Transcript Title
Mark Halstead
Mr. Thomas
U.S. History, Period 3
10 May 2006
1st Lieutenant Pilot Charles Woford
Mark: “Grandad, what did you do in WWII?”
Grandad: “I piloted a B-26 Martin Marauder that I later named ‘Qwicher Bitchin’.’”
M: “How old were you?”
G: “Well, let’s see. I was born in 1922. So I was 22 during WWII.”
M: “What were your crew’s goals or missions when you flew in WWII?”
G: “My crew and I made bombing runs against German bridges, anti-airfields, communications, industrial sites and railroads in Holland and Germany.”
M: “Where were you stationed and where did you fly out of?”
G: “I was in the European Theatre from February 1945 until the end of the war. Most of my bombing runs were made out of A72 which is in Peronne, France, between Paris and Brussels. However, during the last two months of the war I was stationed in Venlo, Holland. This base in Venlo had been a huge German military airfield.”
M: “How many missions did you fly in WWII?”
G: “Our crew flew daily flight missions with updated enemy targets. I was credited with piloting 28 missions; however, I really made 30 for the Army Air Corps.”
M: “Tell me about the average bombing mission on any given day?”
G: “Well, my crew and I would get up each day real early. We would go to the mess hall and get some grub. Then, we would be briefed by our superior officers about our specific targets that we would acquire during our mission today. Our average bombing mission consisted of about 5 hours and 20 minutes everyday.”
M: “On these missions did you encounter heavy enemy fire and/or enemy artillery?”
G: “Yes, German artillery gunners had a very good, straight shot. The flack from German ‘88s caused many problems for aircrafts in our squadron. Great pilots had trouble with flack and many men lost their lives from this. My crew and airplane never came across much enemy aircraft, because I arrived in Europe at the tail end of the war. However, this flack provided mush success for the Germans against our allied aircraft. Our 6 member crew consisted of a pilot, a copilot, a bombardier, a tail gunner, and two waste gunners and we used teamwork to achieve our successful missions.
These missions were all very dangerous and rounds were going off all around the plane. I had much success in piloting my aircraft throughout this war and I never lost a plane, never lost a crewmember, and I only got hit once by one bullet. My crewmembers never needed anything more than a Band-Aid. However, my squadron which was comprised of 6 planes had some fatalities. It was comprised both of US and English personnel and 3 of the planes were shot down. My crew and I always returned safe but that was not experienced for everyone in my squadron.”
M: “Did you fight with any allied forces in Europe? How was that experience?”
G: “These missions in Europe were flown in counterpart with the British Royal Air Force. This was a memorable experience. The head flight commander at our base was British. The majority at this base was British and I worked side by side with them.”
M: “What rank were you during WWII?”
G: “I was a 1st Lieutenant Pilot and I flew in the 9th Air Force under the 397th bomb group.”
M: “What was the payload capacity of your aircraft, the B-26 Martin Maurader?”
G: “28,000 pounds. We carried 280- 100 pound bombs, 56- 500 pound bombs, 28- 1,000 pound bombs, or 14- 2,000 pound bombs. The 2000 pound bombs were the biggest. I always remember the British munitions loaders writing phrases on the bombs that my crew and I would later drop.”