A View Above and Below - Munster Mission
10 October 1943
By
Otto Schuett and Richard H. Perry
About forty-nine years ago, a young 15 year old, Otto
Schuett, was living with his family in Munster, Germany. He was an apprentice printer, typesetter and book binder with a Munster publishing company. His German born parents had emigrated to the United States in 1926. Otto was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1926. In 1931 his family returned to Germany and settled in Munster in 1939.
As most young men did at that time, when Otto became of age he joined the Hitler Youth Movement. Otto reports that the youngsters were taught the virtues of honesty, dependability, dedication to family and friends, cleanliness and other worthwhile characteristics. During the first four years of the war, Munster had not experienced very many daylight raids, but occasionally night raids occurred. Most of these involved incendiary bombs which resulted in fierce fires restricted to relatively small sections of the city. They were usually contained and brought under control with comparatively small loss of life. The Hitler Youth members assisted the authorities during and after bombing raids by fire-fighting, rescuing the injured, and digging out the dead from bomb-shattered homes. During this period, the daylight hours in Munster remained comparatively quite and calm. This changed in the Fall of 1943.
At this same time, a young American Air Corps bomber pilot, Richard (Dick) Perry, was sweating out the completion of 25 bombing missions of strategic targets on the Continent before he could return to "God's Country," the good old USA. Dick had arrived in England with the 390th Bomb Group as a Co-pilot on a B-17 crew after four months of intensive crew and formation training in the western portion of the United States. Four days after he received his silver pilot's wings in March 1943, Perry was assigned by the Hollywood famous Jimmy Stewart, then a Lieutenant and Operations Officer in a B-17 training unit; to the crew he trained with and flew with to England. Dick had enlisted in the Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet in order to do his part for the Country he loved.
Forty-five years later at an Air Force Association meeting in Northern New Jersey, these two gentlemen shared their past experiences; their joys as well as sorrows; how the operation looked to a recipient of the bombing on the ground - and to a participant in an aircraft making the attack. Otto, a tall
grey-haired distinguished looking businessman, had lived in the United States for over thirty-five years. He is an American citizen, by birth, and very proud of it. Richard had retired from the Bell System after 44 years as an Engineering and Marketing Executive. At this AFA meeting Otto and Dick had the opportunity to tell about the first time they met - actually separated by about 25,000 feet in altitude. This was the fateful day of 10 October 1943 when the 8th Air Force bombed Munster, Germany.
Perry at that time had completed nine missions as a B-17 Co-pilot. His most eventful mission up to this time was his second one in the theater in which his Bomb Group with other units dropped bombs on the Regensburg Messerschmitt (Me-109) aircraft factory and then flew to Africa to complete the first leg of the England - Africa - England shuttle mission. On this mission one of Dick's waist gunners was killed. He was hit in the head by an armor piercing bullet fired from a German FW-190 that flew directly through the bomber formation. The brightly painted spinner on this German fighter identified it as one of the famous "Abbeville Kids." As Dick mentioned in an article in one of the three books he edited, "390th Bomb Group Anthology," the death of this crew member was the point when the crew realized that training missions were over and they were now in the "real thing."
On 10 October Perry's Group was briefed to bomb Munster in order to disrupt this important German hub for communication and transportation. There were very few fighters dispatched to protect the bombers over the "Fatherland". By the time the bomber formation reached the Initial Point, prior to starting the bomb run, most of the escort had turned for home. Dick reported, "We were on our own." One does not easily forget the traumatic experience of being on the ground when bombs are falling close by - or in the air when you are being attacked by a swarm of enemy fighters as you attempt to hold a steady course for your bomb run.
The German fighter attack was vicious. Most of the time there were 250-300 German fighters milling around and taking turns attacking the formation at various angles. As observed in Ian Hawkin's book "Munster: The Way It Was," the air action during this mission was probably the most savage and concentrated air battle ever fought by any U.S. Combat Bomb Wing. The 13th Combat Wing, consisting of the 390th, 100th and 95th Groups, claimed 105 enemy aircraft destroyed with a loss of twenty-five B-17s. Of this total, Dick's Group claimed 62 enemy planes destroyed. This is a record for Heavy Bombardment Groups that has never been equaled. Although the number of aircraft destroyed reported by the Germans after the war was much less than those claimed by the American airmen, the losses were extensive on both sides.
