Oh oh! Hopefully the crew came back! And i think they werent happy to see the crew of the B-17 above.... It would be interesting to know how many losses the allied bomber command had by accidents like this. I am sure this was not the only one. Regards Ulrich
The aircraft is 41-31540, " Miss Donna Mae II " of the 94th BG. The B-17 went into a spin and also lost a wing. There were 11 aboard and no survivors.
This was an unknown B-24 that approached the 449th BG formation from the rear and was underneath the 717th squadron at 'bombs away'. After the frag bomb struck the stabilizer, it dropped back at the same altitude until out of sight. Incident was 16 April 45, target was troop concentration near Bologna, Italy.
mcoffee, Thank you for the extra info on the B-17, sad! The pics of the Liberator are great. Regards Ulrich
I have always been haunted by those two photos. I'm surprised stuff like this did not happen more with the large formations they were flying. The B 17 could definately take a licking, but I guess an elevator shorn off completly that fast with little response time meant disaster.
It probably happened more than you think. In addition to the B-24 incident pictured above, the 449th lost two of its own a/c to "friendly" bombs. On 14 January 1944, the 449th missed the IP and thus the target. The formation executed a 360° turn back to the target which caused the formation integrity to disentigrate. At the target, 42-7737, Miss Lee crossed above 41-28606 named White Fang as bombs were released. Two bombs hit White Fang inboard the #3 engine and exploded its gas tanks. The only survivors were the tail gunner and the combat photographer who was the 11th man aboard. Miss Lee was tossed out of control by the explosion and 5 men bailed out before the pilot recovered the ship. Nine men killed, 7 POWS. White Fang was the 449th's first loss on a combat mission. On 13 April '44, the 376th BG crossed above the 449th over the target and dropped bombs through the 449th formation. A bomb from the 376th struck 41-28833 Nancy Jane between the #3 and #4 engine. The wing folded back over the fuselage and then the ship exploded killing all ten aboard.
Award Of The Silver Star Lawrence M. Delancey, 0-41351, Army Air Forces, United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving as a pilot of a B-17 bomber on a mission over Germany 15 October 1944. Immediately after bombs away Lt. Delancey's aircraft was hit by flak. A shell pierced the chin turret and exploded in the nose, killing the bombardier and destroying practically all the instruments. The entire nose section was shorn off and all that remained was a tangled mass of instruments, wires and sheet metal. With the oxygen equipment ruined and a sub-zero gale rushing through the plane, Lt. Delancey descended to a lower altitude and headed out of enemy territory. Flying at reduced speed and unable to take proper protective measures with his off-balanced plane, he was subjected to every conceivable type of ground fire. By sheer determination and tenacity he managed to bring the battered aircraft over the home base. Without proper brakes Lt. Delancey climaxed this miraculous feat of flying skill and ability by accomplishing a safe landing. His actions under conditions which would have caused a less courageous pilot to abandon his aircraft are in keeping with the finest traditions of the Army Air Forces. Entered the military service from Oregon. By Command of Lieutenant General DOOLITTLE
Oh Lord, that is an incredible photo and story Ray!! Never seen that one before, but it reminds me of a story. I don't remember the details, but a kid, my grandfather told me about an incident on Attu. The story was that either a B24 or B17 had a prop come off in in mid flight and it flew right into the cockpit. It cut off the pilot and co-pilots legs off. He said they were able to land the plane, but died soon thereafter due to loss of blood. He said the cockpit was a bloody nasty mess.
I would have HATED to have been the top turret gunner on that RAF B-24, maybe looking up enjoying the view of the rest of the squadron..... and the last thing anyone hears on the intercom is "OH BLOODY HE........"
There's a picture of a B-17 taken over the Med or North Africa that was hit by a german fighter's wing and virtually cut in half, yet it made it to it's base and fell apart on landing. A friend of mine's father claimed that they restored that airplane to service stating that he was one of the mechanics that did it. If true, that was one amazing repair job as in the pic it looks like there's nothing holding it together for all practical purposes.
A similar thread already exists if you guys are interested. Have a look here first as there are some good photo's of Air to Air friendly fire incidents already posted. http://www.ww2f.com/weapons-technology-wwii/22475-friendly-air-air-kills-blue-blue-incidents-4.html
I don't mean to trample over that chap's story but I was under the impression that breaking the back of an aeroplane is like breaking the back of a ship. Once it's gone, it's gone; being far too expensive and, therefore, un-economical to repair.
battle damaged... The B-17, with a legendary ability to survive severe battle damage and bring her crews home, the Queen of the Skies, has rightfully earned her place in history. A ground launched rocket missile caused this damage to 388BG's "Panhandle" during an attack on a V-weapon site, June 15, 1944. The missile struck number 3 engine, ricocheted into the fuselage and exploded, leaving Sgt Biggs, the top turret gunner, with nasty burns. Despite extensive damage to various control lines Lt McFarlane brought the bomber down safely at Manston A rocket fired by an enemy fighter inflicted this damage on The Sack, a B-17 of the 379th Group. A 14-inch fragment of the rocket tore the pants off of the turret gunner without hurting him. What happened here? Duel For the Sky (by Herbert Molloy Mason, Jr.) states that an Me-262's heavy cannon tore open the side of this Fortress, but according to the Mighty Eighth War Diary (by Roger A. Freeman) the B-17 was hit by an 88mm shell , blasting a special radio operator and the ball turret gunner in his turret out of the aircraft. The B-17 flown by Lieutenant Kenneth R. Bragg, its fuselage and tail almost severed, made its way home. The B-17 "All American" (414th Squadron, 97BG) flown by Lieutenant Kenneth R. Bragg, its tail section almost severed by a collision with an enemy fighter, flew 90 minutes back to its home base, landed safely and broke in two after landing. 1st Lt. Lawrence DeLancey managed to get his B-17 back to England after a direct hit by flak killed two of his crew over Cologne, Germany. Major Alex Andrews (at co-pilot's window), an 8AF HQ special observer detailed to monitor combat morale, was flying in 379BG's "Lil Satan" on June 25, 1944 when an 88mm shell hit its nose. The pilots were able to fly the B-17 back to England and land at Hunsden. The bombardier was mortally wounded. rocket caused this damage to B-17 #42-30720, LF:G on January 11, 1944. Lt. Hahn brought her home safely. Thru Hel'en Hi Water returned to base after a direct hit on the tail. The tail gunner was uninjured, fortunate that he was checking the tail wheel when the shell hit. http://www.457thbombgroup.org/aircraft_pictures/Photoindex.HTML http://www.taphilo.com/history/WWII/USAAF/Boeing/B29/index.shtml
Fruitcake Totally inclined to agree with your opinion, but I was a 15 year old or so at the time and he was supposedly there. It's also possible we were talking about different planes because I don't remember having a copy of the pic at the time, but that was 50 years or so ago. The pic I'm referring to is the plane "All American" in the post/photo set following your post. There are so many impossible survival stories I've read over the years that you just couldn't make that stuff up as no one would believe you.
Vinny Maru is 100% correct, "All American III" was repaired and continued to serve. A search of her serial number(41-24406) at Joe Baugher's Home Page brought up this A search at Welcome to Aviation Archaeology returned this result Aviation Archaeology Search Result Hope this helps
