Robert E. Irion, Sandy, Utah: an interview by Benjamin Bahlmann, September 20, 2002: Saving the legacy tape no. 537, 538, and 539

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Robert E. Irion eptember 20'h, 2002 think you re going to come back. And you go in and you see enemy flak or you se om fire and you still don't think it's going to hit you. And yet, it's pure luck in many ca I had one mission in November of '44- well, let's go back a little further. October of' 44 and I'm flying a spare flight that day. I've got a guy on my wing and we're the spares; in the case that somebody aborts, we're going to fill in the spots. Okay. BEN: Just to help me understand about fighter pilots- how far, as flying a spare, do you have a mission? Or will you actually turn off? ROB: No. You'll stay- you'll join up with somebody. If there isn't anybody aborting, we'd have stayed as two men and followed as an extra flight. BEN: Okay. ROB: So followed the last flight. We had four flights that day and early on, somewhere out over the North Sea, why somebody had engine trouble and my wingman went up and joined that flight. So I go up- I'm not going to fly alone- I go up and instead of flying a four man flight here like this, I join on the number two man as the fifth man over here on green flight, which is the last flight. And we're going along and we're getting into Germany and just about Rhein, Germany, and we're heading over for Hannover and Hamm and that area. And I'm looking back and I see two planes coming down real fast drawing contrails heading right in straight at us from behind. And I call it in and I say, "Upper green five t. upper green leader, watch these two bandits coming in at six o'clock level." Well, I tried to say it in a calm voice so he could hear me clearly and precisely and where it was (six o'clock level). And I guess I didn't put enough panic in my voice 73