Air Crew: 25 Missions. The Story of the Memphis Belle - Co-Pilot.

CAPTAIN JAMES A. VERINIS
Co-Pilot

Captain Verinis went over with the Memphis Belle as co-pilot, but during much of the time he was overseas he flew another B-17 as first pilot. Captain Morgan leans heavily on him, insists that he be called the "other pilot," not co-pilot. He is 25, short, dark, soft-spoken, comes from New Haven, Conn., was a business administration student at the University of Connecticut before entering the service in July, 1941.

HIS STORY

TO begin with, let me say to the fellows who go over as co-pilots that they probably won't be co-pilots long. The chances are that if they are good they will get their own ships. So don't get the idea that you are going to fight the war as a co-pilot. You should be prepared to take over your own ship and crew any minute you are called upon to do so.

But while you are co-pilot, you have very definite responsibilities. Captain Morgan and I had it pretty well worked out. As co-pilot, you should do everything you possibly can do to relieve the pilot. The pilot has tremendous responsibilities, and I consider it the co-pilot's job to relieve him of all the worries that he can.

There is no question about the need for a co-pilot in the B-17. The strength of one man is not sufficient to kick it around in combat. Usually, the co-pilot will do at least half the flying, but the pilot takes over in actual combat.

But even in combat, when the pilot is flying the ship, the co-pilot should keep his hands on the wheel and his feet on the rudders. In that way he is ready, when needed, to apply pressure in the direction the pilot indicates.

If the co-pilot sees something that the pilot doesn't or can't see, he should notify the pilot or take the controls himself. It has been my observation that there is too much of a tendency to leave everything to the pilot. It's too much for one man. He can't see everything, and the co-pilot should help him watch.

I consider the training I had fairly thorough, but I did need more high altitude and formation flying. There is too much transition flying. There are fellows coming over with 500 to 600 hours in the B-17. A lot of that is wasted. After completing my tour, I have only about 450 hours.

If you are going over, talk to somebody who has had combat experience. The fellows who have been through it can tell you a lot about dodging fighters.

Here's something else important: learn to judge exactly when you are in position to be hit. And don't forget that pursuit planes have fixed guns and they've got to be pointed at you before they can hit you. You don't have to run all over the sky to dodge them if you'll just learn the positions that keep you out of their aim.

The Germans have some tricks they use on us, but they are all perfectly obvious if you keep on the alert. For instance, they will pretend to be shot down. They will shoot out a jet of black smoke and peel off. But if you watch you'll see them come right back. They seldom fool anybody.

THE worst scare I ever had was in a raid on Hamm March 3. I was flying my own plane that day. There were 16 planes in our formation and we ran into about 100 fighters. We were caught 150 miles inland. We came out of a haze and discovered that our 16 planes were alone, because all our others had gone to the secondary target.

They got four of the 16, and I want to tell you that we were lucky to get back with 12. It was a running fight for an hour and 20 minutes. They literally swarmed on us just after we dropped our bombs. They were down and up, side and over. Boy, it was a sight.

NOW that the boys know they have only 25 raids to go before they get a let-up, morale is good. As long as they have a goal, as long as they know there is a stopping place, they're okeh. If they felt they had to go on indefinitely, the spirit wouldn't be so good.

Don't misunderstand me. It's no picnic over there. If anything, the missions are getting tougher. These daylight raids on the Ruhr valley must be hell. I've never been over the Ruhr myself.

But the boys know that their equipment is good. They know that our bombers surpass anything that anybody else has. Our P-47 will tangle with a Focke-Wulf any day. And our pilots and crews are good.

Here's another thing that helps the spirit of the boys: the food and housing are excellent, and conditions generally outside combat are better than in any other theater. There is no danger at the base. The tension is off when you get back from a mission.

Just keep sending the B-17's over there, and our boys will be all right.