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(Squadron 6174) By Ron Mackay

By June 1943 the U.S. 8th Air Force daylight bombing offensive from Britain had passed through a full nine months of "experimentation". In its initial stages, targets had been limited mainly to targets in France and the Low Countries with occasional stabs at points close to or just inside the German borders. A prevailing lack of long-range escort fighters was a factor in restricting operations although the proponents of the "self-defending" bomber formation in which the heavy armament of the B-17 Fortresses and B-24 Liberators would suffice to see them to and from targets with acceptable loss ratios, were still confident of success. Their enthusiasm must have been tempered by the 17 April mission when 16 out of 115 B-17s were Missing in Action (MIA), but only a sustained period of operations under non-escort conditions would settle the issue for better or worse.

April and May of 1943 had seen the arrival in Britain of six more B-17 Groups with three forming the basis of a new 4th wing (soon to be known as the 3rd Bomb Division) and three joining the existing 1st wing. One of the latter trio was the 381st BG. Assignment to the 8th Air Force represented the culmination of very hard training by all ranks of the Group from Colonel to cook, aircraft commander to clerk. Working up in the cold arid plains of Pyote, Texas and then finishing at Pueblo, Colorado, a high standard of aerial and ground efficiency was achieved in which no aircraft were lost and only one fatal casualty was incurred.

The 381st BG was commanded by COL Joseph J. Nazzaro with LCOL Leland Fiegel as Deputy CO and MAJ Conway S. Hall as Group Ops Officer; a trio of men bringing the respective qualities of tactician, pilot ability and combat experience to form a bedrock which was to stand the Group in good stead in combat. This cadre of officers arrived with for­ward ground echelons in January at Pyote and the first handful of B-17s flew in on the 9th. Ground training initially took priority over flying with personnel having to come to terms with crowded quarters, limited facilities and the weather. Pyote's high winds were so frequent that unshackled buildings were liable to prompt destruction and sand was a constant hazard to living conditions and maintenance of aircraft.

The Fortresses were generally readied for flight between 1200 and 1600 hours when dust storms tended to make their presence felt with 40 mph gusts throwing a screen up to 2,000 feet and then waning as fast as they had waxed. Sending the B-17s aloft had the beneficial effect of allaying the worst sand-blast effects on their sensitive engines. Rain was so rare that local legend told of one Pyote citizen who. when hit by a raindrop, had to be revived by having a bucket of sand thrown over him.

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