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WWII vet Recalls ‘Intense’ Bombing Missions Over Europe

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WWII vet Recalls ‘Intense’ Bombing Missions Over Europe
Russell H. Ritchel Sr. enlisted in the Army Air Force on Oct. 30, 1942, with the plan of becoming an airplane mechanic



On a fateful day within the early 1940s, 18-year-old Bridgeport, Conn., resident Russell H. Ritchel Sr. went to see Charles Laughton, the late screen actor from “Mutiny on the Bounty,” speak. The celebrity’s words changed Ritchel’s life forever.

“He was selling war bonds and looked in the crowd and stated, ‘you young males really should be fighting,’” mentioned Ritchel, now 88 years old. “I felt so guilty that I went house and told my parents I was going to enlist inside the Army Air Force - this was before the Air Force became its very own military branch.”

Ritchel enlisted on Oct. 30, 1942, using the strategy of becoming an airplane mechanic. Several months in, he switched to becoming an engineer gunner and rather soon was on a B-24 Liberator (bomber) headed straight for Italy.

For his initial many months in Europe, he flew in bombing missions seven days per week. As time went by, additional crews relieved Ritchel and his males to a mission every single other day.

“We flew over Germany, Austria, France, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Romania,” he remembered. “We would bomb oil fields, airports exactly where fighter planes had been positioned, factories and bridges.”

Each and every morning, Ritchel and his crew would wake up, head down to the mess hall for breakfast, and then into a briefing room.

“On a single huge wall would be a map from the place we had been to cover that day,” he mentioned. “There would be yarn and pins indicating our flight path and exactly where the bombs would be dropped.”

Every single solider would then get an escape kit, which would be zipped into their flight suits. The kit contained $48, wooden matches sealed in wax (waterproof), a little compass, in addition to a silk map with the area covered that day.

“It was intense; you felt tension every one of the time,” Ritchel said. “My job was to verify the plane to determine if every little thing was OK.”

Then, the mission would start. In all, Ritchel flew 50 missions throughout his time in Europe. His plane was hit 5 occasions.

“The most intense hit was when a shell went as a result of an engine and we had to transfer gas to other engines; it knocked us out of formation, but we had been capable to have back,” he stated.

Amongst his most risky missions were raids on Ploie?ti, among the heaviest guarded oil bases (plus a major provide to Nazi Germany), in Romania.

“They referred to as it a suicide mission,” Ritchel mentioned. “When you went there, it counted for two missions.”

Following flying multiple missions, Ritchel was discharged in 1945 and sent dwelling. He felt lucky to be alive.

“When I started out out, there were 90 guys in my squadron,” he stated. “When we were prepared to come residence, there had been only eight of us left.”

Ritchel settled in Aurora and married Lillian, a woman he’d met years earlier at a USO dance in Illinois. “Meeting her was the most superb point about my time within the service,” he stated using a smile. They had 3 young children and are now celebrating 65 years of marriage. They stayed in Aurora from 1950 to 1995 and now reside in Winston Salem, N.C.

Remnants of wartime

Now, just about 70 years following his time inside the service, Ritchel chokes back tears when speaking about his time overseas.

“Now that it really is over, I wouldn’t trade the knowledge for something; nevertheless it is an awful thing to go via,” he stated. “I still feel the effects.”

His feelings specially came to the surface on 9/11.

“When I was in Europe, there was a B-24 that pulled up beside my plane having a bunch of my close friends in it,” Ritchel said. “It was hit and blew up in a huge orange ball. I felt helpless as I watched it go down.

“Fast forward to Sept. 11 and when the second airplane hit plus a significant orange ball came out of that developing. I was quickly 50 years back, flying in combat. You by no means forget.

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