|
|
The Kassel Cassettes
an audiobook on CD
Somebody goofed. A navigational error. This is the consensus of opinion surrounding the events that led to the greatest one-day losses for a single bomb group in 8th Air Force history.
In this remarkable set of audio CDs, Aaron Elson presents the stories, in their own voices, of survivors of one of the most spectacular air battles of World War II.
It was a battle that never should have happened. The crews of the 445th Bomb Group, flying out of Tibenham, England, were expecting a "milk run" when they joined the bomber stream of some 300 planes headed for the industrial city of Kassel, Germany, their target a plant that made engine parts for German tanks.
The date was Sept. 27, 1944. In February, the group took part in the infamous "Gotha Mission" which resulted in the longest running battle between American bombers and German fighters, 2 hours and 10 minutes of continuous contact. On that day, 13 of the group's 25 bombers were shot out of the sky. By now, however, the fighter protection provided by P-51 Mustangs and P-38 Lightnings was so sophisticated that many of the crews on the Kassel Mission had never seen a German fighter up close.
As the bomber stream approached the "initial point," at which the planes were to turn and head directly to the target, the lead plane of the 445th Bomb Group made too wide a turn. Thirty-four bombers followed, despite the fact that many of the pilots and navigators knew they were off course.
The group headed for a secondary target, the city of Goettingen, where German scientists were working on secret rocket projects. However, visibility was obscured by almost complete cloud cover, and the group dropped its bombs outside the city on farmland. The pilots were unaware that they had no fighter protection.
While they were making a series of wide turns to regroup and head back to England, the 35 planes of the group were ambushed by what survivors of the battle say were between 100 and 150 German fighter planes, flying as many as ten abreast and pouring through the loose formations. Tail and waist and nose gunners spit lead from their .50-caliber machine guns, bombers were on fire, parts of planes and parachutes were all over the sky, pilots struggled to keep their bombers flying with one and sometimes two engines shot out, hydraulic systems failed, bomb bays filled with gasoline pouring out of punctured tanks.
Before the cavalry arrived -- calls of "Mayday!" brought American fighters to the scene -- the gunners of the 445th gave as good as they got, shooting down many of the German fighters. But when the battle was over -- it lasted, by most estimates, between four and six minutes -- 25 bombers were shot down. Of the 10 remaining planes, two crash-landed in France, one in Belgium, two reached an emergency landing field at Manston, England, one crash-landed a few miles from its home base, and only four returned safely to Tibenham.
Fast forward 46 years. Jima Sparks and her mother, Sarah Schaen Naugher, are standing in the main terminal of Germany's Frankfurt airport looking for the American tour group they were to meet. Jima spotted someone who looked like an American. He was elderly, tall, thin, casually dressed, wearing glasses and a baseball cap. She approached him and asked if he was part of the Kassel Mission group.
Frank Bertram said indeed he was. He asked Jima, who was obviously from a later generation, about her connection to the group.
"I'm Jim Schaen's daughter," Jima, who was named after her father, said. Schaen, a pilot, was killed in the battle.
Frank looked at Jima. "I was at mail call," he said, "the day your father got the letter telling him your mother was pregnant."
Bertram, then a 19-year-old navigator, bailed out and was captured by an 11-year-old boy, who grew up and began to research the battle that took place more than 20,000 feet above his hometown of Bad Hersfeld that day. He mapped the crash sites of the 25 bombers that were downed, and located many of the Luftwaffe pilots who took part in the battle.
At the same time, two survivors of the battle, George Collar, a bombardier who became a prisoner of war, and Bill Dewey, a pilot who made it back to England in a badly damaged plane, began to contact survivors of the battle and collect their stories. Together they formed the Kassel Mission Memorial Association.
In 1990, through the efforts of Hassenpflug and the KMMA, a monument was dedicated in Germany with the names of all the Americans and all the Germans who died in the battle. The monument's dedication was attended by 500 people, including Americans who took part in the battle, their family members, and the Germans who took part in the ambush.
In this unique two-part collection containing more than 20 hours of oral history on 21 CDs, Aaron Elson has captured the spirit and significance of that fateful day, and its effect on the families of some of those who didn't survive.
These are some of the people you'll meet in this unique and powerful audiobook.
George Noorigian was the bombardier on one of the two planes that made it to an emergency landing field at Manston, England. real audio mp3
Sarah Schaen Naugher is the widow of pilot Jim Schaen, who was killed in the battle. After the war, she remarried a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge. real audio mp3
Ira Weinstein was a navigator/bombardier who became a prisoner of war. real audio mp3
Malcolm McGregor was a bombardier and former prisoner of war. real audio mp3
Henry Dobek was a navigator whose pilot, Paul Swofford, made it back to the group's base at Tibenham. real audio mp3
Erlyn Jensen is the younger sister of Major Bill McCoy, the command pilot, who was killed in the battle. real audio mp3
John Ray Lemons bailed out and became a prisoner of war. real audio mp3
To learn more about the Kassel Mission, please visit kasselmission.com
For more information, please visit World War II Oral History at tankbooks.com. To hear more excerpts, go to audiomurphy.com
Order "The Kassel Cassettes" on eBay
Order a Kassel Cassettes Sampler CD