Mission 931

The 34th mission on April 7th went back to an oil refinery southeast of Hamburg, twelve miles out. The familiar anxiety returned the moment the map curtain came back. When the pilot inspected the assigned aircraft before takeoff he found that some previous crew had lined the pilot's seat and back with several layers of flak vests. He hadn't seen that done before and left them as they were. Everything went smoothly until the IP, where fighters jumped the formation. They broke off when the 88s opened up over the target. The bombs went down, and the fighters came back as soon as the formation cleared the flak. Thorstenson shot down an ME-109. Conway then called out two P-51s at two o'clock high, moving to eleven o'clock. When the second of the pair turned its nose toward the squadron, Conway recognized it as German and opened fire. The aircraft went below them, rolled over, and the pilot bailed out. With 450 jets reported in the area, and both enemy aircraft having approached from behind American planes, no one else in the squadron had fired on them. Near the end of the running fight, a fighter cannon shell came through the armor plate beside the pilot's seat, angled back, and exploded. The blast shredded the flak curtain and broke the pilot's seat belt. A piece lodged in the co-pilot Doug Schetter's left knee and drove toward his hip. The radio operator Eck was also wounded. The pilot looked at his seat after they parked. The flak vests were chewed to pieces. A distress message got through and they were given plenty of runway. Schetter and Eck were taken to the hospital. Two more gunners finished their tours that day, having volunteered for extra flights earlier. Thorstenson later received an Oak Leaf Cluster to his Air Medal for the engagement.