Oral history interview of Lewis Manderson

Collection:: Veterans History Project: Oral History Interviews
Title:: Oral history interview of Lewis Manderson
Creator:: Gardner, Robert D.
Manderson, Lewis, 1925-
Date of Original:: 2005-01-27
Subject:: World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
B-24 (Bomber)
United States. Army Air Forces. Air Force, 8th
University of Alabama
Germany. Luftwaffe
Consolidated B-24 Liberator (heavy bomber)
Location:: United Kingdom, England, London, 51.50853, -0.12574
United Kingdom, England, Norwich, 52.628606, 1.29227
United States, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County, Tuscaloosa, 33.20984, -87.56917
United States, Alabama, Walker County, Cordova, 33.75983, -87.18333
United States, California, Los Angeles County, Hollywood, 34.09834, -118.32674
United States, California, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, 34.05223, -118.24368
United States, California, Riverside County, March Air Force Base, 33.89209, -117.2631
United States, Florida, Lee County, Fort Myers, 26.62168, -81.84059
United States, Florida, Miami-Dade County, Miami Beach, 25.79065, -80.13005
United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
United States, Georgia, Atlanta Metropolitan Area, 33.8498, 84.4383
United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Fort McPherson, 33.70733, -84.43354
United States, Texas, Bexar County, San Antonio, 29.42412, -98.49363
Medium:: video recordings (physical artifacts)
mini-dv
Type:: Moving Image
Format:: video/quicktime
Description:: In this interview, Lewis Manderson describes his career in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. He recalls his training and the journey by ship to England. He relates several harrowing and humorous stories of his time in the Army Air Forces. He details gunnery training and flights over targets in Hamburg (Germany), Berlin (Germany), and Norway. He discusses his fellow airmen and flight crew as well as what they did during their down time. He recounts his return to the U.S. and his post-war education and career.
Lewis Manderson was in the U.S. Army Air Forces in Europe during World War II.
LEWIS MANDERSON Atlanta History Center Veterans History Project Date: January 27, 2005 Interviewer: Robert Gardner Transcriber: Deborah Thomas Interviewer: Today is January 27, 2005, and this is an interview with Mr. Lewis Manderson, 3232 Anderson, Andrews Drive, Northwest, Atlanta, Georgia. Born 10/16/1925. Interview is taking place at the Atlanta History Center. Also in attendance is Mr. Lee Davis, Mr. Sean Griffin, Mr. Adrian Carter. The interviewer is Robert Gardner. Mr. Manderson, can you tell me what war, branch of service you served in, sir? Manderson: The Air Force in World War II. Interviewer: Were you drafted, or did you enlist, sir? Manderson: I enlisted. Interviewer: Where were you living at the time? Manderson: Cordova, Alabama. Interviewer: Why did you join? Manderson: Everybody was, uh, I graduated from high school in 1943 and everybody was, uh, knew that they were going in service at that time, so it was matter of determining which you wanted to do, and uh, flying an airplane was a glamorous thing to do. So, like a lot of other guys, I wanted to fly an airplane so I thought the Air Corps was what I needed to do. Interviewer: Do you recall your first days in service, sir? Manderson: First days ? yes. Interviewer: What was it like? Manderson: Well, it was a very regimented life, and I uh, I thought I was off to a great start because they sent me to Miami Beach to do my basic training and you stayed in those luxury hotels that had been built during that era, and so our quarters were plush, and that was a great surprise to me and, uh, then just the regimental portion and all the things that you do [unintelligible] Interviewer: Can you tell me about any of your other boot camp or training experiences, sir? Manderson: Well, from basic training I went to Ft. Myers, Florida, to, uh, gunnery school. I had attended, I passed the exam to go into pilot training before I went in the service, and it became pretty obvious that I was among a bunch of college graduates and I was from a country high school, and it was obvious that I didn't have the educational background to do that, and they pointed that out pretty [unintelligible] for me. And so they sent me to gunnery school, and one thing I remember about gunnery school more than anything else is they, we lived in tents when I first got there until a barracks would become available. And the mosquitoes were absolutely horrible. They were like the size of flies or wasps. I mean those things were the biggest things I had ever seen in my life. And of course I had never lived in sand, and there was sand in my bed every single night, and those were the two things about gunnery school that stand out in my mind. Interviewer: Do you remember any of your instructors, sir? Manderson: No, I do not. Interviewer: How did you get through the basic training? Manderson: Get through it? Well, it really wasn't hard to get through it. I enjoyed it. It was, uh, it was a great experience, and a lot of young guys just like me and, uh, a lot of camaraderie and after the, after the restrictions ? you know you have to go through several weeks before you can do anything ? once that's done it was a lot of fun being in Miami, Florida, and all those guys, nice