Hitler's Third Reich and World War II in the News is a daily edited review of WWII news, providing thought- provoking collection of hand-picked WW2 information.

Category: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24  -- See latest WWII news here. See also 'Vintage Warbirds', 'Aces: Fighter Pilots', 'Female Pilots', 'Military Uniforms', 'Kamikaze Pilots'.

Luftwaffe bomber pilot Willi Schludecker's peaceful legacy
Willi Schludecker, a Luftwaffe pilot who bombed Bath in the Baedeker raids of 1942, has now returned to the city to make a public apology. He flew over 120 missions, the average life span of a German pilot was 7, winning 2 Iron Cross medals. He is a genuine war hero: just on the wrong side. The Luftwaffe carried out the bombing of English cultural centres in retaliation for the British raids on Lubeck and Rostock. The Germans were angered the towns, which they regarded as tourism sites and not military targets, had been wrecked and retaliated - after consulting the popular Baedeker guidebook.     [ bbc :: 2008-04-26 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Historical look at physiology and World War II Air War
WWII-era physiologists solved problems related to flight, research that paved the way for an Allied victory, says Jay B. Dean, who prepared "High altitude physiology research and training platforms used by American physiologists during World War II: Innovative altitude chambers and high flying bomber aircraft" - presentation for the Experimental Biology conference. At the beginning aircraft were neither pressurized nor heated, but crews flew as high as possible to avoid enemy. Flying at 25,000-30,000 feet the crews suffered from the lack of oxygen and the low pressure - And long range bombing missions could last 8-10 hours.     [ sciencedaily :: 2008-04-12 :: Nazi scientists and Science ]

World War II bomber crews denied the honour they deserve
The average soldier, sailor or airman who served with British forces 1939-1945 had a 1-in-19 risk of being killed. They all 'did their bit' - even those pushing paper in some general's headquarters. But RAF's Bomber Command's chances of finishing a "tour" of 30 operations were worse than evens, as each man had a more prospect of dying than of surviving. Among the aircrew of Bomber Command who flew Lancasters and Mosquitoes, Halifaxes and Stirlings over Nazi Germany through 5 years, 55,573 perished. A 1940 Battle of Britain medal was struck for "the Few". Why was nothing similar done for the men of Bomber Command.     [ dailymail :: 2008-04-05 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Luftwaffe pilot Willi Schludecker returns to Bath to apologise for WW2 bombing
Decorated Luftwaffe Bomber pilot Willi Schludecker is to return to the city he bombed to make an apology in the annual remembrance service. He ruined dozens of buildings in Bath, Somerset, in April 1942 in his Dornier 217E-4. His dying wish is to make amends. "The war was madness. I realise now what I did and will come back to say sorry. I was afraid the British would be very angry but I find that now they are very gentle." Chris Kilminster, who lost relatives in the raid said it was a difficult decision to allow Schludecker to take part: "It took me a while to come to terms with the idea."     [ dailymail :: 2008-03-28 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Jacob DeShazer, bombardier on Doolittle Raid, WWII POW, dies at 95
Jacob DeShazer, a bombardier in the Doolittle raid who spent 40 months as a POW, then became a missionary in Japan spreading a message of forgiveness, died aged 95. He was among the crew of Bat Out of Hell, the last bomber to depart the Hornet. His plane dropped incendiary bombs on an oil installation and a factory in Nagoya but it ran out of fuel before reaching an airfield held by America's Chinese allies. The 5 crewmen bailed out over Japanese-occupied territory and were captured. In Oct. 1942, a firing squad executed the pilot Lt. William G. Farrow, and the engineer-gunner Sgt. Harold A. Spatz.     [ nytimes :: 2008-03-24 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

World War II Airmen killed over Nazi Germany deserve memorial
Tens of thousands of airmen who perished during the RAF bombing campaign against Third Reich should be honoured with a permanent national memorial, survivors said. They have launched a campaign to construct a monument to the 54,378 men of Bomber Command who died on raids to halt Nazi Germany's war industry. Bomber Command's aircraft were active on nearly every one of the 2,076 days the war in Europe, delivering 364,514 sorties from 128 airfields. Many of the sorties involved saturation bombing and aircrew think the controversy about Dresden may have prevented them getting the recognition.     [ telegraph :: 2008-03-09 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Over Himalayas and Internet, lost flights found - The Hump: WWII supply route
The Hump, American air crews called it. Or the Aluminum Trail, because the World War Two supply route from India into China was dotted with their wreckage. The route was vital, an aerial highway over some of the world's highest mountains, a path flown by hundreds of U.S. aircraft transporting supplies to the Chinese Army. The cost: Over 400 U.S. aircraft carrying almost 1,400 troops vanished. For decades, no one tried to recover their remains. But now 2 men (adventurer Clayton Kuhles and computer expert Gary Zaetz) are campaigning to make sure the U.S. government brings those missing fliers home.     [ newsobserver :: 2008-02-24 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

