The US Army Air Forces B-17G Flying Fortress “Miss Donna Mae II” is hit by friendly fire after it drifted into the path of 1,000 lbs bombs from the plane above it during a raid on Berlin, Germany. 19 May 1944
by HeStoleMyBalloons
The US Army Air Forces B-17G Flying Fortress “Miss Donna Mae II” is hit by friendly fire after it drifted into the path of 1,000 lbs bombs from the plane above it during a raid on Berlin, Germany. 19 May 1944
by HeStoleMyBalloons
8 comments
> On 19 May 1944, the USAAF B-17G ‘Miss Donna Mae II’ is lost to an unusual and tragic case of friendly fire.
Following a four-day pause in bomber operations, today, USAAF 1st and 3rd Bomb Divisions fly from England to Berlin to bomb government buildings and industrial complexes, respectively. Among 3rd Division’s 94th Bomb Group are B-17Gs ‘Miss Donna Mae II’ (number 42-31540; 331st Bomb Squadron) and ‘Trudy’ (number 42-97791; 332nd Bomb Squadron).
In their designated combat box (a vertically and horizontally staggered formation to ensure the greatest protective coverage by the gunners), the 331st Bomb Squadron takes up the low section of the box while the 332nd flies above, with Trudy immediately above and to the left of Miss Donna Mae II.
As they approach Berlin, they spot Luftwaffe Bf 109s and Fw 190s, which soon attack the lower combat boxes. But the USAAF fighter escorts fend off the German planes after they shoot down only one B-17. The bomber crews breath a sigh of relief as they prepare to face their next threat, the German flak.
Over the outskirts of Berlin, the flak bursts start to pepper the formation. But the flak is relatively light, albeit accurate. It hits a few bombers, but none go down.
The Pathfinder aircraft (PFF) signals the bomb drop, as Miss Donna Mae’s and Trudy’s crews eagerly await to drop their bombs and head home.
As they release their bombs, Miss Donna Mae II slows down and drifts to the left. One of Trudy’s 450 kg (1,000 lbs) bombs hits and tears off Miss Donna Mae II’s left horizontal stabilizer. The stricken plane begins to spin violently, which causes one of the wings to break off. In this death spiral, the crew cannot bail out, and all 11 die when the plane crashes near Oderberger Straße, Berlin.
The crew killed are Pilot Marion Reid, Co-pilot Lew Carter, Navigator Roger Tessier, Bombardier Stan Duffield, Flight engineer/top turret gunner Lee Kieffer, Radio Operator John Boone, Ball turret gunner Ludwig Huth, Waist gunner Jim Kalahar, Waist gunner Dick Brennan, Tail gunner Willard Christensen, obs-T/Sgt John Davis.
Damn, unlucky, but immeasurably brave hero’s, thanks for sharing.
This is just a year before the allies sent in 1200 bombers for a 3 day bombing of Germany.
The reason I’m bringing this up is at the beginning of the operation, civilian casualties were calculated /estimated at 25 thousand and 75 thousand homes/buildings. Civilian targets and casualties were a big no at the start of the operation.
Next year, during the allied bombing. An estimated 250-450 thousand German civilians died being bombed right in their homes.
The Germans had bombed Britain the same.
Not a genocide. A war.
The amount of damage the planes were capable of withstanding is impressive
I cannot imagine the horror these airmen experienced as the g forces of their spiraling bomber forced them to ride their coffin to the ground.
I’m not a professional geolocator, but is the center of Berlin framed perfectly in this picture?
What kind of punishment did the crews receive if something like this happened? Or were there no punishment since these only happened by luck