Mediterranean Algiers Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 19, 1943, Algiers, Algiers                                Page 8 the stars and stripes weekly saturday june 19, 1943news and pictures of our flying men that first trip really staggers fortress flyers a the virgins Quot initial Mission provides Good reason a n advanced fortress Fields if you Roll out a Brand new flying fortress and shout a a come and get it a chances Are you will be greeted by a cold and Complete disdain. For some reason or other fortress men hesitate to take one of the big bombers on her Maiden Mission. At least such is the feeling in this particular group and the experiences of one fortress Virgin returning from a raid on Italy did nothing to alter the general sentiment. T piloting the fortress which we shall Call Quot the Virgin a on her inaugural Mission was 1st it. Victor j. Lewin of Oakland Calif he has been recommended citation and wed say he deserves it. Taps sound for Jinx ship spare parts by James Burchard stars and stripes staff writer this Mitchell bomber group had just completed its 100th Mission a an official visit to Olbia Harbor Sardinia when we dropped in to pay our respects. A what a we demanded of a Young lieutenant a a have the Mitchells been doing to bring chaos and confusion to the Axis a he looked at us with a rather wild eyed expression and across his puss ran minded emotions of indignation and bewilderment. Finally when the threat of apoplexy had passed he waved an excited hand toward a Large illustrated Chart on the Wall. Or Gardez a he said lapsing into French. We regarded and observed a Chart recording the Day by Day feats of b-25s. It was darned impressive. Included in the trophy Chest were 28 me 109�?Ts, 18 freighters 15 Siebel ferries 17 jul 52 a one big United nations air leaders for a surely Tanker one Corvette two Macchi 200 a one me-323, three fw-190 a one Cruiser one destroyer and1 three Ju-88 s. Quot and not Only that a continued the lieutenant Quot but you might be interested to know we had seven ships on eight missions even be Tore the co of this group arrived. I on those missions we operated under it. John t. Allan of Westfield n. J. A la. Went Well Lewin had few qualms about the Job first or otherwise for tile Lour motored Mammoth find t his controls. He previously had two engines shot out Over Palermo and miraculously staggered Home. With that kind of Luck to Bank on Why worry about a Little item such As a first time Jinx. Fortunately Lewin could t peer into a Crystal Globe and foretell the next few hours. Had he done so he undoubtedly would have returned to his cot and left a Call for the following morning. He also would have shunned the Virgin like Poison. All went Well for a time. The bombs were planted where they were aimed and the bombers hit the deck for the Long run bark to base. The Virgin a Reserve ship had no Especial place in tile formation. She tacked on where she could and flew along serenely at the rear of a Squadron. It was this Squadron that suddenly was jump red by a pack of me-109�?Ts when the planes were still 65 Miles Distant from the airman const. As the a a caboose a the Virgin came in for a Price plastering. Down she went smack into the Mediterranean and during the few seconds she remained afloat events took place at a dazzling Speed. Stubborn Waist gunner somehow the Crew managed to launch two rubber dinghies. One was full of Bullet holes requiring incessant pumping and Patching. Navigator �1st it William b. Love of Grandville Ohio scrambled out of the radio compartment with water up to his Waist. As he was leaving he saw bubbles. He reached Down and dragged out a sgt. James w. Kearns or. Of Elkin. W. Va., the Ball Turret Tinner. Kearns had been knocked cold on the crash Landing and his nose was broken. One Waist gunner was a stubborn cuss. To begin with he climbed Back to give first Aid to the Tail gunner who had been shot through the Chest. Then he manned his gun and banged away at the Jerry planes. He was dividing his attentions Between his wounded pal and tin gun when the Virgin went to Dave Jones Licker. The two gunners went with her. Survivors lashed tin two Dmn flies together. They did t have to wait Long. Two walruses or English sea planes soon appeared on the scene and picked up the Virgin s personnel a Small spot of Oil marked Hie spot where the Virgin finished her first and Only Mission. The Bombardier it. Robert it. Pangili of los Angeles did no to know whether to feel thankful or burned up Wilt n he returned to base. He w As inform d he should t have been on the flight anyway that delayed orders called for him to return to the United Stites the Day before. Imagine the Virgin now reposes on sea Bottom but other new Quot virgins will take her place. Somebody will have to Man them and risk that first flight Hoodoo.  