Tonight, Christmas Eve 2014, marks the 70th anniversary of my dads first B-17 bombing mission over Nazi Germany. His crew and thousands of other men risked their lives that day in support of The Battle of the Bulge, a massive offensive against Hitler. Following is a letter my dad wrote to my former college roommate, Steve Larson several years ago. It is a priceless treasure trove of his war experiences, including his opinions of the war effort. Please feel free to share and comment. February 22, 2001 Dear Steve: I am including with this letter a copy of my missions’ record and a copy of information I provided for a young friend about ten years ago for her high school history project. In addition, I am going to give you a run-down on a couple of the more exciting missions—but before that I will let you in on what happened in preparation for the mission. Most of the time we were roused from our beds at about four a.m. and told the position we would fly in the formation. We dressed in the cold and headed for the mess hall, walking about a quarter mile to get there. After breakfast, we were driven to the briefing rooms where the pilots and co-pilots were briefed in one room, navigators and bombardiers in another. All the information needed for the mission we received then. We would then jump on a truck and be driven to our aircraft. The enlisted men on the crew were already there. We did an inspection of the plane (preflight), did our checklist and watched for flares green for “go” and red for “no go”, start engines was next and then watch for our place in line and join the other B-17’s. After take off, the lead plane would make a left turn which would enable the others of the squadron to turn inside and catch up. Then squadrons joined into groups and away we went. I think that one of my most exciting missions started with the loss of an engine when almost over the target. We were at about 28,000 feet and could not keep up. We wanted to get credit for the mission so my navigator found a town with a railroad running through it and away went our bomb load. Now the plane flew much better on the three engines, but due to clouds obscuring the ground we were not sure of our location and we knew that German antiaircraft batteries would like to get a shot at a lone B-17. We remembered a radio navigational station we had heard working with our fighter aircraft, called them, and got vectors to leave Germany and avoid being shot down. Out of Germany and over France we headed for the channel, there were clouds over the channel to about thirty thousand feet. We figured that if we went high we would ice up, so we had best go under the clouds. There was not much space between water surface and cloud base, so I flew with my side window open keeping an eye on the water about two hundred feet below. Now the fun started. Flying at altitude had super cooled the plane and the heavy moisture in the air caused frost to form on the entire instrument panel. It kept the co-pilot and top turret gunner busy scraping. Sometimes the co-pilot would fly and I would scrape. When we got over England it was great to look down at the activity in the streets. (A real close up view) On another mission the bombardier of the lead aircraft couldn’t line up with the target and we had to go around and try again. When we came over the target on our second try the Germans had our altitude down pat and they made many holes in our airplane. I remember one piece of flack came in between me and the co-pilot. I could see the plume of cloth fibers made in the cockpit from passing through a duffle bag on the cockpit floor. It bounced into the top turret, bounced twice in there and fell to the floor. After we got off the target, the top turret gunner picked it up and showed it to me. He said “May I have this for a souvenir?” I said, “Yes, you earned it.” After returning to our base, we made a fun time out of counting the flack holes. There were twenty-seven of them and no injuries. In thirty missions German fighters missed my group every time. There were hits ahead of us in the bomber stream and behind us, but we were lucky. No one on my crew got even a scratch. When they flew with other crews they did get into some problems. In answer to your questions: (1) Most of the planes did have pictures on them. (2) We did not always have fighter support, but when we did we were thankful. (3) We did not miss the target anytime that I know of. (4) Mis-navigated? Once after the war I was a passenger on a B-17 coming back from north of Britain and a compass went “haywire.” The crew was lost and using a radio direction finder and plotting on a map. I figured out where we were. I told the pilot and he took my suggestion to turn to approximate south direction. After flying for quite a while we sighted good ole England. We could figure then my calculations were correct. We had been way out over the North Sea. I flew in support of the Vietnam war flying a KC-135 from March Field by San Francisco to Hawaii, then to Guam giving drinks of fuel to a couple of fighters. I was thinking I would be in my third combat time but I was sent back home. I suppose it was