On the ground, young Otto was attending a Police sponsored Horse Show on the outskirts of Munster. He was with many of his colleagues in the German Youth organization. As Otto reports, "At this time (Oct. 1943) German propaganda had us civilians convinced that we were winning the war in the East and in the West. Hitler had promised he had several technological wonders that were going to insure the German's success."
When the air raid sirens went off that very nice sunny Sunday afternoon everyone started to leave the Horse Show. Otto and his buddies looked skyward and soon could see a large formation of bombers heading toward Munster. As he had experienced several times before, formations like this by-passed Munster and headed for other German targets. This time, however, it looked like it was an attack on Munster.
The roar of the approaching aircraft engines became louder and louder. Then the anti-aircraft batteries started to fire from their emplacements around Munster. As the bombs started to drop, the earth shook. The noise was almost unbearable.
As the bombs fell closer and closer to Otto, he sprawled face down to the ground. When he looked up, he saw bombs and phosphorous canisters coming toward him. They exploded about fifty yards away. Showers of dirt and bomb fragments flew through the air. Otto remembers that as he lay on the ground, terrified, he felt a growing sense of anger and frustration, expecting death at any minute and being powerless to do anything about it.
During a momentary lull, Otto got up and started to run frantically for better cover. As he ran, he looked up and saw more planes approaching. Directly overhead was a falling B-17 wing with two propellers still turning. The wing seemed to be coming down directly towards him. His thoughts were "It's all over." Luckily the wing crashed about thirty yards away, burning fiercely and sending up clouds of black, oily smoke into the sky.
In the air above, the German fighters were furiously attacking the bomber force. From the IP to the bomb release point, which involved 4-5 minutes flying time, the bombers tried to stay on a straight and level course so the bombardiers could aim their bombsights properly. The planes in the formation at this point became good targets for the fighters as well as the anti-aircraft gunners. Several planes in Dick's Group went down during the bomb run. Some planes were hit directly and blew up immediately. In some cases it appeared that no one was able to escape. There were several planes that lost an engine or two and slowly had to leave the formation. At that time they were excellent targets for swarms of attacking fighters. Several aircraft started to trail smoke and soon parachutes appeared from the planes.
Dick was flying as Co-pilot with the "Eightball" crew. Bill Cabral was the Pilot. Just after dropping its bombs, the
"Eightball" was hit by an aerial rocket from a Messerschmitt 110 on a frontal attack. The right wing was almost sheared off about 12 feet from the tip. The
"Eightball" was forced to leave the formation. The aircraft appeared destined to go down. The right wing had lost its lift capability. The plane dove radically to the right. By using the trim tabs, excess left rudder and help from the Bombardier who with the pilots pulled on the control column, they were able to get the bomber headed home. The Luftwaffe continued their attack on the lone crippled Flying Fortress. It was not possible to do much evasive action. The pilots had to concentrate on keeping the plane on a reasonable keel and at a respectable altitude. In addition, they had to worry about fuel consumption. They still had about an hour and a half of flying to do before they would hit the coast of England. The drag of the right wing required additional power to be expended. This meant the use of more fuel than contemplated.
The German pilots immediately noted that the "Eightball" was out of formation. They made endless attacks. The American gunners kept their 50 calibers busy until the Germans left to apparently obtain more fuel. During this attack several of the Fort's guns ran dry. The gunners kept pointing their guns or moving their turrets to fool the attackers anyway. The
"Eightball" gunners claimed 5 enemy planes destroyed, 2 probables and 1 damaged. This is quite an impressive record realized during one of the biggest Nazi fighter armadas ever dispatched to intercept Allied bombers.
