Hauser Crew – Assigned 755th Squadron – June 3, 1944

Charles Hauser and crew arrived in theater at the end of May 1944. They came to Horsham St Faith on June 3rd, and were assigned to the 755BS.  Two of the crew members, navigator Curtis Clump and gunner Ralph Hitch, both flew on D-Day, only a few days after their arrival.  Clump flew with Sam Gibson’s crew and Hitch flew with the crew of Dudley McAardle, who had flown their first mission only the day before.

The Hauser Crew’s first mission was on June 12, 1944 to an airfield near Evreux/Fauville, France. Formation plans have them flying an original 755BS ship, Last Card Louie on its 30th trip over the Continent, and according to bombardier Len Wainick’s notes, they carried 24 x 250lb bombs. The crew flew a total of nine missions in June, including one to Berlin on the 21st.

During July, the crew flew a total of 12 missions, flying three days in a row between the 6th and 8th, and later in the month they had another busy week with four missions in a row between July 16-18. During July, and for most of their missions in August and September, the crew flew B-24H-25-DT 42-51179 J3 P named Dusty’s Double Trouble. Out of their 31 missions, the crew flew this aircraft on 16 of them.

The crew were forced to abort only once during their combat tour.  On the August 12 mission to the airfield near Mourmelon, France, they experienced engine trouble and turned back.  The “Aircraft Not Attacking Report” notes, “42-51179  Not pathfinder, No sortie. Returned bomb. Pilot reported #3 engine out, #3 mixture stuck, requested check of amps on #3. Inspection revealed two rubber couplings blown out. Intercooler was broken and buckled. Both mags operate intermittently. The engine requires new mags and new intercooler”.

A combat crew was usually given a break about half-way through their combat tour. Officers and enlisted men would be given a week’s leave at a rest home, or “Flak House”. Hauser’s crew appears to not have been afforded this particular amenity, as their mission list shows, the only break the crew had longer than 7 days between missions came at the end of their tour, between August 25 and September 6.

Most of the crew were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in mid-September and a couple of weeks later they were sent to a replacement depot for return to the States.  It appears that co-pilot John Ewing remained with the group after his crew completed their tour.  He was awarded the DFC (for completed combat tour) on October 15, 1944.  He was transferred to the 752BS a few days later and went on Rest Home Leave on November 6, 1944.  It is unknown if he flew further combat missions after his first tour was complete.

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On August 18th, 1944 we flew a morning mission to bomb an aircraft factory in Metz, which was on the German/French border. It was a squadron effort of 12 planes. It was a beautiful, clear day and we had no problem in locating the target. Right after “Bombs Away” there were four bursts of flak. One took out our left inboard engine and another took out our right inboard engine.

We dropped out of the formation and attempted to return to base alone. The engineer said we were losing too much fuel and could not make it across the channel. We were getting ready to abandon the aircraft when my Navigator, Curt Clump, said we could make one of the fighter strips in Normandy and land.

We found one, I believe it was A-7, and prepared to land. We made a successful landing and taxied to the end of the runway. Instead of military personnel coming out to us, we were met by a very famous group of musicians who were touring France at that time. They were none other than — Spike Jones and His City Slickers. The airbase was one used by a P-47 group.

The engines had to be replaced. Both the P-47 and the B-24 used the same type of aircraft engines. To save the B-24, the engineer and a crew supplied by the P-47 crew chiefs put their engines on our plane. I think they were Pratt-Whitney’s. They had an extra supply plus they had a few planes they used to cannibalize to keep others flying. The engines fit perfectly into the nacelles, and that’s what they did. It took eight days to transfer two P-47 engines to our plane. While repairs were being made we went along with the band who played at various air bases and some support bases and we had a great time with them. My special contact was with Del Courtney, who made famous the song about Hitler’s moustache. After repairs were made, we returned to base and I found that all the cigarettes I had saved in my footlocker were gone. A very close pal from college days was in the 467th. When he heard we did not return he came to get those cigarettes. After the war he married my cousin–but I always made him pay for his theft every time we met for years after. Not every war story was tragic.

A further addendum to our eight day “vacation” in France. We toured around the area one day and found a French farmhouse. It was owned by a French woman. Her name was Mme. Odette Pagney. I still remember her to this day. She gave us some DAY OLD Calvados that put my co-pilot on the ground. She was a member of the French Underground and was about 40 years old. She turned her back to us, took off her blouse, and showed us her back. It was unbelievably scarred. The Gestapo wanted her to reveal names of her associates, and she denied being involved. They whipped her back and rubbed salt water into the wounds to make her talk–and she never did. I can never forget this brave woman with those brutal welts.

Len Wainick’s Mission List

1Lt Curtis W. Clump – Navigator

We joined the group, having come from Ireland, about June 3, 1944. Even though we were too newly arrived to be assigned a mssion for D-Day, I flew the first mission of the day and one of our gunners flew the third.

All of us finished 30-33 missions by the end of October.The pilots and I flew our first missions with another crew. I completed 31. I recall sitting around somewhere near Liverpool awaiting a ship home, and arriving in time for an early Thanksgiving. It was a short but high anxiety period.

There were two missions that I recall as being out of the ordinary. Both involved engine problems after the bomb run. We fell behind the formation and had to go home alone – once from Mourmelon and later from Metz. On the Metz flight we were flying with three engines functioning, running low on fuel, and were unable to make it back across the Channel so we landed at a fighter strip near St. Lo. We were there for about six days while Jack Harris, our engineer, and mechanics from the fighter group replaced our unworking engine with one from another B-24 that had been abandoned earlier. We arrived back in Horsham just in time to stop our being reported as missing. While in France for this short period, Spike Jones and his group were stationed at the base for a USO tour group. He and his men were intrigued with a bomber crew and took us around with him as he entertained at near by bases.

The other occassion was also a lone trip back towards England because of engine failure and low fuel. This time we made it back to an RAF bomber base in SE England where we were given tea while repairs were made. During this two hour or so period, every thing that was not bolted down in the plane was neatly “removed” by the Brits. We returned “home” at dusk.

We flew two planes more than any other – Last Card Louie and Briney Marlin.

755th Squadron Aircraft

B-24H-25-DT 42-51179 J3-P  Dusty’s Double Trouble, flown by Hauser on 16 of 31 missions

2Lt John R. Ewing – DFC

LtCol Walter Williamson (left) presents 2Lt John Ewing with the Distinguished Flying Cross for the successful completion of a combat tour.