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. Here is their miracle survival
story. Enjoy! :)
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.
By the Grace of God, the rugged old bird had done its job.
B-17 "All American" (414th Squadron, 97BG) Crew:
Pilot- Ken Bragg Jr.
Copilot- G. Boyd Jr.
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
PLEASE SEND THIS ON TO ALL YOUR
FRIENDS AND FAMILY! THANK GOD
FOR THEM AND ALL WHO FOUGHT
VALIANTLY FOR OUR FREEDOM!
For those of you who Want More FUN - Visit The Shangy Fun List! Variety is the
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