Pilot recalls toughest mission over Italy

U.S. Army Air Force pilot Bernie Peters flew 49 combat missions over Italy, bombing bridges, rail lines and cutting off German supply routes during the waning months of the war in Europe.

With the German surrender almost certain, the bombers began flying close to the front lines in the spring of 1945.

Peters, who piloted B-25 Mitchell bombers — twin engine, medium-range bombers operated by a six-man crew — said the toughest of all the bomb runs was his 32nd mission on March 30, 1945.

The target: A railroad bridge in Rovereto, Italy.

Flight log entry: “Roughest yet. Over 100 holes (in plane). No one hurt. We knew we had been hit.”

The bomber, pummeled with 88mm anti-aircraft fire, had taken a beating.

“When you feel the concussion and smell the smoke, you know it's close,” Peters said.

Peters pulled the battered aircraft out of formation so he could check to see if the wheels were down and locked for landing — which thankfully, they were.

But other systems were malfunctioning.

“When we landed there was no left brake,” Peters said. “When that happens, it pulls you to one side.”

He cut the power to the right engine, “but we're still barreling down the runway,” he said.

Then he pulled the emergency air brake — but quickly realized that brake was also out of commission.

“We went over the end of the runway, through barbed wire and into several rows of vineyard,” before the plane came to a stop, Peters said.

Upon inspecting the aircraft, the crew counted more than 140 holes.

The radioman was perhaps the luckiest guy in the sky on that late day in March.

Peters explained: “He had an extra helmet in the plane that day,” which had been left by another bomber crew.

When the plane flew through the heavy flak, the radio operator grabbed the helmet and used it to shield a vital area of his body.

“He put it between his legs to protect his ability to have kids later,” Peters said.

“No member of my crew was ever injured,” Peters added.

Peters flew one final mission after the Germans surrendered in early May of 1945.

“We delivered printed notes in Italian and German that said, ‘Lay down your arms and report to your nearest Allied officer,'” Peters said.

Peters and his crew dropped these leaflets over enemy troop concentrations in the area.

“These guys didn't know the war was over,” he said.