guys, you're around. It was a lot of fun. So I got through it easily. Interviewer: What war did you serve in, sir? Manderson: World War II. Interviewer: Where exactly did you go? Manderson: Well, in my service career, I went from, to, as I told you, gunnery school, and then they sent me to March Field in California, which is just south of Los Angeles, actually Riverside, and so we got crew training there. Then they sent me to Hamilton Air Force Base in San Francisco, and I then I took a troop train all the way to, uh, all the way across the United States to, um, Boston. And that was quite an experience, that troop train all the way across the United States. That was a drudgery in a way but very enjoyable in another way. Every stop where we got off the train, people were there and they met us, and they gave us goodies and loved us and hugged our necks and all that stuff. It was a great experience. Interviewer: Is there anything unusual that happened while you were on the troop train? Manderson: No, just that. The hospitality that we met all along the way. Some of our guys got off the troop train and missed the train, and some of the civilians picked them up and drove them to the next town. And, you know, it was just a great experience. You know, to see how the world viewed our troops at that time. It was wonderful. They loved us. Interviewer: What was your first duty station and your assignment? Were you flying, sir? Manderson: Well, we were flying all the way through, from the beginning. After basic training and gunnery school we were training as gunners, and so we were flying then, and then at March Field we were flying there as a crew, and then as a crew we were assigned to a base in the Eight Air Force. Interviewer: Do you remember arriving there and what it was like, sir? Manderson: Yes, yes. The whole troop went across on a troop ship, and it took seven days, I believe it was. And, uh, there was, you know, the feel of danger was there. You were briefed on the dangerous aspects of it, so we thought of that. And then, uh, then I saw a troop ship was another experience that I had never done. I had never been on a ship in my life. I'd hardly been on anything bigger than a skiff. And so, you know, I had the same ? I got seasick, and so that lasted a day or so, and I learned how to shoot craps, and that was a great experience, and they learned how to take my money [laughter] and so then the variety in England, in a foreign country. I was from Walker County, Alabama, but I mean, you know, it was glamorous. It was wonderful. Interviewer: What was your exact job or assignment on the aircraft, sir? Manderson: I was a tailgunner on a B-24. Interviewer: Did you see combat? Manderson: Yes. Interviewer: Were there any casualties in your unit, sir? Manderson: No, uh, we were actually, we were there at the end of the war. We were there at the? I was in Europe when the war ended. I had flown eighteen combat missions at that time. So there wasn't nearly the, uh, casualties that there were for the fellows that preceded me. They were the guys that really took a beating. We were, we had, uh, casualties ? Maybe one of the biggest hazards we had was the weather. Uh, getting formed into formation in those clouds was always, it was always a horrific pain. And that was, that was a great hazard, and uh, we had anti-aircraft fire. Uh, you could see those puffs and hear the flight crew of the airplane was a scary thing. And uh, not so far as casualties were concerned. There were casualties, but they were nothing like the casualties of those that preceded me. Interviewer: Can you tell me a couple of your most memorable experiences, sir? Manderson: Yeah. Uh, I guess the most memorable experience was on my second mission. We were, we were, the weather was horrible, and we were forming, uh, sometimes when the weather was bad they would send you to the continent if the weather was better there so that you would actually fly singly until you got there and then get into formation. And, uh, this particular morning we were, we were getting into formation and uh, as I said, I was in the tail position of the airplane, and a plane pulled up very close to us, and so I called the pilot and I said, “There's a guy back here so close I can see the color of their eyes.” And he said ? they called me Mandy ? and he said, “Well, Mandy, keep your eye on him and tell us what he's doing.” And so the plane pulled on under us, and he was, the pilot didn't really understand how close I was telling him this plane was. It was right on us. And so in just maybe a minute or two minutes, the nose gunner looked around from the front of the plane, and he screamed over the intercom and he said “George, this plane is so close our propellers are running together.” And so with that the pilot sensed the urgency of what was happening and he pulled our plane up. Apparently, the plane that was so close didn't have anybody in their top turret. Everybody was expected to watch out for other planes at all times. That was a major, major assignment. And the guy that was in the top turret was responsible for being sure that if you came up on somebody from the bottom side. Well, they apparently didn't have anybody in their top turret and that plane, we pulled up, they pulled down, and from my tail position, uh, I just saw parts of that, felt the bump, bam, we hit. And then I saw pieces of airplane