#fun fact: he got a Distinguished Flying Cross for this mission and he thought he was going to get court marshaled

[thatsrightice]

In Part 2 of Masters of the Air, Crosby said he could make overthinking into a an Olympic sport and after reading his book I can confidently say that it’s 100% valid.

Here’s his recount of what happened during and after the mission to Trondheim, Norway in his book A Wing and a Prayer:

What did they do to a navigator who had screwed up as badly as I had? I never knew where I was. I had forgotten completely that I was to radio back a position report in code every fifteen minutes. I didn't give the groups enough warning before the I.P. If the Germans hadn't sent up the smoke screen we might have gone on to the Arctic Circle.

I had done everything wrong. I messed up the rendezvous. I should have given P.R.'s to radio and a strike message, which he was supposed to send in code back to HQ. None of that. I had left the briefed course. Because I didn't think I could navigate in Norway I took us to Scotland. Instead of being at altitude most of the time I brought us home on the deck.

What did they do for stuff like that? Court-martial? Ground me? That didn't sound so bad. Send me back to the States? Disgrace. As we headed home, I figured no headings. I computed no ETA's. I made no entries in my logbook. All I did was sit there, ooze sweat, stink, and feel sorry for myself. I grimly realized I was not airsick. I didn't use even one paper bag.

…

After we landed, I decided I could not endure the debriefing. I got out of the nose, dropped onto the ground. My frozen ankles hurt as I hit. Without speaking to the ground crew I walked off the concrete and into the woods. It was about a quarter mile to my quarters, but I made it, slinking along to avoid anyone talking to me. When an enlisted man offered me a ride in his jeep, I waved him off.

At the 418th site, no one was around. I went into our Nissen. Empty. I dropped onto my bed. The sweat. The smell of fear and shame. I could not bring myself to take off my fleece-lined flying clothes. I had forgotten to take the radio headset from around my neck. I remembered leaving my parachute in the plane. I should have turned it over to the rigger. What else?

Trouble.

I heard a jeep drive up, stop. A knock at the door.

The court-martial was beginning.

#he’s just an anxious little guy #Harry Crosby needs a hug #fun fact: he got a Distinguished Flying Cross for this mission and he thought he was going to get court marshaled #Harry Crosby had hella anxiety and honestly me too bro #THESE ARE LITERAL QUOTES FROM HIS BOOK LIKE #and this was published in like 1993 so you know he was WAY more dramatic when it actually happened #someone rewrite the scene after Trundheim where he just walked off into the woods to wallow in self pity #Harry Crosby #masters of the air #historically accurate #a wing and a prayer #mota #mota musings #quotes #real mota