Captain Harry R. Ankeny's Combat Diary
Page 6
starting out as tail-end Charlie in Lt. Col. Egenes flight.
Both Egenes and Williams aborted before we hit the enemy
coast so I finally joined up with Capt. Broadhead and he
gave me a pretty rough time, we returned home directly when
we heard the mission had been scrubbed and the bombers did
likewise after they dropped their bombs on a nearby city -
probably Hamburg.
MISSION # 5 5th March '44
This mission was perhaps the prettiest one we have
had so far and the kind we all like. We were briefed to
fly direct to Bordeaux, France, which lies in Southern France
only 100 miles north of Spain on the Atlantic coast. The main
reason we enjoyed it so much was we knew if we went down the
weather would be warm, not snowy and cold as in Germany and
going down in southern France would be ideal from the point
of view of escape. All we'd have to do is cross the Pyrenees
and on into Madrid and back home. Well, we took off at 0852,
the mission being 1235 miles the way we were briefed. Actually
we covered probably 1500 miles non-stop. The bombers were to
bomb the Folk-Wolf factory and experimental field and we were
along for protection. Everything went fine, we picked up the
B17's in the middle of France, the P47's returned home and we
escorted them close all the way in. It was a beautiful trip,
the sky was clear and the bombing results were excellent.
Smoke really poured up soon after the bombs had hit. I was
flying Lt. Becker's wing in Lt. Col. Egenes flight and we
started in a dive just west of town and by the time we got to the
airplane, a ME109 about four other boys were hot on his tail.
We pulled off and left. Coming home we came up the coast,
perhaps 50 miles inland and left France directly over the Cher-
bourg peninsula. Hit Beachy Head on England's coast, right
over London and back to the base. Our group commander was
lost on this mission. This was quite a blow because he was a
real leader--Col. H. R. Spicer. His only fault was that he
took too many unnecessary chances. Coming back from Bordeaux
he and Lt. Pugh flew on the deck, skimming church steeples,
towns, and even went right over a radar station. Nearing the
coast near LaHavre they came up over a hill and all hell broke
loose. Lt. Pugh's ship came thru OK but Col. Spicer's was hit
badly. He carried on and finally bailed out in the bay of
LaHavre. He was a little too near the enemy coast for Air-Sea
Rescue to get. The buzzing airfields, etc. is not too safe
we decided.
Note: Chuck Yeager shot down on this flight.
Spicer - later Lt Gen AAF
363rd F.S.
Copyright © 1996, Harry R. Ankeny