Joseph E. Ripley Mission August 10, 1944

Mission to Ploesti

Anyone who had been there didn't care to go back.

To make matters worse, we drew a plane, My Aching Back, that had been put in the bone-yard because of being worn out. To show you how bad it was, they only gave us eight 500 lb. bombs instead of ten. We usually set the supercharger on eight but decided this was an emergency. Pilot, Lane Miller and copilot, Alan Barnette, held the brakes as long as they could and started down the runway leaving four trails of black smoke.

This was one of the times we had lost several planes and were not getting any new ones. I guess the people at the airplane plants had been striking for higher wages.

When we reached the end of the runway, we didn't have enough airspeed to fly but managed to get it off. When we reached the Adriatic, we were still only a few feet off the ground and couldn't gain altitude. We dropped two bombs, and then we could climb. When we realized we couldn't stay up with the formation, we dropped two more bombs. The engines were just worn out (rudders were covered with oil). No.1 and No. 4 engines gave out and they were feathered. Lt. Miller instructed navigator, Andre Lisartre, to find a safe area in Yugoslavia (they were marked on our maps). When No.2 engine caught on fire, we had to bail out because we were loosing altitude fast. All of us got out OK.

It was sure a nice feeling when the chute opened. I could see that I was coming down in mountains and lots of trees. I hit a large tree and was left swinging a few feet from the ground. A partisan boy about twelve years old was first to arrive. I could hear shooting: it was partisans gathering up the rest of the crew, but at the time, I thought it was Germans wiping them out. We had been told (in this area) not to give up to the Germans as it was a long way from any prisoner of war camp, and they would just shoot you. One pilot that had been there three months had watched his copilot gather up his entire crew and surrender to the German soldiers. They shot all of them.

Two rough looking men arrived and tried to get me to go with them. They had rifles but didn't point them at me. It's a good thing because I had my forty-five cocked and at that distance, I wouldn't have missed. The little boy would kiss me and stayed between the two and me. When they decided I wasn't going with them, they took off in a trot. The little boy took me to a hut where an old man and woman made me sit down and gave me some sour goat's milk. After a short time, the boy took me down the valley to a small village where I joined copilot Alan Barnette.

There was several partisan soldiers armed to the teeth. Even the wife of one had hand grenades hanging from her waist. She doctored my leg (I had torn up in the tree) and sewed my pants leg up.

At about 3:00 PM, we started walking and didn't stop until two the next morning, August 11, when we arrived at Mission. Here we were united with pilot Lt. Miller; radio operator, Roy Yates; and ball-gunner, Sullivan. In charge of the escape team (part of the OSS) were two Englishmen and one American. Also there were three other American flyers, shot down in Albania, who had been walking for three months. We were told we could get out tomorrow, but about midnight, the Germans came over and dropped para troopers. He took to the hills. After sending scouts down, we returned to Mission. The partisans had killed the small group of Germans. We thought we would get out that night, but at about 6:00 PM, the British radio operator called Bari, Italy, and they said the Germans were going to take this place in force tonight. We sure couldn't understand how we knew so much about what the Germans were doing (later after the war "Je found out that we had broken their Ultra Radio and knew almost everything they did). We all loaded on a Italian truck, even driven by an Italian who had been captured in Greece and had just joined the Partisans.

August 12

We arrived at Kolishia (I doubt if this is spelled right) and loaded four pack animals. Three partisans (OSS people) and eight American flyers started walking up the biggest mountain I had ever seen.

August 13

By now, we were all sick with dysentary. I have never been so sick. The pilot who had been there for three months had to ride a horse while the rest of us walked. He slept in the barn in the mountains that night. Even in August, it gets cold at night in the mountains. That was a mistake. He all picked up lice.

August 14

Arrived at the spot at approximately 7:00 PM. We had walked about 45 miles in eighteen hours. The place we were to leave from was only a little flat place in the mountains (no air strip). We gathered wood to light at the proper time for the pilot to land by. While we were waiting, three Jerry fighters flew over, one ME 110 and two ME 109's. We hid in the trees.

August 14

At about 1:30 AM, a C-47 landed loaded with supplies for partisans: food, ammo, etc. At 4:00 AM, we took off for Italy. The guy flying the C-47 was nuts. I rode in the copilot's seat even though we had several pilots on board. (The other pilots must have known something, they rode in the back.) He never got higher than the trees. We dodged trees all the way to the Adriatic and dropped right down on the water until we arrived at Bari. We were taken to the hospital and given a good de-liceing.

Lt. Miller was so impressed with what the ass was doing he joined them (later, on the Dawes Expedition in Prague, he was captured with 22 others and after one month of torture was executed). This was when Al Barnette and myself joined Bob James' crew. I guess most of us felt this way, but I think he was the greatest. We flew several missions, some pretty rough, but we made it.