'Bomb Group'
The triumphs and tragedies of the 381st Bomb Group flying B-17s in the last week of 1943 - a story typical of the US Eighth Air Force in Britain

This week’s excerpt comes from Bomb Group: The Eighth Air Force's 381st and the Allied Air Offensive Over Europe.
This is the story of just one "Bomb Group"- the 381st, which crossed the Atlantic in May 1943. Arriving at RAF Ridgewell on the Essex-Suffolk border, its airmen quickly found themselves thrown into the hazardous and attritional air battle raging in the skies over Europe. The 381st's path led from its formation in the Texan desert, to its 297th and final bombing mission deep into the heart of Hitler's Third Reich. This is the remarkable story of one group and the part it played in the strategic bombing campaign of "The Mighty Eighth."
The following excerpt covers the life of the 381st Bomb Group from Christmas 1943 to the end of the year:
In early December, Temporary Air Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, commander- in-chief of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force had been authorized to begin attacking “ski sites,” areas in the Pas-de-Calais region and on the Cherbourg peninsula that were thought to be concealing missile launch sites. Under the codename Crossbow, attacks had begun on the sites, using the codeword “Noball.”
On Christmas Eve, VIII BC selected several “Noball” sites in the Pas-de-Calais region for its 164th mission. Over 700 heavy bombers—the largest number of aircraft for a single mission to date—were to make the first major strike against the “ski sites.” When the map was uncovered in the briefing room there were loud cheers. Images were then projected showing a small target area shrouded by trees, which included several buildings shaped like skis. The 381st was heading for Cocove on what was being dubbed the “rocket gun coast.”
Two hours later, 26 B-17s began lifting off into a clear sky. Ernest Gaillard had chosen to observe the raid on his first combat mission.
“I was surprised at my experiencing no fear or apprehension at any time,” he wrote. “The only reaction that I had was at the time we were receiving flak hits and I wondered just what in the hell I was doing up there instead of back down on the ground where I belonged.”
Gaillard instinctively went to look out of the waist window at the flak but was “unceremoniously grabbed by the tail” and shoved down by the waist gunner.31
The concealment of the targets and the individual aiming points saw the group make several runs over the site. John Comer, flying his 23rd mission, was wincing at the flak barrage.
“Burst after burst exploded in the middle of the squadron,” he recalled. “It was incredible that with so much accuracy and so many shells thrown at us, no direct hits were made.”
Fragments showered the B-17s as they passed high overhead. When the 381st’s bombers had finally delivered their loads, they escaped back across the English Channel to Ridgewell. Once on the ground, Comer counted 55 flak holes in his B-17. Another had over 200. Fortunately, all 281 airmen, including Ernest Gaillard, were safe.

Chaplain James Good Brown was relieved that the mission had gone well. That evening, a Christmas Eve carol service was held, with the 381st’s quartet providing the musical entertainment. As navigator David McCarthy observed, “the latent talent exhibited … was another indication of the injustice of war. In another time and place, these men would have been stars of the musical stage.”
The fifth Christmas of World War II was the 381st’s first. There was no mission planned because of poor weather conditions. At 0800, a short service was held at the base chapel and, for the rest of the day, the base loudspeaker system played Christmas carols. The airmen had been ordered not to use public transport so British soldiers could get home. Despite numerous invitations from local people to attend Christmas lunch at their homes, most of the men chose to attend the base feast.
On Boxing Day, the locals then got their chance to sample the delights of American ice cream. James Good Brown had planned a children’s party for some time. “Here we are in their midst, yet they are not allowed on the base,” he noted.
Instead of the anticipated 250 children arriving at his chapel, though, almost 400 appeared. Squeezed into the building, the children were shown a movie before being given gifts, most of which had been donated by the airmen.
* * *
Bad weather persisted over Europe. On December 28, a mission to the “rocket gun coast” was scrubbed. For several days, VIII BC remained grounded, although its groups continued with their work. The 381st welcomed new crews, who were soon carrying out practice flights over England. The next day, 1st Lt. Bill B. Ridley took off in John Comer’s former B-17F, Nip and Tuck, which had had its name changed to Chug-a-lug. Ridley’s training flight was going well until, in poor visibility, he hit some trees in Wiltshire. The B-17 remained in the air, but severe vibrations caused him to force-land in a field at Maiden Bradley. Ridley and his crew were unhurt, but the aircraft was written off.
A day later, the crews awoke to clear skies. John Comer was keen to get back in the air with just two of his 25 missions remaining. Comer’s pilot, Paul Gleichauf, was flying his 25th. Theirs was one of 28 crews scheduled to attack Ludwigshafen’s port areas and oil refineries.
