BALL OF FIRE QUARTERLY EXPRESS Newsletter of the 93rd Bombardment Group 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, Hardwick, England Vol. 4, No.3 Fall, 1996 ‘Group President ‘Vice Bresident, 2ADA Paul R. Steichen ‘Alfred Asch Floyd H. Mabee 2912 Nadine Circle 6205 Meadow Court 28 Hillide Avenue ‘Torrance, CA 90508 Rockville, MD 20852 Dover, NJ 05801 Gio) 530-9636 (301) 881-1376 (201) 366-5916, GUNNER EXTRAORDINAIRE JOHNNY “ZERO” FOLEY John Foley was short in stature, five feet four and 110 pounds, but long on determination when he cnlisted in the Army Air Corp after being called up by his draft board in November, 1941. He was in basic training at Sheppard Field when Pearl Harbor ‘occurred . Along with 34 other GI's, all just over five feet in height, John was transferred to a B26 ‘outfit at Muroc Dry Lake, arriving Christmas day 1942, The next day at roll call the First Sergeant was picking ten men for KP. John moved behind ‘mother Gl trying to hide and found himself picked 1s the tenth man. He spent the entire time at Muroc ‘on KP convinced he was doomed to be a cook. ‘A short time later he was deployed to Australia ‘as part of the 22nd BG of the Sth AF. The trip by ship took 26 days and Jobn spent them talking to others about how he could become a member of a combat crew. With no training of any kind he was repeatedly told it would be impossible. After arriving in Brisbane with the 19th Squadron John was told to try for an assignment to the armament shop and possibly work his way up from there. ‘Much to his surprise he was picked for this duty and set to work cleaning cosmoline from machine guns. One day his sergeant, Pappy Robinson, sent him down to clean the guns on a 1B26 called the Kansas Comet. The 19th squadron was still in Brisbane flying practice missions, including firing the guns. After some instruction ‘John was given the job of armorer to clean the guns of the Comet. Unbeknownst to him the pilot, Walter Krell, was keeping an eye on him as he worked. Some time later one of Krell’s gunners had an eye injured and was grounded. So Krell went to see Pappy Robinson and asked for that little kid, whohhad boon cleaning his guns, to be his gunner. Pappy replied, “This kid has never flown and is so green he wouldn’t know which end of the gun to shoot out of.” Krell said, “I'l leave it up to Foley.” The next day they took John up on a practice mission with 200 rounds of ammunition. After instruction on how to use the intercom and operate the turret, Krell told John he was going to call out little puffy white clouds using the clock system and John was to fire at them. The reticle in the gunfight ‘bothered John so he dimmed it and used the tracers. 10 adjust his aim. After they returned to base Krell walked back fo John shook hands and said, “Foley ‘you're my gunner.” ‘The four Squadrons of the 22nd Bombardment Group were based at four separate airfields near Townsville, on the northeast coast of Australia ‘They would load their bombs here and then fly to Seven-mile sirdrome near Port Moresby, New Guinca. Because of the distance to Japanese targets they would refuel at Seven-mile airdrome, both ‘going to the target and on the return trip. Foley’s baptism came on May 13, 1942 during an attack against Japanese shipping near Rabaul. ‘The small formation of B26's was attacked by a ‘group of Zero’s. During interrogation upon their return, his pilot Krell was asked if anyone had knocked down any of the enemy fighters. Krell answered they had not, but another crew nearby cut in and said they had seen a Zero go down from the fire of the top turret. Krell asked Foley if he had downed a fighter and he replied he thought he had All of John’s subsequent victories were confirmed by crew members of other B26's in his formation. Since John had never been taught how to use the reticle on his gunfight, he depended on his tracers for aiming and had no way of estimating range. He admitted to missing a lot of planes, so be had two buddies measure off 600 yards and hold a {ree limb 36 feet long in the air. Sighting through the glass of his gum sight he made two black marks at each end of the limb, which was the length of a Zero’s wingspan. When a Zero's wing filled this space between the two marks he could begin firing John took care of his own guns and loaded his own ammunition belts using tracers every third round. John said be never had a gun malfunction even with the extra tracers. On June 6, 1942 in a raid on the Japanese fighter base at Lae, New Guinea, which was heavily defended by some of Japan’s top fighter aces, Foley was credited with two more Zero's, At this time an International News Service War Correspondent by the name of Pat Robinson became interested. He did ‘some news stories on Foley and dubbed him Johnny Zero. ‘The name Johnny Zero caught the attention of two song writers who were looking for inspiration for words to a tune that one of them, Vee Lawnhurst, had written. Mack David the lyricist, ‘who also