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Irving J. Schaffer World War II Photos & A
Story
Front
row: Rudy DiFulvio, Redwood Taylor. Back row: Irv Schaffer, Robert
Crisp, George Fisher, William Smith.
Double Click photo for larger image.
Irv Schaffer on Isle of Corsica October 1944.
Double Click photo for
larger image.
Irv was in this crash landing October 1944. Hit over
Bologna, Italy. Everyone escaped.
Double Click photo for
larger image.
Irv Schaffer shaking hands with General Knapp (CO 12th
Air Force) in November 1944. Schaffer awarded Distinguished Flying Cross.
Double Click photo for
larger image.
ONE OF THE MOST HEROIC LANDINGS I WITNESSED IN WW 11
Our 321st bomb group moved from Corsica to
Falconara, Italy, in early April of 1945. British ground troops had captured
this airfield where Mussolini trained his air cadets. It is about fifteen
miles west of the city of Ancona, on the west coast of the Adriatic Sea. Our
crew was part of a mission that targeted railway bridges on the west coast of
Yugoslavia (Matobar).
To reach the target, we flew across the Adriatic Sea.
Because the bridges were absolutely vital to the Germans to transport war
materials to their troops, the targets were heavily defended from the ground.
They knew we were coming and they were ready. Flack filled the sky and was
pummeling our entire formation of planes. No matter what, when on a bomb run,
you have to stay on course until you reach the designated target and the bombs
are dropped; there can be no deviation to avoid flak. And on any mission, it
is a bomb run where we lose most of our planes, sustain the most injuries and
deaths. So with enemy fire filling the sky all around you, tension intensifies
as you get closer and closer to the target, with the enemy firing everything
it has.
After we dropped our bombs, our ships dived out of formation to scatter and
try to avoid the heavy ack ack ground fire All the planes on this mission was
pretty well shot up. Limping home to base, we all heaved exhausted sighs of
relief when our plane touched down in one piece. We crawled out and stood with
the other crews that had landed safely, and watched the other planes straggle
in one by one, wanting to make sure everyone got back, and in one piece. And
until we saw a plane, we did not know if that crew had made it out alive or
not. Tension was high.
Suddenly an incoming plane sent up a red flare in the
distance. We all knew what this meant. They had seriously wounded or dead men
on board. We could see the pilot was struggling to bring the plane into some
kind of a landing pattern, but he was having trouble. Then we saw his right
engine had been shot out and, in fact, the whole plane was shot to pieces.
When a plane is so crippled that the pilot thinks he may
crash on landing, he informs the crew and they are given the choice to bail
out or stay with the ship. And to their credit, if there are wounded men who
can’t bail out, their comrades don’t abandon them. If the crew does bail out,
the pilot is left to bring the ship in by himself, at great risk.
This entire crew stayed with the ship. We all waited,
holding our breath. We watched him fighting to bring the plane around to line
up with the runway, with only one engine. To do so, he had no choice but to
bank toward the right, the side with the dead engine. To do so was almost
suicide. The plane could go into a tailspin and kill everyone. Tension high
and holding our breath, we watched him fight to control the plane.
Miraculously the plane leveled off and he made a perfect landing. (The old man
upstairs was certainly guiding the pilot.) We yelled and cheered ourselves
hoarse to witness a "win" in the midst of so much tragedy.
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