Mark  & Jack 
Mathis

Bombardier Brothers

 

First Lieutenant Mark Mathis was the eleventh member of the crew of The Duchess when the B-17F departed Molesworth, England, to fly into history on the morning of March 18, 1943.  The target on that day was the submarine pens at Vegesack--a strike into Germany itself.  The Duchess, under the command of First Lieutenant Harold L. Stouse, was the lead bomber in a formation of 76 Flying Fortresses of the 8th Air Force's 1st Bombardment Wing.  These bombers were supplemented by twenty-seven B-24s from the 2nd Bombardment wing, bringing the total number of aircraft to more than 100.  It was the largest American bombing mission yet mounted in World War II.

Staff Sergeant Eldon Audiss recalled that mission well in a recent phone interview.  As The Duchess' engineer, Sergeant Audiss was supposed to know more about his airplane than any member of the crew.  If the bomber was attacked it was his job to operate the top turret, becoming one of the B-17's gunners.  Throughout the mission he worked closely with the pilot and co-pilot monitoring engine operation, fuel consumption, and the operation of all the equipment.  He also assisted the radio operator and bombardier with their own important tasks.

"On that day The Duchess was the only bomber fitted with the Norden bomb sight," he recalled.  "That made our role as the lead bomber very important.  When our bombardier released his bombs the other aircraft would bomb on his lead.  If we missed, everyone would probably miss."

The bombardier upon which the success or failure of the mission against Vegesack rested was Mark Mathis' younger brother, Jack.  First Lieutenant Jack Mathis was a seasoned bombardier who had flown his thirteenth combat mission just five days earlier.  For the men of the 8th Air Force "thirteen" was considered a lucky number.  It meant passing the half-way point to the magical twenty-fifth mission.  Number twenty-six was the flight home for a well-deserved rest.  In the early days of World War II the men of the 8th Air Force had about one chance in five of making that final flight.

Mark's arrival at Molesworth the previous day had almost exempted Jack from the Vegesack mission.  The two brothers had not seen each other since their training days the previous summer, following which they were sent to serve in different theaters.  Mark had flown B-26 missions in North Africa while Jack was assigned to the 303rd Bombardment Group at Molesworth.  

Mark's B-26 unit had been transferred to England on March 11, but it took six days for him to get a pass and travel to Molesworth.  On the evening of March 17, the two brothers from Sterling City, Texas, were at last reunited half-a-world away from home.  Needless to say, there was a major celebration in the officers' club that evening.

Mark fit in well with the B-17 crews, who were fascinated by his stories of combat in North Africa.  The Duchess' radio operator Staff Sergeant Donald Richardson recently recalled, "Mark was a really great guy, and happy to be out of North Africa.  He told stories of flying so low (in the B-26s) that the bombers were pelted by rock-throwing civilians on the ground."

As Mark shared his own stories, Jack did his best to convince his older brother to seek a transfer to the 303rd Bombardment Group, which later became affectionately known as Hell's Angels. "This is the best squadron (359th Bombardment Squadron) in the Air Force," he proclaimed, "and The Duchess is the best plane in the squadron."  Jack was preparing to return home early for pilot training, and it was his hope that his brother might take his place on the bomber crew of Lieutenant Stouse.  

Mark was eager to make the transition from B-26s to the Flying Fortresses so much of the talk that evening centered around Mark's potential transfer.  Though ultimately that transfer would take a few weeks, most who recall the party at the Molesworth officers' club on the night of March 17, felt that Mark Mathis became the eleventh member of The Duchess that very night.

Eager to spend as much time with his brother as possible, Jack asked his friend, and fellow bombardier, Robert Yonkman if he would replace him in The Duchess the following day.   Lieutenant Yonkman quickly agreed and accepted the proffered incentive of a bottle of rum from Jack.  To finalize the altered plan Jack quickly sought permission from squadron commander, Captain William Calhoun who had known both of the Mathis brothers during their early days of training back in Texas.

Captain Calhoun offered a little incentive of his own, advising Jack Mathis that if he would fly the following morning's mission, upon his return he would be given a pass that would allow him a couple days of unrestricted fellowship with his brother.  Since the Vegesack mission of March 18, fell on a Thursday, such a pass would allow the two brothers to spend most of the weekend together--perhaps even allowing a visit to London if they wished.

