Harold D. Morris, December 14, 2001, Provo, Utah: an interview by Benjamin Bahlmann. Saving the legacy oral history project

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Harold D. Morri Dec mber 14 20 1 gunner or somebody how to transfer fuel. In transferring the fuel he accid ntally shut off th all engines. So the pilot, Willfinger, apparently panicked and said,' Bail out.' I don't know what happened to him after that. Never did hear what happened to the guys that bailed out. But they bailed out in pretty deep snow right in the top of the Alps. BEN: How did you feel about flying over there with those mountains? One, the Brenner Pass you have to deal with. HAR: I felt like it was part of our mission, so flying over them was no problem. BEN: I've heard parts where guns become level with you sometimes, orthey could be, I guess, sometimes if you get too low you'll be right in the ... HAR: No, we weren't level. We weren't that low. Apparently there was a railroad that went up and crossed over the Brenner Pass. We'd usually get some flak in that area before we got to our targets. One time there was a fellow by the name of Ladd, Harold Ladd, who was flying with his crew on the same mission that I was flying. I landed on the left runway and he was lined up to land on the right runway. He was a little bit behind me so I was waiting there between runways for him to land. When he touched the ground, a bomb went off and his plane blew up killing all ten people on board. BEN: So you had one bomb held up in the shackles? HAR: Apparently. We don't know what happened, we didn't get an official report, but seeing him in that explosion was very difficult- especially since he was my best friend. BEN: So he had been someone that you had been friends with while over there? HAR: Yes, he was a good friend of mine.