wrote Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer, worked out the words for the song, Johnny Zero. This song was recorded on the Decca label by a group of singers called the Song Spinners. It ‘became one of the popular wartime songs. that helped morale during this period. Foley survived three airplane crashes during his tour in the Pacific. The first of the three crashes ‘occurred after the Kansas Comet had received ‘considerable battle damage. Limping back to base the crew was unaware that one of the main landing gear had been shredded. After touching down the plane veered off the runway and hit a tree. The plane broke apart and burst into flames. All the crew except the co-pilot who was pinned in the plane survived. The pilot, Krell, waving the rest of the crew away tried unsuccessfully to free the co- pilot and was burned in the lower parts of his body. During Krells hospitalization his crew was split up among the other crews. John’s second crash occurred, while making a second run over an antiaircraft gun emplacement, because of a bomb release failure. While pulling off the target, the whole tal of his plane was shot off, the plane crashing into a small hill. John, the only survivor, was thrown clear into some tall grass, but did sustain a head injury. Fortunately, some natives found him before the Japanese did. After three ‘weeks of traveling by night and hiding by day they reached an infantry field station that had a small tent hospital. After being supplied with a new pair ‘of pants and shoes John sneaked out of the hospital and made his way back tothe airbase at Seven-mile. His squadron had already gone back to Australia, so ‘he bummed a ride on another B26 and rejoined his ‘buddies. They of course thought he was dead and hhad to retum his belongings, which they had divided amongst themselves. Foley went on to complete 32 missions with the 22nd Bombardment Group. He was credited with ‘seven confirmed Zero’s and eight probables. Due to the news releases of Pat Robinson and the song Johnny Zero be had become quite a celebrity in the states. Suffering from malaria as most of his buddies were, John was returned to the states for reassignment. But first John, along with several ther combat returnces was sent on a speaking tour of defense plants. In a 30 day period he deliveredsome 60 speeches to workers in munitions factories, aircraft plants and shipbuilding yards Johns next assignment was gunnery instructor at Ft Myers, Florida, One day he was telling the class how he learned to fire the machine guns using tracers. After class a Captain ,who had been sitting in the class, told John, “We're teaching them one thing and you're telling them something else.”"John replied, “I don’t want to be an instructor.” The ‘Captain sent him to the Squadron Commander to arrange a transfer. When asked what he wanted to do, he said he wanted to go back into combat Foley was sent to Peterson Field, Colorado, where he joined a B24 unit that was in its last stages of training. He was assigned nose gunner ‘and after completion of training his crew flew a new B24 to England via the South Atlantic route. ‘They were then assigned to the 409th Squadron of the 93rd Bombardment Group. John flew most of his missions as a member of William Seward’s crew in Thunderbird. His first mission was to Brunswick on May 19, 1944, John flew the first early morning mission on DDay. While putting his parachute and gear away after returning from the first raid, a Lt. Doyle told John he needed another gunner, so like many others he flew a second ‘mission that day. It was two years earlier on June 6, 1942 that John had shot down the two Zero’s over Lae, New Guinea. so & John’s first love being the B26, happened to find a former co-pilot flying A20s based in France. When he asked about a transfer, he was told he could transfer as soon as he finished his tour and took a 30 day leave in the states. He then volunteered to fly with other crews when his own wasn't scheduled, From mid July til the end of the month, he flew almost every day. He completed a 31 mission tour in just 70 days, His worst missions ‘were over Munich because of the heavy flak. John was denied the chance to fly a third combat tour when his orders were rescinded and he was sent to Walla Walla, WA where he remained until the end of the war John’s exploits are recorded at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame section of the museum and there is a display dedicated to him. in a glass case are reminders of his wartime service which include his uniform, medals, ribbons, wings, patches, photographs of him and his crews and a copy of the record and song sheet of the song , Johnny Zero. Ed: John Foley never mentioned his record as Johnay Zero to any of his 409th crew. Sam Hall who flew with John Foley but never knew him as Johnny Zero until ‘almost 50 years later, brought this story to my attention. Pictured below is the exhibit at the Air Force Museum, Dayton, OH. Note the prominent display of the 8th AF and 409th squadron patches.