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Thread: WW-II history

  1. #1
    Barnacle Bill's Avatar
    Barnacle Bill is offline Super Mod and 2014 Crappie.com Man of the Year * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Default WW-II history


    I know there are a few here that enjoy readig things like this.

    Feel free to add more as you find them.


    This is just one more reason we won the war. We valued our crews, we built planes to bring them home even tho the plane was badly wounded. This wasn't the first nor the last story like this. The B-17 was an angel in disguise.
    To be born free is a gift......To die free is a responsibility.

    B-17 Mid Air Collision 1943
    The term "Greatest Generation" doesn't mean just people but can be equally applied to some of the finest aircraft designs of all time; the C-47 transport, P-47 Thunderbolt and P-38 Lightning, both superb fighters! And of course the B-24 Liberator, the F4U Corsair (the Navy's greatest carrier fighter), the P-51 Mustang (arguably the finest fighter aircraft of its time) and finally the B-17 who's crews said would bring them home in almost any condition and here's one of those conditions! Tough Bird
    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 gunner's 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 Me109 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 P51 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 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.



    Fair Winds and Following Seas

    Bill H. PTC USN Ret
    Chesapeake, Va


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    Barnacle Bill's Avatar
    Barnacle Bill is offline Super Mod and 2014 Crappie.com Man of the Year * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Default 66 years later


    Can you imagine after 66 years discovering this??
    Film found of WW ll B-29 crew rescued by Submarine

    First, read the text before watching thefilm.
    This is well worth watching, about 2.5 mins !!!!!!
    An entire crew of a B-29 (12 aviators) was
    rescued by aUS submarine after their plane was shot down in 1945, 70 miles off the coast of Japan . The entire rescue was filmed in color, but then sat in a guy's closet until now.

    This is a story from a Denver TV station, of one of those rescued aviators to whom the video was delivered. It also shows their transfer to another submarine

    that is likely headed back to port before the one that accomplished the rescue.
    Can you imagine 65 yrs AFTER your rescue, you get
    to watch it on film !!!!!!


    http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid34762914001?bctid=672454611001

    Fair Winds and Following Seas

    Bill H. PTC USN Ret
    Chesapeake, Va


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    As my Dad ages (86) , he is letting his stories out little by litte. One I remember was about Iwo Jima and when they raised the flag there, He said he was laying in a shallow fox hole-rounds coming in on all sides, he said could tell by sound, the difference between the rounds hitting the sand and a body, each time he was worried about his buddies. He was happy to see the flag go up, thinking "at least they won't be firing from there"

    Kinda funny story... 2 weeks ago took him to VA hospital, He was very ill and had not eaten in 2 days. 2 weekes before he had had a mild stroke and fell, he had bruises all over hands/arms and shoulder. So the Doc asked him-- has any hurt you Mr Davidson? Dad says no.. Doc asks has anyone knocked you down? Dad says Yes.. I was shocked/mad but kept quiet while Doc asked, who knocked you down Mr Davidson?? Dad says-- "The Chinese" ( Dr and I just smile)
    Btw, he got up after being knocked down in Korea and won a silver star for his actions.

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    I’ve recently finished a book titled ‘The Miracle Of Freedom 7 Tipping Points that Saved the World’ by Chris Stewart and Ted Stewart and found it a truly interesting and fascinating quick read. I just wished history in school would have been as interesting. I have never read any of Will & Ariel Durant’s work but might take a peek at some of their works now and see if it is as interesting.

    In The 7 Tipping points their first tipping point was the defeat of the Assyrians in their quest to destroy the kingdom of Judah. I enjoyed reading the first tipping point and found this interesting and enlightening especially for one without any reading of ancient history. I wasn’t aware that the philosophic predecessors of Christianity and Islam came from Judaism and it was only with Christianity that the threads and concepts of freedom and democracy slowly weaved its way through history and surviving to today.

    I found the following tipping points equally as interesting and didn’t think the last tipping point about the Battle of Britain could be as interesting reading as the previous six. Was I wrong!

    World War II history buffs are probably well aware of this time period of the Second World War prior to the US entry.

    During that period Hitler had the superior air power and England was under strong pacifist forces thinking that Hitler was a good thing in that it was a counter force to their fears of the communist Russian threat. At that time a popular and dangerous military theory was that fighter aircraft were no longer a necessity and that the bomber would always get through. Therefore bombers were more important than fighters. Fortunately the fellow commanding the RAF Fighter Command did not buy into that notion.

    The book goes on about Radar, Spitfires and Hurricanes came into the effort and how the young pilots were quickly trained and sent into battle. Saying how some came from training and were put into planes and sent into battle and died before they were able to get their bags unpacked or for the others ever got to know their names. It also goes into other deceptions used that held off the invasion.

    The 7th point points out how that if the British had been defeated in Sept 1940, prior to the US entry, then Britain as a staging point for the Normandy invasion would not have been possible.

    Anyhow this is not that heavy of a read and thought some of you would also find this book as interesting as I did. If you do read it I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on this book.
    “There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism—by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide.” Ayn Rand

  6. #6
    jigflinger is offline Crappie.com Legend * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Thanks for the post, guys. I always enjoy reading about the valiant efforts made by our servicemen/women. It always makes very proud to be an American. To all those that went before; I salute you and render my eternal thanks. God Bless America.

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