Newell D. "Newt" Moy, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Benjamin Bahlmann, November 2, 2002: Saving the Legacy tape no. 630

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NEWELL D. MOY R 2 20 2 (laugh ). Then we got weathered out from our ba e and had to land at a Briti h ba . Which turned into a bit of a fia co. [Editor's note: On 6 February 1944, a part of 1 " Air Force Mission 821, 474 of 949 B-17s hit a secondary target, the railroad mar hailing yards at Chemnitz in two forces. A total of three B-17 s were lost and 128 damaged, thirteen beyond repair. Four of 544 escorting P-5ls were lost and seven damaged beyond repair. Of the airmen, forty-one were KIA, seven WIA and 28 MIA, including the four P-51 pilots. About forty planes of the 3981 1, were part of this mission. The target was overcast and they bombed it by radar targeting. At least some of the 3981 h 's planes were forced to land at Ridgewell when they returned because Nuthampton was fogged in. It was a nine and a half hour mission.] BB: Did you encounter flak? NDM: Oh, yes, on most all of them. See we had mostly flak over there when I was flying. There weren't too many enemy fighters. BB: How did the flak affect you? Did you just keep in formation? NDM: Yes. There was no evasive action for flak. You just rode it out, particularly from what they called the IP to the target. [Editor's note: The IP was the "initial point" from which the actual bomb run to the target began. From the IP until the bombs were dropped, the pilot had to ignore any flak and hold the plane level and straight on course to the target.] Another thing I remember about that first mission, when we finally got around and into the bomber stream, as far as I could see ahead was bombers. I called Bill Wight my tail gunner and said, "We must be pretty close to being Tail-End Charlie (the last plane in line, and therefore vulnerable)." He said, "No, no. There are planes as far as I can see behind us." That was an eight or nine hundred aircraft raid. That turned out to be my first mission. 103