Bombing Run

The trip would be laid on by a, at a briefing and you'd know what route you were to take and what your turning point was to be, and the navigator would get us on that course and the pilot, of course, would follow whatever he was told. And as you came to the turning point, the air bomber took over and directed the pilot "left, left, steady, right, steady" and you got to the bomb site and the graticule, and when you were satisfied that that was, it was on target, you'd release the bombs. And as I say all the time, it was to get that thumb over there, that, that was the purpose of all these trips. And when you released the bombs in, you'd get a photo and in, at night, it was a 160, no 186 thousand candle power that would flash, and it would take a picture of the target.