just flying by me back there, and I didn't know whether it was our plane or their plane, or what it was. I mean, I was scared to death. And so, I was so scared, I was six-two and crammed into that little old tail turret back there, and I was so afraid that I was the first one that got to the escape hatch. I got out of that tail turret, clipped on my parachute and got it open, the hatch, before anybody else could get up. And I'll say that was a feat. I said I was so scared that I absolutely acted on instinct. That was the most terrifying and the most, uh, thing that stands out in my mind more than anything else. Combat was scary, flight was scary, and uh, you know, there were stories that were told about when you would go over certain targets, they knew beforehand there was going to be a very, very intense anti-aircraft fire, and they would tell you, and you'd get those puffs bursting all around you, and that was scary. That was probably the two most scary incidents. We were hit by fighters one time. We were fired upon by fighters one time, and it was the first time I had ever seen a Jap? fighter. And that Jap? pulled right up behind, and I fired at him. And I thought I had gotten him, but the truth was that I found out when we got down and talked with folks on the ground that knew about such things, that the Jap would fly and they could just lose straight down like that, and I didn't know that. And so, I thought I hit him, and the truth about it is that he had just darted down, he was through with us and just wanted to go do something else. And so I didn't hit him. I guess one of the humorous things that happened during that time was that we used to, we would get airborne and get into formation and the pilot ? maybe before we got into formation ? the pilot would say, “Okay, you can try your guns now.” And so we would put a round in our gun and fire a few rounds to be sure it was working so that when we got over enemy territory that we would be working. But it was cumbersome to do that, particularly for me back in that little turret, I was about like this. And so, I had the bright idea why in the world don't I do this on the ground, man. It would be a lot simpler to just do this on the ground and then I wouldn't be up there in that cold ? it was so cold that your fingers would hardly work. And so I thought I'd just do this on the ground. And so we got in our, this particular mission we got in our plane and so I put the ammunition in and so I was going to fire off a couple of rounds. And I so I put the ammunition in, and as fate would have it, the gun ran away. That means that you go to fire a round and it fires a bunch of rounds, like wow! ? man, so quick that you don't know what's happening. Well, that happened. And so, there was a lot of shooting going on, and finally I got the thing stopped. Man! No sooner had I gotten stopped than sirens were going, and people were running up to the airplane. Oh, my God, you know. And so then I went “Why, what in the world happened?” Uh, so, I didn't know that I was firing right into an ammunition dump, and they were, everybody was going wild about that. Well anyway, nothing was destroyed. They didn't put me in jail or anything. So that was another more humorous incident. The guys used to kid me. When we got hit from an enemy aircraft or shrapnel from enemy aircraft a time or two, and they kind of riddled the plane sort of back where I was sitting and so they used to have flak suits that they would, uh, when you started on a mission they would issue you and you would take the flak suit and put it in the plane so when you got into fire you could put that flak suit on. The flak suit is sort of like the officers wear now, police officers wear so the bullet won't get to them. It might bruise you, but it won't kill you. And so I got the smart idea that I would just get me several of those flak suits and so I just crammed the tail end of the airplane with flak suits. And the guys always said that our plane would fly like this rather like this because I had it weighted down with flak suits back there to save my skin. [laughter] But that was a couple of things that happened. Another interesting thing that I told Lee and you'd probably enjoy, and so I'll tell you also. Well, after that second mission, up until that time I had been absolutely unafraid of flying. It just didn't bother me. Man, I would get on an airplane and go to sleep. In training, I would just go on out to the airplane before it took off and I'd get into a comfortable place where it was warm and I'd stay right there until the plane took off, and there we'd be in the air and they'd wake me up and say, “Hey, Mandy, come on. Do whatever you were supposed to do.” So after that second mission, it absolutely got my attention. And it scared me bad. It scared all of us. And so, I decided, because I was just from a rural town in Alabama and you know a lot of hellfire and brimstone Baptists, and if you don't do certain things, you're going to hell and damnation. You know, a lot of those people, uneducated people, just as I was, uh, the deal was if you wore lipstick, if you went to movies, if you danced, all that stuff, you know. So I got to thinking about all that, and after my second mission, I said, you know, I may not get out of this thing, and I've never been baptized. And so I went to the chaplain on the base, and said “I want