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322nd Bomb Group

Flak Bait The B-26 survived 202 missions over Europe - more than any other American aircraft during WWII - and which is now enshrined in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Flak Bait, pulls up and away after making an attack run on a German V-1 launch site. Both have authentic markings from the 322nd Bomb Group.

WWII War Memoirs

I entered the U.S. Army at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, had my Air Force, combat crew radio operator training at Scott Field, Ill, and Harlingen, TX. My first assignment was to the 450th Bomb Squadron of the 322nd Bomb Group. I considered myself fortunate to have been assigned to a combat crew, of a B-26 Medium Bomber, with pilot Capt. Louis Sebille, and Navigator Lt. Ben Tillman. Our Squadron left for overseas combat on January 1, 1943. After getting settled in metal "nessen huts" near Bury St. Edmunds, we immediately started training for combat at low level altitudes, treetop. On one occasion the plane hit an invasion cable that the English had put up to prevent German gliders from landing. Ben Tillman was slightly injured, and the Co-Pilot was badly shook up. We had to make an emergency landing at an R.A.F. base.

Our first combat mission was on May 14, 1943, the target was a power plant, in connection with a sub base, at Ijmuiden, Holland. Ground fire started hitting us before we reached land, tracer and bullets crisscrossing from every direction. We were hit several times, but not in vital areas. We actually had to pull up in order to drop our bombs,which seemed to hit the target. There were no explosions, because we were dropping delayed fuse bombs. On our way back across the channel the Navigator asked me to check the bomb bay doors. I found a 500lb. bomb was on the catwalk and the doors would not close. I braced myself and started pushing against the doors, finally the bomb became loose and fell into the North Sea. That was the first time that I thought about the delay fuses - 30 minutes to one hour. Several planes in our flight were badly damaged, one crashed before it could be landed, with the loss of the pilot. The next day, with a friend, we left on an unauthorized trip to London. We were gone two days, when we returned to hut #17, I asked where is everyone? I was told that they went back to the very same target and no one had returned, the Germans had wiped out every crew and plane.That was an awful feeling.

After that disaster, we started training at altitudes of 10,000 to 12,000 feet. At this altitude we had many successful missions with light losses. Most of the time we had fighter escorts, but the flak was usually intense and accurate. We were bombing such targets as air bases, railway yards and buzz bomb launching pads. It looked good to see direct hits on buildings and freight cars.

I had made 48 missions and had begun to think about being sent back to the States, a few of our original crews had already left with 50 missions. I returned from leave, in London, one morning, went by the operations shack and found that I was scheduled for a mission the next day with a crew that I did not know, except for the Pilot who had flown with us one time as co-pilot. Our target for that mission was to be oil tanks and gun positions in the heavily fortified areas of LeHavre, France. It was a short flight with very heavy flak, we were hit over the target, but managed to drop our bombs. Visibility became impossible, we had no navigator, just a bombardier. I kept trying to set a radio course back to England, and gave the pilot what information I could. I was in the radio room still trying to find directions, I knew we were hit but did not know how badly, when the pilot rang the bell and the bomb doors opened. I had on the parachute harness, the British type, buckled the parachute on and dove head first, because I had seen this type of plane go down before. I could not find the ripcord, it was not there, it had broken loose at the chest but it was fastened at the shoulder. After I was able to pull the ripcord, it seemed that the chute would never open. I do not know how far I fell but it turned out for the best because the Germans were firing at me on the way down. As I got closer to the ground I could see French people looking up at me.

The following report was taken from the Official Journal of the 450th Sq. IX Bomber Command, dated April 13, 1943. - Eight A/C of this squadron participated in an attack on oil tanks and gun installations at Le Havre. Twenty one planes out of 36 dispatched from this field bombed the primary target through clouds with fair to good results. Clouds prevented a complete assessment of results. One plane was lost to flak, it was observed peeling off from the formation at LeHavre. It was further seen to climb and then fail off on it's right wing and drop through the clouds, and was last seen flying North at 2,000 feet. One crew reported the aircraft last headed for France. Members of the lost ship were: 1st Lt. Alien K McDonald, pilot, Everett, Washington; 1st Lt. Merlin E Johnson, co-pilot, Fort Morgan, Colorado; T/Sgt James W. Galloway, Nav/Bomb, Oxford, Michigan; S/Sgt Waldo Shows, Radio/Gunner, Taylorsville, Mississippi; S/Sgt Frank W. LaLone, Engineer/Gunner, Ossian, Indiana; Sgt. David G Davis, Tail/Gunner, Lakewood, Ohio.

