Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

D-Day WW2
http://www.381st.org/ ^ | 6-6-03 | Paul Watson

Posted on 06/06/2003 11:46:07 AM PDT by pwatson

B-17's and Saving Private Ryan

My father, Colonel E. Stuart Watson, was a B-17 bomber pilot in World War II. Based in England, he flew 47 missions over enemy territory, and on D-Day he led 18 aircraft of the 8th Air Force 381'st bomb group and the 533ed squadron over Omaha Beach to bomb the German emplacements. http://www.381st.org/

The battle plan called for a closely timed and coordinated attack. The planes would bomb soon after sunup and the troops would land about an hour later. It was a beautiful day and the site of the Battleship Texas shooting all 16” guns sliding the ship side ways was spectacular, they could even see the red hot projectiles streaking inland and exploding on the ground miles away. The entire ocean was covered with Allied ships and boats of every conceivable kind, it was a beautiful and spectacular view aside from the fact it was War. The 8th Air Force was to send squadron's of B-17's, each carrying sixteen 500-lb bombs. Some planes carried one or two 1000-lb concrete-piercing bombs, intended to destroy fortified bunkers and pillboxes on the cliffs overlooking the beach. At a relatively low 10,000 foot altitude, they flew from the ocean straight inland across the shore. They were to start dropping bombs in the water offshore where the Germans had placed obstacles, and continue to drop one every 75 feet across the beach and into the fortifications.

Instead, as they approached, they encountered a solid undercast of cloud cover such as is commonly found along ocean beaches. Visually, they could not see the shore. The bombardier in Dad's plane had radar, enabling him to see the target, but not the troops on the ground. The Norden bomb site flew the B17 on automatic pilot and the bombardier would place a cross hair on the intended target, dial in airspeed and cross wind and when the cross hair matched the target one it electrically dropped the bombs, the other planes would manually drop as soon as they saw the bombs drop from the lead plane. Not wanting to risk hitting our men, unknown to my dad, the bombardier worried that American’s might be on the beach, so he set the target a little past the shore. There wasn't time to consult my father, who was the wing commander that day. Had he been asked, he would have ordered the drop as planned. A good battle plan, conceived and thought out while not under duress, is best followed through. Things never go exactly right in the heat of action. But as it happened, on this day, the beach landing craft had encountered high seas and begun to take on water, with the result that the troops were many minutes behind schedule hitting the beach. All Dad's bombs fell behind the cliffs. Apparently a lot of the 8th Air Force had the same result that day. Probably some of the German communications were disrupted, but the American troops found much of the pillboxes and machine guns intact and manned by well-trained and ready gunners. It was a duck shoot. Many surviving troops still hold the Air Force responsible for their heavy losses to this day.

After my father went to see “Saving Private Ryan” for the third time he told us this story for the first time ever, while we were in line for the movie. It was obvious he held a lot of personal grief over what had happened. This movie, unlike no other, was bringing out all of the emotions and memories of the war that My dad and many others from the “Greatest Generation” had quietly buried not wanting to shame the memory of all those greater men than they who had given the ultimate sacrifice to ones country. All the surviving WW11 men were heroes but they did not see it that way, they felt ashamed that so many better men than they had died and some how they were returning home to start a new life and new family when so many others never would.


TOPICS: US: Texas; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: dday; wwii

1 posted on 06/06/2003 11:46:07 AM PDT by pwatson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: pwatson
Our nation will cease when we stop honoring our past, in all its glory and pain.
2 posted on 06/06/2003 11:56:51 AM PDT by TheWillardHotel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pwatson
Your father was a hero.

My Uncle was also a B-17 pilot, he paid the full price.

God bless them all.

3 posted on 06/06/2003 11:57:41 AM PDT by Protagoras (Putting government in charge of morality is like putting pedophiles in charge of children.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pwatson
God bless him!!
4 posted on 06/06/2003 12:00:58 PM PDT by areafiftyone (The U.N. needs a good Flush!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pwatson
I was a fan of the USS Texas when I lived in Houston, still on static display there today. It would have been cool to see it in action, delivering broadsides at Normandy (But it has 14 inchers, not 16 inch like the Iowa class).

