THE K I N G ’S BU S I NE S S
Robert Phillips
Ten Times Over Berlin
By TECH. SERG. ROBERT PHILLIPS ' V as told to Anne Hazelton
I T WAS just before dawn when the pilot lifted our big Flying Fort ress and we came out among broken clouds. 'W e were climbing steadily, heading for the North Sea where our fighter escort joined us. It was cold in the radio room as we gained altitude, but the cold weight in my stomach was not the result of atmospheric conditions. It was part of the indescribable tenseness that is felt at the beginning of-a combat mis sion—the watchful waiting as the for mation speeds toward the target in enemy'territory. But I had found that a quick word heavenward stilled me and I longed now, as I had many times, that the other members of the crew might know the source of quiet ness found in the Lord Jesus Christ, as I did. We were getting close to the outly ing defenses, when "flak”—anti-air craft shells—began to break" around us. They looked harmless enough: soft white puffs. But we knew how very deadly those jagged pieces of spinning metal were. Then the city was below us, standing out like a bas-felief; and our ship, following the others, turned and settled on our bombing run, the most dangerous part of a daylight raid. There was no dogging now, just a straight course over the target, while the bombardier prepared to re lease our bombs. The rest of us were at our guns, firing at any enemy fight er who broke through our escort a*I
came within1range. Around us darted oUr* own fighters. The ground bar rage had grown to a furious assault. The tension in the plane heightened. “Bombs Away” was the signal for. "the plane to turn sharply and start an «evasive flight homeward. A mo ment later’and the bombardier’s voice told us ihe target had been hit and the mission was complete. * Suddenly a chunk of flak whammed through the side of the plane, passed through the oxygen regulator, my ra dio log, the table, and cut neatly through my trouser leg. I looked at the piece of jagged metal and real ized' that but for the Lord’s goodness it might have made a bad wound in my leg. Planes were now coming in like hornets and we were being swept with flak. . There was a thud that turned my stomach and- the ship swerved sharply to the right. An engine was gone. Before long we began to drop behind. Another engine had been hit. With two motors feathered, we were losing -altitude rapidly. A crippled plane was easy game- for the Nazi fighters. But our own fighters kept them off. Then began, for the pilot, the long struggle to keep the plane up and" get it back to bur base. *I had been pray ing all the time. I thought now of the crew. Those moments over Ber lin had been full • of . heart-in-the- mouth tension. If it had been that for me, what had it been for the others? I
had my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to uphold me. They had nothing but their own courage. - Our B-17 limped on westward through the Berlin outer defenses. We had lost our formation. With each mile we fell a little lower. Inside the plane there was only the roar of the engines. Often, returning from a raid and . when we had reached friendly territory, those of the crew who could ’leave their gun positions would gather in the radio room to relax. With the flute that Mom and Dad had sent me for my birthday, I would play some of the hymns I loved. Soon the fellows would be singing them. _ “Abide with Me” was their favorite. An hour went by, then another, and our two engines were still running. But it looked as though it would be a crash landing in the cold waters of the North Sea for us. I was pound ing out SOS’s,- Then, somehow, we ¡were across. The tired engines rose to the occasion and gave us enough altitude to barely clear the coast of England. I’ll never forget the be.auty of the green fields of England as we came down for a landing; On the ground again, we stood about for a moment checking up on each other before going to headquarters to •report and get something to eat. None of the crew had been hurt. It seemed impossible that we had come through without injury and had even brought the plane back so that, with some re pairs, it would fly again.
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