HISTORY
Attacks on ships were among the most dangerous missions. There was nothing to hide behind ...
to eat. When we shipped out, the boy took
our stove and cooking utensils, after all we
owed it him for all that he did for us.”
With the onset of April 1945, American forces undertook Operation Iceberg, the amphibious assault on the island of Okinawa
in the Ryukyu Archipelago. The Japanese
continued to sacrifice their remaining pilots against the vast Allied forces in suicidal fashion. The Americans were feeling
the bite of the Kamikaze’s “Divine Wind”
first-hand, reminiscent of the typhoon
which destroyed Kublai Khan’s attack fleet
off the coast of Japan in 1281.
The forward airfields on Formosa that
provided this aerial menace over Okinawa topped General Kenny’s Fifth Air Force
target list accompanied by the vital alcohol
production facilities and railway terminals.
were already burned out and lying on the
ground. We did hit some of the remaining
planes in their revetments from time to
time. We were flying so low on these missions that we’d discover rice in our bomb
bay doors! One guy even came home with a
chicken stuffed in one of his engine nacelles! We were scared, and of course we flew
very low just to survive.
I believe that we were after an airfield when
I got hit right in the face and in the arms
with broken glass from the wind screen.
I don’t know if the copilot had grabbed the
controls from me, to help steer the B-25
for that spilt second. We were so close to
the ground that it could have been fatal. Our
plane skidded and hit a bamboo tree that
came between the engine and our cockpit
fuselage.”
We were flying so low on these missions that we’d discover rice in our bomb bay doors! One guy even came
home with a chicken stuffed in one of his engine nacelles! We were scared, and of course we flew very low just
to survive.
Erwin’s group were called into action to
support the campaign, in an operation that
Lt. Werhand earned the Purple Heart after
his cockpit was riddled by Japanese AA
fire.
“Over Formosa our group was to attack
the alcohol plants and airfields. The plants
were top priority since the Jap’s had so
many of them. To get these targets, we’d
come in low below the smokestacks, pop
up over the stack, release the loads and
then get quickly back down on the deck
again. You could see the tracer bullets
coming up at you from the ground below.
On this island we saw some enemy aircraft
parked on their airfields, however they
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INFO Eduard
In the wake of the atomic bomb raids on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Japanese surrender to end the Second World
War, Captain Werhand ventured over the
mainland Japan in his aircraft to survey the
destruction of these two cities, that made
headlines around the world. It provided an
indelible sight, similar in intensity to his
previous visit to Pearl Harbor.
“I flew over Nagasaki and Hiroshima after
both bombs had been dropped. It was unbelievable to see it. Our B-25s were dropping bombs of the size of firecrackers!
I flew over each city and could not believe
that one bomb had done all of that!”
In the nuclear alert
After the war, Werhand was assigned as an
air operations officer on Okinawa. He was
the right man for the job, after all he’d flown
47 successful missions without being shot
down. During the escalation and onset of
the Korean War in the Fifties, Erwin flew
the C-54 transport aircraft to evacuate the
casualties. The most interesting job he had
while being a member of the United States
Air Force were flights northward to the
Ice Cap in Greenland in the durable C-47
Skytrain. He provided humanitarian aid to
mountain climbers, dig teams and Eskimo
villagers.
With the dawn of the jet age, Major Erwin
Werhand cross trained into Strategic Air
Command’s Boeing B-47 Stratojet, tasked
to deliver an 18-Megaton bomb in the event
of Soviet aggression. He remained on alert
status at Whiteman AFB, Missouri, until his
retirement in 1961 in the rank of Colonel. He
had relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina with his adoring wife and served as an
active member of the local ‘Carolinas Aviation Historical Commission’ an organization which still fosters the history and traditions of military aviation, focused on those
who laid down their lives to preserve the
liberties and freedoms of the United States. He passed away in 2002 after losing his
final battle against cancer. Werhand was
buried in Arlington National Cemetery with
full military honors.
August 2022