Bombs Away!

"Raunchy", the bombdropper. He was a real character, you could put him in a beautiful taylor made uniform and an hour later he would look like he had been sleeping in it. Leaving the target in the Po valley and doing the slow let-down on return to Corsica Raunchy comes up to the cockpit and says "Rip, I've got to s---!" I said, "I'm sorry Raunchy but as you know this airplane doesn't have facilities for that purpose." He said, "I don't give a damn I've got to go!" Well I said, "When we got on board I think I saw a 'Stars & Stripes' on the Navigators table. Spread that out on the bomb bay floor and when you're finished, we'll salvo the whole load." (pardon the pun) Well, Raunchy never did anything in a normal way. He put the paper down, put on a headset and throat mike squatted over the bulkhead doorway and did it!! He stood up turned around put his head in the bombbay and said "Bombs Away!!" We hit the switch, the bombbay doors flew open and two hundred miles an hour slip stream hit that newspaper and it looked like somebody put it in a giant blender! Raunchy came screaming up into the cockpit with a new set of freckles and said "Damn you guys, you knew that would happen, didn't you?" I said, "Raunchy you're the bomb dropper, know all about that stuff, don't blame us." After we got back I heard a Master Sergeant named Perry (the line chief) had one 2nd. Lt. with bucket and mop headed out to clean up a bombbay. (It's a true story)

Rip Collins, 438th Bombardment Sqaudron