back 117 The SWOFFORD crew
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The Way Back 119 calling out all la
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The Way Back 121 MORE AFTERMATH Lie
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The Way Back 123 could not sleep. A
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The Aftermath 125 Chapter 6 THE DA
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The Aftermath 127 33 out of39 (sic)
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The Aftermath 129 Raymond Ray: (A p
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The Aftermath 131 sounded like ciga
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The Aftermath 133 most I could eat
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The Aftermath 135 later that I had
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138 CRUEL SKY The survIvors of the
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140 CRUEL SKY LEAD SQD 700 TH BS -
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142 CRUEL SKY ~Q~~02ndBS-~ 1 st Lt
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144 CRUEL SKY HIGH-HIGH RIGHT SQD 7
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l46 CRUEL SKY LOW LEFT Second eleme
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148 CRUEL SKY Annex II: "A navigati
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150 CRUE1JSKY There is one major ar
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152 CRUEL SKY S/Sgt. 1. A. Reardon,
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Â· RUEL SK

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