B-17 waist gunner - Alles ist kaputt! The end of Hitler's war
On April 25, 1945, Soviet and American forces met at the River Elbe, near Torgau. That was the death knell for the Third Reich. That same day, Harry Mazer's B-17 Flying Fortress took off on a bombing raid. While flying over Pilzen the Flying Fortress's right wing was shot off by German gunfire. Mazer moved to the door: stuck. He threw his frame against the door, which then opened. "I fell out of the airplane..." Mazer landed on the top of a hill and was burying his parachute when two Germans in blue uniforms of Luftwaffe crested the hill. One carried a submachine gun, the other a carbine. Mazer was marched through the village where the townsfolk swore and spat at him.     [ timesargus :: 2008-01-29 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

China identifies 900 WWII aviation martyrs from several nations
Chinese historians have named over 900 aviation martyrs who died in China during World War II, including 404 American pilots. "The names of the martyrs were discovered during the ... process ahead of the establishment of a memorial hall for the deceased aviators," said Wang Jian, of the Nanjing Aviation Association. In 1995 China constructed the Monument to the Aviator Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Nanjing. The names of 3,000 martyrs (870 Chinese, 2186 Americans and 236 soldiers of the Soviet Union) were inscribed on the monument. The newly-discovered names are expected to be added to the inscription next year.     [ people :: 2007-12-31 ]

Argentine pilots break silence over World War 2
In October 1942, Flight Lieutenant Donald McLarty was shot down over Libya on his 199th WW2 mission. Even though he was flying for RAF, his uniform was emblazoned with a word 'Argentina'. Many foreigners fought for the Allied, but historians have mostly focused on pilots from countries occupied by Nazi Germany. Few realize that 800 young men from neutral Argentina hurried to sign up as pilots. When McLarty climbed into his Hurricane fighter-bomber for a low-level attack on a German base, he needed to do just 2 more missions to earn a long break. It was not to be... He was persuaded to speak by historian Claudio Meunier, who spent a decade unearthing hidden stories.     [ reuters :: 2007-12-12 ]

American "Flying Tigers" to have 167 hectare memorial park in China
A park to commemorate the Chinese soldiers and the US "Flying Tigers" air squadron who fought in World War II is to be set up in southwest China's Yunnan Province. The wooded park will cover 167 hectares and have a peace gate, a friendship monument, a memorial wall and memorials to wartime figures. The park would be near an abandoned military airport that hosted American planes during WWII, 20km from downtown Kunming. The American Volunteer Group, nicknamed the Flying Tigers by Chinese for their courage, was formed in 1941 under the leadership of U.S. General Claire Lee Chenaults to help China drive out invading Japanese troops.     [ xinhuanet :: 2007-11-04 ]

John Henebry - master of 'skip bombing', 219 missions in the Pacific
John Philip "Jock" Henebry flew missions along the U.S. coast looking for submarines, but that assignment ended when Pearl Harbor was bombed. In 1942, he was transferred to the 3rd Bomb Group of the 5th Air Force, based in Australia. Flying A-20s and B-25s he mastered a low-altitude approach employed in a new "skip-bombing" strategy. The technique, developed by aviators like Paul "Pappy" Gunn, launched bombs almost at water level. The bombs skipped along the water like flat rocks thrown side-arm across a lake and slammed into an enemy ship. The difficult technique increased the odds that bombs would hit their targets.     [ chicagotribune :: 2007-10-07 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

The Doolittle Raid: Navigator tells of America's first WWII victory
Frank Kappeler is one of a handful of survivors of the Doolittle Raid that bombed Japan, a top-secret mission that was America's first victory in World War II. The raid, just over 4 months after Pearl Harbor, electrified the US, which had suffered defeats in the Pacific. And it humiliated the Japanese, who thought their homeland was invulnerable. ... One day, some officers came to the base. "They said they were looking for volunteers for a very dangerous mission. They said there was only a 50-50 chance of surviving. ... He told us we would fly B-25s and take off on a runway only 400 feet long. Most pilots said they never heard of such a thing..."     [ sfgate :: 2007-09-22 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

