Of Interest
Hought Shrapnell, A Real American Hero
A good friend of mine’s father was a flight engineer on B-24 Liberator bombers in Europe during WWII.
Here are pictures and hand written notes of some of his missions.
You can tell by the tone that he was a young man fighting for his country and a way of life that we are all enjoying now. He went on to be a key engineering factor in Korea, Vietnam, and eventually NASA.
Hought, thank you for your service!!!
This is a letter from my FRIEND Mark describing hid dad’s exploits in the following journal entries:
Mark,
The following is some of what I have written in my Family History writings. I'm putting some picture together to send you.
Dad wrote a small diary of all his missions, the first was on 11 December 1944 when he had just turned 21 3 months prior. I did not change the spelling of the target destinations, they are the 21 year old’s best guess and in a few instances I guessed at the writing and I also compared Hought’s diary to the 491st Ringmasters Club book of the 1990’s. (If I added something to the copied diary, it was placed in brackets). I also added the one way straight flight distance that was never taken, rather a zig zag long way to avoid flak areas was the true flight plan.
? 12-11-44
“Hanau Railyards”
09:05 to 13:30 4:25 (4 hour 25 minute mission – 395 miles one way)
T-700 6 x 1000” (6 ea 1,000 pound bombs MAS)
“Formation did not form properly. Went about twelve miles into Germany but didn’t drop bombs. Didn’t see any flak or fighters. No credit for mission
(Battle of the Bulge begins Dec. 16, 1944)
1. 12-24-44
Sittlich (Wittlich)– Rail bridge behind the lines.
(320 miles one way)
10:15 – 16:20 6:05
2 - 550 23 x 250”
Biggest eighth air force raid up to date. Saw my first flak. Dropped bombs on target but two hung up. Brakebush got them out. No fighters.
2. 12-30-1944
Koblenz – Railyards (335 miles one way)
(May have been Altenahr – 305 miles)
09:30 – 16:00 6:30
-1 967. 7 x 1000”
Didn’t see any flak or fighters. Dropped bombs. Had a little trouble finding the field in order to land.
3. 1-1-45
Gest of Koblenz – Crown Prince Wilhemn Railway Bridge (Maybe Engers Germany)
(335 miles one way)
08:20 – 15:15 6:55
L+ 467 3 x 2000”
Very little flak and no fighters. Our bombs dropped before we reached the target.
4. 1-2-45
Same as #3.
K- 451 3 x 2,000”
08:20 – 15:15 6:55
Very little flak and no fighters. One bomb dropped when the bomb doors opened, one dropped on target and one hung up. Brakebush released it.
5. 1-7-45
Kaiserdautern – Rail Yards (Kaiserslautern 375 miles one way )
x-225 6 x 1000”
08:45 – 15:45 7:00
No flak and no fighters. Very poor visibility.
6. 1-13-45
Kaiserslautern – Rail yards
(375 miles one way)
-1 976 12 x 500”
10:00 – 16:10 6:10
No flak near our group of ships and no fighters. Had another bomb hang up but Brakebush got it out. Everything went fine until we hit the Channel then #4 engine went out, then #1 wouldn’t give any boast. #2 cylinder head temp. went out. We threw out all the flak suits and most of the ammunition. We prepared for a crash landing but luck was with us and we made Hoodbridge field and landed with two good engines. Made our base at two in the morning.
7. 1 – 16 – 45
Dresden Railyards (565 miles one way)
F- 10 x 500
08:00 – 16:10 8:10
Quite a little flak but no fighters. One of the deepest raids by 24’s into Germany. Everything went fine until five minutes before target, then #4 engine started to throw oil. After the target I read the fuel sight gage and found out we were low on fuel. Around three o’clock #1 engine started to miss and #4 was still throwing oil so we picked out a field near Paris and landed. From there we were driven into Paris to a hotel. We spent three nights and two days there and had a great time. On the third day we flew back to London in a C47. We spent the night in London and came back to camp the next morning by train.