do it All right but in this group you can bet  do it with rabbits feet clutched and a murmured prayer. And Why not blew up Tanker Quot we figure we had a lot to do with winning the Battle for Kas serine pass. Our boys blew up a huge Tanker with a delayed action bomb. Two million Gallons of gasoline. Scheduled for the Axis mechanized forces took the count on that one. But we have our share of Tough Luck too. On this 100th Mission for instance one of the planes was forced Down 15 Miles off i Bono. It was piloted by 1st of. Charles w. Smith of pair Fay. S. C. Seven men jammed in one Dinghy and All were rescued. But perhaps you d prefer to do a Story on the hard Luck ship of the group. No. 358. She a being dissembled now j for parts. In fact the bins nicknamed her spare parts a s in had More trouble than  we allowed wed bt1 extremely interested in hearing the harrowing tale of Quot spare parts a so the lieutenant obliged yarn in Early january placement for the arrived. She bore 358,�?� and was the this is the the first re born Ber group the number last word in Mitchells. So beautifully did she Bandle that everybody wanted to take her info Battle. She went on three missions before being assigned a regular crew�?1st it. Ber Tram j. Cask. Metlakatla. Alaska 1st it. Leo Lesonik. Edinburgh i a 1st it. Howard j. Ross Kan m Tiloi i the canine King of the l iving Ortre Sest the Only do who travels on High Altitude missions wearing an oxygen mask his name is a a Skippy Anil he a a Cross Between a pit Bull anti a Pointer. Ile came All the Way to an african fortress Field from Montana with his master 1st it. Kenneth w. Spinning of red Bank n. J. At the end of a flight Skippy raises his right Paw and shoves off the mask without assistance. Ile has flown across the Atlantic and Sicily arid been in one crash. He has More than 200 hours to his credit. Best of All to the Crews Way of thinking he is plane broken. Sos City and maj. Jesse m. Mcconnell Dallas Texas. For two missions All was Serene. I then on Jan. 30, the fun began. This time a a spare parts fared Forth with col. Anthony Hunter Kansas City it. Col. Harvey Hin i Man and maj. Mcconnell. On the Takeoff they noticed a crackling noise raising the Landing gear. At once they attempted to lower the wheels. No Good. So they circled the Field a Good Many j times and finally put a a spare. Parts a Down on her belly. It then i was discovered that the Cylinder of the right Landing gear. Strut had cracked off a the head end the Tail skid and surrounding skin were bashed in the under Side of the left Nacelle and lower Turret ruined and Bulkhead at the fore of the bomb Bay and fuselage station slightly buckled. Try again Well that was pretty bad but in nine Days a a spare parts was ready to try again. The regular Crew resumed operations and rounded out two More missions successfully. Camp feb. 29 and a Jaunt Over the Mediterranean. Underneath a a spare parts an ammunition Barge exploded throwing her Back on her Aerial haunches. She limped Back to base with her lower left engine Cowling crumpled her lower fuselage from the rear Hatch to the Tail skid blown in entire horizontal Stabilizer warped and twisted propeller Blades coughed out and outboard Wing Flap very sick. By All rights a a spare parts should have hit the drink. But once More she wobbled Home and ii Days later was ready for a test hop. Amazingly she performed better Tran Ever before. Three missions went by without a hitch. Then ramp april to. She ran into All kinds of trouble coming Home with her main gear cracked Down and locked. It. Leask set her Down keeping the nose wheel High. And just in time for the Oil pressure on the right engine had Arop Ted to Zero. Shell gets her now it was getting to be an old. Old Story. The boys cussed a bit As they dragged a a spare parts away and they cussed again on her next Mission. Enemy fighters plunked her this time. A 20 nun Shell exploded just fore of the lower Turret damaging the Turret tub and radio compartment and injuring to sgt. H. H. Chase radio operator. About 50 holes were counted in the upper right Side and top of the navigator s compartment an Armor piercing Bullet had a spooned the engine mount. Wha to Job for the Metal workers two bulkheads in the navigators and one in the radio compar Nan a had been destroyed in addition to the usual amount of skin and stiffness. But structural members were grafted in. The i lit engine and mount were replaced and lower Turret re Condi tint d for the third time and after 16 Days of hard work a spare Paris was painted and on the Mark. If was hopi less however. Tile next Mission saw the poor old Gal clustered with flak. So. While the Loyal Crew almost wept a a spare part so was dragged to the chopping Block. She a almost naked now stripped to the Buff. Soon Shell be a Complete Skeleton. Her record was 13 missions and four near washouts far from commendable. A a but anyway a said the lieutenant a she tried  we agreed and with tears in our eyes departed. The american born commander of the chinese air forces Gen. Lam Wai hang confers with the Naaf commander it Gen. Carl Spaatz daring a recent inspection tour. Official Naaf photo a a Don t you think that a would re map instead of guide rest a two aces talking it Over it Thomas a White of Kelso. Wash., Points out a bombing objective to maj. Levi r. Chase of Cortland n. Y., who is the leading Ace of the Naaf with ten planes to his credit. It. White who shot Down six Axis aircraft returned to the states after suffering injuries in a crash Landing official Naaf photo