The Day I sank Nazi Battleship Tirpitz
RAF pilots flew into military history when they won the Battle of Britain. The celebrations have brought memories back for an RAF flyer Archie Johnstone, who helped take on Hitler in a mission to defeat the pride of the German Navy in 1944. He flew as a bomb aimer with the Dambusters Squadron, which scored a direct hit on the battleship Tirpitz in a Norwegian fiord. The operation sent the warship to the bottom of the sea, removing a major threat to Russian convoys. Recalling the mission, he said: "I was in part of the second wave of planes to attack the Tirpitz... My jobs was to aim the massive 12,000lb bomb to sink the Tirpitz..."     [ nwemail :: 2007-09-17 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Iron Cross awarded Luftwaffe pilot makes one more sortie to York
Luftwaffe pilot Willi Schludecker who bombed York during World War II was hailed as a guest-of-honour during a trip to the York-area. He targeted England in 32 separate missions paid a flying visit to RAF Linton-on-Ouse. He also met the daughter of railway worker William Milner, who was killed during the German raid on York in 1942. Brenda Milner said she no longer felt any hostility for what happened and she was happy to meet the German pilot. "I used to feel bitterness, but I got over that a long time ago. We were doing just the same sort of thing to the Germans." Schludecker was awarded Nazi Germany's highest military medal for his service: the Iron Cross medal.     [ yorkpress :: 2007-09-05 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Fearless fsmnudyrt Flight Lieut­enant Freddie Watts dies
Flight Lieut­enant Freddie Watts won the praise of Sir Winston Churchill for one of the most heroic flying feats of World War II. Living up to the highest standards of legendary Dambusters Squadron, he scored a direct hit on the battleship Tirpitz. The mission sent the warship bristling with armaments to the bottom of the sea. Flt Lieut Watts was one of the last living members of the 617 Dambusters Squadron, which was immortalised after destroying 2 dams on Germany's Ruhr with "bouncing bombs" in May 1943. A year later, the RAF had made several attempts to sink the Tirpitz before 617 Squadron was called in and ordered to finish the job.     [ express :: 2007-08-18 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Man who helped to sink cruiser Königsberg in a dive-bombing attack
Lieutenant-Commander "Fairy" Filmer, who helped to sink a German light cruiser Königsberg in a dive-bombing attack and spent 5 years as a German POW, has died at 91. Diving at 60 degrees as part of a force of 16 Blackbird Skuas with 800 and 803 naval air squadrons on April 10 1940, he hit Königsberg with a 500lb bomb, one of 3 which caught the ship. It was "the first time in the history of aviation that a major warship was sunk by air attack in wartime." He flew 5 more sorties against German shipping and the Luftwaffe. On the last he broke away from his flight of 3 Skuas to attack Heinkel 111s, shooting down one but being caught by a burst of fire.     [ telegraph :: 2007-08-12 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

American Helldiver pilot recounts tales of WWII danger
Navy Lt. Bill Emerson didn't yet know what the term kamikaze meant. He was a World War II Helldiver pilot, who operated "dive bomber" planes aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lexington CV-16. On November 5, 1944 a flaming Mitsubishi A6M kamikaze fighter came down from the sky and into his line of sight. "It was horrendous. When I think about the moment that it hit us, there is no other word for it but horrendous. The two people on either side of me died. I was burned badly, but the stanchion (large mast) in the middle of the room ended up saving me from the steel."     [ columbiamissourian :: 2007-07-16 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

The Last Mission: Ending WWII 6 days after the second atomic bomb
James Smith's book "The Last Mission: An Eyewitness Account" chronicles how the raid in which he flew off Guam, was designed to destroy Japanese oil reserves far to the north. America was already in a Cold War with Russia, and feared that Russia would get at the valuable oil fields after World War Two. So even with knowledge that the Japanese were close to surrendering, the order to bomb the oil reserves was given. It was the longest bombing mission with B-29s ever attempted. As a result of the run, the bombing mission took out other specified targets that "turned the lights out on Tokyo."     [ zwire :: 2007-07-06 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

World War II Fighter pilot and dive bomber Richard tells his story
Fighter pilot and dive bomber Richard Launder's WW2 story is a tale of everything but romance. "But Paris is another story," he says of French cuisine; absinthe, now an illegal liquor in the US; a murder in a bar; and chaos in the streets. While he was enjoying the Parisian freedom, the war was advancing. After his sabbatical, Launder dropped maps to the troops headed toward the Battle of the Bulge. He logged more than 200 combat flight hours: garnering a Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross for his skill, heroism and luck.     [ sanduskyregister :: 2007-05-27 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Air Force Lt. Col. Chase J. Nielsen of the Tokyo Doolittle Raiders
One of Utah's greatest World War II heroes, Air Force Lt. Col. Chase J. Nielsen (Ret.) of the Tokyo Doolittle Raiders, died. In 1942 he became the navigator of one of the 16 B-52 bombers chosen to strike at Japan. The dangerous raid, led by Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, was the first to hit Japan after that country's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The raid gave American morale a much-needed boost when the war had been going badly, and it forced Japan to divert forces to protect the mainland. That reduced the forces opposing Americans who were fighting their way across the Pacific.     [ deseretnews :: 2007-03-26 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