to be baptized.” And so I guess he thought I knew what I was talking about, and so he didn't question me about it, nor instruct me about it, nor give me some advise on it. He just said “Okay. Well, we'll just set a time. You want to be baptized.” So the day came, and I went over to his office, and it was the coldest day. It was in the dead of winter, in England, and it could be the coldest there of anyplace on earth. So the day came to be baptized, and I went over to the chaplain's office, and we got in his jeep. And I had worn some light clothes because I knew I was going to get in the water and I was going to be dunked, and so I wore some light clothes. Well, we're in this jeep, and it was so cold, and the jeep's open, so we go out into the woods and we got out on a little trail and go all the way back and we get to a little stream, and he told me that it was a tributary of the River Thames. So we got out of that jeep and, uh, he did his little ritual, said a little prayer or whatever he did, and so then we went into the water. [laughter] It was so cold. Man. I mean it was so cold you hardly, I couldn't breathe, hardly. So anyway we did it, he dunks me down in the water, and you know, I just said, “God, if you'll just get me out of this water, that's really all you have to do for me.” [laughter] It was so cold. And so anyway we got out and got back and got the, we changed clothes, and I had some heavier clothes to put on and it was warmer going back, and so it all turned out well. That was one of the things that I did, another one of my exciting things that I did in the service. Interviewer: During the time of your second mission, when the other aircraft clipped yours, did you have to bail out? Manderson: No, we did not bail out. I was actually prepared to bail out. I had on my chute, and I opened the escape hatch, and uh, I was just waiting for the word and I would have been out of that hatch, but our pilot didn't understand that we had been, that it was severe, and he said “Did the plane go down?” And we watched the plane after it hit. I got out of the turret and we watched the plane. And it tore the whole, their rear section off of their plane, and um, so, they went into a spin and the last time we saw them they were in a cloud. It was an overcast day and they were in a cloud, and of course we didn't see them any more. The cloud cut them off. But we went on and flew the mission. We, uh, had trouble with the plane. We couldn't keep up. It had damaged it in some way. I don't know how it damaged the plane. We each went in from one formation to the next. There would be a group of planes, and we couldn't keep up with them, so we had to go to the next formation, and the next formation, because our plane wouldn't keep up. And we did that. But we went on and completed the mission and dropped our bombs and headed back and we had to do the same thing coming back. And because of the damage to our plane, the pilot had to give it more power than cruising speed. We couldn't fly at cruising speed because we couldn't keep up. We couldn't keep up anyway, but we couldn't keep up at all unless he gave it almost full power. And so, uh, we were doing the same thing coming back and we were worried about that, because we were worried about being a single airplane, because a single airplane is going to be picked on. At any rate, we made it back and made it just across the English Channel, and then we had to land at the first base we could get to, because we were low on fuel and were worried about getting across the Channel, but we did get across the Channel and got to a base, the nearest base, and landed, but no, we did not make [unintelligible] Interviewer: Were you awarded any medals or citations, sir? Manderson: Any what? Interviewer: Were you awarded any medals or citations, sir? Manderson: Only one, [unintelligible]. The only one I qualified for was for being over there. [laughter] No, I did not win any combats, just the air medal. I've got three air medals and two oak leaf clusters. Interviewer: How did you stay in touch with your family, sir? Manderson: We had, what did they call it back then? Uh, they had a word for the mail that you sent … Interviewer: V-mail? Manderson: V-mail. Interviewer: You sent V-mail? Manderson: Yeah. Interviewer: What was the food like, sir? Manderson: It was good. We ate a lot of Spam, and we had a lot of peanut butter, and we ate a lot of marmalade. But uh, it was pretty good. You've heard all those stories that it was so bad, and we got tired of it but it really wasn't, it wasn't horrible. Interviewer: Did you have plenty of supplies, sir? Manderson: Did I have what? Interviewer: Did you have plenty of supplies? Manderson: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Lots of supplies. Interviewer: Did you feel pressure or stress? Manderson: Uh, fear. [laughter] No, no. Fear of getting killed is pressure, I guess. Yeah. Interviewer: Was there something special you did for good luck, sir? Manderson: What did you say? Interviewer: Was there something special you did for good luck, sir? Manderson: For good luck? Uh, well there were certain things you did. I mean, you know, you wore your dog tags in a certain way. You did everything you did in a certain way if you were superstitious, and I was. So yeah, I can't think of a thing. Like, I didn't carry a rabbit's foot or anything like that. But I did