FALL OF HERMES

Air Classics, Jul 2004 by Pahl, Gerard

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A YOUNG GREEK IMMIGRANT P-47 THUNDERBOLT PILOT DURING WORLD WAR TWO

"Postgate White 3, check your six! Elmer, bandits on P your tail!" It was too late. Wolfpack pilot Arthur "Elmer" Sugas' massive Republic Thunderbolt was in a sickening spiral towards earth, its pilot unresponsive to the pleas of wingman Lt. George Compton. Throughout the summer of 1943, the Eighth Air Force had been flexing its burgeoning muscle, making harrowing daylight raids into enemy occupied territory - striking even into the heart of Nazi Germany. Just a few weeks prior, near the end of July, bombers from the Eighth participated in "Blitz Week," the heaviest bombing missions against the Reich in the Eighth's history to that point. As the good weather continued, the B-17s kept up their attacks with Operation Starkey beginning the third week in August.

The strategic objective was to convince the German high command that an invasion was imminent and that Pas de Calais was the point of disembarkation. While the true invasion was almost a year away, the Russian and Mediterranean fronts were under tremendous pressure and it was hoped that the harried enemy would accept the ruse and pull back aircraft from those fronts to fortify the German home front.

On 17 August 1943, the first anniversary of the Eighth Army Air Force's operational beginnings in England, a huge strike was planned - Mission 84 would consist of a shuttle flight (4th Wing) that would first bomb the Regensburg Messerschmitt factory and then fly on to bases in North Africa. In an attempt to confuse and split the enemy's defensive forces, a concurrent mission (1st Wing) would be flown with its goal being a strike on the munitions and ball bearing factories at Schweinfurt. There were five plants located there (Kugelfiscdher, VKF Werk I & II, Dutcke Star Kuglhalter and Fichtel & Sachs AG supply 52% of the Reich's munitions. Theoretically, the ball bearing plants were a major target too as their products were so necessary for the smooth running of the Nazi war machine. This second wave of bombers would not carry on to Algiers, but would have to make its way back to England almost 800 miles through enemy territory each way.

The mission started to go wrong from the beginning. England's famous fog prevented the Regensburg force from getting off on time, which was of great concern, as it could not wait more than an hour and a half if the bombers were to arrive in Africa before nightfall. One hundred and forty-six planes did finally become airborne within the 90-minute buffer, but conditions still were not good and it took over two hours for the groups to join up - fuel would be critical.

The Schweinfurt bombers remained grounded because the pea soup was even thicker inland. This threw another monkey wrench into the works. Three P-47 groups were scheduled to cover the 4th Wing and then the 1st Wing. With the delay, however, the Thunderbolts would have to refuel before they could tend to the second wave of Flying Fortresses. Command decided to delay the Schweinfurt mission even longer to allow the fighters enough time to land, refuel and rearm. This, however, would also allow the Luftwaffe fighters to do the same thing - so much for divide and confuse!

Bad luck continued. While one group of escort fighters met the Regensburg force at the appropriate rendezvous, the second group's timing was off. The last two bomber groups (95th and 100th) were without cover. In addition, the Germans timed it perfectly so that they did not attack until the escorts had to peel off and make for home - and fuel. An often-quoted rendition of the subsequent combat is taken in part from a report by Lt. Col. Beirne Lay, upon which the action scenes in the movie Twelve O'Clock High were based. "Two FW 190s appeared at 1 o'clock level and whizzed through the formation ahead of us in a frontal attack, nicking two B-17s of the 95th Group in the wings and breaking away beneath us in half-rolls. Smoke immediately trailed from both B-17s but they held their stations. As the fighters passed us at a high rate of closure, the guns of our group went into action. The pungent smell of burnt powder filled our cockpit, and the B-17 trembled to the recoil of nose and ball turret guns. I saw pieces fly off the wing of one of the fighters before they passed from view.

"The members of the crew sensed trouble. There was something desperate about the way those two fighters came fast right out of their climb without any preliminaries. . . Three minutes later, the gunners reported fighters climbing up from all around the clock. Singly and in pairs, both FW 190s and Me 109Gs. This was only my fourth raid, but from what I could see on my side was flying co-pilot), it looked like too many fighters for sound health. A coordinated attack followed, with the head-on fighters coming in slightly above, the 9 and 3 o'clock attackers approaching from about level, and the rear attackers from slightly below. Every gun from every B-17 in our Group (the 100th) and the 95th was firing, criss-crossing our patch of the sky with tracers to match the time-fuse cannon shell puffs that squirted from the wings of the Jerry single-seaters. I would estimate that 5-percent of our fire was inaccurate - two B17s from our low squadron and one from the 95th Group fell out of formation on fire with crews bailing out, and several fighters headed for the deck in flames.