AN EIGHTH AAF BOMBER COMMAND STATION, England: Captain Henry W. Henington, a Flying Fortress pilot from Houston, Texas brought to a thrilling close to his operational career in the European Theater of Air War by blasting a German armaments factory in a Paris suburb, on New Year's Eve. (1943)

Henington had been to Paris before but his was his 25th combat mission and there wasn't enough flak in all of Occupied Europe to keep him from returning in time for a well-deserved New Years Eve celebration.

The son of Mrs. L. B. Henington, of 1522 Sunset Blvd., Houston, Texas, the 22 year old Fortress pilot, who achieved that ripe old age on Christmas is a former student at the University of Houston and in civilian life a metallurgist. His father, the late L. S. Henington was a well-known World War I fighter pilot.

Henington established himself as one of the top-flight pilots in the hard-hitting Eighth Air Force when he flew the Regensburg shuttle from England to Africa and back to England with a pause for bombing at Regensburg, Germany, and, on the return trip, at Bordeaux, France. When his ship the "Horny" landed in Tunisia, after bombing the German Messerschmitt factory at Regensburg, near Munich, there were only five rounds of ammunition left on board and members of the crew had shot down four enemy fighters and damage five others. Despite the savage fighting evidenced by these facts, not a single member of Henington's crew had been wounded and the "Horny" came through it all with only a few minor scratches.

On September 3rd (1943) pilot Henington's skill and courage saved the lives of his crew when their ship ditched in the English Channel after enemy fire had knocked out two engines before the "Horny" could reach her destined target, the Renault factory in Paris. Henington and his entire crew were picked up by a British "Walruses," seaplane of the Air Sea Rescue Forces after they floated some three hours and a half in the cold waters of the channel.

About a month later Captain Henington brought his ship "Horny II" back from a bombing attack on Bremen, Germany with an engine feathered and another smoking. After flak knocked out their #1 engine and #4 engines the crew of "Horny II" began to figure their time had come. Nazi Focke-Wulfe fighters closed in on the crippled Fortress. But Henington dived the bomber 4000 feet through a swarm of German fighters, went into furious evasive action, leveled off and high-tailed her for home. When the "Horny II" hit the runway the two remaining engines quit cold on her -- out of gas. The ground crew had to have the ship towed to her dispersal area.

On the more recent Ludwigshafen mission, Hennington's ship was attacked by white-nosed FW-190's. One of his engines was damaged and he had to feather it and leave formation but evasive action brought him home. That was December 30th, 1943. The next day it was Paris, with smoke and flames fuming up out of a German factory. That was clear sailing and it was mission number twenty-five (25) for pilot Henington and it was New Years Eve -- a great day all around.

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