“Joker, The”.Over Metz.

Mission thirteen took the crew to Fort L'Asnée in France, in support of ground operations near Metz. The bombs were 2,000-pounders, the largest the crew had carried. They were too large for the bomb bay and were suspended instead on remote toggles under the wings, inboard of the number two and three engines. When they released, the aircraft lurched upward with the sudden change in weight. The target sat close to Allied lines, and elaborate precautions were in place. American ground troops fired red smoke along their front line so the formations could see exactly where friendly positions ended. It worked, though the crew couldn't help thinking through what might happen if the markers failed to ignite at the right altitude and kept climbing. The concern was not abstract. In an earlier incident involving a similar close-support mission, bombs had fallen on American troops. The lead pilot in that case had been arrested on landing. Flak was meager and no enemy fighters appeared. One aircraft was lost. Their own ship came back clean. Patton's push toward Metz began the following morning.