(Jan. 25, 1945 Battle of the Bulge ends)
8. 1 – 28 (29?) – 45
Munster railyards (294 miles one way)
P – 149 6x1000”
08:32 – 15:00 6:32
Some flak but very inaccurate.
No fighters.
9. 2-9-45
Mazdeburg (Magdeburg) – oil factorys.
(460 miles one way)
J-557 6x1000 (changed to) 12x500”
08:15 – 15:15 7:00
08:10 – 17:30 9:20 (was crossed out)
Some flak but very inaccurate, no fighters. Our first mission in our new plane.
(The plane J-557 was named “Sweet Eloise” after Pilot Dale E. Wyatt’s wife MAS).
10. 2-14-45
Mazdeburg railyards
J-557 6x500” 6xM17
09:20 – 16:30 7:00
Hell of a lot of flak but not to accurate. No fighters. Fighter alert near Hanover.
11. 2-16-45
Jalzberge (Salzbergen) Railyards
(278 miles one way) (Oil Factory)
J-577 12x500”
11:40-18:20 14:00-17:00 Return
6:20 3:00
Plenty of flak and quite accurate. Had trouble with #3 supercharger and was changing amplifier when we went over target so didn’t see any of the flak. Started back for our base but because of bad weather was deverted to an airfield just outside of Reims. It was an H-
20, B-26 & A-26 base. Stayed there two and half days and thru nights. First night we slept in a tent and just about froze to death, second night we slept in the ship and had about the same results. The third night we slept in a tent with some of the base gunners and had a pretty good night. Went into Reims twice. The first time we drank Champaign and brought five bottles back to the ship and had a a party in the waist of the ship. The second time Rush & 2 went in and all we could get was beer and not much of that. We took off at noon of the third day with #3 supercharger out but we made it OK.
12. 2-25-45
Aschaffenburg – railyards
(405 miles one way)
J-557 6x500” 4M17s
07:00 – 16:15 9:15
13. 2-26-45
Berlin – railyards (532 miles one way)
09:05 – 17:30 8:25
J-557 6 x 500” 4M17’s
Whole 8th air force went along.
Quite a little flak but inaccurate.
No fighters.
14. 3 – 4 – 45
Stuttgart (Aschaffenburg) unknown (Target)
(455 miles one way)
J – 557 10xM17
06:05 – 13:45 7:40
We took off from our base and flew directly to France to form but got mixed up and got in with the 44th Bomb Group and flew out
position. No flak at target but coming back over the battle line they threw some up at us. No fighters. The formation ran into some clouds and broke up so we came back by ourself.
15. Kril (Kiel) 3 – 11 – 45 Sub docks.
(403 miles one way)
J – 557 12x500
9:30 – 16:00 6:30
We dropped our bombs a little early because the deputy lead dropped his. Quite a little flak but inaccurate and small caliber. No fighters.
16. 3 – 17 – 45
Munster – rail yards (294 miles one way)
I+ 194 44x100 2xM17
10:20 – 16:30 6:10
A very little flak but way off. No fighters. Some of our bombs hung up again and Brakebush got them out.
17. 3 – 19 – 45
Menburg (Neuberg) – Me262 factory
(555 miles one way)
J-557 10xM17 2x100”M4
SMOKEBOMB
10:00 – 18:50 8:50
No flak and no fighters. A visual target and we really hit it.
18. 3 – 23 – 45
City of Rhein (Rheine) Rail yards
(260 miles one way)
J-557 40x150” 2xM17’s&2M47
07:10 – 12:20 5:10
Some flak and pretty accurate. Four Me109s (German fighters MAS) came in at the high element and Chastang fired at them and they broke off their attack at about 600 yards.
As we were coming back over the coast of England #3 engine went out because of a vapor lock. We landed OK though.
19. 3 – 24 – 45
Stomede (Starmede) Night fighter base
(287 miles one way)
Z – 550 14 x 150” 4xM47
(Note they didn’t have J-557 “Sweet Eloise” because she sustained heavy flak damage when another crew flew her)
13:30 – 19:55 6:25
We flew deputy lead but got credit for a lead mission. We had three navigators, D.R., Micky, P.N. Very little flak and no fighters. Our group sent out a supply mission in the morning and the planes got shot up pretty bad.
