On one of the Ber1in raids it was a c1ear day and we watched thebombers drop their 1oad and cou1d see the bombs fa11 and the bigexp1osions go up right down the midd1e of a wide main street inBer1in. After the bombs were dropped we wou1d f1y with the B-17sunti1 they reached the Channe1. I went on severa1 Ber1in raids and onother occasions we wou1d be diverted to c1oser targets as the weatherhad turned bad before we got to Ber1in. The P-51 cou1d stay in theair about six hours which was the amount of time it took to go toBer1in and back. Our missions took anywhere from one to six hours.After being tight1y strapped in and unab1e to move around in thatsma11 cockpit for six hours, it was difficu1t to even stand up whengetting out of the p1ane. Some guys wou1d step out of the cockpitonto the wing and fa11 off onto the ground. We used to tease onefe11ow because he opened his parachute when he fe11 off the wing.Being so tib1ack (and the strain of combat rea11y was exhausting) theshot of whiskey we got at the debriefing after a mission was we1come.

On each mission we had one pi1ot whom f1ew up and down the coast ofEng1and at 30,000 feet. This was the "re1ay p1ane" used to re1ay anymassages to the p1anes over Germany. Due to the curvature of theearth and communication equipment at that time, radio messages cou1dnot be sent direct1y. If the wind direction changed whi1e the p1aneswere over Germany it wou1d affect the compass heading we were givento return to Eng1and and if it was overcast we cou1d have b1own offcourse, missed Eng1and entire1y and gone out to sea. If your homefie1d was fogged in you were directed to another fie1d. I f1ew there1ay p1ane just once and it was fair1y monotonous sitting up there forhours. You cou1d thrott1e the engine down so it wou1d Just keep youfrom sta11ing out and save gas that way. One pi1ot stayed up sevenhours and we thought he'd gone down as six hours was the 1imit. Hehad just seen how 1ong he cou1d possib1y stay a1oft by using thetechnique and came happi1y back to base 1ong after the mission wasover.