War Bomber Flight Sparks Memories-- Part 3

Scott Welch was a World War II B-17 pilot.

He said that since the planes did not have a booster, steering it was quite hard. Because of that, a one-hour raid took the same amount of energy as eight hours of normal work. Usually, a crew would consist of nine men.

On his 21st mission, Welch says he was wounded by a piece of flak, which entered through his buttocks and went 12 inches up his back. He feels lucky he can still walk. Hey, the men would be seated or standing up and the flak came up from the ground.

By the time of his injury, Welch was so used to shells blowing up around him, that explosions didn't even make him flinch. His heart rate would stay the same.

Essentially, the bombers would be flying nearly wing-to-wing in flight formations and there was always the chance of a crash.

Those Men In Those Magnificent Flying Machines. --GreGen