Roosevelt:'…While this was going on, one engine in the American bomber was shot out. Out of 11 control cables, all but four were shot away. The rear landing wheel was blown off entirely, and the two front wheels were both shot out.'

As far as it went, this assessment of the damage was correct. The 5-foot-6, 138-pound Wheless was struggling for all he was worth to keep the big plane in the air while it was being shot to pieces by machine-gun and cannon fire from the Zeros. The running battle with the Japanese fighters, which had begun the minute the plane appeared over the target, would last, as the president said, for 75 miles. First the No. 1 engine was shot up, its throttle cable shot in two. Then, in rapid succession, Wheless lost the radio and the oxygen system. Then a 6-inch hole appeared in the right wing fuel tank, the result of 20mm cannon fire. After that came a sudden loss of control, when a hail of 20mm fire severed seven of the control cables of the big plane, leaving cables intact for only right rudder, one elevator and both ailerons. By that time, as the president stated, both wheels had been shot flat and the tail wheel had been blown completely out of its mount. Then there were the three wounded crewmen and one killed in action — with three machine guns jammed or otherwise out of commission. Fuel was spewing freely out of the right wing tank, which meant that a second engine would quit just miles from the Mindanao coast.

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in Aviation History magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

Roosevelt:'…The flight continued until the remaining Japanese pursuit ships exhausted their ammunition and turned back. With two engines gone and the plane practically out of control, the American bomber returned to base after dark. The mission had been accomplished. The name of that pilot was Captain Hewitt T. Wheless.'

Well, there were a few dramatic details left out. Looking for protection from the gang of Zeros on his tail, Wheless ducked into a cloud bank as he left the Luzon coast. When he broke out minutes later, not a Japanese plane was to be seen. The enemy pilots — either low on ammunition or fuel, or sure the battered B-17, trailing smoke and gasoline and limping along on three engines, was finished — had given up the chase. As Wheless neared the Mindanao coast, it was getting dark and had started to rain. After fighting to keep the plane in the air for more than 300 miles, he knew his chances were slim of reaching Del Monte. When the second engine ran out of gas, with nothing but jungle between the Mindanao coast and Del Monte, Wheless decided to head for an auxiliary strip at Cagayan, on the northern coast of the island.

Afraid to fly other than in a straight line because of his damaged control cables, Wheless would not be able to check out the field first before coming in. He knew that he would have just one shot at landing. As he gingerly banked the plane toward the field and started in, he was aghast to see it had been barricaded in anticipation of its being used by the Japanese. Past the point of no return, Wheless lowered his wheels, possibly unaware that the tires had both been shot flat.

After the plane ripped through several barricades, some 200 yards down the runway the big bomber's brakes suddenly locked, causing the 39,000-pound aircraft to stand on its nose for a second before crashing down on its tail. They were down at last, even though it was far from the routine landing the president had implied. After getting the wounded crewmen to the small hospital at Cagayan, the ground crew counted at least 1,200 bullet holes in the plane. Each propeller blade had been hit five or six times.

For his gallant efforts in bringing the shot-up Fortress and her wounded crewmen back to base, Wheless received the Distinguished Service Cross. Promoted to captain, he also received the Legion of Merit, Flying Cross and Air Medal. Later in the war he flew Boeing B-29 Superfortresses.

There is an interesting postscript to Wheless' story. On the island of Saipan on March 9, 1945, Boeing B-29 aircrews were shocked to learn that henceforth they would abandon the high-altitude bombing they had been using and bomb Japanese targets from the unprecedented altitude of 5,000 to 8,000 feet. The attacks would be carried out at night with incendiary bombs.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to