1911
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Neat WWII story.
- Thread starter 1911
- Start date
Abiggerfish2fry
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That was a great story!
eelgrass
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Cool story. I can't help but recall a story my Dad told me about WWII concerning a B-17.
He was an Engineer (welder) and they were deep in France toward the end of the war. They had strung a cable across a river to run a communications line between two high points on either side. They heard a plane comming, and here came a crippled B-17 flying down the river. It was shot up pretty bad and looking for a place to land. He could see the pilot, and the waist gunners were waving, glad to see friendly people on the ground. They flew right into the cable and immediatly burst into flames as they crashed into the river. A B-17 one minute, and just a big ball of flames floating down the river the next. They launched a boat but never recovered any survivors or bodies.
He was an Engineer (welder) and they were deep in France toward the end of the war. They had strung a cable across a river to run a communications line between two high points on either side. They heard a plane comming, and here came a crippled B-17 flying down the river. It was shot up pretty bad and looking for a place to land. He could see the pilot, and the waist gunners were waving, glad to see friendly people on the ground. They flew right into the cable and immediatly burst into flames as they crashed into the river. A B-17 one minute, and just a big ball of flames floating down the river the next. They launched a boat but never recovered any survivors or bodies.
Lv2hnt
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My dad was a B-17 instructor during WWII (awarded his pilot's wings when he was 22). Although the Army Air Corps kept him stateside, he saw his squadron buddies assigned to the European Theater (we're talking mainly about kids in their late teens to early 20's).
Most amazing event I personally know of:
A family friend's B-17 was hit by flak over Germany, ripping most of one wing off. He (Kurt) was the pilot, and struggled to keep the bomber level until his entire crew was able to bail out of the plane. Once everyone else had jumped out the fuselage door, he then had to make his way back from the cockpit. The plane, then pilot-less, proceeded to roll over into an inverted spin. Here's the kicker --- this pinned Kurt against the side of the plane where he couldn't make his way to the open door. It was by God's grace that the plane exploded some seconds later, throwing Kurt into space clear of the wreckage. Not seriously wounded, he was able to deploy his parachute, landing safely. He had been spotted from the ground, though, and went on to spend 2 years as a prisoner-of-war.
Other than my dad, the man I most admired growing up ...
Lv2hnt
"Every man dies --- not every man really lives."
Most amazing event I personally know of:
A family friend's B-17 was hit by flak over Germany, ripping most of one wing off. He (Kurt) was the pilot, and struggled to keep the bomber level until his entire crew was able to bail out of the plane. Once everyone else had jumped out the fuselage door, he then had to make his way back from the cockpit. The plane, then pilot-less, proceeded to roll over into an inverted spin. Here's the kicker --- this pinned Kurt against the side of the plane where he couldn't make his way to the open door. It was by God's grace that the plane exploded some seconds later, throwing Kurt into space clear of the wreckage. Not seriously wounded, he was able to deploy his parachute, landing safely. He had been spotted from the ground, though, and went on to spend 2 years as a prisoner-of-war.
Other than my dad, the man I most admired growing up ...
Lv2hnt
"Every man dies --- not every man really lives."
