Hayzlett Crew – Assigned 752nd Squadron – June 6, 1944

The Hayzlett Crew were originally assigned to the 752BS on D-Day. Hayzlett is listed on formation plans as the pilot of FLAK MAGNET II four days later, for what appears to have been the crew’s first combat mission to an airfield near Chateaudun, France. The crew flew again on June 12th and 14th, again to targets in France. On the 15th they were forced to abort the mission due to an oil leak in the number three engine. They were able to complete eight combat flights by the end of June.

On July 8, 1944, the group’s target was a railroad bridge near Anizy, France. The mission was recalled due to 10/10ths cloud cover over the target, but all crews received mission credit. The next mission flown was on July 20th (the 458BG’s 100th Mission) to an aircraft engine factory at Eisenach, Germany, the crew first mission to the Reich. The 12-day gap between these two missions was most likely filled by lead-crew training, as on their next mission on July 25th they flew deputy group lead with LtCol Paul Schwartz as command pilot.

In August, Hayzlett and crew flew a total of eight missions, all but one of these as a lead crew. Five of these missions were to targets in France, two to Germany and one to Belgium. One of the French targets, a railroad bridge near LeFoulon, France on August 17th, was an AZON mission with Major John Hensler as command pilot leading the formation of ten aircraft. The group historian summed up the mission, “Due to 10/10ths clouds at target no bombs were dropped. No E/A encountered neither did the formation see any flak. All A/C returned to base bringing bomb loads back.”

It was in the second week of August that co-pilot, Lt Robert Stoesser appears to have received a crew of his own. With the co-pilot’s seat being taken by a command pilot on lead crews, there was not much need for a third trained pilot on board. Stoesser’s first mission as aircraft commander was on August 11th. Many of the crew were individual replacements or otherwise had been displaced from their original crews in one way or another.  Towards the latter part of Stoesser’s tour in November, several his crew were men who had been re-classified from ground duty to flight status. Records indicate that Stoesser completed his combat tour at the end of November 1944.

In September 1944, the 458BG, along with several other 2nd Bombardment Division B-24 groups, were pulled from combat operations to fly gasoline supply missions to Patton’s army in France. Throughout the month, the group dispatched 494 aircraft with 456 successfully arriving at their destinations with a very volatile cargo. When these “Truckin’ Missions” as they were known, were complete, the group had delivered 727,160 gallons of fuel.  Seven 458th crews and aircraft were lost either to accidents or enemy action.  The Hayzlett crew participated in four of these flights towards the end of the month.

The 458th resumed combat flights on October 5, 1944.  Hayzlett flew a total of three missions in October. On the 24th of that month, the squadrons were shuffled around, with lead crews all being consolidated in the 755BS, and those wing (non-lead) crews in the 755th scattered amongst the 752nd, 753rd and 754th squadrons. As a lead, the crew did not fly as often as wing crews, so it would take them longer to complete a tour.

November saw the crew fly another three missions, as did December, although one was recalled before the group crossed the Dutch coast, and no mission credit was given.  The crew also flew the weather ship on the last day of the year. In late November, Hayzlett would lose navigator Jackson Granholm due to his promotion to Station and Group Navigator.

A full month would pass before they flew combat again, this time to Brunswick on January 31st with Major Breeding in group lead.  The mission was recalled due to poor weather, but all crews were given sortie credit. On the 27th of January, bombardier Eddie Gniewkowski was appointed Assistant Group Bombardier.

Hayzlett would complete his combat tour in February with two missions flown, although one was an abort. The mission to Magdeburg on the 14th, the primary was an oil refinery, but the group had to divert to the secondary, which were the marshalling yards. Hayzlett, with Major Speer as command pilot were leading the group, but had to abort due to “Mickey equipment failure.” Hayzlett flew his last mission the next day, but apparently as a wing crew, as no command pilot is listed, and formation plans show him tucked behind the left wing of the lead in the third squadron.

Most of the crew were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in February 1945, and returned to the States in March.

After the war, Jackson Granholm, navigator on the Hayzlett Crew, wrote a book, The Day We Bombed Switzerland, about his experiences with the group, detailing his training as a navigator and later with his crew. He describes his time flying combat in the 458th in great detail, and gives a number of incidents that are not to be found in the official records. After flying as a navigator on a lead crew, he was elevated to Station and Group Navigator, effectively removing him from combat flights. The duties of the Group Navigator would have him working countless hours on the ground in order to prepare routes and maps for each of the group’s missions.

In March 1944, a flight from the 392BG inadvertently veered into Swiss airspace and dropped a stick of bombs on the city of Zurich. In May, after the war had ended, the pilot and navigator of the lead aircraft were court-martialed. Chosen as lead for their defense, was Captain Granholm. With his expertise as a navigator, the high-brass deemed him essential to the defense of the accused. Presiding over the courts-martial was Colonel Jimmy Stewart, the actor who had flown 20 combat missions in B-24s. Granholm’s account of the proceedings is a fascinating look into a little known event that sparked an international incident.

1Lt Eddie Gniewkowski – Asst Group Bombardier