Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
4:44 | His first mission was a milk run. B-26 co-pilot George Nelson did not have that luxury on the rest of his missions. He recalls a rare low altitude bombing run on German submarine pens and describes the make up of his crew, who varied in age between nineteen and forty.
Keywords : George Nelson pilot Martin B-26 Marauder 88mm gun submarine (sub) France flak
George Nelson was a freshman at Notre Dame when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He had scrimped and saved to afford the tuition and when he found out what pilots made in the Air Corps, he thought that would do the trick. He passed the tests and went off to flight school.
There was almost always flak when B-26 co-pilot George Nelson flew missions over Europe. Milk runs were rare. Near the end of the war, the Germans sent up the very first jet fighter, which was extremely limited in range and could be countered by pincer maneuvers.
