B-17
Apr 23, 2013 00:25:25 #
this was sent to me by a friend, and I hope it will interest some of you. What a story...
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.
regards from Jean.
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.
regards from Jean.
The first of 8 photos
Apr 23, 2013 00:27:37 #
These are to go with the B-17 story
The first photo
the second photo
The third photo
Apr 23, 2013 00:30:56 #
the second lot of 3 photos, 2 more to come.regards, Jean
the fourth photo
the fifth photo
the sixth photo
Apr 23, 2013 00:32:35 #
the last 2 photos, I have sent them this way, as when I have tried to do more, it does not get sent.Regards, Jean
The seventh photo
the eights and final photo
Apr 23, 2013 00:39:05 #
Great story and photos. Thanks. :thumbup: :-D
If you want to add photos to the thread just click on reply and you can add more photos.
If you want to add photos to the thread just click on reply and you can add more photos.
Apr 23, 2013 01:02:27 #
Thank you very much for a wonderful series. My dad's brother was a navigator on a B-17. It was shot down 8 Jan. 1945. My uncle was killed.
Apr 23, 2013 01:21:10 #
Nancy J wrote:
the second lot of 3 photos, 2 more to come.regards, Jean
You can add more pictures after you upload the first three or reply to yourself and add more pictures keeping them all together under one topic.
I haven't been able to find your first set yet.
The B-17 could sustain huge amounts of damage and keep on flying. Beautiful pictures by the way, they show what a mighty battle WW2 was.
I used to work in Chino, California and joined the Chino planes of fame museum so I could go there on my lunch hour and roam the museum. They have a B-17 on display in front of the museum.
Apr 23, 2013 02:48:08 #
Wilbur Johnboy wrote:
You can add more pictures after you upload the fir... (show quote)
Hi, they are under General Chit-chat, first is " B-17' second is " B-17 continues" third is " B-17 continuing", the last is " B-17 final instalment", and with some helpful comments, I now know how to load more photos that are for the same subject. thanks to all .I realise this way is far from being easy for anyone to find , and apologise for the confusion.
Hope you find them all,regards, Jean
Apr 23, 2013 02:51:21 #
I will pass on your thanks to my friend, he sent them to me by email, and I felt I should then pass them on to some of the UHH readers. Bruce will be so pleased that his email has given some of you this opportunity to see how mighty and strong the B-17 was.guess they called her a " girl", so she did very well. Regards, Jean.
Apr 23, 2013 03:09:48 #
I went to your profile and looked there to find them, nice series. I added my Flickr account and you tube account to my signature while I was looking for your pictures so if you're interested in airplanes like your posts indicate you are I have albums from the Chino planes of fame and the Evergreen museum in Oregon I went to a couple of months ago. I see you are from the Lower North Island, I have a Yahoo group friend in upper Hutt on the North island, his name is Denis Cains.
Apr 23, 2013 04:45:43 #
Wilbur, about 2 hours from Denis, and I'll look at the rest of the plane photos, thanks I have another friend who was a pilot, not in any WW at all, but he has a big interest in older planes, so will give him the link, thankyou so much for your words. Cheers from Jean. p.s. I have also put in some Grumman Avenger pics . a while ago now.
Apr 24, 2013 05:39:02 #
Apr 24, 2013 06:58:22 #
Nancy J wrote:
this was sent to me by a friend, and I hope it wil... (show quote)
Thank you Nancy,
A few years ago I took a friend to an airs how near us. There was a beautifully restored B17 there. My friend was a gunner in the 8th Air Force stationed in England. The man was both physically and emotionally strong even in his eighties. It was the only time I ever saw him cry. He passed away a couple of years later. When I see the a B17 now or photos of one I still think of John. Again thank you for the photos and this amazing story.
Blake
Apr 24, 2013 08:08:15 #
Nancy J wrote:
the last 2 photos, I have sent them this way, as when I have tried to do more, it does not get sent.Regards, Jean
I just purchased and am reading "A Higher Call" by Adam Makos. It is, if you are unfamiliar, a story about a B-17 that was shot up during a bombing run and was limping home when a German ME-109 came along side. The plane was so damaged that navigation was hampered as well. The German Fighter Pilot, instead of finishing off the plane and crew, escorted them to safety and helped them navigate their way home. The book is a true story and was on the NYT Best Seller List for a while. The German and American Pilots were able to meet each other years later and I believe are still friends.
Apr 24, 2013 08:13:19 #
Blake wrote:
Thank you Nancy,
A few years ago I took a friend to an airs how near us. There was a beautifully restored B17 there. My friend was a gunner in the 8th Air Force stationed in England. The man was both physically and emotionally strong even in his eighties. It was the only time I ever saw him cry. He passed away a couple of years later. When I see the a B17 now or photos of one I still think of John. Again thank you for the photos and this amazing story.
Blake
A few years ago I took a friend to an airs how near us. There was a beautifully restored B17 there. My friend was a gunner in the 8th Air Force stationed in England. The man was both physically and emotionally strong even in his eighties. It was the only time I ever saw him cry. He passed away a couple of years later. When I see the a B17 now or photos of one I still think of John. Again thank you for the photos and this amazing story.
Blake
My dad was a crew member on a B-24 in WWII, stationed in Italy. He was the veteran of 30 missions, so I had a chance to fly on the B-24 owned by the Collins Foundation a few years ago and did it. When I got off that plane I had to fight off sobbing it was so emotional. My brief feel for what they went through doesn't scratch the surface, but it was a once in a lifetime feeling for me. The crews on all the bombers of WWII, were doing one of the most dangerous jobs of the war and were all true heros in my book.
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