From: "The 464th Bomb Group In World War II"
By Michael Hill and Betty Karle
ISBN 0-7643-1628-1
This excerpt describes Raymond Farquhar's final mission
The fliers of the 464th were back in the air on the
16th (of October 1944). They had been forced into a 48 hour stand down due to
bad weather at Pantanella and over Europe. It seemed that the weather was becoming
more of a factor in the war than the German defense, that is if that was at
all possible.
The mission briefing called for 36 B-24s from the 464th
to launch at 0650 and hit the St. Valentin Tank works at Linz Austria. Oh goodie,
another trip to scenic Austria. The bladder buster would be led by Maj. William
Moore, while the second attack would be led by Lt. Dean Lovitt.
Four planes aborted the mission. The three spare aircraft
that had taken off that morning moved to the vacant spots within the boxes as
the formation headed out over the Adriatic. At the usual turn point, the group
banked and headed for the Yugoslav coast.
As the planes flew over the mountains the flight crews
were treated to a beautiful sight. There below was a vista of bright colors
form the changing foliage. Hues of red, yellow, and blazing orange spotted by
green passed below as the bombers flew over. For a fleeting moment it gave some
of the men a thought of back home in the United States. If they survive the
mission, maybe they would write home about the site they had seen.
According to the briefing flimsy, the fighter escort
was supposed to show up at 1010. Sure enough, right on time about 40 P-38s crossed
over the formation and took their position to cover the bomber stream.
At 1015 Maj. Moore signaled that he was loosing oil
pressure on his #1 engine. He pulled FLAKMAN (42-95332) out of formation and
headed back towards Italy. Lt. Donald Nann, Deputy Lead, slid his B-24 into
the vacant slot and assumed the lead.
The reshuffle of the bomber deck resulted in the formation
drifting about 20 miles off course to the right of the main formation of the
55th Wing. By the time the Key Point was reached, the 464th was back where they
should be and on course.
At the IP, the group found the ground almost hidden
by clouds. It looked like it was going to be a "Mickey" run. The group turned
at the IP and started for the target. The radar had already been turned up and
was working just the way it was suppose to. The "Mickey" men started calling
range and course corrections to the bombardiers.
Two minutes before the release point the flak opened
up. Not bad at first, but as the group moved closer to the target, the flak
moved closer to them. From the waists of many of the B24s clouds of silver metallic
chaff blossomed in the slipstream. For a few moments it seemed that the more
chaff they threw, the more flak was thrown up at them.
At the release point, flak seemed to fill every corner
of the sky, no matter how much chaff the gunners threw out. They had only been
in the flak for a couple of minutes, and already that was too long.
At 1136, the radar and bombardier agreed that it was
time for Bombs away. Thirty three of the 34 planes dropped their loads towards
the undercast. One plane did not drop because the release lever had broken.
As the group began to rally the flak caught up with
42-51389, flown by Lt. William Lee and crew (Raymond
Farquhar as Navigator) from the 776th. The burst scored a direct hit on the
#1 engine, which exploded and caught fire. The fire spread across the wing.
Lt. Lee rang the bail out bell, and the co-pilot Robert Keller and Sgt. Sidney
Elder jumped from the burning plane. The B-24 fell from the formation. The fire
eaten left wing folded, and the plane spiraled into the clouds, taking the rest
of the crew with her (MACR 9132).
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Note: Betty Karle's brother, Lt. John James, was in Ray's squadron.
John James was killed in action in August of 1944 when his plane,
Little Lulu was shot down.
Copyright to the above belongs to the authors. It has been used with their permission