Heaven Sent

[mgc1961]

What follows is excerpted, with small additions of my own, from Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer by Brian D. O'Neill.


Thursday, September 16, 1943, Nantes (France)

Although most residents of Nantes lived relatively normal lives during the Nazi occupation, the city was a hive of local resistance to censorship, propaganda, curfews, forced labor, and the plundering of the country's economy to pay for their own occupation. The Nazis and their French collaborators (Milice) responded nationally with collective punishment that ranged from hostage taking to the summary execution of many thousands of people across France.

In early September, the French Underground reported to Allied command that the supply ship Kertosono, carrying U-boat replacement parts, had steamed up the Loire river to undergo repairs at the city's dry dock. Due to the critical threat the Kertosono's cargo represented to Atlantic supply routes, the 8th Air Force decided to send approximately 140 B-17s to destroy her.

Flying south out of Molesworth, Cambridgeshire (UK), over the English Channel, the bomber groups encountered very little resistance until their fighter escort departed. At that point a small (20), but aggressive flock of Luftwaffe FW-190's attacked. During the ensuing fight at least one FW-190 was shot down without loss to the B-17s. Nearer the target a light, inaccurate flak barrage was met. Anticipating the bombers arrival at the dock, the defenders created a heavy smoke screen. It proved to be largely ineffective at obscuring the target and a successful bombing run was expected. Success, however, is sometimes fleeting, and the sunny afternoon suddenly turned dark for the unsuspecting residents of Nantes.

It was a fairly typical fall day for the Nantais. High, scattered clouds were seen in the sky and the city center was unusually busy due, in part, to it being a vacation day for the local school children. The Olympia theater was showing Michael Strogoff. Children played in the Parc de Proce and a soccer match was underway at Malville Stadium.

Although the precise cause of the ensuing disaster has not been sharply determined, the bombers missed their intended target that day and instead released their bombs on the city. Serge Lebourg, the son of Nantes residents, revealed in a 1989 book that over 1100 residents were killed, 2000 wounded, and 2200 dwellings were either totally or partially destroyed. Among the damaged buildings was the city hospital, Hopital Hotel-Dieu.

There is however, a touching scene that follows this misery. I'll let Mr. O'Neill take over from here as he closes with the memories of Mel Schulstad, one of the crew members of the bomber group who hit Nantes on that fall day of 1943:

After the Eighth dropped its last bomb in the spring of 1945, it launched hundreds of bombers filled with food on mercy missions to the continent. During these flights there were men in the Group who remembered what had happened at Nantes so many months before, and a decision was made to send some food-laden Fortresses to the city to make amends.

"We decided to do this," Schulstad recalls, "even though we had real questions about the reception we would get after what we had done to the place. I was in one of the B-17s that went over, and I'll never forget the sight that greeted us as we pulled into the landing pattern and set down.

"There were literally thousands of Frenchmen there to greet us, and they all raced onto the field even as we were landing, arms raised high above their heads holding bottles of champagne, cognac, and wine. They crowded around our planes and had the bottles uncorked even before out props stopped turning. You can just imagine how we all felt."

[Sherman A1]

1. Thanks for Posting

A good story

[mgc1961]

2. You're most welcome.