Art Kramer

ART KRAMER'S WWII STORIES

What's an ME 262? Those A-2 bastards knew all along.

It came out of nowhere. It was gone in less than 5 seconds. A black blur moving at the speed of light and gone. It hit our formation from the rear ,and passed through us between the lead and the #2 in an attempt to spook
some pilot, who would then pull out of formation and be easy pickings for the jet. But we didn't know it was a jet at the time, We didn't know what a jet was or what the hell it was. But nobody got spooked. The formation held
tight. But the intercom came alive.

Henderson: " What the hell was that?"Е
Greigo: "It had no props"Е
Taylor: "Of course it had props. A plane can't fly with no props"
"Get off the intercom you guys. Settle down" That was Paul Shorts, our pilot talking.

What we had seen was an ME-262, a plane we never heard of, never knew existed, and now suddenly encountered without warning. We were all pretty bewildered. It had come and gone and done no damage. But those unfamiliar swept back wings with their big crosses were a startling sight. But the good thing was, that at last, we would have a story to tell the A-2 intelligence guys at debriefing that would knock their socks off. I couldn't wait to get at them with this story.

A-2 "Anything to report?"
Me: "You bet. It was moving 600 mph and was black and had no propsЕЕ
A-2 "What direction did it come from?"
Me: "It came from behind us, the West andЕ..
A-2: "Did it fire at you?"
Me: "Yes. No. I don't remember. I don't think it ЕЕ
A-2: "Did it just make one pass?"

It was obvious by now that this guy wasn't the least surprised by my report

THE SON OF A BITCH KNEW ALL THE TIME!

I thought of all the nights we had drinks together at the officers club. And he never said a word. Not even a hint. Bastard.

Me" "You knew didn't you?"
A-2 "Anything else to report?"
Me: Why didn't you tell us?"
A-2: If you have nothing else to report, that will be all. NEXT!

I left with steam coming out of my ears. As I did the next man came in and I could hear the A-2 officer start his interrogation with the usual "Anything to report?".

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