I hit the ground in an open patch close to a wooded area, my hip was a little bruised, but I was OK. I hid my chute the best I could and started for the French people. I heard a motorcycle coming and the people motioned for me to go the other way. I ran as fast as I could, found a ditch with tall grass in it, and hid until the noise subsided. I crawled for a good while, found a brush pile that hid me, except for my boots, which were exposed. A dog came and started barking, this brought the Germans. One of them urinated on the brush pile, I will never know why they did not see my boots. After dark, I started walking and running, I did see two Germans and I wondered why they did not see me. Finally I came to a highway, could see lights up ahead they seemed to be stationary. When I decided to cross the highway, they started toward me, it was two Germans and they passed right by me. This was the fourth time that I could have been captured. I knew that I had to keep moving. l took to the fields for better cover but the hedgerows were tough and made the going very slow. It was a long night. Just before morning I came to a cobblestone road and could hear someone walking. l managed to get in front of this farm couple and by hand motions made them know that I was an American flyer.They took me to their home and gave me a glass of fresh milk, it was the first food that I had since leaving England. I asked about the Germans and they motioned all around. With a map, they did show me about where we were. They took me to the attic where I fell asleep. l awoke that afternoon with the yard full of German soldiers, I later found that they were there for butter, eggs and milk. His name was John Paul Louis Dennebouy, and they lived near the little village of Columby. I was given a change of clothes and stayed with them for a day or two. I was then taken to a barn about a quarter of a mile from the house where the loft became my home for the next three weeks. They would come every day to bring me something to eat, one day they were late and I only had apple cider, every time I would take a little drink of it I got a little hungrier. About four that afternoon a little woman brought a wicker basket with potatoes, liver, onions and that hard French bread, best food I ever had. Time passed very slowly. One day John Paul came with another man who could speak English. He interrogated me to be sure that I was an American, I am sure I passed. He then told me of two R.A.F. lads who parachuted into their area, the French picked them up to help them, it turned out that they were Germans and the people who had picked them up were taken off and never heard from again. He returned in about a week with a car, on the windshield it had a sign 'Officio'. I sure hated to leave John Paul, what he had done for me could have cost him his life. I never did learn the mans name, but he taught me a very good lesson to start with. He had cigarettes, when I had finished one, I tossed the but out, he cautioned me never to do that because the French smoked them until only the paper stuck to their lips. We had driven only about a mile when we came up on a large German convoy, he just waved at them and so did I. Several miles down the road, we turned in a side road that led to a beautiful chateau. Inside we met a man, his wife and daughter. One of them handed me a mirror, I did not realize how much my beard had grown. The wife and daughter were very beautiful and I had started to tell myself, this is where I want to spend the duration. This was not to be because it was not long before the driver along with this other man led me back out to the car. The three of us drove to another house not too far from there, this was to be my home for the next several weeks. This mans name was Legiliard I do not recall her name, but he had a daughter named Simone and a son named Roger, they called it "RoJay". The children were grown and I thought for a while that they were married, but I think that they were stepchildren. They would all kiss at bedtime. I always slept on a cot in the horse barn which was attached to the house. Mr. Legiliard could understand some English and he would always want me to tell about coming down in the parachute, he got a big kick out of this. Then he would get started on the Germans, get red faced and mad, because he had faced them in WWI. Our routine there was for them to come get me in the morning, we had no breakfast, just what they called coffee made from parched barley. I cannot remember what we had at noon, they brought me a small lunch down in the storage room where I stayed most of the day. In this room they kept a keg or two of calvados, distilled apple cider, and it was potent stuff, as I found out times. At night the menu never changed from potatoes, a boiled egg and that hard French bread. I wish I could find bread like that now, I think they owned the bakery. In the attic of the main house, was room with windows in front and back. I could see German soldiers passing daily.

There also was a radio hidden between the mattresses of a bed there. Sometimes I could pick up a little of an English broadcast, but not enough to know what was going on. Time passed very slowly. On one occasion the mayor, who was a collaborator came in. Had he seen me, it could have cost the others their lives. One thing that I remember, while in the attic, I could see the strawberries begin to ripen in the garden, I was looking forward to strawberries and cream. They finally served some, but without the cream, they put calvados on them. They also grew asparagus which we never had in Taylorsville. They served it with sour cream, which was very good. Roger would leave everyday on his bicycle, come back and give me a report on the war. In Italy, he would tell me, the Americans were moving very fast and the British very slow. Simone milked the cows and possibly would have been nice looking except she never cleaned up, always had cow hair on her somewhere. One day when she came to escort me to the house, she said "Ecce" and pointed to a big tub of hot water. l cannot remember having a bath before that time. I asked for a brush and something to clean my teeth. Got a pretty good brush and some red powder, but it seemed to clean my teeth great.

