Robert Mackinnon

When U.S. Army Air Corps pilot Robert MacKinnon and his B-24 bomber crew took off from U.S. soil in early January, 1945 bound for Gander Field, Newfoundland the 19-year-old second lieutenant was the youngest man on board.

The next leg of the journey was an eight-hour flight to Lajes Field in the Azores an island in the Portuguese archipelago.

My nine-man crew and I were preparing to take off in a howling blizzard, MacKinnon said. It was winter, between 45 and 55 below zero, nighttime, very dark.

An hour out of Newfoundland, flying out over the North Atlantic Ocean, the engines started running rough.

We started adjusting power, rpm and fuel mixtures, but we can't get a combination that seems to result in getting any happier engines, he said.

When two engines eventually conked out, both on the same side of the plane, MacKinnon found himself struggling to keep the four-engine aircraft level.

Throwing on the wing lights, MacKinnon could see the wings and propellers were icing up.

We start a shallow dive to maintain airspeed, but the ice-cold North Atlantic is getting closer, MacKinnon said.

Finally, at about 3,000 feet, the carburetor heat worked wonders, and the pilots were able to regain control of the two uncooperative engines, he said.

Two hours later, MacKinnon was climbing up through an opening in the stormy skies above the cloud layers where, for the first time that night, he could see the stars.

Getting a fix on the stars, he delivered his crew safely to Lajes Field, Azores, then to Giulia Field, an American air base near Cerignola, Italy, home of the 459th Bomb Group.

MacKinnon completed his 19 combat missions while he was still 19. He turned 20 on May 12, 1945 four days after the end of the war in Europe.

The closest he came to buying the farm, he said, was during a March 1, 1945, 10-hour round-trip mission to the Kralupy oil fields in central Czechoslovakia.

Flying in loose formation with a group of about 28 B-24s on the return trip, MacKinnon's 7-plane squadron followed the group commander's aircraft as it began its descent.

But McKinnon suddenly realized the group was heading straight for Villach, Austria an area known to throw heavy flak at Allied aircraft.

He also knew it was a very big no-no, to communicate between airplanes because it would give the group's location away to the enemy.

After performing a couple of rechecks, he determined his calculations were correct.

So we broke radio silence and in very unmilitary terms quickly told the group commander the problem and to, Turn the (expletive) formation now! Now!' And thank God he did, because less than one minute later, with all the 28 B-24s in a wild, 45-degree bank to the left, the sky right where we had been was covered with flak bursts.

MacKinnon said this memorable event has been the first topic of conversation at annual 459th Bomb Group conventions accompanied by some boisterous beer drinking.

There were nine of us there at first, he said. Over the passing years, it has now dwindled to just three of us.

MacKinnon had a 30-year career with the Walt Disney Company, where he worked in attraction operations and hotel management at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

2nd Lt Robert L Mackinnon was assigned to the 459th BG 757th Squadron.
Military Occupational Specialty (MOS): Pilot.

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