B-17 Flying Fortress crewman bails out as his bomber is under fire from a Luftwaffe fighter
by jacksmachiningreveng
B-17 Flying Fortress crewman bails out as his bomber is under fire from a Luftwaffe fighter
by jacksmachiningreveng
9 comments
It looks like it could’ve been the crewman of the bottom ball turret, poor guy.
Damn, trying to picture the chaos while he’s trying to squeeze himself out of that plane, his gear and parachute catching on everything, the plane violently rocking and maneuvering, and the cannon shells exploding all around, showering you with shrapnel and spall.
Hope you made it!
That looks like the ball gunner being shot out
Crew could also exit via bomb bay
“bails out”
Whenever you think you are having a bad day, watch this film and it will put things into perspective.
I’d say this particular ship has been damaged previously and dropped out of formation. They would fly in “combat boxes” designed to provide maximum fire power for one another. Once out of formation, then they had little chance against fighters. Given that this bomber seems to be alone, it’s likely been crippled and is on its way down. That airman probably exited through the bomb bay.
Hard to tell, but looks to be the ball turret gunner bailing. My grandfather was a ball turret gunner in a B-17, there is no way to fit with a parachute. You can exit the ball turret into the bomb bay on a tiny little walkway between the bays, but only if you can get the turret to rotate to the correct position, if you can’t- well, you’re pretty fucked. My grandfather had to crawl out of the ball turret on multiple occasions, including once while the bomb bay doors were wide open and the bombs would not release from the bay. My grandfather had to lay on the walkway (maybe 10-12 inches wide, tiny) and dislodge the payload, saved his whole crew.
My great uncle was a B17 pilot in WW2. Flew around 35 or whatever the maximum allowed missions was over europe. Said a lot of missions they just dumped bombs wherever because they were getting shot at and weren’t allowed to return with a payload. He said pretty much every time he went out, most of his friends would die. He would make it back to England and they would spray the blood and brains off the interior of the cabin while they handed him a bottle of whiskey which he drank to the last drop.
He was the kindest, gentlest man I ever knew, maybe in history. He never raised his voice. My uncle asked him why he was so calm. He said “When the war ended, there was nothing left to worry about.” He used to make me balsa wood toy airplanes in his basement. I miss him.