because I was a few months from retirement. I loved the Air Force and loved flying. Of the aircraft I flew, I was very fond of the B-17 and KC-135. At an air show at the North Dallas Addison Airport a few years back, a B-17 was taxied up to where my family and I were standing. The sound of those engines brought tears to my eyes. I know that I loved that airplane but the reaction surprised me. Your father and many other men serving in the Merchant Marines did a great job of keeping supplies moving during a critical time for our country. I have no doubt that many men in the Merchant Marines sailed into very dangerous situations and in doing so served their country beautifully. The job they did was not glamorous, but it was so necessary for success of the war. Your interest is much appreciated and I hope that you always have that kind of interest in the way that our country has had to work to maintain our democracy. These thoughts, these beliefs, embody what we must never lose hold of—or someone may take our way of life away from us. Sincerely, Elmer E. Robison THE BATTLEFRONT (1) I, Lt. Col. Elmer E. Robison (Retired) flew in World War II as First Pilot of a B-17. (2) I was, of course, Air Force then known as Army Air Corps. I enlisted September 16, 1942. I was called to active duty January 27, 1943. (3) I was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. on April 14, 1944 at Marfa, Texas Army Air Field. I received my wings as a pilot on the same day. I spent almost 22 ½ years in the service and retired April 15, 1965 with the rank of Lt. Col. During World War II I flew 30 missions as First Pilot of a B-17 Flying Fortress. I qualified as Lead Pilot and had the pleasure and honor of having five Flight Leads, seven Squadron Leads, and one Group Lead against the forces of Nazi Germany. After completing my required 30 missions, I flew extra combat time in a radio relay plane. To accomplish this we would fly at approximately 25,000 feet altitude over the English Channel and relay radio strike messages from Bombers coming off the target to First Division Headquarters in England. (4) My theater of operations was known as the European Theater of Operations. I flew from an English base named Chelveston which was about sixty miles north and a little west of London. (5) I flew my first mission on December 24, 1944, bombing the German airfield of Nidda. This mission and several others between Christmas and New Years were in support of the Battle of the Bulge which was a turning point in the war, and the last gasp offensive of the German forces under the leadership of General VonRundstedt. The Battle of the Bulge resulted in 40,000 United States and 220,000 German casualties. The winter weather of 1944-45 was said to have been the worst in 50 years in England. When we lined up for take off on this first mission, the fog was so thick you could barely see 75 feet down the runway. Flare pots lining each side of the runway were the only guidance to stay on the runway. Unfortunately as soon as we started our take off run, the windshield glazed over with moisture. I could see nothing of the flare pots or runway. With my left hand on the control column, I leaned forward and used my right hand to wipe away the glaze. I was forced to do this several times on the take-off run. The plane slipped a little to the left each time. Soon the thump-thump-thump of one of the main landing gear striking flare pot after flare pot said without doubt that we were in trouble. At the end of the runway we were about five miles per hour short of take off speed. I pulled back on the stick and we staggered into the air. For about a minute or so we were completely enveloped in ground fog. Then like “manna from heaven” we broke out above the ground fog. All around was a creamy white blanket reflecting a most beautiful and welcome brilliant sunlight. We flew our mission, bombing the German airfield at Nidda and upon crossing the channel returning to England we received a message saying we could not land at Chelveston due to weather. We were diverted to an English air base. I still recall quite plainly the cold, the handful of coal alloted to us to heat our large room for the night, and the English airmen and women gathered around an upright piano in their mess hall singing. It was Christmas Eve. I flew a bombing raid on Dresden, Germany February 14, 1945 which was one of the three straight days Dresden received the greatest amount of bombing ever directed toward a target by conventional bombers. After the war, I flew over Dresden at low altitude and was amazed at the almost total destruction. (6) All of the armed forces had the best of clothing, food (when possible) and transportation. (7) A potentially serious incident to which my crew and I gave an amusing turn occurred on one of my early missions. The runway was solid ice as we started our take-off run. The lack of traction and a crosswind soon had us off the runway and into deep snow. I had at first retarded the throttles. Now to keep from being bogged down in the snow, I advanced the throttles to near maximum power and headed for the nearest taxiway. From there we taxied to the perimeter taxiway to head back to take-off position. We had to pass right by our squadron operations office. Looking ahead I could see our Squadron Commander and Squadron Operations Officer standing close to the taxiway. They had seen my boo-boo. I told my co-pilot and the engineer, who were nearby, we would all wave and laugh at them as we passed. We did, and they returned the hearty greeting in kind. Tension was relieved and we left on our mission in high spirits. YOUR REACTIONS TO EVENTS (1) World War II was caused by Nazi Germany invading small neighboring countries. Contributing to the problem was the inaction of Great Britain and France, hoping to appease Hitler rather than risk a war. Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Great Britain, was the instigator of this appeasement policy. (2) Adolf Hitler was first heard of in the 1930’s as he rose to power by deception and trickery. He was a great orator. Hitler possessed a charisma that practically mesmerized the German people. In retrospect, Hitler is seen as a leader who had great potential to lead a people to greatness. His hatred of Jews and his absolute power warped his thinking to the point that his decisions lead him and his people to defeat. (3) If Hitler had been stopped when he first invaded Austria it would only have delayed the inevitable, but it would have given opposing countries time to be better armed and thus avoid a prolonged conflict. (4) I was away from home when the Pearl Harbor attack was first announced. (I believe I was at church) My first reaction was shock and disbelief. (5) Just prior to V-E Day, I was in England flying the radio delay B-17 over the English Channel. On V-J Day I was at a base in England awaiting shipment home. I recall that English girls (several hundred) came to the base that night in a frenzy of happiness, broke down the fence and rushed in to celebrate with the American servicemen. (6) Ike was an excellent leader. He had the qualities of a General and a Politician which was vital to such a responsible position. (7) MacArthur was a brilliant military leader. He graduated from WestPoint with the highest grade point average ever attained at that time. He knew how to fight a war and inspire his men. Unfortunately the Politicians after Roosevelt did not. (8) P.O.W. camps in the United States were well and humanely run. I saw some prisoners in 1944. They looked as healthy as we American airmen. (9) I learned about Japanese internment camps through the news media. Internment camps were necessary because a certain percentage of the Japanese were loyal to Emperor Hirohito and would have sabotaged the war effort in the United States. (10) Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were absolutely necessary. We saved perhaps a million American boys’ lives that would have been sacrificed in an invasion of the Japanese island homeland. The Japanese had gone to war in the early 1930’s raping and pillaging their way through Manchuria, China and Southeast Asia. They were merciless. They bombed Pearl Harbor in a cowardly act without declaring war. The Japanese gruesomely and mercilessly killed many millions. We put an end to the war by killing only a few hundred thousand. Mothers, Fathers and Sweethearts of those servicemen whose lives were saved would go to their knees in thanksgiving if they could know. (11) I first heard of the concentration camps, I believe, in 1944. As horrible as the Japanese treated our men, I felt that any punishment would be too good for them. I flew 112 supply missions and 2 combat missions over North Korea at night during the Korean Conflict, from a base near Fukuoka, Japan. I recall seeing in Fukuoka a Japanese temple gateway from which the Japanese people had lynched an American airman from the Doolittle Air Raid. (12) About the Nuremberg trials---I recall that many German leaders were gutless and blamed their misdeeds on higher-ups. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO TELL ME ABOUT THE WAR PERIOD? Remember, Politicians make war. Airmen, Sailors and Soldiers must fight them. I take no pleasure in waging war, but it is better to fight for what is right than to live as a slave chafing under the brutal hand of a dictator ruling with an ideology with which you cannot agree. Remember too, the Japanese people were totally in accord with their war lords and Emperor Hirohito. Expansion, regardless of the suffering and cost to innocent people of invaded countries, was their selfish goal. This can be said of the German people—Hitler promised them living room and they were in almost complete accord with his ruthless policies. In the past few decades since World War II it has been relatively easy for the defeated enemy, through manipulation of our liberal press, to blame the United States for many things that happened during the war. Things such as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but they were not in combat and they did not see our fine young men dying far from their loved ones in a war we did not start.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 00:34:42 +0000
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