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as
related to Bob DeLay
STORY
OF THE MISSIONS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC
Mac
began island hopping along with the rest of the military.
He
flew from Manus in the Admiralty Islands at a base established by the
Navy. The Navy really sets things up
right. Lots of stores and good meals along with good quarters.
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The
real challenge was the fact that they nearly straddled the
Equator and first challenge was dealing with the colliding
storm fronts from north and south.
Mac’s
navigation skills were excellent and he always stayed focused
on the job of getting the boys there and back. He could spot
the base on return 15 or 20 miles out. However going to target
he had to locate a small island or wauk, sticking out of the
water 20 to 50 miles from target. Concern to save fuel kept
things tense.
After
a couple months, Mac’s group moved to a small island called
Wakde. Small is no exaggeration. There was barely enough room
for the runway. Memories of Manus were delightful.
Finally
they were given a 2 week R&R in Sydney, Australia. Mac
loved Australia. The people were friendly and Mac had a chance
to revisit roller skating which he had enjoyed while in the
CCC camp. Mac had been so good while visiting a nearby town
that he ended up being the floor manager. So obviously he
jumped at the chance to skate in Australia. |
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NOEMFOOR
ISLAND
Upon
return from R&R, Mac’s group headed to Noemfoor Island.
Bulldoz-ers had cleaned the area with big 10 to 12 foot high piles of
brush every-where. One time in the middle of the night there was an
air raid. Sirens Down in flames, just like the vision. -drawing by Bob
DeLay wailed and bombs screamed. They didn’t have a slit trench yet
so they hunkered down next to one of the piles of brush. Wham...right
across the pile was a lot of noise that turned out to be an anti
aircraft gun. It scared the heck out of Mac and his buddies.
They
had one bad mission out of Noemfoor. They went out to bomb a refinery
in Borneo called Balikpapan. The Japs defended this precious commodity
heavily with fighters and anti aircraft fire. They lost 5 planes in
his formation. Mac’s plane wasn’t hit. In all they lost 13 planes
that day. It was a sad day.
THE
PHILIPPINES
Shortly
after that, they started bombing the Philippines. There were big Naval
battles and the B-24’s attacked some Japanese big ships. No hits
were re-corded by Mac’s plane.
Their
first base in the Admiralty islands was Los Negros Island. They began
bombing Negros Island in the middle of the Philippines during the
landing of U.S. troops at Leyte. Negros had 5 Japanese airfields and
was well defended with a new type of fighter which they hadn’t dealt
with before.
Mac’s
own words- “On this particular mission there was some
kind of an explosion with glass flying everywhere. None of it hit me
but it backed me into my seat. The flight Engineer was the top turrent
gunner. He pulled the lever under his seat and the seat dropped. His
eyes were open really big and he grabbed his chest pack, hooked it on.”
“The
bomb doors were still open and out he goes. I commenced to think
something was wrong. To the point of being ridiculous I had always
been very conscientious about emergency procedures. When I came back
from missions, I would make a practice emergency exit from the
airplane.
“I
sat down in my seat hooked my life raft on and then realized that we
were over land so I unhooked it. Then the plane gave a little shake
like turbulence. That scared the hell out of me. I promptly stepped
down to the cat walk and departed the plane. I went up above the plane
but it wasn’t me going up. It was the plane going down.”
“They
had shelled between the number three and number four engines. The wing
fuel tanks had ignited and flames were shooting back for 300 ft. It
was that fire that the Flight Engineer had seen.”
“The
chute flared and opened. There it was the flaming plane of my vision.
Coming true just as it did when I was in the CCC.”
-continued
next month the final chapter....
SURVIVING IN THE JUNGLE
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