P-61 buffs

[allynow]

Hi,
I'm Allison Gordon, P-61 pilot Al Gordon's niece. I saw this posting about my uncle and wanted to offer that I wrote and published a detailed wartime memoir for Al entitled, "War in the Night Sky." I'd love to learn more and know how to share this memoir with a wider audience than just family. Any suggestions?
Allison
allynow@gmail.com
206-696-4206

Originally Posted by Erich

August 14/15, 44

Operation # 11 haze to 8000 feet, stratus to 11/12000 feet. 9 P-61's up.

"Impatient Widow" # 91 flown by Gordon followed an He 177 from 2./KG 40 going 180mph. fired into the wings and tail, pieces flew off. rear gunner of He 177 fired 13mm ? and hit P-61 in starborad engine and shout out hydrallics. He 177 dove away, P-61A-10 had cat. B/E damage, crash alnded with one engine. 2350 to 0110 hrs, Gordon used 150 rounds of 20mm ammo. The P-61 was actually written off destroyed.......... 1 kill for the He 177. the rear gunner of the He 177 was Unteroffizier Fabinger, and the pilot Hauptmann Stolte. // the rear gunner actually was using a 2cm weapon // gordons P61 was serial # 42-5591

Brian do I get a signed copy and a mention for your future volume in payment ;-)

[allynow]

Below is my uncle, Al Gordon's account of the incident in question:

“On my eleventh mission, August 17,1944, we were doing a night patrol over the English Channel, and we got a bogie. So they put us on a heading to intercept, and pretty soon my RO says, "I got him". And we called GCI, and said, "We have him." We closed in, and my RO would tell me, gentle port, gentle starboard, increase your speed, decrease your speed. And he brought me in. It was a German Heinkel 177 bomber.

“Unfortunately he saw me before I saw him, and his tail gunner cut loose knocking out my starboard engine which immediately caught fire. Some of the enemy fire entered the top of my canopy, and lodged in and exploded the hydraulic reservoir just above and behind my head. That knocked out part of the hydraulic system. Fortunately the
P-61 controls didn't operate hydraulically; they were operated by cables. So the hydraulic failure didn't affect the flyability of the plane.

“My first reaction was complete shock—they didn’t tell us about this! Then all the training kicked in and I proceeded to function. I was scared, of course. I'd have to be a liar to say I wasn't. But I was so damn busy, trying to fly the aircraft at that point that I really didn't have much time to think about it. But I knew that I was in trouble, and I was trying to work my way out of it. I could communicate with my RO over the radio, but in hindsight I should have talked more, because he didn't know what the hell I was doing, and he was scared to death.

“So here I am, a flamer, 50 miles out over the English Channel. I feathered the starboard engine right away-- I did the right thing there. And I dove it a little bit to gain speed, and put the fire out. My radio was still somewhat operational, so GCI vectored me back. My guess is that it might have been fifteen minutes before we reached the airfield, but it seemed like a long, long time. I came in on one engine, and I lowered my landing gear, not realizing that my nose wheel had been shot out from under me. Considering everything, it was a good landing, except that when it came time for the nose wheel to drop, there was no nose wheel. So I skidded on the front of the plane to a stop.

“Nobody was hurt, but I learned a valuable lesson on that mission. Never come in for an attack from the rear, shallow—so the tail gunner can see you. Rather you synchronize speed and heading well below the bogie, then identify, drop back, and shoot. The important thing is to live beyond an experience like this and of course learn from it. One tends to be a little more cautious, increasing one’s chances of lasting through the war.”

[bearoutwest]

Hi Allison. Welcome to the throng. The short extract certainly got my attention as a night-fighter enthusiast and P-61 buff. I think there'd be reasonable interest in your uncle's memoirs. There are a number of aviation buffs who are also publishers - like JDK - who might be able to point you in the right direction. Good luck.

Regards, ...geoff

[Khorat]

Hi Allison,
nice to read your uncles story - b´cause I had some pics of the He 177 which claimed your uncles P-61, with a nice victory bar at the tail..

regards from the Philippines (Oh - I´m born in germany...)

khorat

[MrTweed]

Hi Allison,

I'm the 'JDK' Geoff mentions, and I've dropped you an e-mail. Great extract, fascinating read.

Regards,

[allynow]

Hi Geoff, Khorat, and James,
Thanks for your posts. I wrote the memoir several years ago but have discovered there is new material out there I could incorporate, such as reports and pictures from the Luftwaffe side of the engagements. Anyway, I'm pleased to share the full memoir and have sent it to James to take a look at.

Khorat, can you send me the photos you refer to? allynow@gmail.com

Thanks guys!

Allison