A few weeks after D-Day, the Texas had its best fight, when it dueled with a large German gun emplacement (most of its other action was shelling places that didn't have the ability to hit back). The ship took a couple of hits, and it didn't take out the guns themselves, but it destroyed enough of the gun infrastructure that the Germans abandoned it the next day.

5 posted on 06/06/2003 12:10:24 PM PDT by narby (Rachael Carson: History's biggest mass murderer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pwatson
From Stephan Ambrose's book, TO AMERICA)

In my interviews with World War II veterans, they sometimes tell me that the reason they fought was that they had learned as children the difference between right and wrong and they didn't want to live in a world in which wrong prevailed, so they fought. Right there, I think, one hears the voice of Theodore Roosevelt ringing in the words of soldiers born after his death. It seems to me that perhaps our greatest strength is that American kids are brought up to know right from wrong. And of all our Presidents, the one who used the words "right" and "wrong" more than any other, who did the most to exalt right-doing, was Theodore Roosevelt.

(Note: TR might be overtaken by George W. Bush before his tenure is through)

6 posted on 06/06/2003 12:12:22 PM PDT by My2Cents ("Well....there you go again.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pwatson
Please set your father straight for me. Anyone who was anywhere near the Normandy coast on D-Day ranks among some of the bravest humans that ever lived. Salute.

Steven Ambrose commented that the air bombings behind the coastline and the wide dispersal of paratroopers had the effect of confusing the German troops - they didn't know where the front line was. As a consequence of this, there was little movement from German position to position, which kept them from reinforcing.
7 posted on 06/06/2003 12:16:16 PM PDT by kidd
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pwatson
Good post. My father-in-law was a B-24/B17 pilot in 8AF. His group, the 493BG flew its first combat mission on 6 Jun 1944. They were the last heavy bomb group to join the 8th AF. 493d initally flew B-24's, then transistioned to B-17s so that the entire 3d Air Division was B-17 equipped, thus greatly simplifing mission planning and mission execution with the 3 Air Division.

Bomber crews always had misgivings when asked to provide support close to ground troops. They understood the difficulties of hitting the pickle barrel. When 1st Army attempted the breakout from the Normandy Bridgehead (Operation Cobra), Bradley asked for close support from 8th AF. Several of the bombing runs came up short, landing on friendly troops. Hundreds were killed, including LTG Leslie J. McNair, commander of Army Ground Forces.
8 posted on 06/06/2003 12:20:19 PM PDT by centurion316
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: narby
You know I kind of figured I would get that size wrong, my dad will kick my butt, he hates it when I get facts off, I am sure he knows the correct size. I had not heard of that battle, I re-toured the Texas about 4 years ago, its a small ship by todays standards but I think they said its the last WW1 dreadnought left. My dad is 85 and lives in Richardson Texas and he and I talk Politics, He and George Bush were both Harken Oil boards members, and War alot, I am very lucky to have him around still.
9 posted on 06/06/2003 12:50:53 PM PDT by pwatson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: pwatson
Here's a nice image of Omaha Beach's defenses.


10 posted on 06/06/2003 1:04:05 PM PDT by Charles Martel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pwatson
just happened to see this pic at Yahoo News today



Fri Jun 6,12:41 PM ET An historic aerial hand out image taken by the U.S. Air Force, realeased June 6, 2003, shows the eastern section of the beach codenamed Omaha, during the Second World War. The image, taken on June 6, 1944 at apprximately 1000BST by U.S. forces, shows the location where allied forces invaded Nazi-occupied France on D-Day under heavy resistance, resulting in more than 3,000 allied forces wounded or killed. ( MANDATORY CAPTION MUST INCLUDE 'Imagery courtesy Keele University Aerial Photgraphic Library and www.historicairphotos.com' ) ( NO ARCHIVE ) REUTERS/The Geoinformation Group
11 posted on 06/06/2003 1:19:44 PM PDT by Bars4Bill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pwatson; snippy_about_it; Victoria Delsoul; AntiJen
Thanks for the post and a different perspective on D-Day.

I thank your father for his service.

12 posted on 06/06/2003 2:48:30 PM PDT by SAMWolf (Do ghost trains stop at manife-stations?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pwatson
bump
13 posted on 06/06/2003 3:17:16 PM PDT by VOA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Comment #14 Removed by Moderator

To: pwatson
bump
15 posted on 06/06/2003 7:30:16 PM PDT by VOA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson