97TH BG - THE ALL AMERICAN MAKES IT HOME ON A WING AND A PRAYER 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. Assigned to the 97th Bombardment Group, 414th Squadron, U.S. Eighth Air Force, the All American had been named by pilot Kendrick (Kenny) Bragg, who played football for Duke University before the war. Flying from a base near Biskra, an oasis city in the Sahara Desert in north-central Algeria, the 414th’s missions in early 1943 targeted Mediterranean seaports at Bizerte and Tunis, Tunisia. That Feb. 1, German Messerschmitts again attempted to fight off approaching American bombers, including the All-American. Closer to the target, these B-17s flew through “very frightening” anti-aircraft fire. After dropping their payload and turning back, enemy fighters renewed their pursuit of the American planes before ending the chase as they neared maximum range. But long after the crew had left the target and having sustained more fighter attacks, they saw two more Messerschmitts climbing about two miles to their right. Bombardier, Ralph Burbridge recalled: “They came in to attack us, one of them directly at the nose of the lead ship and one at our plane. I covered one coming at us with the [.30-caliber] front nose gun and Harry (Nuessle, the navigator) covered the other plane with the [.50-caliber] gun on the right side of the nose.” Noting that he and Nuessle “were gunners when not doing our other duties,” Burbridge says “between our own fire and fire from the lead ship, we managed to hit the Jerry going after the lead ship. He was last seen going down smoking off in the distance.” The other fighter kept coming toward them and “his wings looked as though they were afire from his flaming guns.” When the German pilot was about 300 yards away he began a roll to pull down and away from the All American after his attack. “But,” Burbridge continues, “about halfway through his roll either my fire or fire from the lead ship must have killed the pilot or disabled the plane. He never completed his intended roll and rapid pass under our ship. For one horrible instant he was right there – inches in front and above us. He passed over us with a distinctly audible swoosh,” over the roar of the B-17’s Wright Cyclone engines, “followed by a tremendous jar and a ‘whoomp.’” Bragg quickly informed the crew that there was a hole in the rear and the side of our ship. The Jerry plane had lopped off half of the tail section completely. The other half and the rudder looked like they would shake loose at any moment. Miraculously, none of the crew was hurt, but somewhere in the shuffle the lead ship was lost.” The 10 men aboard his plane put their parachutes on and got ready to jump in case the rest of the tail started to break off. When other crews saw that it was still airborne, they put the crippled All American in formation and stayed with them until they were out of enemy territory while American fighters provided protection overhead. Once beyond enemy fighter range, the rest of the planes returned to base ahead of them. Somehow Bragg nursed the damaged plane and got everyone home. Although the All American landed safely, its tail wheel wouldn’t go down and they skidded the last 100 yards. “I remember our ground crew had given us up so they were really glad to see us,” he says. “Our crew chief, the head mechanic, had tears in his eyes.” After the plane had stopped, the door was opened and the crew safely climbed out. An ambulance had been waved off as they landed because it wasn’t needed. Several pictures were taken of the damaged tail section, which finally fell off when ground crew personnel climbed aboard to inspect it. Lieutenant Charles “Cliff” Cutforth, a crew member aboard the B-17 Flying Flint Gun on that mission, had a camera and took the now famous photo of the crippled All American as it flew above the desolate North African desert: B-17 “All American” (414th Squadron, 97BG) Crew Pilot- Ken Bragg Jr. Copilot- G. Boyd Jr. Navigator- Harry C. Nuessle Bombardier- Ralph Burbridge Engineer- Joe C. James Radio Operator- Paul A. Galloway Ball Turret Gunner- Elton Conda Waist Gunner- Michael Zuk Tail Gunner- Sam T. Sarpolus Ground Crew Chief- Hank Hyla
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 13:00:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015