One Sunday they came to make my picture for a passport. The plan was that I would go with a French girl, through the Pyrenees Mountains, into Spain. I was getting impatient and they would say "veneer beinto", the Americans were coming. This escape plan was not to be because the very next Tuesday would be June 6,1944.

As I awoke on June 6th, there was more air activity than usual. We could hear explosions in the distance and I did not have to be told to get to the attic. The radio, between the mattresses, I turned on and found an English broadcast. General Eisenhower had announced that Allied troops had landed in Normandy. Just after that all electricity went off and I could get no further information. The landings had been made on the opposite side of the peninsula from where I was. Roger and Mr. Laguillard came home and said the Germans were running in every direction, they must have really been taken by surprise.There was lots of air activity and explosions in the distance, finally the artillery shells were getting closer, windows were broken in the house so we moved to a pit in the yard, five of us cramped into it. One of the shells exploded over the yard killing all of their rabbits and a fine bull. I told Mr. Laguillard I was sorry and he said Mr. Roosevelt would pay him. Finally it got so intense that we had to move, with other Frenchmen, down to a gully in the woods, where we spent that night. When some Germans came and told them they would have to move further into France, they asked about me and were told that I was shell shocked and could not talk. This is when I decided to split.

My target was Port Bail, a small village by the sea. They gave me a bottle of calvados and some potato croquettes. I could not expose myself by walking, so I had to crawl up a big hill, almost a mountain. When I got to the top,there was another valley and another mountain. I came across a herd of sheep and they scattered. I could see a small place off to my right, I think it was an artillery spotter. I kept going until I could see this body of water that they told me about. They had told me that if I could get across it, I would be safe. I kept going toward the water until I came to this huge stone. I looked all around and felt that I had almost made it. They had warned me that there might be mines around the water. I met three Frenchmen that were running as I was, then motioned that we needed to go across the water, and I would follow them. The tide was out and we did not have to swim as much as I thought. When we got to the village on the other side, it was deserted. All along the road people were leaving. Finally we came upon three or four American Soldiers. I explained to them that I was an American flyer, they said that they believed me but could take no chances, they marched us back to counter intelligence corp. They put me in a jeep and drove me from one post to another. We traveled all night. We finally came to what was my last interrogation, I was getting a little weary. I finally came before a Col. Smith who was from Greenville, Mississippi, he knew where Taylorsville, Mississippi was and I had no trouble convincing him as to who I was. He even offered to contact my parents and let them know that I was OK.

I do not remember where I spent the rest of that night, the next day I was with a lot of ground troops. Someone finally took me in a jeep to a fighter base with a metal landing strip. Everyone there seemed to be Capts., Majors and Col.., but they were all very nice to me. They invited me to come have something to eat with them, a Major helped to fix a plate. They had taken a jeep to Cherbourg where they found a large cache of fine liquors. We had several drinks and they insisted that I take a bottle with me, I will never forget how nice they were to me.

Note: I did not know what had happened to the rest of the crew that I was flying with. I understand that four of them were taken prisoners. The bombardier, in the nose cone, was probably shot or went down with the plane.

I was given a ride across the channel in a C-47 cargo plane carrying a lot of nurses and high ranking officers. We landed at an air base near London. The quarters there were for officers only, that made no difference to them, they invited me in for a good hot bath and gave me a change of military clothes, even a raincoat. I was then taken by jeep to Allied Headquarters in downtown London. One more time I was interrogated, and was told that someone from my Squadron would have to come identify me. I was hoping it would be Capt. Sebille but after about a week our First/Sgt. Howry O. Stepp arrived to identify me. He offered to loan me money and I cannot remember if I took it or not.

For the very first time,I felt like a free man again. I rented a cab to go the St. Regis Hotel where our Squadron usually visited when in London. The war was brought back to me in a hurry because before we arrived at the hotel a buzz bomb hit it and knocked out one wing of the hotel. I had been told to report back to Ninth Air Force Headquarters, the train made a stop at the little village of Rayne, near our base, so I got off there and went to old hut #17. All the original crews and friends that I came over with had completed 50 missions and had been sent home on leave. I managed to find out that they were due back today so I went back to our hut to wait for them. l had only been there about two hours when I could hear them arriving. I climbed into the bunk where I had always slept, pulled the cover over my head and waited. They came in and one of them said "who is this in Show's old bed"? It was Harold Earls from Oklahoma, I pulled the cover back and he jumped like he was shot, they could not believe that I had made it back. Another old friend who lived in Dayton, Ohio said "While on leave I went down to Taylorsville, Mississippi to visit your family." He told me my Mom and Dad were OK, I found that my brother Bob had been killed on Anzio Beach Head in Italy. This upset me and put a damper on our reunion, but I did appreciate him going all the way down to Mississippi to visit my family. He also told me that he had visited with his old pilot Capt. Rolland Scott in Georgia. Capt. Scott had been seriously wounded on our very first mission in May.