Jack quickly agreed, then requested permission for Mark to fly with him on the Vegesack mission.  It was a request that involved too many formalities, roster adjustments, and general breaches of Air Force policy.  Captain Calhoun denied that request.

Early the following morning Mark arose with his brother and rode with him to the flight line.  As the two men stood beneath the wings of the huge Flying Fortress, Jack again reminded his brother that he would be going home soon, and that he hoped Mark would be able to transfer to the 303rd to take his place in the nose of The Duchess.  To allow the brothers extra time to visit before take-off, other members of the crew chipped in to ready for the flight.  Navigator Jesse Elliott stowed Jack's gear in The Duchess and mounted both of the forward guns that he and the bombardier would man inside the bomber's nose.  Then someone advised Jack it was time and the bombardier turned to board.

"See you boys at six o'clock," Mark Mathis shouted above the noise of the bomber's four big engines.

"Sweat us out on this one," Jack shouted back before disappearing with a wave.

The Duchess was first to take off, but Mark remained on near the runway with Joe Strickland, one of the ground crew, until the last of the B-17s had faded in the distance.  Then he rode back to the officer's club to anxiously await the return of his brother.  Though denied permission to fly with Jack on this important mission, Mark Mathis was indeed the eleventh member of the crew that day, for his heart and prayers were in the Plexiglas nose of The Duchess as it flew across the English Channel towards the heavily defended submarine pens in the north of Germany itself.

