I filled mine up with a complete sheepskin
leather flying suit including the boots, a pair of English flying
goggles which were very different from ours, a pair of warm English
silk flying gloves that came up nearly to the elbow my Jungle kit
with the machete knife, all my extra clothing and the undeveloped
rolls of film I had taken in England were also included. I had so
many good items in there and was looking forward to having them after
the war. About 4 pm we carted them off to the base Post Office to
fill out the papers and pay for the shipping.
Chapter 7 Shot Down
At seven O'clock on the evening of May 11 we were called for a short
mission to France. This was my twenty third mission my army records
show that I flew thirty seven missions. I don't know what caused the
difference in the records. As far as I knew, it was my twenty third
mission and I was glad it was to be a short one. Bruce and I had
recuperated from the night before and he was flying as my wingman. We
got over France and were attacked by a large group of enemy fighters.
We were soon scattered all over the sky engaged in combat and Bruce,
who was to be off my left wing guarding my rear, wasn't there. All I
saw was an ME-109 directly behind me. He must have come from above so
quickly that I missed him. I immediately started a right turn, but it
was too late. The next thing I saw was two rows of bullet holes
chewing up each side of my instrument panel.
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