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A XB-19 Bomber doing a low pass over Wright Patterson Air Force Base Circa 1943.
Lepa Svetozara Radić (1925–1943) was a Serbian girl who was executed after torture at the age of 17 for shooting at occupying German soldiers during WW2. As her captors tied the noose around her neck, they offered her a way out of the gallows by revealing her comrades and leaders identities. She responded that she was not a traitor to her people and they would reveal themselves when they avenged her death. She was the youngest to receive the Order of the People’s Hero of Yugoslavia, awarded in 1951 .
Torpedo damage to HMAS Hobart in 1943 from Japanese submarine.
B-17F Flying Fortress bombers in flight over Schweinfurt, Germany, August 17, 1943.
The German crew of a Tiger tank replenish their ammo. Kursk, Soviet Union, 1943.
Lance Corporal Roy Boyd of The Loyal Edmonton Regiment is rescued after being buried under the rubble of the mined house for three and a half days, Dec. 1943.
In 1943, a mid-air collision occurred over the docks of Tunis.
An enemy fighter attacking a 97th Bomb Group formation went out of control and crashed into the fuselage of a B-17 Flying 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 and left elevator of the Fortress were completely torn away. The two right engines were out and one on the left was damaged. The vertical fin and the rudder were shot, the fuselage had been cut almost completely through, connected only at two points, 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; the split in the fuselage went all the way to the top gunner's turret.
The aircraft stayed in the air, but nobody was really sure how.
The tail bounced and swayed in the wind and twisted when the plane turned, and all the control cables were severed except one single elevator cable. 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 to keep the tail from ripping off and the two sides of the fuselage from splitting apart.
While the crew kept the plane from coming apart, the pilot continued the bomb run and released his bombs on target.
When the bomb bay doors opened, the 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 had added 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 covered almost 70 miles to make the turn home. Two Me-109 German fighters attacked the All American. Despite the extensive damage, all of the machine gunners were able to return fire, and drove off the fighters. The two waist gunners stood up with their heads sticking out of the hole in the top of the fuselage to aim and fire; the tail gunner had to shoot in short bursts because the recoil actually caused the plane to turn.
Allied P-51 fighters intercepted the All American over the Channel and escorted it back to the base.
The fighters described the rear section of the plane as waving like a fish tail, and to send boats for when it went down. They also took hand signals from Lt. Bragg and relayed 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 to 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 up, it was waved off because not a single member of the crew had been injured. 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. The old bird had done its job and brought the entire crew home uninjured.
April 1943. Washington, D.C. "Jitterbugs at an Elks Club dance, the 'cleanest dance in town'." Photo by Esther Bubley, Office of War Information.
Lepa Svetozara Radić (1925–1943) was a Serbian girl who was executed after torture at the age of 17 for shooting at occupying German soldiers during WW2. As her captors tied the noose around her neck, they offered her a way out of the gallows by revealing her comrades and leaders identities. She responded that she was not a traitor to her people and they would reveal themselves when they avenged her death. She was the youngest to receive the Order of the People’s Hero of Yugoslavia, awarded in 1951 .
Torpedo damage to HMAS Hobart in 1943 from Japanese submarine.
B-17F Flying Fortress bombers in flight over Schweinfurt, Germany, August 17, 1943.
The German crew of a Tiger tank replenish their ammo. Kursk, Soviet Union, 1943.
Lance Corporal Roy Boyd of The Loyal Edmonton Regiment is rescued after being buried under the rubble of the mined house for three and a half days, Dec. 1943.
In 1943, a mid-air collision occurred over the docks of Tunis.
An enemy fighter attacking a 97th Bomb Group formation went out of control and crashed into the fuselage of a B-17 Flying 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 and left elevator of the Fortress were completely torn away. The two right engines were out and one on the left was damaged. The vertical fin and the rudder were shot, the fuselage had been cut almost completely through, connected only at two points, 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; the split in the fuselage went all the way to the top gunner's turret.
The aircraft stayed in the air, but nobody was really sure how.
The tail bounced and swayed in the wind and twisted when the plane turned, and all the control cables were severed except one single elevator cable. 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 to keep the tail from ripping off and the two sides of the fuselage from splitting apart.
While the crew kept the plane from coming apart, the pilot continued the bomb run and released his bombs on target.
When the bomb bay doors opened, the 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 had added 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 covered almost 70 miles to make the turn home. Two Me-109 German fighters attacked the All American. Despite the extensive damage, all of the machine gunners were able to return fire, and drove off the fighters. The two waist gunners stood up with their heads sticking out of the hole in the top of the fuselage to aim and fire; the tail gunner had to shoot in short bursts because the recoil actually caused the plane to turn.
Allied P-51 fighters intercepted the All American over the Channel and escorted it back to the base.
The fighters described the rear section of the plane as waving like a fish tail, and to send boats for when it went down. They also took hand signals from Lt. Bragg and relayed 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 to 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 up, it was waved off because not a single member of the crew had been injured. 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. The old bird had done its job and brought the entire crew home uninjured.
April 1943. Washington, D.C. "Jitterbugs at an Elks Club dance, the 'cleanest dance in town'." Photo by Esther Bubley, Office of War Information.
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