The Mathis Brothers Rhude Mark Mathis, Jr., was born in the small town of Sterling City, Texas, on February 14, 1918, the first child of Rhude Mark, Sr. and Avis C. Mathis.  Nearly three years later on September 25, 1921, Jack was born in nearby San Angelo.  A third son, Harrell C. Mathis, was born to Rhude and Avis seven years later on December 2, 1928.   In the decades since the end of World War II, San Angelo has been quick to claim the two most-well-known bombardier brothers of that war as native-sons, much to the chagrin of the small town where the boys actually grew up.  In truth, young Jack remained in San Angelo little more than the time that it took him to enter the world and draw his first breath.  In the years that followed San Angelo would figure prominently in the lives of both boys, more-so when they became young men and entered military service.  Fortunately, the legend created in World War II by the Mathis Brothers was large enough to be appropriately shared by both cities. Sterling City was little more than a pit-stop on Highway 87, a community numbering only a few hundred citizens when the Mathis brothers were growing up.  Mark attended Sterling City High School for two years, then dropped out to work at odd jobs in his home town as well as nearby San Angelo.  Jack entered Sterling City High School in 1936 and remained with his studies to graduate on May 16, 1940.  The graduating class that year numbered thirteen students. Less than one month after graduating high school, on June 12, Jack Mathis enlisted in the United States Army.  As a young boy he had shown increasing interest in the airplanes that sometimes flew over Sterling City, but in those pre-war years the Army Air Corps required applicants to have at least two years of college education.  Jack was assigned to Headquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion, 19th Field Artillery, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.  A studious young man with attention to detail, Jack soon became the unit reporter for the Fort Sill Army News.  He also advanced in grade to the rank of Corporal. The same month that Jack Mathis left for Oklahoma, with the prospects of a world war looming, the War Department selected San Angelo as the site for a new airfield to train pilots.  The following January, Goodfellow Air Field opened under the Command of Colonel George M. Palmer.  The increased activity associated with establishing the airfield attracted the attention of Mark, who traded his series of odd jobs in the area for a more stable position with the U.S. Army Air Corps.  He was assigned as a ground crew member of the 49th Squadron at Goodfellow Airfield, where he could be close to home and his mother, recently divorced. When Jack learned that his older brother had joined the Army he managed to transfer to the same 49th Squadron to serve as a one of its clerks.  The Army offered him additional training, and Jack was able to attend a 16-week administrative course at San Angelo Business College.  Both boys now served together, close enough to home to visit frequently.  The cadre under which they served was also top notch, which certainly had some bearing on their own development as soldiers.  The 49th Squadron commander under which they both served was Lieutenant Leon R. Vance, who would earn a posthumous award of the Medal of Honor with the 8th Air Force three years later.  One of the flight instructors at Goodfellow was Lieutenant Horace S. Carswell who also earned a posthumous Medal of Honor in World War II. During the summer of 1941, while Mark and Jack went about their separate duties at Goodfellow, the U.S. Army Air Corps underwent sweeping changes.  These including a change of name to that of the U.S. Army Air Force, and a rapid expansion in both aircraft and personnel.  By the time the United States was catapulted into the World War with the December 7, 1941, attack at Pearl Harbor, the Army air arm's long-standing policy of requiring at least a two-year college education for candidates was loosened.  Both Mark and Jack requested transfers to the Army Air Force and were accepted.  On January 11, 1942, the two Mathis brothers left San Angelo together for aviation training.   Bombardier Brothers   Mark and Jack Mathis arrived for their initial pre-flight training at Ellington Field near Houston.  Upon completion they both hoped to enter bombardier school.  This was an intensive program designed to turn young men into capable bombardiers, able to accurately place their bombs on an enemy target from distances as close as a few thousand feet or as far away as five miles.  Some time during the month of February, the brothers were separated, though not by choice.  An account by Sergeant James Dugan that was published in Every Week Magazine indicated that it was "Mark's nimble tongue (that) split up the brother team."  His razzing of a civilian math instructor resulted in a report to the commandant of cadets, who disciplined the older brother by holding him back for three weeks.  Thus it was that when Jack completed his pre-flight training and headed to Victorville Field in California for advanced bombardier training, Mark was still three weeks away from finishing his pre-flight training at Ellington Field. Located 65 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Victorville Field was one of the newest twin-engine pilot training schools.  It opened on December 18, 1941, and graduated its first class of seventy-five bombardiers on March 3, 1941, thirteen days before Jack Mathis arrived to begin his own training. Bombardiers were introduced to the highly secret Norden bombsight after first taking an oath to defend it even at the cost of their own lives.  During the intensive 12-week program that followed, they dropped nearly 200 bombs in both daylight and night-time practice missions.  Records were maintained to score hits and misses and the school washed out more than 10% of those who began the program.   During the period of advanced training, the bombardier became part of a team.  He was assigned to complete his preparations with that team, which would become the crew of an American bomber.  On June 24 Jack was assigned to a 10-man crew under First Lieutenant Harold Stouse of Spokane, Washington.  On July 4, he earned his wings and graduated with Class 42-9. Lt. Harold Stouse's Original Crew (Back L-R) 1Lt Harold Stouse, Pilot; 1Lt William Neff, Maintenance; 2Lt Squire O'Connor, Co-Pilot; 2Lt John Shupe, Navigator; 2Lt Jack Mathis (Front) S/Sgt Eldon Audiss, Engineer; S/Sgt Donald Richardson, Radioman; Sgt Theron Tupper, Waist Gunner; Sgt John Garriott, Ball Turret; S/Sgt Calvin Owen, Tail Gunner   Following his own successful completion of pre-flight training, Mark Mathis was sent to Midland Army Air Field in Texas for advanced bombardier training.  By the time he earned his own wings and graduated with Class 42-10 on July 23, his kid brother was in Alamogordo, New Mexico, finishing the final phases of preparations for combat.  On September 15, Jack flew home to visit his mother in Sterling City.  He was able to spend two hours with her before duty called him to rejoin his crew as they headed for war. At Battle Creek, Michigan, Lieutenant Stause's crew picked up their airplane, a new Boeing B-17F, with the tail number 41-24561 (which was shortened to 124561).  Lieutenant Stause named her: The Duchess   On October 16, Lieutenant Jack Mathis flew with Stouse and a skeleton crew to Molesworth, England, an RAF (Royal Air Force) base north of London, between Peterboro and Cambridge.  There they were to begin a series of daylight bombing raids, mostly over occupied France, with the 8th Air Force's 303rd Bombardment Group.  Jack's squadron in the 303rd was the 359th Bomb Squadron. The 8th Air Force under Brigadier General Ira Eaker had arrived in Britain on May 12, 1942.  Eighteen of the general's B-17Es from the 97th Bombardment Group conducted the first American B-17 bombing raid in Europe against the railroad marshalling yards at Touen-Sotteville, France, on August 17, 1942.  Additional missions were mounted through October until General Jimmy Doolittle began forming the new 12th Air Force for support of Operation Torch, the American landings in North Africa.  By the time the 303rd arrived at Molesworth in October, the focus had been diverted to that important offensive, and the 8th Air Force had been stripped badly by the 12th.  The combat-experienced 2nd, 97th, 99th, and 301st Bombardment Groups were transferred to the 12th Air Force leaving a void that the 303rd, despite its best efforts, would be unable to fill for considerable months.   On November 16, the 303rd finally got orders for its first mission, a high-altitude bombing attack on the submarine pens at St. Nazaire on the coast of occupied France.  Sixteen B-17s took off from the field at Molesworth at 0923 the following morning, to be joined en route by 47 B-24s from the more experienced 93rd Bombardment Group.

