Therman D. Brown mission November 29, 1942

It was surprising how little the enemy did to our forward bases. We were within range of some of their bombers. Our crew was stranded at one of these bases, LG 139 south of Tobruk, on November 29, 1942, shortly after Thanksgiving. The Germans had dropped some spikes on our landing strip puncture our big B-24 tires. The spikes were two strips of metal welded together in the middle. The four ends were sharpened to points and bent in opposite directions so when they lay on the runway, one point would always stick up. The metal was sturdy. No tire could roll over it without a puncture. Ever try to change a B-24 tire? Well I haven't either. We didn't have a spare so we had to wait for one to be flown in.