Tidal Wave Footage Photos, 15th AAF and Luftwaffe, 'Black Sunday', 1 August 1943

Over Yugoslavia

This post has been edited by alexkdl on March 08, 2005 03:25 pm

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Walt to Ploesti

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Walt cockpit seen during the flight to Ploesti

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Walt crew getting ready for action

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LWG of UTAH MAN

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Letting down for Danuba

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there are a few sequences of ARR at Mizil too. one even in colour or recoloured

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Bucharest in colour




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Enroute to Ploesti, Walt Co Pilot in colour

Al

This post has been edited by alexkdl on March 08, 2005 05:38 pm

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In those days it took a 30 year old to write a letter like that. I don;t think I ever wrote my mother and told her about missions,,only like, I went to London on a
3 day pass and got a nice silver vase for you...etc...

Us youngsters never thought of writing home prior to TW, or a least I cant remember anyone writing Mom the nite before.

When sitting on my butt in Ankara and dancing with the ugly daughter of the Ambassador, I had time to write but all the letters were censored, we couldnt mention where we were, so what could you write about....

I do appreciate Al's surfing and finding those lost messages. McCormicks letter was another great one.

Keep up the good work

Al ( This is an other Al not me !)

The Earl of Chicago, I outrank Baron Whalen.

Walt

I dont know if you gonna go through this ,or your son is gonna read it....though let me say this I saw today for the first time A Wing and A Prayer and its an outstanding work ....I took some digital shots of the several sequences which I thought should be seen too by our Rumanian friends and posted them at the ARR Forum. I had the opportunity to see more photos of Hugh too.

Before seeing this video I thought you adopted the name from the WWII USN movie with the same title but I guess I was totally wrong.

Walt or anyone close to Walt ,allow me a personal question ...why did it take over 45 years or more for the US Congress to award you the DFSC ? what the heck was going on in WA... ?


Alex

This post has been edited by alexkdl on March 08, 2005 06:03 pm

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Earl:

Thanks for the comments and the kind words. It would be interesting to know
how many guys wrote "last letters" the night before TW, and how many figured
they were invulnerable -- so why bother. (I suppose there was a third
category... the ones who spent the evening at the Officer's Bar!)

I'm wary of posting the article in question on the TW site due to copyright
restrictions, but here is the "last letter" referred to, written by Ernest
Eugene Gough of the Thomas crew, 98th BG, who flew "Aire Lobo" to Ploesti --

Regards,
Al S.

==========================

Middle East


July 31, 1943


Dear Family:


This letter will not be sent to you unless I am reported missing, so in that
case this is one letter I hope you do not receive. But we might as well face
facts, which is just what I am writing this letter for.


Tomorrow we are going on what is considered a fairly dangerous mission, and
what is also considered by our high command, so they told us today. The most
important one of the war so far, one that they say if carried out like it should
be, will shorten the war months, and save many lives so we consider it very
important.


In case I do not return I want you all to know that I think my life will not
have been spent in vain, and I want you to stick your chins out and not wear
mourning for me.


This sort of letter is very hard for me to write, and I am sure you can
understand why. There are so many things I would like to say, but I can't get them
out. There are so many things I would like to have done with my life. I would
like to have repaid you in some small way for the things you did without
during our childhood, so that we could have more things that mean so much to
children.


I hope that what little I have left you will in some way make it up to you.
Perhaps I should have written out a will, but after all I do not have enough to
bother with. Dad if you need proof you can use this as my will.


To my beloved parents I leave all my worldly possessions, Cash, Bonds, and
Property to be disposed of as they see fit, as for my few personal possessions I
would like my Brothers and Sisters to have whatever they want of them, more
to remember me by than anything else. I realize I don't have many things of any
value.


To My Little niece Luanne Mahlinger I leave a 100.00 Bond to be kept by her
parents until she reaches her Sixteenth Birthday and then to be used to buy a
nice Birthday gift, something that she really wants.


To My Little nephew Sonny Wells, I leave a 100.00 Bond to be used for the
same purpose to buy a Birthday gift on his Sixteenth Birthday. I wish with all my
heart I could have seen both of you, Sonny and Luanne, but sometimes the Lord
has other plans for us.


To all of my family I leave all my love and Best Wishes for a better life in
the future and with the fervent prayer that a better world will be created out
of all this mess. I want you to know that I am, and always have been since I
came overseas in the best of spirits so keep your spirits up. God Bless all of
you.


Your Loving Son and Brother


Ernest E. Gough


U.S. Army Air Force

Hi Al,

The part of the letter that stated that he was instructed to write a letter
home is right on the money but he left out that he was to also pack your B4
bag and place it on your cot with the letter on top.

After seeing the movie the British and Americans made of the run-up to the
targets, telling us that the Romanians would probably be manning the guns
BUT DON'T WORRY THEY MIGHT JUST GO AN HIDE AS THEY WERE TIRED OF THE WAR was just 100% WRONG.....

The Air Force knew it would be bad but when Compton messed up the plan by turning at the wrong town the plan became a suicide mission.

The German's knew our plan so they placed that FLAK train at the
precise place to intercept the planes. Had Compton stayed on course he would
have had the losses like the rest of us. But his loss factor was just 10%
while everyone else who hit their targets or hit some one else's had loss
factors of 30 to almost 45%. The Air Force should have court marshaled
Compton but his buddies looked out after him. Compton's group lost one
plane to engine trouble landed in Turkey, one plane in the water before
turning into land and one guy who turned back because he was not following
rules and left formation to follow the plane that went into the water.

See ya Al,
Col.Bob Sternfel /USAF
(SANDMAN)

This post has been edited by alexkdl on March 09, 2005 06:18 am

I'v made the corrections to the "Jose Carioca" crew.
Thanks Joe. If you find more pictures with Jose Carioca crew let me know.


Cheers,
Dan.

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Thanks again Dan

Al