Once the 303rd became active the pace accelerated.  Twenty-one of the group's bombers flew on November 18, intending to bomb another target in occupied France.  Somehow the formation became lost and arrived over St. Nazaire instead, this time with visibility greatly improved.  All but two of the Fortresses released their bombs on the submarine pens with solid results.  Before that first week of combat ended there were two more missions:  to Lorient, France, on November 22, and then back to St. Nazaire on November 23.  On that last mission the 303rd suffered its first loss.  

Lieutenant Mathis missed out on all three missions and had to wait nearly three weeks until December 6 to fly his second mission.  From that date until the end of January 1943 the 303rd flew nine missions and Mathis flew in all but one, most of them with Lieutenant Stause in The Duchess .

On that December 6 mission, Jack dropped his bombs on the Carriage and Wagon Works at Lille, France.  The B-17s were attacked by 20 enemy fighters that caused slight damage to five of them,  but all of the group's bombers returned home safely.  Six days later The Duchess was in the air again and headed for Rouen, on the northern coast of occupied France.  Eight of the B-17s had to abort due to mechanical problems, The Duchess among them.  Two of the Fortresses that continued on were shot down becoming the first losses for the group since November 23.

Jack's fourth mission was part of a 21-plane flight to bomb the Air Depot at Romilly-sur-Seine.  Again several of the bombers experienced mechanical problems, seven of them being forced to return early.  Jack and the bombardiers of the remaining 14 Fortresses accurately hit their targets from 22,500 feet, inflicting great damage.  On the return home enemy fighters destroyed one bomber which ditched in the English Channel.  All members of the crew of the Zombie were lost.

Upon completion of his fifth combat air mission on December 30, Lieutenant Mathis was awarded the Air Medal for "meritorious achievement."  This last 303rd BG mission of 1942 was a strike against the submarine pens at Lorient, France.  Lieutenant Stouse's crew flew in a different aircraft named Fast Worker Mark II while The Duchess was undergoing maintenance.  Only ten of the 16 Flying Fortresses from the 303rd completed the bomb run.  These had to force their way through a screen of forty enemy fighters.  Three bombers from other groups engaged in the mission were shot down, but all of the 303rd's Fortresses returned to base.

When the year came to a close on the first missions of the 8th Air Force, the 303rd had flown against eight targets in six weeks.  In those missions the group had fielded 144 aircraft and lost five.  The most discouraging statistic was the number of planes that had failed to deliver their payload on target.  Of 144 bombers fielded in the period, 55 had returned to base with their bombays still full.  Bad weather and persistent mechanical problems were proving to be a greater detriment to the Allied bombing offensive than enemy fighters or anti-aircraft fire.

Perhaps, however, the 8th Air Force's greatest enemy in that first year was the campaign in North Africa.  The transfer of four bomb groups to the new 12th Air Force had depleted the England-based American Air Force's strength to the point that at no time could more than 50-75 aircraft be mounted for a single mission.  AAF bombardment theory as developed earlier at ACTS, promulgated by General Kenneth Walker, and espoused in the statement: "The well-organized, well-planned, and well-flown air force (bombing) attack will constitute an offensive that cannot be stopped," was predicated upon that bombing attack being mounted in flights of more than 100 bombers.  Furthermore, in matters of supply and support, the North African campaign had taken priority.  Obtaining necessary replacement parts for worn or battle damaged B-17s based in England was so difficult that crews developed a new acronym--AOG--Always On the Ground.  One 303rd BG crew went so far as to name their bomber "AOG-Not in Stock," and some pilots refused to allow their planes to be brought into a hanger for repairs, fearing that they would instead be robbed for parts.

