Robert
Post worked
for the New
York Times in Washington
during the 1930s. He then moved to London
where he covered the Home Front during the the Second
World War. He reported the Battle of
Britain and was one of the first people to get the story of Rudolf
Hess arriving in Scotland in May 1941.
Post
was one of the eight war correspondents selected to fly with the United
States Air Force on bombing missions over Germany.
After a week's high-altitude aircrew training in England
he flew his first mission in a B-17 Flying Fortress
on 26th February 1943. His aircraft was shot down and Robert
Post was
killed.
(1)
The German newspaper, Voelkischer Beobachter, reported on the
Allied mission on 26th February 1943 when Robert
Post was killed.
An air battle of exceptional ferocity took place on the 26th of February
in which fighters and marine flak artillery emerged victorious with
seventeen enemy airplanes shot down.
Wilhelmshaven was the target
of the attacking formation of U.S. bombers. The city on the Jade Bay,
which has had to withstand several night attacks in the past two weeks,
was now targeted for a daylight bombing attack in good visibility.
But fighters and marine flak artillery destroyed the enemy's plan,
knocked the opponent back, and gave the Americans an idea of the striking
power of our aerial defense. The air battle that was fought here ranks
as one of the biggest days in the German bay, where once thirty-six
enemy bombers were shot down by the Schumacher squadron. This time
it was seventeen "four-motors" that found their end in the
course of less than an hour. Outside in the Watt Sea, in the swamps,
in the meadows, and in the marshes - everywhere lay the rubble of
destroyed enemy machines. Already they are covered by the incoming
tide or buried deep in the swamp. A flyer reported that the sky at
the time was so speckled with white parachutes that one might have
assumed that the enemy was dropping paratroopers if it had not been
for the firebrand of crashing machines which left no doubt as to their
origin. Trucks with prisoners drove quickly through the streets. Out
of all regions, captured Americans were rounded up by the police,
civil authorities, and military installations.
While enemy planes were
hunted and shot down outside the approach to the city, on the coast,
and above the Watt Sea and the Ems River, a few of them managed to
reach the city of Wilhelmshaven. Encircled by the exploding shells
of the marine flak artillery, the bombers indiscriminately unloaded
their bombs. Again apartment houses here collapsed, again people were
left homeless, and again, almost without exception, civil and public
establishments were hit. Above the residential areas bombers were
again severely attacked by the marine flak artillery.
As the last enemy bombers
reached the wide sea and our fighters flew back to their air bases,
we drove to the city of Wilhelmshaven. The population has gone through
a lot in recent days. Many times they have been named in armed forces
reports as a target of British bombers. But the people have held "their
front." They are standing firm on ground made dear by battle
and pain. Most of all, they are happy about the success of our fighter
pilots and flak artillery gunners and are grateful to them for the
battering of the enemy air forces.
|
The
Writing 69th tells the story of a group of journalists, including
Walter Cronkite and Andy Rooney, who covered the 8th Air Force
in World War II. In February of 1943, the eight men of the Writing
69th took part in a training program sponsored by the United
States Eighth Air Force. The goal was to prepare the men to
accompany a high-altitude bombing mission against Germany.On
February 26, 1943, the members of the Writing 69th boarded B-17
and B-24 bombers and participated in an attack on Wilhelmshaven,
Germany. The B-24 containing Robert Post of the New York Times
was shot down and he died along with eight of the crewmembers.
(Jim Hamilton, The Writing 69th, Green Harbor Publications) |
Jim
Hamilton, The Writing 69th (Green Harbor Publications)
