DC Comics: Our Fighting Forces #108 'Kill The Wolf Pack!' (1967)
The Hellcats are transferred to England to help prepare for the Allied invasion of France. Their mission is to destroy the Germans' impenetrable submarine pens on the French coast to cripple the U-boats from threatening Allied ships on the English Channel during the invasion. To do so, the Hellcats are sent out into the English Channel in a fishing boat with a secret double hull which is packed full of high explosive, and they are to be captured so that they and the boat will be taken back to the submarine pens. Once there, Hunter will activate the timer, and the Hellcats have two hours to find a way out before the explosives detonate.
Once out on the channel under the cover of night, the Hellcats soon caught the attention of the Germans, and their ship's rudder was hit. A German boarding party is dispatched to the ship, and the Hellcats put up a fight until they are finally subdued and captured. The Germans lugged the fishing ship to the submarine pens as planned and prompting Hunter to discreetly activate the timer. The Germans under the command of Major Von Kramm, who is in charge of the submarine pens, search the ship but fail to find the explosives. Unsatisfied, Von Kramm orders his men to continue searching and have the Hellcats marched off the ship. After they are taken into a nearby town, the explosives go off and destroy the U-boats. The explosion grants the Hellcats the opportunity to overpower their stunned guards and make their getaway on a hijacked command car. A furious Von Kramm orders his soldiers to kill the Hellcats.
The Hellcats could not make it far on their car as a German plane spotted them, forcing them to abandon their ride and flee into the woods for the rendezvous point. By luck, they ambush a lone tank and commandeer it. They continue their escape by avoid using the roads that are guarded by German roadblocks and grinding their way through a field. Unfortunately, a German anti-tank rocket launcher manage to hit and disable the tank. The Hellcats are once again force to run on foot until they take shelter in an unoccupied farmhouse. After resting, Hunter decide to have the Hellcats reach the rendezvous point by sneaking out of their hiding spot one at a time. Once the Hellcats reach the rendezvous point, they will light a bonfire so that a pickup plane will extract them. Hunter volunteer to stay behind to ensure everyone are gone and orders his men to leave without him if he doesn't make it.
The Hellcats reach the landing field and light the signal. Unknown to them, Major Von Kramm and his men have figured out their escape plan and have hidden nearby, waiting to open fire on the Hellcats once the plane lands. Hunter soon left the house and spotted the Germans. He takes out one of the machine gunners and turns his gun on the other machine gun posts. The Hellcats are alerted to the gunfire, and they thwart Von Kramm's ambush. After taking out the ambush, Hunter runs for the plane. But Von Kramm, who remained hidden from the gunfight, tackles Hunter and engages him in a fight. The major goes for another charge at Hunter, but only for Hunter to quickly duck, and Von Kramm flies fatally into the plane's propeller. Hunter quickly boarded the departing plane with Brute pulling him up just as German reinforcements arrived. The Hellcats have successfully escaped with their lives from a suicide mission.
In 1954, the public's appetite for war comics kept growing, and new titles were needed to fill the void left by those cancelled in light of the new Comic Code Authority restrictions. Enter "Our Fighting Forces" an anthology that would feature Gunner, Sarge, and their dog Pooch (Rex the Wonder Dog's brother!), which ran from 45-94; the Dirty Dozen inspired by Hunter's Hellcats, who ran on the covers of issues #106 - 122, and the Losers who took over the book from issue #123 until the title hung up its boots in 1978 with issue #181.