some of the same things over and over, because I lived through one mission, I said “I'll do this the same way, so that's for good luck and I'll do it again.” Interviewer: How did people entertain themselves? Manderson: Uh, you mean on the, well if we had leave then we went into, we weren't far from London. We were in Norwich, and we weren't far from London, and we went to the city. And, of course, that was, I was a country boy, that was really a good, something to do. And so, that, as far as in camp was concerned, we played cards, we shot craps, and we read, uh, there were movies, and sometimes there was organized entertainment there. And uh, that kind of thing. Interviewer: What type of organized entertainment did they have? Like USO shows, sir? Manderson: Yeah, that kind of thing. And they had some talent shows they had on the base. And you had guys that had some talent, musical talent, and that kind of thing, would perform for us. Interviewer: You mentioned being on leave. What did you do when you were on leave, sir? Manderson: [laughter] Well, I would, you know, a tourist, and we'd visit the pubs, and uh, the tourist attractions, go to movies, go to shows. Interviewer: Did you have an opportunity to do any other traveling while you were overseas, sir? Manderson: Not really. Interviewer: Do you recall any other particular humorous or unusual events, sir? Manderson: Lee, did I tell you any of them? Unknown: Ah, you told the good ones, I know that. I'm trying to think. Manderson: [unintelligible] troop train, and I, when I was stationed at March Field we went into Los Angeles, and uh, that was exciting. We went to Hollywood, and we went to a club that used to be in Hollywood, one of the world famous nightclubs there, and they would let a certain number of servicemen in, and so I happened to be one of the lucky ones that went in with some of my buddies. And uh, saw the movie stars out there dancing. I remember Edgar G. Robinson out on the dance floor dancing, [unintelligible] was there, and so that was exciting. Not so much exciting things for me because I was from a small town and that was [unintelligible] Interviewer: What did you think of your officers and fellow soldiers? Manderson: They were absolutely the best. [unintelligible] Our pilot was a young man from Pennsylvania, and uh, he was just barely older than I. And, uh, the bombardier on our plane was [unintelligible]. They were all just great, great guys. The guys [unintelligible] Interviewer: Do you recall leaving the service, sir? Manderson: Yeah, I do. I was discharged, let's see, I had to, I was, I had been in Ft. Myers, Florida. Actually, when I came home from the service, they were discharging people on the points system. And uh, how much combat you had, and the time you had in the field, and I recall that as a result of that I had enough points to get out but I didn't have enough time in service to get out. And so I had to spend some time in the States, in the United States, after I was out of combat. Actually, they had sent us home thinking that we would go to training on a B-29 and then go to Japan, to the Asian Theater. And as it turned out, of course, the war in Japan ended also. So there I was, I had too many, I had enough points to get out but I didn't have enough time in service, so I had to stay in for three months. And one of the, I was in Ft. Myers, Florida, again, but anyway and so I went from there to, uh, when I was being separated they sent me to Ft. McPherson and from Ft. McPherson I was free [unintelligible]. Interviewer: What did you do in the days and weeks afterwards, sir? Manderson: Well, I thought about what I was going to do with life. I rejoiced for several days. Then reality set in and I began to try to determine what I was going to be. And I had a couple of good friends that were in service, and they didn't get out until after I did, and so I started looking around, we corresponded and we decided that we were going to enroll in college. And so I waited a few months until they came home and worked some odd jobs because I wasn't qualified to do anything, and then they came home and we enrolled at the University of Alabama and went to school. Interviewer: Was your education supported by the G. I. Bill, sir? Manderson: Yes. Interviewer: Did you make any close friendships while in the service? Manderson: Yes, they were close friendships at that time. But like happens so many times where you are separated from people, you know, you have lot of good intentions and they generally don't pan out. But, yeah [unintelligible] and he was from Pennsylvania, and he came down to Alabama to visit with my family after the war. And I went to Pennsylvania and visited him and another real close friend who was in another city in Pennsylvania. The pilot came through, uh, I made my home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, after I went to the University there, I stayed there in Tuscaloosa with a lot of my friends. I stayed there almost twenty years. And the pilot came through there with his, one time, and one time when I was in Texas, uh, where's the Alamo? Unknown: San Antonio. Manderson: I was in San Antonio, and the pilot stayed in the service after the war got through, he stayed in the service and retired, and at that time he was stationed there and so I visited with him. So those were the times I had with my crew members after that. They