I reported to General Anderson at Ninth Air Force Headquarters. He was a very nice person, congratulated me on getting out of France, and told me that if all were like me the war would already be over. He sent me to London where I caught a C-54 plane to New York City. I reported to some Air Base and was again interrogated. I was then sent to Washington, D.C. and the Pentagon, where everyone except me seemed to be lost, it was a huge place. I was interrogated again and had to sign papers that I would tell no one what had happened to me - no media.

My last train ride was to Camp Shelby, Mississippi by way of Chicago. The Democratic Convention was just ending and all the delegates were going back home. Mississippi Gov. Mike Conner was on our train and I had a nice visit with him. I was to report to Camp Shelby but when the train arrived in Jackson, I got off and caught a bus to Taylorsville. My people were not expecting me but when I got off the bus I heard Mr. Mosey Lancaster say "there is Waldo now". My papa was there along with Mr. Jones and others that I knew It was a great reunion and many people came to see me that Sunday. Mama had fresh butter beans, tomatoes and fried chicken, first time that I had food like that in years.

It Wasn't Piccadilly Circus

It all started with a metal plaque discovered by Claude Letellier in a farm field in Normandy France. Claude lives in the area and has a passion for WWII history. His free time is spent researching WWII events that occurred in the locale and looking for WWII artifacts. His find, on this particular day, would connect him to incident that transpired almost sixty years ago on April 13, 1944.

It turned out that the metal plaque was knocked out by flak from the bomb bay of a B-26 Martin Marauder called "Hearse 11 + 6" serial number 41-31968. Radio call sign ER-J. On Thursday morning, April 13th, 1944 in preparation for the D-day invasion, the 322nd Bomb Group was sending thirty-seven Marauders to bomb oil tanks and gun installations at harbor facilities in Le Havre, France. They all returned except one from the 450th Bomb Squadron, "Hearse II + 6".

Twenty-four hours earlier Waldo Shows had been on leave in London. Returning to his squadron late Wednesday night. Waldo saw his name posted on the bulletin board for the morning mission to Le Havre as a replacement radioman/gunner. This would be his first time flying with Lt. McDonald's crew As a rule he flew with Lt. Louis Sebille and his crew. Lt. Sebille later would go on to be awarded The Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously while flying a F-51 during the Korean Conflict.

After completing the mission,at approximately 0920 "Hearse II + 6" was hit by flak. Peeling off to the left and rapidly losing altitude 41-31968 was finally able to level off around 7,000 feet. This is the last anyone from the 450th saw of the Marauder as it disappeared into the clouds.

Inside 41-31968, the pilot Lt. Allen McDonald and the co-pilot Lt. Merlin Johnson were struggling to maintain control of the stricken aircraft. Sgt. Waldo Shows was by his radio trying to get a fix back to England. Seeing that the situation was becoming hopeless, Lt. McDonald sounded the bail out alarm and opened up the bomb bay doors ordering everyone out of the aircraft. Six men disappeared into the clouds leaving 41-31968 behind to her fate.

This is the last Sgt. Shows saw of 41-31968, Lt. Allen McDonald, Lt. Merlin Johnson, the bombardier Sgt. James Galloway, flight engineer Sgt. Frank LaLone and tail gunner Sgt. Nathan Davis. The Germans were waiting for them as they reach the ground.The five of them spent the rest of the war as guests of the Luftwaffe in various POW camps.

Well, Waldo was on the ground again, and this definitely wasn’t Piccadilly Circus! But his luck was better than the other five. Emil Lagillard, a French farmer and a member of the French Underground found him before the Germans did. Waldo Shows is 86 years old now and living in Mississippi.

Waldo Shows. WWII War Memoirs. And: Roy Bozych, Historian. 323rd Bomb Group/454th Bomb Squadron. It Wasn't Piccadilly Circus. Bomber Legends. Volume 2 No. 3 2005.

B-26 Units of the 8th & 9th AF Scutts. As one of the first combat aircraft to see action in Europe, the Marauder held the brunt of the bombing effort in Western Europe. Book portrays all aspects of operations, with firsthand accounts, analyses of training and tactics, unit histories, detailed appendices covering order of battle.

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