B-26 Marauder pilot C.C. Sprinkle
Sir Ernie Hamilton Boyette.
I am only now starting this story so please visit again in the future and watch this page develop which will include artwork.
C.C.
Sprinkle
Left
his American training base on July 30, 1944. Landed
in North Africa
and stayed in Marrakech.
There
were three B-26 Squadrons on Sardinia
which were the 17th, the 319th and the 320th.
Flew
the B-26 known as “Flak Bait” as a lone from another squadron because his
bomber was not available for the mission as planned.
On
September 12th, received the Air Medal for bombing accuracy on a
mission that killed thousands of German troops defending
Flew
missions from a large Italian airfield. The B-26 group was able to take off six
bombers at a time. Sprinkle told me that they most literally took off in
formation which saved them the time of forming up over the airfield giving them
greater flying time. Enough to get them to southern
His
squadron was Jimmy DooLittle' s favorite medium bomber squadron because of their
bombing accuracy. Jimmy met with the group several times while Sprinkle was
assigned to the unit. The Squadron had in fact the highest accuracy rate of any
other B-26 squadron in the war.
Their
targets were the German supply lines that were assisting the Germans as they
defended
Whenever the Allies were bogged down by German troops the B-26 squadrons did lower level bomb runs on the German defensive positions killing many of the enemy and ruining much of their war material and equipment.
Before
Sprinkle joined the squadron they had practiced torpedo bombing. They never
followed through but switched MTO "Skip Bombing" tactics. No B-26
launched a torpedo in combat in the MTO. Sprinkle
did attack ships using Skip-Bombing and the attack was most successful but
terribly dangerous for the bomber crews.
The
319th changed
over to the B-25J with a Plexiglas nose and flew his first mission on November
2, 1944. Flew 18 missions in this bomber.
The B-26 was a demanding aircraft and developed a deadly reputation to those who did not catch on to flying the Marauder properly. Sprinkle loved the Marauder. I asked him if he liked the Mitchell and he said it was a far more forgiving bomber. Much easier to handle. He told me that flying the Mitchell was like flying a Piper-Cub compared to the diligent discipline needed for the B-26.
One must remember the toll of combat on normal people. Sprinkle told me that after he was in combat for a few months he had lost almost all the guys that he had begun with. He continued to add that he became cool to any new friendships. He said he was friendly to the new pilots and crews that kept replacing his friends but he never made a new friend again.
After reading up on this group of medium-bomber I could not help but notice the total number of men and aircraft lost. In my readings I saw that many of the group CO's were killed in combat. Many. The CO's had to fly from time to time and they had to pick a bomber to fly in. However the groups were losing so many bombers and men that the loss of high ranking officers were simply mixed in with the rest of the body count.
One must Honor the men that flew the B-25 and the B-26 because these groups were the ones that got down and faced combat from fifty feet off the ground to ten thousand feet. If anything goes wrong at low altitude the ground can come up real fast.
However, now, after the hundreds of stories I have researched and the stories that were personally told to me I can not get enough of exciting stories like this one. In one B-26 during its mission it was shot down by flak. One of the bombers defensive gunners saved the life of the radio operator by pushing him out of their bomber as it was spinning towards the earth. The radio man fell free and parachuted to safety. As the gunner leapt he was hit by the tail of the bomber and knocked unconscious. He fell from a high altitude with out his parachute. He did in fact hit the ground and lived. He and the radio man were returned to their group albeit the gunner went to the hospital. That is a true story. There are many others just like this. This, this is what I live for. The most incredible stories that defy all beliefs.
Below is a photo display of the artwork and the incredible number of sorties these rugged Marauders flew. This image is from CC. Sprinkle. He let me copy it for this web site. Someone in the squadron put this together and it is a great representation of one bomber groups bravery.
The 319 was rated as one of the most accurate medium bombing groups in the war. And C.C. was in the pilot seat of the B-26 below in the left column, second bomber down, "Big Ass Bird." He also flew the bomber two more down, the Marauder with the Bugs Bunny on the nose. However I must add that C.C. told me that he flew almost every bomber represented below.
The number of sorties and flying hours above are only for these fifteen aircraft only and does not represent the bombing missions of the entire 319th.
I talking with C.C. he wants me to paint the "Big Ass Bird" to represent his service. I hope I can do a print of his Marauder or his B-25.
Stay tuned.
If you are interested in buying a print of a B-25 or a B-26, Mr. Sprinkle will gladly autograph the artwork for you.
Prints will be available for $15.00 each or both prints (B-25 and B-26) for $25.00.
Mind you these are generic prints and do not represent the medium-bombers Sprinkle actually flew. We are planning new prints specifically illustrating his bombers in the near future.
Please visit the B-25 and the B-26 page below.
Thank you. Sir Ernie Hamilton Boyette
Posted on January 24, 2012