a t B 24s and other US heavy bombers flew in large formations over enemy
CHAPTES RED TAIL ANGELS Jim Scheib was a 20 year old from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania deployed to combat in World War II in October 1944 He was assigned as copilot of a B 24 bomber aircraft as part of the 485th Bombardment Group based in Venosa Italy The US military was segregated at this time with white and African American soldiers split into separate units The 485th was all white It was not long before the bomber named Tail Heavy and its crew of ten men were flying missions over German occupied Europe Their job was to weaken Germany's ability to continue the war by destroying transportation infrastructure and oil refineries behind enemy lines TAIL HEAVY IN TROUBLE On November 17 1944 Tail Heavy and 27 other B 24 bombers flew a mission deep into Germany They were accompanied as
usual by an escort of fighter planes Each bomber had ten machine guns for defense but experience had shown the large lumbering bombers were not agile enough to protect themselves effectively from enemy fighters During this mission antiaircraft fire from the ground hit Scheib's bomber puncturing the oxygen tanks that supplied breathable air to four of the ten crew members The bombers were flying in formation at an altitude of 25 000 feet 7 620 m where the atmosphere was too thin to sustain the men Without oxygen the four crew members including the pilot soon passed out It would be only a matter of minutes before the men would suffer permanent brain damage and eventually death Luckily for copilot Scheib his oxygen supply was still working He was in charge now and he had to think fast What should he do If he stayed in formation the other bombers and their machine guns would protect his crippled plane and its crew from German fighters But he thought to himself If I stay here I'll take four dead guys back with me 1 For Scheib that was an unacceptable option The other possibility was to fly back to base at a much lower altitude Lower down oxygen masks were unnecessary But flying alone at a low altitude was very dangerous German fighters would easily spot Tail Heavy and see it was a straggler with no escort The Germans were known for attacking stragglers Scheib could revive his crew mates by flying lower but they might all pay a steep price for it if German fighters found them Scheib decided the risk was worth it He could not let his four comrades die He had to at least give them a chance So he waggled his plane's tail to let the
Sitting in the cramped cockpit beside the passed out pilot Scheib needed to think quickly to save his fellow
