Heavy Bombers Weekend

 

Kim Tschudy

An upfront look at Madison, taken from the nose gunner's seat, below the cockpit of the B-17 Aluminum Overcast, while on a 30 minute flight over Madison and the surrounding area communities. The nose gunner often served as the navigator or bombardier. This was one of the vulnerable spots in the B-17 as the gunner was surrounded by a bubble of glass. Their job was to protect the crew and plane from head-on attacks from enemy fighter planes.

For the past three years, the Madison chapter of the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Assn) has hosted Heavy Bombers Weekend, a week ahead of the annual EAA Fly-in at Wittman Field in Oshkosh. This annual event is the world's largest aircraft show, often hosting over 5,000 planes of all types. During the week of the EAA Fly-in, Wittman Field is the busiest airport in the world.

Heavy Bombers Weekend had an interesting start. Pete Buffington, Madison EAA chapter member, said that a number of the group had talked about all the military aircraft that flew over Madison on their way to the annual Oshkosh EAA Fly-in, and pondered the question, do you suppose we could get some of those planes to do a stop in Madison on their way to Oshkosh? From that simple pondering question, Heavy Bombers Weekend developed into an excellent history lesson for the large crowds that each July converge on Wisconsin Aviation's terminal and tarmac for an excellent working display of the war birds that helped win WWII.


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Each year, on the Thursday before the Friday-Sunday Madison event, the EAA chapter hosts a media day, during which they take up a number of WWII Veterans for a 30-minute flight over the Madison area. This year's planes were to be a Ford Tri-Motor and a C-45 Expeditor. A potential heavy-weather problem grounded the Ford Tri-Motor plane on its journey to Madison. The EAA's B-17 bomber, Aluminum Overcast, was substituted for the Tri-Motor, which made everyone on the passenger manifest quite happy.

Most of the WWII Veterans who went on this trip had been pilots or crew members on the big bombers of WWII, which included the B-17, B-24, and, at the end of the war, the B-29.

One of the veterans on this flight was Harold Babler of Monticello. For Babler, this was a first time look at the other side of the B-17. As an infantryman, Babler, like so many GIs, saw only the undersides of the big bombers as they flew overhead, dropping ordnance to provide ground cover and taking out strategic factories in Europe that furthered the German war effort.

Babler was one of many Americans who was captured by the German Army during the Battle of the Bulge during the winter of 1944-45. Babler stated that during his time as a POW he, like all American POWs, lost a lot of weight due to starvation amounts of food provided by the German Army. He said that when they were repatriated, his weight was down to 95 pounds. This is a stark contrast to the German POWs who were housed in the United States. Many of them gained 50 or more pounds while housed in Wisconsin POW camps.

Before boarding, a flight briefing was held, telling the passengers what to expect on their flight. A look at the flight manifest is a living history book of once young men who put their lives on hold to enlist in the military in a successful attempt to bring peace and sanity back to the world that was at war on two fronts, Europe and the South Pacific.

The crew chief for the B-17, Aluminum Overcast, ran over the safety rules. "You sit down and strap in until I give you a thumb's up, they you can walk through the plane." We were informed of where the first aid kits were to be found if needed, "but I'm the crew chief and I'm going to make darn sure nobody gets hurt. One last word on safety, if you walk up to the cockpit, as you walk past the bomb bay, it likes to capture cell phones and cameras. Should it get your cell phone or camera, DO NOT crawl down and stand on the bomb bay door, it holds only 80 pounds, then opens. But should you do that, be sure and grab your cell phone, because you'll get one great "selfie" as you head toward the ground." The plane landed 40 minutes later with all crewmembers and passengers accounted for. The crew chief's warning was heeded.

Among those flying were Bob Ragotzkie, a co-pilot in the 90th Bomb Group, aka The Jolly Rogers. Ragotzkie flew 25 missions from Mindoro, Philippines, to Indo China, Borneo and primarily to Formosa. He said that near the end of the war they flew to Okinawa to join other groups preparing for the invasion of Japan. On August 6th, the first atomic bomb was dropped, and the war ended within a couple of days.

Warren Webster, age 100 of Verona, wanted to fly but was turned down because he didn't have the required two years of college. Webster read of the British air training command in Canada, applied for, and was accepted into the British training. He became a P-47 Thunderbolt pilot. The P-47 was one of the most advanced planes of its time.

He said the Thunderbolt was "by far, one of the safest and best aircraft anybody had. You could beat the hell out of it, and she'll bring you back home. I came 72 miles with the top of the cylinder head blown off. It was spewing oil all over, but it got me back over the lines."

Ken Helfrecht, age 90, got his wings in March 1944 but had to wait six months before being assigned overseas. He also had a brother in the Army Signal Corps and a sister in the Medical Corps. Once he was assigned to Goxhill, England, he was introduced to the P-51. During his time in Europe, he flew 59 missions.

On April 16, 1945, during a bomber escort to Rosenheim, they encountered heavy flak and numerous German planes. His flight group claimed 42 enemy planes that day, with Helfrecht getting five planes by himself, earning him an Ace in just one day of flying.

Laurens Anderson is a retired B-24 pilot and retired Air Force Captain. Initially, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the Chemical Warfare Service of the U.S. Army. Deciding that this wasn't a good fit, he applied for a transfer to the Army Air Corps, and was accepted.

After being trained as a B-24 pilot, he was assigned a crew with a newly formed B-24 group that became attached to the 15th Air Force. In February 1944, he was deployed to Italy. Shortly after that, Italy surrendered. After V. E. (Victory Europe) Day, his outfit expected to be reassigned to the South Pacific. While on a troop ship to the South Pacific, Japan surrendered, and they were sent back to the United States.

He took up his college studies and finished out his career of 35 years at UW-Madison where he was a biochemistry professor.

For Arnold Willis, this trip was a walk down memory lane. Willis was a tail gunner on a B-17 crew stationed at Molesworth, Cambridgeshire, England. He served from September 1942 to October 1945. His crew trained in Rapid City, South Dakota, then moved to Kearney, Nebraska, where the crew picked up a new B-17 bomber, which they flew to Ireland via Gander, Newfoundland, to replace the 303rd Hell's Angels Bomb Group.

After the B-17 warmed up the engines and taxied to the far end of the runway, the pilot began revving the four engines to take-off power; the B-17 began shaking a bit under the power being held back until the pilot released the brakes. The plane quickly screamed down the runway. Pulling back on the stick, the nose quickly raised into the sky and this group of veterans was once again reaching for the clouds they knew and flew so many years ago as young 20-24 year old soldiers.

Kim Tschudy

Harold Babler sitting in the seat behind the cockpit, across the narrow walkway from the radio operators seat and radio table.

Looking through the plane you saw the same look on each of the veterans, now in their 90s, seeing their much younger selves from so long ago. But Harold Babler said it all in so few words. "I can't believe it's been 70 years ago, I just can't believe it's been 70 years ago."

Each of us, whose fathers and mothers served in WWII, would have seen, in that shared look on these men's faces, the faces of our parents, our dads who were pilots, infantrymen, mothers who were nurses and members of the WASPs (Women's Air Service Pilots). These members of the Greatest Generation, talked with us, strangers, as our military parents could never talk with us about their war experiences.

 
 

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