Taking off at 0800, the 381st was assembled into its formation 80 minutes later. Although many of the crews weren’t aware, Joe Nazzaro was flying his final mission before taking up his new role as deputy director of USSTAF operations—one that would see him oversee the operations of both the Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces. The mission was also being flown by a new member, Lt. Col. Harry P. Leber, Jr., who’d been transferred in as air executive. He was set to take over from Nazzaro after the mission.
Despite head-on fighter attacks near the target, all 28 of the 381st’s B-17s dropped as planned. Turning back for England, no fewer than 13 men were praying their aircraft would make it. Paul Gleichauf was one. As he guided the B-17 across Le Havre and out over the English Channel, he became a happy man.
“[He] began to whoop and sing snatches of songs,” recalled John Comer. “That was the only time I saw Paul Gleichauf act up in the cockpit of a B-17.”
On arrival back at Ridgewell, Gleichauf planned a ceremonial buzz. However, his wing man was sticking tightly to him. Unperturbed, Gleichauf dived to low level before screaming past the control tower, the other B-17 still alongside. “I imagine there were explosions of unprintable words in the control tower,” noted John Comer.36 Amid the joy of Paul Gleichauf and several others who’d finished their tours, one of the 381st’s B-17s arrived back with a dead crewman. Somewhere over the Channel, radio operator Curtis W. Hickman’s oxygen supply had failed. By the time the crew noticed him slumped in his chair, it was too late. Despite attempts to revive him for almost an hour, Hickman was pronounced dead on arrival.
* * *
Twenty-six 381st crews were hoping their journey on New Year’s Eve 1943 would end safely - and with a party at Ridgewell. First, they would have to negotiate a one-thousand-mile round-trip, avoid flak and fighters along the way, and successfully bomb Bordeaux’s Merignac airfield.
At 0900, the B-17s left Ridgewell bound for their assembly area over Weymouth, Dorset. Once there, the 381st formed up with another three groups of the 1st BD. In total, VIII BC had dispatched almost 600 heavy bombers for an assault on several Luftwaffe airfields in southwestern France. The 381st’s route to its primary target would take it south of Bordeaux, before swinging north for its attack. It was expected to be a long mission, taking over eight hours to complete.
At around 1230, the formation neared the IP when the Luftwaffe appeared—Fw 190s vectoring in towards the 381st’s high squadron. One of the group’s newest B-17Gs, which had been assigned just 11 days earlier, was struck by a hail of machine gun bullets. In the shattered nose, the bombardier, 2nd Lt. Harry M. Grimball, Jr., was hit in the legs and severely wounded. The navigator, 2nd Lt. Cornelius A. Heintz, Jr., had also been hit. Their B-17 fell behind the rest of the formation and its bombs were jettisoned. The pilot, 2nd Lt. Earl B. Duarte, then caught up with the formation, but with one engine windmilling and another smoking, he elected to turn right and head towards Spain.
With severe damage and wounded crew members, Duarte was soon left with no choice but to order his crew to bail-out. All 10 men jumped and the aircraft crashed on farmland close to the outskirts of Toulouse. Seven of the crew were quickly captured, but Duarte and his co-pilot, 2nd Lt. Glen A. McCabe, along with their engineer, Sgt. Russell N. Jevons, made their escape. The latter would subsequently be captured two months later, while both Duarte and McCabe made it back to England.
James Good Brown was concerned when the B-17s hadn’t arrived back as scheduled. He called the tower to be told that the field was closed because of poor weather. One of the 381st’s B-17s had landed on the south coast having run short of fuel over the Channel. The others were scattered all over the southeast of England. The eagerly awaited New Year’s Eve party at the officers’ club would have to wait.
Seven B-17s did manage to make it back, including one flown by the 535th’s commanding officer, Capt. Frank Chapman. He’d just completed his 24th mission and wanted desperately to land at his own field. When James Good Brown caught up with him, he was struck by Chapman’s demeanor.
“I saw that he did not smile with his usual ease,” noted Brown. “The tension is there which comes to all men when they face the last one.”
Chapman was certainly sweating out his last one, but he’d also asked to be relieved of the position of squadron commander. Brown was stunned. “The position was laid on his shoulders at 21 years of age because he was one of the few … who had not gone down in combat. But he knew he was not the type for the job.”
© Paul Bingley and Mike Peters 2022, Bomb Group. Reproduced courtesy of Casemate Publishers
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