A Yankee Flier Over Berlin

ty minutes to get from the operations room to the colonel's office. Holt had cal

have a screen on tracks. It is covered over with brush and leaves and looks from any angle, exc

ew of them on the grou

d hangars. The screen is only a temporary camouflage. The planes are snapped back into the underground hangar. I say

se hangars out,"

l forty feet of earth over them as a roof, and I supp

any any ideas for handling them?"

lied. "We could

?" Major K

to the open end of the han

ork," Colon

ould fly at the right angle to bounce them into the hangars. If we went ac

l said. "Wilson, you will

today and O'Malley and I were just luck

olonel Holt said gravely. "A

shell," Stan said. "I went into the smoke and d

the colonel spoke. "We'll report him m

he Jerries were plenty ma

When we locate a set of runways near a hill, we'll check. After the data is in we'll try Lieutenant Wilson's skip-bombing tactics. But we want to make a clea

f the hangars?" the

hen I came in over the runway," Stan replied.

e cameras," the major said sourly. "

be eatin'," O'Mall

l, we'll run along,"

sternly. "Food is a secondary ma

Malley said. "It's v

bony frame and smiled. He turned back to h

to do this here skip-bombing," O'

rig a delayed fuse and we can roll the eggs

chuckled. "In no time at

to bombers went out. They searched a wide band of enemy territory and made many photographs. Every landing strip, even though it appeared to be only an emergen

e the map with his staff. The men leaned forward eagerly. For several days they had been pr

destroy the largest of the fighter bases near Berlin. You all know the tactics. There will be thirty

ld be a long flight during which they would avoid fights in the air. Then there would be a sudden atta

ttle talking. This was the hour of tension. Weather still had to come through with reports and the men had learned tha

y and headed for the ready room. Eagerly they scrambled into their outfi

," Stan said. "That m

y answered as he headed for hi

east. Stan watched the flare of their exhausts as the

eady, Wilso

gainst the shock pad and waited. O'Malley went knifing away and he

e ordinarily extra tanks would nestle, closed into formation.

hen Wellman got back he would be ranked up a notch and shoved into a job where he could fly only occasionally. Already his record an

n arrow-straight flight, they slid over the Netherlands. There were to be no ro

y now. The country below was blacked-out entirely. There was no flak and n

e dawn began to lighten the low country below, they roared across the German countryside. Now they were greeted by a few bursts of fire, but no heavy flak

t." Colonel Wellman broke the

ance raid group of Mosquito bombers. No fighters would try to intercept them. The Berlin defenders would depend upon flak,

ndmarks they had been briefed to expect. They flew in perfect formation. Stan w

of flame and rolling clouds of dust. At the same moment the earth began to erupt fire and smoke and steel. The second wave of Mustangs disappeared into the inf

. Then the Irishman's Mustang stuck her nose into the ground and went end over end down the field like a wrecked kite. Stan pulled up hard and as his P-51 lifted, he felt something hit her. It was as though he had slammed into a stone w

pward and out. Staggering free of the wreckage, he found himself enveloped in a choking pall of smoke. Off to his left, a heavy explosion shook the ground. Dirt and sticks and

he rear. He felt a solid impact on the back of his head an