Odd WW II story........

[Bob Wright]

A localcorrespondent on FaceBook mentioned her Dad was a bomber crew member and was shot down the day before D-Day. So I Googled the incident, and this was the story:

The Eighth Air Force B-24 Liberator, Missouri Sue was hit on a bomb run the day before D-Day. The pilot was killed, as was the bombardier. The co-pilot took the controls and managed to get the crippled bomber over the channel, where he had the crew bail out to be rescued by English rescue boats. The co-pilot thought (in error) that one of the wounded crew could did not jump, so decided to ride the plane down and ditch in hopes of rescuing the crew member. He ditched successfully only to find the crew member had bailed out. But then the bomber exploded. The blast threw the co-pilot clear and he was able to swim to shore.

The lady with whom I corresponded said her father was the tail gunner.

Most interesting story!


Bob Wright

 

[Merle1948]

yes indeed - a most lucky day for him..... :shock:

 

[Bayouhunter]

The kind of man that will ride it out in off chance he saves another life, is what I get out of the story God & good luck played a huge roll during the explosion and his living to tell about it. A selfless act of bravery coupled with an ingrained responsibility for his crew. Very admirable.

 

[gramps]

Thanks for sharing Bob! We still need hero’s that aren’t manufactured.
gramps

 

[Jeepnik]

And to think, these sorts of things happened every day in the skies over Europe, and Pacific. Then these men came home, raised families and never bothered to talk about it.

I'll never know why my Uncle Clayton limped. But something happened in that P-38 he never talked about. Maybe some stories are better left forever untold.

 

[BDM1]

Good story, thanks for posting!

 

[WestTex]

I have a friend whose Father served on a B-24.

He will, without hesitation, let you know the Liberator flew faster, farther and higher than the B-17 :).

He was a R/O but during “action” took over (I believe) the top turret.

Flew out of North Africa to start with before making it up to heart of Europe.

Lost one soul from their crew during entire war and that happened when a third engine went out. Captain announced that he didn’t think they would make it to base, and he would tell them when to bail out. Tail gunner misunderstood and bailed over the Mediterranean (I presume). Never found the young mans remains, but nobody else ever suffered a serious wound.

 

[Bob Wright]

I have a friend whose Father served on a B-24.

He will, without hesitation, let you know the Liberator flew faster, farther and higher than the B-17 :).
.

The B-24 was better than the B-17 in all the figures. the Eighth preferred the B-17. Why?

The B-17 had two reputations: It was said a B-17 would burn and burn and never explode. (Not really true, but close. B-24s had been plagued with fires and unexplained explosions.) And because of its low wing configuration, the B-17 was better able to survive a crash landing. With the belly turret jettisoned (The gunner was allowed to get out first.) and props un-feathered, a B-17 was able to belly in and be repaired and returned to duty in a very short time.

Eighth Air Force technicians took pride in rebuilding damaged B-17s which played a vital role early in the war. Later, as new bombers came available the general staff had to put a limit on how long a bomber might be laid up waiting for parts. Crews were hesitant to scrap a bomber.


Bob Wright