Plexiglas separates my bent frame from the receding coastline below as we head north into the Babuyan Channel toward the Luzon Straits.
I hope we find some Japs!
Scanning the horizon ahead takes my mind off the reason for this mission, but not for long.
Payback!
My eyes dart from west to east, searching for ships heading south toward the Philippines. For all eight of us, payback can’t be pushed out of our heads by any activity, especially one as mundane as searching the horizon.
Despite having the best view in the plane, I can’t see beyond the cloud cover on this overcast December day.
Payback for the attack going on at Clark Field right now that forced us to scramble into the sky only partially loaded, Payback for Pearl Harbor, payback for starting this damn war!
“Smoke at 11 o’clock,” Bean yells on the communication system.
Damn, I wanted to be the one to spot it! How’d I miss the smoke?
I swing my head back toward the west again, seeing a small dark plume rising from the water.
“Adjusting our heading to target it,” Captain Kelly informs the crew.
We’re out for blood!
Theirs, and probably ours, as we’re also out here alone: A solo mission to bomb any target of opportunity we happen to find.
Just two days after the surprise at Clark Field caught most of our bombers and fighters on the ground, we’re on a bombing mission to slow down the expected Japanese invasion of the Philippines.
“That’s a big one!” hollers Robbins, the co-pilot.
Eying the smoke stack, I can discern an outline of a large ship steaming south as part of a group of vessels.
They can only be Japs. We don’t have anything that big out here!
“Targeting the big one, got that Levin?” Cap informs me.
YES!
“Roger Captain, targeting the big one,” I reply.
Our distance should be about seven miles, give or take.
I’ve had the Norden bombsight’s gyros running since shortly after takeoff. The computer is all warmed up. Clutching in the stabilizer, my right hand grips both the turn and drift knobs, rotating them to change the heading of the plane toward the ship.
“Adjusting heading, Levin. Take it easy on that computer!” Cap calls out.
What does he expect? This is our first combat mission, and he wants me to take it easy!
“Yes, Cap,” I reply.
Engaging the telescope motor clutch, I lower my right eye to the bombsights eyepiece, using my right hand to adjust the angle so the ship shows up in the cross-hairs of the scope.
Steady.
Too much angle and I overshoot the ship.
Must rotate the stabilizers back.
Clutching the vertical stabilizers, I uncage the gyros, allowing the site to track the ship.
Drifting left, away from the target.
Correcting for the drift, I double grip the turn and drift knobs again, gently nudging them forward.
Yes, on target now, but coming in fast. Oh wait, the bomb-bay doors.
With my right hand, I flip the bay doors switch, exposing our three 600-pound bombs to the world below.
Slowly turning the rate motor switch, I reduce the rate at which the plane is approaching the target.
Alright, the cross-hairs are steady on the target.
I level up by turning the leveling knob with my left hand so the scope is aligned and both bubbles are centered.
My reference is vertical, yes!
Eye back to the eyepiece, the target has drifted away from the cross-hairs. Right hand on the vertical stabilizers, I correct with the drift knobs one more time, flipping the automatic release lever.
No more corrections now, let’s see what this computer can do!
“Computer’s got the target, Cap!” I report.
“Going steady then,” Cap Kelly retorts.
The moments tick by as our aircraft approaches the sky above the large ship. At 22,000 feet, I can’t make out much on the ship itself, but it’s a big one, that’s for sure!
Staring down at it, I wonder:
Do they even know we’re up here?
After a pause between thoughts, the plane rises with the wind to the east, catching more air because of reduced weight.
“Bombs Away!” I call out, excitedly.
“Turning off auto-pilot,” I follow, in a less enthusiastic manner.
I kinda miss controlling the plane.
My eyes stay on the large ship below. Small bursts of fire erupt from guns on its deck.
They’ve spotted us and are firing back.
A large explosion erupts at the stern of the ship sending a plume of flame skyward.
“YES! A HIT!” I scream into the coms.
“Great job Levin, but hold off on the hollering will ya!” Robbins, the co-pilot, requests.
“Let’s get this bird home,” Cap suggests.
“Splash one Jap Battleship!” Halkyard bellows from the waist-guns.
“One less battlewagon for you Japs! Ha!” Money calls out.
Captain Kelly turns our B-17 so we’re heading back toward Luzon and Clark Field.
Payback feels good!
*****
December 10, 1941 a lone U.S. Army Air Corps B-17 bomber out of Clark Field in the Philippines successfully targeted a large Japanese ship north of Luzon, initially believed to be the battleship Haruna. The ship burst into flames while the crew of the bomber turned to head back to its base. Captain Kelly reported a major sinking. This news was a huge boost of sorely needed good news just days after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the destruction of most Air Corps planes in the Philippines the next morning. For the sake of truth, there were no battleships in the area that day, and the plane slightly damaged the Japanese cruiser Natori when the ship was hit with a single 600-pound bomb.
Time Life Books The Rising Sun, 1977, page 91.
http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/9351/boeingb17cflyingfortres.jpg - graphic of early model B-17 (likely in Philippines)
http://www.stelzriede.com/ms/photos/b17d.jpg - great pic of early model B-17
