A Special B-17 & Her Crew In 1943

[B16Enk]

A Special B-17 & Her Crew In 1943

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 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. The rugged old bird had

done its job.

[DD_Fenrir]

Amazing story Rog, thanks for posting!

Some oddities though - if on ops over Tunis, North Africa (as the date quoted and the markings on the Fort would agree) I doubt they were flying back to England! Probably more likely Algeria. Also the P-51 escorts seems unlikely; I think the only Mustang variant operational in North Africa with the USAAF at least was the A-36A, a dive bomber. Not impossible though. P-40s would be a more likely IMHO.

[DD_Brando]

An inspiring tale, Rog, thanks for posting it up.

[Jabo]

Ah, I see this story has raised it's head again although it certainly bears retelling. Thanks Rog!

Fen's earlier post set me thinking and I felt sure I had read a different account of this same incident. Having had a rummage through the archive, sure enough, I found this article;

The All American’s Final Mission

The pilot of this now-famous B-17 recalls her last flight

The All American (124406) was on a mission to Bizerta, Tunisia on February 1st 1943. It was classified as a routine mission against Rommel’s force – some called it a “milk run”.

The enemy fighters attacked at 1350 on a clear almost cloudless day. The All American was in tight formation with the other bombers, flying at 28,000 feet. The enemy aircraft made their passes at the 17’s while antiaircraft fire belched skyward.

The bombers located the target (the wharf area of Bizerta) and the bombardiers dropped the bombs. With the bomb bays empty, the aircraft started home.

Kendrick R. Bragg, Jr. was the pilot of the All American and recalls what happened after leaving Bizerta. “As we left the target and headed home, the fast enemy ME-109’s once more rose to pounce on us. Suddenly I noticed two of them far to the north sneaking along in the same direction that we were going.

They were out of range and harmless for the moment, but I told our gunners to keep an eye on them. “We were flying Number 2 position off the right wind of the lead plane piloted by Captain Coulter. He, too, had seen the two fighter planes and I saw his top turret swing around toward the nose to protect the plane’s most vulnerable quarter.

“I scanned the skies, then looked again at the two enemy craft. They had suddenly turned and were racing toward us. The two small specks increased rapidly in size as they came nearer. Evidently they were planning a frontal attack, determined to shoot it out nose to nose. This was the most difficult kind of attack but was the surest way of sending a Fortress down.

“On they came, one plane about thirty seconds behind the other. They were ready for a one-two punch with their terrific firing power. We were flying in tight formation now with Captain Coulter. He began a slight dive to avoid the oncoming fighter, and I followed. They patterned us, managing to stay about level with us. In a split second they were in shooting range and our forward gunners opened fire. Brilliant tracer bullets flew in both directions, as though a score of boys were fighting it out with Roman candles.

“The first attacker half-rolled into inverted flight to make a quick get-away. As he did I saw Captain Coulter’s bomber burst into smoke and start earthward in an uncontrolled spiral. The second enemy fighter was now our primary concern. As she followed her leader into a roll our gunners found the mark. Fifty-caliber bullets ripped into the pilot’s ****pit. The Nazi pilot was disposed of, but the plane streaked on toward us. I rammed the stick forward in a violent attempt to avoid collision. The rate of closure of the two planes was close to 600 miles-an-jour and my action seemed sluggish. I flinched as the fighter passed inches over my head and then I felt a slight thud like a coughing engine.

“I checked the engines and the controls. The trim tabs were not working. I tried to level the All American but she insisted on climbing. It was only with the pressure from knees and hands that I was able to hold her in anything like a straight line. The copilot tired his controls. He got the same reaction. But we found by throttling back the engines we could keep her on a fairly even keel. I tired to call the pilot of the lead plane which had gone down only a moment before. There was no answer.

“Pilot from top-turret” came an excited voice over the intercom. I was busy with the controls. “Come in top-turret. What’s the matter with you”? I asked. “Sir we’ve received some damage in the tail section. I think you should have a look.”

“We were at 12,000 feet now and no longer needed our oxygen masks. I turned the controls over to the copilot and went toward the rear of the plane. As I opened the door of the radio compartment and looked back into the fuselage I was stunned. A torn mass of shredded metal greeted my eyes. Wires were dangling and sheets of metal were flapping as the air rushed in through the torn wreckage. Three-fourths of the plane had been cut completely through by the enemy fighter and a large piece of the ME-109’s wing was lodged in the tail of our plane.

“The opening made by the German fighter was larger than the exit door. It left our tail section hanging on by a few slender spars an a narrow strip of metallic skin. Lieutenant Bragg climbed into the upper turret to assess the damage from the outside and discovered that the tail section was swinging as much as a foot and a half out of line with the front of the plane. To make matters worse, the left horizontal stabilizer was missing, explaining why the airplane was so difficult to handle.

Bragg decided to try and make it back to Biskra. He returned to the seat, ordered everyone to an emergency exit, then began the long journey home. He recalls their arrival: “As we neared the field we fired three emergency flares, then circled at 2,000 feet while the other planes cleared the runways. We could see the alert crews, ambulances, and crash trucks making ready for us.

“Without radio contact with the field we had to wait for the signal that all was clear and ready for us. When we got the signal I lowered the landing gear and flaps to test the reaction of the All American. They seemed to go reasonably well, considering. We had two alternatives. We could attempt a landing or we could bail out over the field and let the plane fly alone until she crashed – always a dangerous thing to do. I had made up my mind to set her down. She had brought us safely through so far; I knew she would complete the mission. The crew decided to ride her down too.

“A green flare from the field signaled that all was clear for our attempt at landing. I made a long, careful approach to the strip with the partial power until the front wheels touched the leveled earth. As I cut the throttles, I eased the stick forward to hold the tail section high until it eased down of its own weight as we lost speed.

“The tail touched the earth and I could feel the grating as she dragged without tail wheel along the desert sands. She came to a stop and I ordered the copilot to cut the engines. We were home.”