[BITList] WW II B17 Survival Story
franka
franka at iinet.net.au
Fri Aug 10 00:54:38 BST 2012
and I thought the DC3 crew change flights were bad
frank
*WW II B17 Survival Story***
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*_B-17 "All American" (414th Squadron, 97BG) Crew_*
*Pilot- Ken Bragg Jr.*
*Copilot- G. Boyd Jr.*
*Navigator- Harry C. Nuessle*
*Bombardier- Ralph Burbridge*
*Engineer- Joe C. James*
*Radio Operator- Paul A. Galloway*
*Ball Turret Gunner- Elton Conda*
*Waist Gunner- Michael Zuk*
*Tail Gunner- Sam T. Sarpolus*
*Ground Crew Chief- Hank Hyland***
**
B-17 in 1943
A mid-air collision on February 1, 1943, between a
B-17 and a German fighter over the Tunis dock area,
became the subject of one of the most famous
photographs of World War II. An enemy fighter
attacking a 97th Bomb Group formation went out of
control, probably with a wounded pilot then
continued its crashing descent into the rear of the
fuselage of a Fortress named All American, piloted
by Lt. Kendrick R. Bragg, of the 414th Bomb
Squadron. When it struck, the fighter broke apart,
but left some pieces in the B-17. The left
horizontal stabilizer of the Fortress and left
elevator were completely torn away. The two right
engines were out and one on the left had a serious
oil pump leak. The vertical fin and the rudder had
been damaged, the fuselage had been cut almost
completely through connected only at two small parts
of the frame and the radios, electrical and oxygen
systems were damaged. There was also a hole in the
top that was over 16 feet long and 4
feet wide at its widest and the split in the
fuselage went all the way to the top gunners turret.
Although the tail actually bounced and swayed in the
wind and twisted when the plane turned and all the
control cables were severed, except one single
elevator cable still worked, and the aircraft still
flew - miraculously! The tail gunner was trapped
because there was no floor connecting the tail to
the rest of the plane. The waist and tail gunners
used parts of the German fighter and their own
parachute harnesses in an attempt to keep the tail
from ripping off and the two sides of the fuselage
from splitting apart. While the crew was trying to
keep the bomber from coming apart, the pilot
continued on his bomb run and released his bombs
over the target.
When the bomb bay doors were opened, the wind
turbulence was so great that it blew one of the
waist gunners into the broken tail section. It took
several minutes and four crew members to pass him
ropes from parachutes and haul him back into the
forward part of the plane. When they tried to do the
same for the tail gunner, the tail began flapping so
hard that it began to break off. The weight of the
gunner was adding some stability to the tail
section, so he went back to his position.
The turn back toward England had to be very slow to
keep the tail from twisting off. They actually
covered almost 70 miles to make the turn home. The
bomber was so badly damaged that it was losing
altitude and speed and was soon alone in the sky.
For a brief time, two more Me-109 German fighters
attacked the All American. Despite the extensive
damage, all of the machine gunners were able to
respond to these attacks and soon drove off the
fighters. The two waist gunners stood up with their
heads sticking out through the hole in the top of
the fuselage to aim and fire their machine guns. The
tail gunner had to shoot in short bursts because the
recoil was actually causing the plane to turn.
Allied P-51 fighters intercepted the All American as
it crossed over the Channel and took one of the
pictures shown. They also radioed to the base
describing that the empennage was waving like a fish
tail and that the plane would not make it and to
send out boats to rescue the crew when they bailed
out. The fighters stayed with the Fortress taking
hand signals from Lt. Bragg and relaying them to the
base. Lt. Bragg signaled that 5 parachutes and the
spare had been "used" so five of the crew could not
bail out. He made the decision that if they could
not bail out safely, then he would stay with the
plane and land it.
Two and a half hours after being hit, the aircraft
made its final turn to line up with the runway while
it was still over 40 miles away. It descended into
an emergency landing and a normal roll-out on its
landing gear.
When the ambulance pulled alongside, it was waved
off because not a single member of the crew had been
injured. No one could believe that the aircraft
could still fly in such a condition. The Fortress
sat placidly until the crew all exited through the
door in the fuselage and the tail gunner had climbed
down a ladder, at which time the entire rear section
of the aircraft collapsed onto the ground. The
rugged old bird had done its job.
.
*
*
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