Problem solving when the going got rough
On a Wewak mission to strafe the Dagua Strip with Louis Rice-pilot and Richard Slye-Navigator we made a bomb run and knew we were hit because we could see holes just back of the cockpit as we broke off over the water. Slye checked the the bomb bay and reported a 250 pound bomb hung up in the rack. Our electrical system was shot out -one end of the bomb released while the other end hung up with just two inches of the fuse wire being pulled out of the fuse.
We stayed low for about 15 minutes in case any Zeros hung around, then started climbing out of the rough air while trying to figure out how to release the bomb. We had no tools but Slye had a very thin dime and thought it might work to to get the screws out of the shackle holding the bomb. I held him by the legs with his feet under my arms as he hung down in the bomb bay. He could only work a short time, coming up for a rest, then back down again. After about an hour he came back up to report the bomb was gone. It blew up quite far beneath us since we were at about 15,000 feet.
I felt sure we would have to bail out of that plane. We counted 22 holes down the fuselage and big holes under one wing. Some Jap had done a number on us, but we were lucky thanks to Dick Slye and thin dime.
