* Baptized in Blood

For above crew names see first page

Sgt. Harold E. Marston standing in middle, with his first crew

Baptized in Blood

The crews pictured above had lost their aircraft in January 1944 and needed an aircraft to fly. The top pictured crew were given the Swamp Fire while her first assigned crew under went indoctrination assignments. On 22 February 1944 Harold E. Marston volunteered to fill-in for their injured Right Waist Gunner. This was to set off events that would eventually effect all crewmen of the 8th Army Air Force.

Their mission: Halberstadt, Germany. Their target: The Aircraft Factory.

Here is an extract of the mission report:

The Group assembled under the overcast and climbed through holes in the clouds. Some of the other Groups evidently had trouble assembling as we assembled with them between their Bases and the English coast. The High Group never did rendezvous with us.

We left the coast with a Lead and Low Group only, in our Wing formation. There were eight other Groups with us at this time. Enemy aircraft attacked spasmodically. Their attacks were not pressed home. All of the attacks were on the Low Group. Quite a few Ju-87's were noticed among the enemy aircraft attacking. We saw about 50 fighters during the inward bound part of the mission.

Flak was intense and accurate both on the way in and on the way out. There were not very many of our fighter escort observed. We were able to contact the fighter escort on the radio when we were under attack and we told them to come up. They told us that they could see us and that they were coming up but they never did appear.

Two of our aircraft (out of the twenty) failed to attack the target. Most of our losses were due to flak. Three of our aircraft were apparently lost mostly through the effects of flak. On the way out about 100 enemy fighters were seen and both Groups were subjected to numerous and persistent attacks.

Two more of our planes were thought to have been lost to enemy fighters. Our preliminary claims were nine enemy aircraft destroyed, three probables, and one damaged. Our casualties were ten wounded and fifty missing. Five of our planes failed to return and must be presumed to be missing. Thirty-two of our planes sustained minor battle damage, mostly by flak but a few through enemy fighters.

Upon return the ground crew of the Swamp Fire saw the signal Flare indicating "wounded on board"! They quickly started for the end of the runway on their bicycles, trying to be nearer when she landed and taxied clear. They won the race being nearest to the area. The engines had barely stopped their rotations when the hatches were popping open and the crew began climbing out as Dominick DeSalvo, Swamp Fire's Ground Crew Chief was sliding into the craft to lend a hand in carrying Sgt. Marston. They passed him through the hatchway into the arms of his fellow crewmen and waiting medics. It was a knee wound and he appeared to be in great pain but alert and attentive, which was a good sign.

Dominick and crew surveyed the damage. It was all minor around 50 flak and bullet holes and a wiring bundle, not bad considering the pounding they took. It was her first time out and she racked up a successful mission and a confirmed kill of a German fighter. Normally this was something to celebrate but not this time because she also registered a casualty too. This was a bad omen and events like this did not sit well with superstitious airmen. This also did not sit well with Dom and his Ground Crewmen. The repairs were hardly finished when the talk turned to more armor and more protection for the combat crews.

Dominick and several other Ground Crew Chiefs and Engineers of the 524th Squadron burned the midnight oil studying prints and comparing them with sketches they had made, trying to figure out how to add and or adjust armor plating to better protect the crews from flak and large caliber rounds from the fighters. The B-17g had over 50 major improvements incorporated in it's design over it's production life span. Many of these additions came from battle field tested improvements made by the Air Combat Crews, Engineers and Ground Crews. These specialist had carte blanc when it came to aircraft modifications. Especially those that would keep the aircraft flying and protect the combat crews too. Dom and his fellow Ground Crewmen of the 524th didn't want a repeat of what had happened to Harold and many of his fellow Airmen.

These adjustments would change the luck of the Swamp Fire. She was to become one the best armored aircraft on the field. All the alterations started working immediately. The Swamp Fire started racking up missions and although in the thick of it many times they never aborted and brought them back alive and well. Her reputation soon became one of the luckiest aircraft in Kimbolton.

Sgt Marston baptized the Swamp Fire with his pain and blood but he also brought about changes that would be applied by other ground crews of the 524th and then spread throughout the entire 379th. These changes probably saved the life and limb of many airmen. The 379th Bomber Group had a brief combat history compared to other groups and yet during that time period they flew more missions, drop more bomb tonnage, faced more enemy fighters, engaged in more long range runs (Many without fighter escort), kept more aircraft airworthy and most importantly, lost fewer airman than any other bomber group in Europe to include the allied air forces.

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