were great friends, but like another era of your life passed and you get out of that mode and go to something else. Interviewer: Did you join a veteran's organization, sir? Manderson: I did not. Interviewer: What did you go on to do as a career after the war? Manderson: Well, I went to the University, and then I, then I, um, I quit the University. I went about two and a half years to the University. After my experience in being in the service, and my background was poor simply because, maybe it was my intelligence as well, the fact that I went to this small rural high school and it just didn't prepare me much for all the things I would have to face in college. So I went about as far as I could go, and I quit. And then I went to work for an automobile dealership and worked for them for about six years, and then I went to work for advertising, and I worked for them. I left the automobile dealership because I wanted to get a place in the business, and I got an opportunity to do that in the advertising business. I didn't know anything about the advertising business, scratch and I was able to put a company together and buy a property, and then began to buy other properties, and so I spent about forty years in the advertising business, and I came to Atlanta from Alabama, and because I had an advertising business here and some other companies, and started a property company and did that for eight years and retired from that, and what I done I really enjoyed. Interviewer: Did your military experience influence your thinking about war or about the military in general, sir? Manderson: I don't know, I don't really know what influenced me. It certainly influenced me as to understanding the horrors of war. Also influenced me I think, I was proud of what I did, I was proud of our country. Interviewer: Did you attend a reunion, sir? Manderson: Pardon? Interviewer: Do you attend any reunions, sir? Manderson: No, I haven't. Interviewer: Are there any questions or anything you'd like to ask Mr. Manderson? Unknown: Who made what your targets for your bombing raids were? Were there any targets that changed over time, or particular cities, can you talk about that? Manderson: Yes. Well, they changed a great deal. Actually, we, they would muster us in the flying days, and we would go to briefing, and that's when we would learn where we were going. And we would learn what, uh, they would tell us the hazards, uh, this is the heavy city. Two that I remember going to were Hamburg and Berlin. And uh, they were well-fortified, and you didn't want to go too many times. [unintelligible] Germany. Our, other than that we went to Scandinavia one time. We went on a mission to Norway one time. It was the longest mission that we had, and we got to the target and the weather was so bad that we got almost to the target and the weather was so bad that we had to abort the mission and turn around and come back, and it was so long that we had to get rid of our bombs because we had to lessen the weight in our plane in order to have enough fuel to get back. And so we had to jettison our bombs as soon as we could, and you asked about one of the things that I remember vividly, I remember very well this mission and lots of planes establish plans and a lot of them flying at different altitudes and we were at an altitude that was under a lot of the other squadrons, and when they jettisoned their bombs, we were under them. And the bombs came raining down, and uh, it was a scary few minutes. You, know, we could see them, we could see them raining everywhere. And uh, it was a scary time. Unknown: How often did you personally engage a turret gun? Every mission? Or a couple of times a mission? How many times did you actually have to do your job on a mission, let's put it that way. Manderson: You mean actually shoot the guns? Unknown: Right. Manderson: Two times. Two times. Actually, I told you about the time that we, the fighters, the only time we encountered fighters. We would see them off in the distance. That's the only time that we were attacked by fighters was the one time. And the second time, we were a low level mission one time, and we were to, we were to, um, fire on a railroad yard. And we were flying behind people, we were very close, and we were strafing, and that was the only two times I really fired my gun in combat. Of course, I fired many a [unintelligible] [laughter] Unknown: Did you ever [unintelligible]? Manderson: Pardon? Unknown: Railroad yard. Did you already tell us what the years were that you were in England? Manderson: No, and let me rephrase. I messed it up so bad with Lee, let me tell you my whole itinerary. I went into service in February '44, I went into basic training. And then I made an [unintelligible] February to May I went to basic training. And then from May to August I went to gunnery school in Ft. Myers, Florida. And then from August to December I went to crew training in Riverside, California. In December until September, I was in the Eighth Air Force, and I was sent home in September, and I was separated from the service in December 1945. Interviewer: So you went home in December '44. Manderson: Yes, I went in December '44 and came home in September. Actually, I was in England for six months. I was only in the service for 22 months. I used to say 22 months, four days, and three hours, but that was only for show. [laughter] [unintelligible] Unknown: Were you ever down any enemy fighters? Manderson: Was I what? Unknown: Did you ever shoot down any enemy fighters? Manderson: No. No. The only one I fired at, I thought I shot down, but I didn't shoot him down. He dropped out of sight. Unknown: Was that a German plane? Manderson: Yes. [unintelligible] just as jets were introduced and the first one I had ever seen. It was the first one we ever encountered on a mission that I even saw. Previously we had saw some of the other fighters, but they didn't attack us. That was the only one that ever attacked us. Interviewer: Yes, let me ask you this. How did they teach you, in gunnery school, how did you learn how to fire the gun and how to hit targets? What was the process? Manderson: Um, well actually, [unintelligible] the beginning of training they put you in a turret just like you were going to be in, in the plane, and they stuck two guns, and they were shotguns, and they fired clay pigeons and you're out there and they fired clay pigeons and you're in your turret. In other words, you can't shoot your gun like this, you're shooting with controls, and they fire and you swing your turret around and try to hit that clay pigeon. Then they put you on trucks, and have a target, and you're on the truck and you have to shoot the truck ? I mean you have to shoot the target. You're on the truck, and the target out there and you've got to, that truck is moving and you've got to hit the target. And then, after you've done that a while, they introduce you to the gun that you're going to fire. We were firing 50-caliber machine guns, two of them, twin guns. And then they were, course they introduced us to flying, and in the airplane, and we would fly, we flew in the desert in California, and in gunnery school we'd shoot in the swamps down in Florida, and shot at stationary targets, and then they put us in the plane and then they pulled a target with another plane. It's a big sleeve. And they gave us tracer bullets that were colored so that we could tell what we hit, we could tell who hit it. If it's coming out of my gun, from my, I was colored blue that day, and we could see blue and lot of planes shot at. And so that was the training. Graduated from there and we were ready as much [unintelligible] Interviewer: When you went into the service, were you scared of the thought of going into the war? When you went into the service, were you scared of the thought of going into the war? Manderson: No. No, in fact, I joined in April or May of the year, and they called and said the next February, and man I was really antsy. I wanted to go get at it. At that time I thought I was going to be piloting a plane, and so I couldn't wait. Interviewer: On the troop convey going over from Boston to England, well, was it a convey? Is that right, were there destroyers escorting you, or were the troop ship [Side one of tape ended.] Manderson: Yes Interviewer: … could you see them out there? Manderson: Yes. We were vaguely aware that they were out there, but, you know, again, I was 19. I was more worried about the crap game or what I was going to do next, or about the movie that was on that we were going to see, you know. Interviewer: How many missions did you go on? Manderson: Eighteen. Interviewer: Eighteen? Did you have fighter escorts on any or, any of them? Manderson: Yes. The fighters would go with you as far as they could. They actually, because of their limitation of fuel, they could only go so far, and they'd meet you coming back. We didn't have nearly as much of that as they did earlier in the war. Because at the time I was there, the Luftwaffe was pretty well done in. Uh, so they wouldn't have near as much of that as they did before. We didn't need near as much as before. Interviewer: Do you recall what kind of fighters they had with you? That would escort you? Manderson: That we had? Interviewer: Yeah. Manderson: You know, I don't. That's kind of dumb that I don't, but I really don't, I don't remember. Interviewer: Did the fighters come out of your air base, or was it all bombers at your air base? Manderson: All bombers. Our whole wing was all bombers. Interviewer: Now when you went on missions, was it all the same type of bomber, all B-24s, or were there different types? Manderson: All B-24s. Now there were, there were others that would be on the same mission, that were B-17s, but we were totally separate. Interviewer: How long would it take you usually to get to Germany on those flights? How long a flight was it? Manderson: As I recall, as I recall, probably three and a half hours. Interviewer: And you had talked about the flak. How close did you get to flak in the plane? Manderson: Well, it was all around the plane. I mean, when you could see it was when the shell burst, it was just [unintelligible] and as you'd look around you'd see these black puffs all around and you'd know if it was close. A lot of times the shrapnel would hit the plane. You'd just hear it, like rain on a tin roof, and then you'd see the holes when you got back. Interviewer: The holes in the plane? Manderson: In the skin of the plane. Interviewer: Did it ever get so close that there was any feeling of concussion from the, from the … Manderson: From the flak? Interviewer: Yeah. Manderson: Um, it seems to be yes, a few times. Not many times. Interviewer: You talked about that mid-air collision, in your second