In the meantime, down on the ground Hitler Youth Schuett made his way through damaged streets and pathways to his home. The bombs had ripped the street and buildings apart in the vicinity of his house. Only the front wall of his house remained standing. The second and third floors and the roof had been totally demolished. Some of his neighbors and friends in stunned condition began to crawl out of their basements. There were many neighbors not so lucky. They died in their basement shelters when their house was hit and caved in on them.
Otto's mother, father, two sisters and brother were safe. While his father was directing people toward shelters, a piece of shrapnel struck his left arm. The fragment was later removed, but it left him with stiffened fingers. Some of the other members of his family had been buried, but were able to escape through a small opening in their shelter.
Fires continued to rage all around them. The Schuetts salvaged a few of their worldly belongings from their destroyed home before they were evacuated to a small village not far from Munster.
Otto remembers the awful consequences of the attack. Many notable places, like the famous Munster Cathedral, were hit. Bodies of many people were strewn about the streets. The wounded kept screaming before they were moved to temporary medical facilities. Everywhere he went, there were people in tears due to the loss of loved ones.
Unfortunately, the residents of Munster could not forget that this type of attack may be made again. Further, they had to also brace themselves for a possible night raid by the British Air Force which was a common occurrence.
During and immediately after the air raid, the noise was unbearable. The rattle of the anti-aircraft guns and bomb explosions added to the clamor of people screaming, fire sirens, police sirens, and secondary explosions from numerous fires. It seemed like life couldn't go on under such conditions.
At times Otto still reminisces about the events of 10 October 1943. Very real thoughts pass through his mind. With these thoughts, images appear of the friends and neighbors who died on that day. As great sadness comes over him, he often wonders what kind of men were in the crews of the B17s that never returned home. Unfortunately both sides lost very wonderful people.
Otto feels that 10 October 1943 was the beginning of the end of Germany and the Second World War. Many more air raids were to follow and many thousands were yet to perish in the cities. Both sides would suffer immensely.
The ordeal for the "Eightball" crew was not over. As the "Eightball" proceeded across the North Sea, the enemy fighters left, but trouble still loomed. The engines were laboring very hard in holding altitude and escaping the Nazi fighters. Also the engines were very noisy and it was questionable whether they would last long enough to get the plane to England. The crew members maintained their crash positions in case it was necessary to ditch the aircraft in the sea.
As the aircraft approached the 390th home base at Parham, England, the weather socked in with almost zero visibility. After making one unsuccessful pass, the Control Tower ordered Number 337
("Eightball's number was 42-30337) to proceed to Thrope Abbotts, the home of the 100th Bomb Group. Before landing at the 100th, one engine was feathered and another engine was providing minimum power. The landing was rather rough, due to lack of visibility, drag from the damaged wing and inadequate power from the engines. The plane ended up in a small ditch off the runway. The
"Eightball" crew was very relieved to be down with no one harmed. Lt. Perry had completed ten missions now.
The crew was debriefed by the 100th Bomb Group Intelligence Officers. The interrogation room was rather grim. The 100th Group had only one airplane return to the base from Munster. All the others were shot down.
After debriefing, the "Eightball" crew was returned to the 390th base by truck, where they found out that eight crews had been lost. Their next mission was participation in the
famous 14 October 1943 Schweinfurt raid in which 60 bombers out of 291 dispatched were lost. They had several other exciting experiences, but that is a story for another time.
After the Schweinfurt mission, Dick Perry was checked out as a B-17 pilot and after flying a few missions as a first pilot, he was made a staff Operations Officer and flew his remaining missions as a formation Command Pilot. Dick completed 43 missions and was awarded two DFCs and seven Air Medals.
It was apparent at the AFA meeting that these two individuals had become close friends. They both had lived through a very important period in history and although they were "opponents" during that time they realized that war had been beyond their control. Both of these men recognize that World peace requires a strong United States of America.
A Special Thank You
Dick Perry edited both of the 390th Bomb Group Anthologies and many of the articles that have been published in the Veterans Newsletter. He was prepared to assist in the publication of a third volume of the Anthology had one been attempted. The above article was prepared by Dick, many months before his death. The Archives of the 390th Memorial Museum are much richer and fuller as a result of the efforts and many hours of dedication that Dick Perry afforded us.
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