Working on the book about the Kassel Mission, here is his Mayday call (from my interviews with him over the last 5 years of his life).
We left the formation. I pushed a button on the control wheel, activating my throat mike, tuned our VHF radio it to the Distress Channel “D” and called air-sea rescue, code named “Colgate.” We had four channels: A was intercommunication with our group, B was Command Channel, C was to communicate with our fighter cover, and D was for Distress.
[“Mayday. Mayday.”] I identified myself immediately to air-sea rescue.
I was concerned about whether the radio would work.
Colgate came on immediately, very loud and clear, as if they were right next to me. A reassuringly strong voice answered. They had planes in trouble day and night. “Wallet A-Able, this is Colgate. Describe your situation.”
“Colgate, this is Wallet A-Able. We are in very bad condition. “Three are wounded. The plane’s badly damaged and in danger of going down. We need a course for an emergency airfield. Over.”
“Wallet A-Able, give us a long count. Over.”
I began a slow forward count of one to ten, than a long backwards count. “Ten….. Nine... …,” down to one. “Over.”
“Roger,” Colgate said. “We’ll call back as soon as we have a heading for you.”
Within thirty seconds they triangulated a fix on my plane, and the voice from Colgate came back on. “Wallet A-Able, we have your position. Maintain a heading of two-seven-five. Report back every fifteen minutes. Over”
As Airplane Commander, I responded, “Roger, Colgate. Two-Seven-Five. Call back when?”
“Call back in fifteen minutes. Over.”
“Roger and out.”