mission. Did you, did you know those guys in the other plane? Manderson: Yeah, yeah, I did. Uh, the guy that was their nose striker was one of my buddies, and we were in the barracks right next to each other. Interviewer: The guys ? How big was your crew on the, on the Liberator? How many guys? Manderson: Eight. Interviewer: And what were there, how old were they? Manderson: The oldest was our co-pilot, and I thought he was ancient at the time. He was probably 35. He was the senior member. Probably next was the navigator. He was probably 30 [unintelligible] was a Harvard graduate. And, uh, and then most of the guys were around? I was probably the youngest in the crew and the rest of them were close to my age. At that time I was 20, they were maybe [unintelligible] Interviewer: How old was the captain? Manderson: He was just older than I. I was 20. He was 21. Interviewer: Uh, how did the officers and the enlisted men get on? What was that? How did they deal with each other? Manderson: [unintelligible] each other? Oh, it was very, very casual relationship. Strictly [unintelligible] it was very, very casual. There were times when it was supposed to be formal, and we did, we were formal, but all of our dealings? The guys called me Mandy and I called the pilot George, you know, and we had nicknames for each other. We called the officers [unintelligible] Enlisted men had their quarters and their entertainments and their things, and the officers had the officers' quarters and we didn't socialize a lot but [unintelligible] Interviewer: Did you have much dealing with the Brits when you were, I guess you were out and around in public and had dealings with them then? Manderson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Interviewer: Did you chase any girls? Manderson: Yes. Interviewer: Did you catch any? Manderson: Yes, yes, yeah, I did. That was part of the game, and that was part of the go on and you know I don't know how the Brits [unintelligible] us but I was invited to a home a time or two, and they'd feed you and so forth. They were really good to us. Interviewer: How did the male Brits your age, uh, greet your arrival? Manderson: Uh, I don't know [laughter]. Had I been them, you know, we were, we tried to talk like them, and you can imagine what a, whatever we made of that. You know, looking back, if I had been them, I wouldn't have liked us much. Here we'd go into their pub in great droves, and I imagine they got tired of us. Interviewer: Did you, did you find that you had any affection for your airplane, or was it really just a piece of equipment? Manderson: Just a piece of equipment, because we drew different planes so much. I was thinking about it so I could tell you the name of the plane that we had the collision in, and I can't even tell you. But part of that was probably my age, and the things that would be important to me now wadn't very important then. I didn't care what the name of that airplane was, I got out of that thing alive, and that's all I needed to know about that. Interviewer: At the time, either in the military or as you were going in the military, among the citizens, as you know, during the Vietnam War there was a lot of dissension about whether or not we were involved, and now Iraq gets a lot of dissension about whether we should be involved. Was there that kind of dissension at the time? Manderson: No. Never. Never. Now we had, I don't think the country [unintelligible] and I don't think [unintelligible] Man, they loved us. Interviewer: You mentioned that you were getting ready to be trained on the B-29 and sent over to Japan. Do you remember where you were when you heard that the atomic bomb had been dropped? Manderson: I do not. Interviewer: Do you remember how you greeted that news? Manderson: I do not. I do not. I would imagine that I would have been ecstatic, because I didn't want to go. I didn't want to go [unintelligible] Interviewer: Thanks for answering my questions. Manderson: No problem, no problem. Interviewer: Is there anything you'd like to add that we haven't covered in this interview, sir? Manderson: Um, I'm glad that there are those that are still interested in knowing about it. It's part of our heritage and [unintelligible] people are interested in it, because we are, um, I'm told that a thousand guys a day die that were from that era [unintelligible] asked me to tell my story. Interviewer: Thanks for telling your story, and thanks for doing what you did. Manderson: I love telling the story, and I loved doing the other part of it. For a while I got my britches scared off [unintelligible] Interviewer: On behalf of the Veterans History Project, the Atlanta History Center, the AARP, and myself personally, I want to thank you very much for doing [unintelligible]. Manderson: My pleasure. Interviewer: That was great, Lewis!
Metadata URL:: http://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/cdm/ref/collection/VHPohr/id/254
Additional Rights Information:: This material is protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U.S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.
Extent:: 57:11
Original Collection:: Veterans History Project oral history recordings
Veterans History Project collection, MSS 1010, Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center
Holding Institution:: Atlanta History Center
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