Word: flak
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
High among the puffy white clouds over Kiel both the pilot and co-pilot of the B-17 Worry Wart were knocked out. Below-zero cold froze the pilot's hands and feet. The co-pilot was dead, a 20-mm. shell through his breast. Ugly flak blossoms unfolded on all sides. In & out among the clouds darted droves of enemy fighters. Worry Wart's chances of getting back to England were next to zero...
...captain, Maurice Youngs, needed more than oxygen: he had flak in one arm. His hands were so frozen he couldn't use them. He was trying to run the ship with his elbows. We tried to use the automatic pilot, but it wouldn't work. Then I took over...
...matter of seconds now. The bomb bay doors were open; the flak had begun, pin points of yellow blossoming slowly upward, then sliding by with a rush into the sky above. Now the planes were roaring 50 feet above the water; now the target was dead ahead. Now the bombardiers pushed their buttons, and now the big, dark mines, each weighing 1,500 pounds, tumbled from the planes. Some landed with a splash in the water; some hit the dams fair & square. When the roar of their explosions had subsided, the sustained, deeper roar of pent-up waters, suddenly released...
Last week there was ample evidence that the U.S. services are working with might & main to get out faster dive-bombers, thus overcome the handicap of low speed (199 m.p.h.) which has made the Stuka a sitting duck for fighter craft and flak batteries...
...Berlin with the first hundred. We made a two-minute bombing run and dropped our cookies. I saw 100 cookies drop dead bang. Flak was spasmodic. After our first big concentration, Jerry came out of the cellar and gave us another burst...