Despite these problems the determined men of the 8th Air Force did their best to patch up, pick up, and press on.  The lids from tin cans were used to patch holes in wings, creative engineering found expedient fixes to minor equipment damage, and when all else failed it was not unusual for a ground crew to do a little moonlight requisitioning.

Targets were generally along the northern or western coast of France: submarine pens, rail yards, and transportation centers.  The distances precluded fighter escorts on most missions testing the credibility of the American belief in the tactics of massive, high altitude, daylight bombing raids, or the doctrine that a well-organized bomber formation could not be stopped.  With the new year and with the situation in North Africa stabilized, things began improving for the 8th Air Force.

The 303rd flew its first mission of 1943 against St. Nazaire three days into the new year.  Submarine pens remained an important target.  Enemy U-Boats controlled much of the North Atlantic where massive shipments of men and material were attempting to cross from the United States to England.  It was critical to the war effort to stem the near-daily loss of Allied ships to the underwater menaces, and this could best be accomplished by slowing the production of new U-boats.  To protect their important submarines, the Germans began steadily increasing their anti-aircraft batteries and fighter protection around the important sub pens.  On that January 3 mission, the 303rd lost four of the seventeen bombers dispatched with aircraft from other 8th Air Force bombardment groups.  It was the only 303rd mission from December 3 to the end of January that Jack Mathis was not assigned fly on.

It was also this mission that introduced a new bombing technique the men called bombing-on-the-leader.  Under this method, instead of the various bombers in the formation releasing their bombs independently, the bombardiers of trailing aircraft tracked the progress of the lead bomber and released their orbs when they saw it bombs fall.  This placed added demands for accuracy on the lead bombardier, and prompted the assignment of only the best bombardiers to the lead airplane.

The heavy losses on the mission to St. Nazaire reinforced the effort to develop new flying formations and on January 13 the nineteen 303rd BG Flying Fortresses dispatched to bomb the Lille Fives Company Locomotive Works at Lille, France, tested a closely-grouped design the men called the Combat Box.  While the aerial arrangement spaced the bombers so close to each other that some crew members complained, its effectiveness was apparent.  Despite the appearance of 15-20 enemy fighters, eighteen of the Fortresses reached their target and dropped their bombs, and not a single plane was lost.  Lieutenant Stouse and his crew flew that day in a plane named Holy Mackerel.  The bombardier was Jack Mathis; it was his sixth mission.

Perhaps one of the most important air missions of 1943 was the one flown two days later by the 8th Air Force's commander, Major General Ira C. Eaker.  It was a combat mission of a different nature--a mission from his headquarters in England to an important meeting in North Africa.  It was a mission to save the fate of the entire 8th Air Force and to preserve a decades-old doctrine of aerial warfare.  Opposing General Eaker would be not only the entire leadership of the Royal Air Force, but Prime Minister Winston Churchill himself.  

 

The Casablanca Conference

The 8th Air Force wasted little time before mounting its first bombing raid since the beginning of the Casablanca Conference.  Twenty-one B-17s from the 303rd Bombardment Group joined a formation in an attack on the port area at Lorient and submarine pens near Brest.  Lieutenant Mathis flew his seventh mission as bombardier in the Flying Fortress named "The Idaho Potato Peeler" piloted by Lieutenant Ross Bales.  It was nearly Jack Mathis' last mission and ironically, it was with this same pilot that his older brother Mark would later meet his own tragic fate.

Most of the mission went well until the formation was over target.  As the bombardiers prepared for the run the sky suddenly filled with the explosions of heavy anti-aircraft fire and 50 - 100 FW-190 fighters appeared to turn back the American attack.  The American airmen braved the intense resistance, dropping their bombs accurately to inflict major damage, but the victory was a costly one--for the 303rd the heaviest losses to date.

Five bombers were shot down over the target.  Returning home the pilot of Werewolf ordered his crew to bail out of their damaged bomber over England, and then managed to land with only one engine.  The crew of Thumper also bailed out injuring five and killing one man.  Her pilot then came in for a wheels-up landing.  Lieutenant Bales nursed his battered Idaho Potato Peeler as far as he could, then made a controlled crash landing at Chipping Warden in England.  Fortunately, none of his crew which included Lieutenant Mathis, was injured.

