“Dumbo,” a Puppy, Is Mascot on Bomber in Africa
Lieut. Donald F. Hersch of Cedar Rapids, extreme left, and Lieut. Leonard Billingsley, extreme right, were members of a bomber crew which crashed Feb. 4 in the Red sea while on a torpedo mission. The crew, rescued by a British patrol boat, have been recovering from injuries in an American hospital near Cairo. In the hands of Lieut. Roy O’Neil, second from left, id “Dumbo,” the puppy mascot of Hersch’s bomber crew. “Dumbo,” was flying with the Cedar Rapids youth, son of Dr. and Mrs. T. F. Hersch, in combat against Rommel’s army in North Africa when his plane was riddled by shrapnel.
The puppy moved just before his nest in the plane was pierced by shrapnel, and the four young flyers in the plane had equally narrow escapes. The plane made a forced landing with 350 holes in it.
Source: The Cedar Rapids Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Sunday, March 07, 1943
