Journal News, White Plains, New York, Monday, April 2, 1945

The odds were all against the bomber getting back to base. The Seventh Army Air Force Liberator had just gotten a direct hit in the nose. An anti-aircraft shell entered the plane just in front of the bombardier's compartment and 1 I ripped through the Instrument I I panel—putting the bomber out] I I of control right over the target. I ’ The shell exploded in the' cockpit between the pilot and the co-pilot, and tore a hole in the nose of the huge ship— a hole big enough for a man to crawl through. The instrument panel was a tangled mass of wires and tubes, shattered dials and twisted controls. A good many of those wires were wrapped around the pilot - Lieutenant Herbert Broemer of San Antonio. Texas. Broemer couldn't use his arms to work the controls, because the wires pinned his arms to his sides. The plane was out of control over the target for only a few seconds, because the minute the bomber was hit the uninjured crew went into action. Technical Sergeant Max Saint of Goodland, Kansas—the engineer and top turret gunner, and Lieutenant Benjamin Ross of Los Angeles, California—the bombardier—rushed to the nose of the ship and freed the pilot of his flak suit and unwrapped the tangled wires. They also rushed to the aid of the co-pilot. Lieutenant William Smith, of Gastonia. North Carolina—and the navigator—Lieutenant John Donnelly of Philadelphia to give them first aid. Both of them were seriously wounded when the shell hit. With his arms freed. Lieutenant Broemer tried the controls. There wasn't much left of them. The automatic pilot was gone. The hydraulic system had been wrecked. Practically everything else was gone. too. The air speed indicator was still ticking. But Lieutenant Broemer kept working with the controls. Finally he brought the plane's nose up and leveled it off. The plexiglass windows in the cockpit had been blown out by the shell's explosion, and the driving wind was an additional handicap for the pilot. It also kept the plane at a chilling temperature.

But the wounded were kept warm. The other crew took off some of their clothing and piled it on top of them. The engineer — Sergeant Saint - says. "From the time we were hit, we didn't change the power settings of the engines. In fact, we didn't change anything. Without instruments, we didn't know what other damage there was and it was no time to find out by trial and error. Another Liberator dropped out of formation to stay with the crippled plane and help her home. Everything went pretty well until they ran into bad weather about 60 miles from the base. Then the odds on that crippled bomber getting back dropped even lower, because the escort plane got lost from the crippled ship. Lieutenant Broemer’s bomber was left without navigator or navigating instruments. However, the radio man - Technical Sergeant George Baker of Clifton. Arizona— rigged up enough equipment to locate the base in the Marianas. All the way home, the crew had been busy repairing the hydraulic system—and had built up enough pressure to hold for a few applications of the brakes. |As the wheels touched the runway, the crew prayed the brakes would hold. Their prayers were answered. When Lieutenant Broemer applied the brakes they held, and the plane rolled to a stop. So in spite of the odds, the ship got home. The pilot and the crew of brave men brought it back.

Richard J Barron