The 303rd wasted no time licking their wounds.  The next mission was scheduled four days later on January 27, and it would be an historic one for the entire 8th Air Force.

Bombs over Germany 

The heavy losses from the previous mission left the 303rd able to muster only eleven bombers for the January 27 strike.  Lieutenant Stouse and his men were among the eleven flight crews that gathered for the briefing at 0500, and echoed the cheers of their fellows when the map was revealed to show the Fortresses flying north to strike enemy shipyards at Vegesack--within the boundaries of Germany itself.

When the formation took off for the long flight over the North Sea, three of the 303rd's B-17s were forced to abort.  The remaining eight led by Captain L. E. Lyle in Ooold Soljer continued on after joining 45 bombers from other 8th Air Force bomb groups.  

The mission went unexpectedly well for the enemy was off-guard, never anticipating a strike so deep into its own territory.  The mission's only major obstacle was a cloud cover over Vegesack that forced the formation to divert to the alternate target.  For Jack Mathis it was his eight mission and an exciting one--dropping his bombs over the Wilhelmshaven Naval Base.  That evening the returning warriors were welcomed home by a bevy of news reporters, all eager to report that General Eaker had kept his promise to Churchill and bombed Germany before the month of January came to a close.

Though the 303rd flew six missions in February, Jack Mathis participated in only one of them.  On February 16 he was back in The Duchess for a mission over the Nazaire port area once again.  During that month the 8th Air Force began seeing a major influx of new aircraft, personnel, and replacement parts.  Tactics were honed, replacements trained, and the stage was set to inflict major damage in March.  Jack missed the first mission on March 4, but flew his 10th combat mission on March 6.  The Duchess was the lead bomber in what proved to be a highly successful attack on  a power station and bridge at Lorient, France.  Jack scored directs hits on the bridge, paving the way for the following bombardiers to accurately place their own explosives.

On March 8 Lieutenant Stouse and crew flew against the railroad marshalling yards in Rennes.  On March 12 Mathis accompanied Major Romig once again, this time acting as bombardier for The 8 Ball MK II.  The very next day Lieutenant Mathis returned to the skies, joining Lieutenant Stouse in Knockout Dropper.  It was one of those rare missions in which the bombers had fighter escorts to and from the target.  Cloud cover hindered the accuracy of the bomb drop but the Americans returned home without any casualties or aircraft losses.  For Jack Mathis it was the thirteenth mission; he was half-way to MISSION X, the magical twenty-five that promised combat veterans a well-earned return trip home.

During the time Jack had been flying missions out of Molesworth, Mark Mathis had been serving as bombardier for a B-24 Liberator in North Africa, where he had been assigned on January 1, 1943.  Early in March his bomber group moved to England, affording him opportunity to obtain a pass to visit Jack at Molesworth on March 17.  Jack found a replacement for his assignment as bombardier for The Duchess on the mission scheduled for the following day so he could spend more time with Mark, but Major Calhoun convinced him to make that fourteenth mission by promising a weekend pass upon its completion.  

Major Calhoun had good reason to want Jack in the lead bomber on the following day's flight.  The mission itself was planned to attack important enemy sub pens at Vegesack.  It was a mission that included many firsts.  

Twenty Fortresses from the 303rd BG would be joined by more than 50 additional bombers from other groups in the 1st Bombardment Wing.  Two-dozen B-24s from the 2nd Bombardment Wing would bring the aircraft total to more than 100, making it the largest formation yet flown against Germany.  

On this mission the lead bomber would make its run utilizing Automatic Flight Control Equipment (AFCE) linked to the Norden bombsight.  The process had been tested but never before attempted under combat conditions.  Under that new procedure the pilot transferred control of the airplane to the bombardier in the final moments of the bomb run.  The Norden bombsight would then direct the path of the bomber until it had dropped its deadly cargo, hopefully dead on target.   

Only the lead bombers in the flights carried Norden bombsights for the raid.  The bomb-on-the-leader technique had proven highly accurate and successful since its inauguration on January 3, and continued to be employed.  Once the lead bombardier released his payload, the trailing aircraft would unload their bombs on his falling explosives.  For this important mission Captain Calhoun wanted one of his most experienced and skillful bombardiers to lead the way.  That man was Lieutenant Jack Mathis.

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