- End of diary –
Dad didn’t fly anymore missions after Starmede. I know his Pilot Colonel (Promoted) Dale Wyatt was moved into headquarters. Upon my Dad’s passing Dale Waite contacted me and said Hought was the best Flight Engineer in the entire Air Force not just the 3rd Army Corp. Because of this I think Dad was ordered to work with the ground crew, especially Maintenance Chief Bill Koon, test flying the B-24’s before they went on missions. His flight logs showed many 2 hour flights thereafter and he was in contact with Bill Coon throughout his life, another that contacted me after Dad’s passing.
End of Family History writtngs
Dad wouldn’t talk about the war much until later in life and heard more in 2 hours just listening in the late 1990’s to him talking to a pilot that was in 24’s also out of North Pinkenham. Waite and Koon told me stories after Dad’s passing. Waite said he saved the lives of the entire crew at least 3 times;
On an early mission, before take off, Hought told Pilot Waite that the plane was not up to specs. Hought didn’t know what to really do, it was his decision alone as Flight Engineer to ground the plane. Per Waite; “Hought told me that my Dad was young and doubted his intelligence and abilities at times but I never doubted it. I had to talk to him for several minutes about the planes condition and finally I said to him; Hought I’m just the Pilot, you’re the Flight Engineer, will the plane make the mission? He said NO.” The plane was grounded and the head brass had a fit but after inspection, the plane was indeed not up to snuff and would not have made the round trip or for that matter even gotten off the runway.
They were hit by flak and Hought had to disconnect from his heated flight suit and fix things barehanded in subzero weather. Crew thru things into the channel on the return flight and just made the base. Hlught suffered severe frost bite (which he suffered with thru the rest of his life) and his crew wanted him to receive the Purple Heart, but he refused it saying that belonged to true heroes (Dad’s best friend had been killed in the Battle of the Bulge.
On the third occasion, they were hit again and in flight repairs were made that got them back to Paris.
Dad became an Electrical Engineer after the war and worked for the Dept. of Defense. Did the 7 days a week thing during the Russian Missile Space race, all along taking care of a family and son that was having 4 and 5 surgeries a year.
Later in his career he flew down to Cape Canaveral quite often one time to do the electrical inspection in the Mercury capsule that took Glenn into space.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis the car was packed and Dad was making a phone call every half hour. I could kick myself in the butt for not asking him later in life what his plans were. I do fear he was sending his family North and he would report for duty in metro Detroit.
He rose thru the ranks real fast and only had 2 bosses over him in the metro Detroit area when he retired at the age of 51. When I read an article in popular mechanics about 1976, a couple years after his retirement, I asked him about the article I had read; “Dad do you know that we now have back pack atomic bombs that can blow up a bridge from a ¼ mile away?” The man that littered our kitchen table with Top Secret governmental files thru the decades answered; “Son, we have had those for over 10 years”. I asked him; “How do you sleep at night?”
Dad was a kind noble gentleman, a peaceful man that you would have no idea what he had done in life. When I hit 13 he said you are an American and off to the NRA we went once a week for a year. He was one of the greatest shots I have ever seen but didn’t hunt not wanting to kill things. It was neat having him as a Father; on one summer eve when I was 4 or so, and Greg was with us, he pointed to the summer South sky and said look at that bright star right there and watch it slowly move across the sky, and it did. It was Sputnik.
Your Friend,
Mark
Pic 3 is Dad with the ground crew including Bill Koon
Dad was a real camera bug. His friend the radio operator and him went around taking pics of nose art and the MP's arrested them. When the pics were developed they were released and they gave Dad the originals but kept the negatives. 40 years later some of Dad's pictures, from the negatives, appeared in the Ringmaster (B-24 club book).
Pic 4 is Dad's pic of his 24 "Sweet Eloise".
