Warbird Information Exchange

G'day folks,

I was looking through posts on another forum, and found a link to this pic;



It comes from D Sheley's Flickr page, and was originally in the US National Archives. I don't know whether D Sheley is a member here, but I thank him for the effort of collecting and uploading these shots. On D Sheley's page of this incident are details of the crew and what happened.

The pic shows 44-40210 striking the ground after being damaged on a supply drop mission. The aircraft laboured back into the air but crashed into trees and buildings moments later with the loss of all bar one of the crew. The survivour was found suffering from burns and shock, and was hidden and tended to until the allies captured the town.

I'm particularly struch by the poignancy of this shot. The reality that there were nine men there who had moments to live is quite sobering. One can picture the pilot and co-pilot struggling to maintain control of their heavily-damaged aeroplane, to no avail. Without resorting to clichés, this picture really reminds me of the sacrifice of war.

The link to D Sheley's page is here;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18532986@N07/4721899880/

Cheers,
Matt

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Matt Austin - playing with warbirds since the early 80s.

See my Lee-Enfield videos at - http://www.youtube.com/user/Jollygreenslugg

It is a very powerful photo. There are several like that in "Warpath", the Air Apaches history book.

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Sure, Charles Lindbergh flew the plane... but Tom Rutledge built the engine!

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That photo can be seen on page 31 in Cory Graff's great work "SHOT TO HE LL".

The tail gunner survived the crash.

TM

I can't believe I can't post the title of this really good book with out getting Censored. #%&@!

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"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."

has anybody seen the pic of the b- 24 that crashed & is standing on it's nose!!?? it defies the laws of gravity & physics!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Yep, there was a heavy duty thread about that somewhere (armyairforces dot com I think). Someone got the report and laid it all out. I wish I could put up the link.

Inadvertent/improper brake use was the cause. The airplane, sliding on its nose, struck a berm and/or a ditch and was erected in the fashion seen in the photo.

That't the way it was told to me.

TM

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"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."

Tony,

Is this the one?

http://forum.armyairforces.com/B24-cras ... 39422.aspx

Cheers,
Matt

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Matt Austin - playing with warbirds since the early 80s.

See my Lee-Enfield videos at - http://www.youtube.com/user/Jollygreenslugg

thats the one slugger!! no duplicating that scenario!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Wow, I've never seen that second photo before posted in that discussion thread.

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Sure, Charles Lindbergh flew the plane... but Tom Rutledge built the engine!

Visit Django Studios online or Facebook!

"Break Check!"

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Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline......

I'm finally a member.

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I was gratified to answer promptly, I said "I don't know". - Mark Twain

Who said the B-24 couldn't take punishment?

That one also took a heck of a pilot. The info I found on it said the rudder cables were severed when the flak shell exploded against the roof. It also killed both waist gunners.
Lt. Bernard Ball from the 717th Bomb Squadron, 449th Bomb Group was the pilot.

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I was gratified to answer promptly, I said "I don't know". - Mark Twain

I remember seeing that pic in a book when I was a kid, and being baffled by the caption "this B-24 made it back on engines alone." What they meant was the only way they could get yaw control was with the throttles.

SN

My late Uncle was a crew chief and has his own photos of this damaged 449th B-24.
I've seen them since I was a kid.
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."