WWII Medal of Honor recipient Jay Zeamer Jr dies at 88
Jay Zeamer Jr., a WW2 bomber pilot who was awarded the Medal of Honor for fighting off enemy attacks during a photographic mapping mission, died at 88. He was awarded the nation's highest military honor after volunteering for the mapping mission over an area near Buka that was well-defended by the Japanese. While photographing crew spotted 20 enemy fighters on the field, many of them taking off. But Zeamer continued with the run, even after an enemy attack in which he sustained gunshot wounds in both arms and legs. He maneuvered the damaged plane so that gunners could fend off the attack during a 40m fight in which 5 enemy planes were destroyed, one by Zeamer.     [ boston :: 2007-03-24 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Escape or die: Shot down Allied airmen behind Nazi lines
How 5,000 Allied airmen, shot down behind Nazi lines, played cat and mouse with Hitler's secret police, and made a home run. Terry Bolter stood on the landing of the Brussels townhouse, a revolver in each hand, and peered out of the window. Below in the street, Gestapo officers were hammering at the door. He found it hard to believe this was happening to him. He was an RAF airman and had joined up to fight the Germans in a bomber from 20,000ft, not up close and personal. Was it only two months ago that he had been returning from a raid, winding down, thinking of bacon and eggs, when his RAF Halifax had been shot down by a Messerschmitt 109.     [ dailymail :: 2007-03-17 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

[PDF] Conversations with Luftwaffe Stuka Pilot Paul-Werner Hozzle
In this document German Air Force Brigadier General Paul-Werner Hozzle, presents his experiences as a Stuka pilot and commander of Stuka units, in organizer of the Luftwaffe Air Fleet. As part of a program to evaluate the lethality of current airborne automatic cannon ammunition against threat armored vehicles, he presented some of his experiences in combat in World War 2 in a one-day seminar at the National War College. General Hozzel is one of a few remaining German officers who fought in WW2 and held position high enough to allow generalizations about the war and to extract historical generals for future operations.     [ stinet :: 2007-03-14 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Heroics of WWII pilot recalled
A remote Chinese province was ablaze with night lights from lanterns hung in villages celebrating the spring festival on Feb. 27, 1945. High above, combat pilot Charles Breingan was forced to make a quick decision. His airplane and that of a fellow pilot were running out of gas. He targeted the lights below, jumped out of the cockpit, pulled his parachute ripcord. His rescue by Chinese villagers in Kengang County was the start of a 75-mile journey to return to their Flying Tigers air base. His story is being commemorated in a Burlington County Historical Society exhibit. Memorabilia from the crashed plane and his tour of duty in China will be on display.     [ courierpostonline :: 2007-03-04 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Hector Santa Anna, Hispanic bomber pilot in 35 WWII missions
Hector Santa Anna, who flew 35 combat missions as a B-17 bomber pilot during World War 2 and six decades later became a character in a play "Voices of Valor," about Hispanics who served in the military during the war, has died. He flew his 35 combat missions from Nov 1944 to March 1945. On one mission enemy flak knocked out one of the engines on his B-17, ruptured the gas tanks and destroyed the radio, oxygen system and all of the tires. But he kept the crippled plane in the air and crash-landed in Belgium. Crew members counted more than 100 holes in the aircraft before they gave up counting.     [ cleveland :: 2006-12-23 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Fending off flak, fighters in a B-24 over Berlin
Vincent Durand recalls WWII mission when his bomber 'got all shot up' over Nazi Germany. The bronze medal with its 4-bladed airplane propeller was attached to a red, white and blue ribbon - The Distinguished Flying Cross. "After our fighter escorts dropped off before we reached Berlin we were attacked by ME-109 fighters. ... We had just dropped our bombs over Berlin when our B-24 was hit by flak that knocked out and engine on both wings... There were holes all over the plane from enemy anti-aircraft flak. Both wings were full of holes and so were the body and the tail."     [ sun-herald :: 2006-12-18 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

His worst combat mission was knocking out German rubber plant
Sgt. Ken Schuck was B-17 engineer in the 301st Bomb Group, 352nd Squadron,15th Air Force. Aug. 20, 1944 the target was German's synthetic rubber plant at Oswiecim, Poland. B-17s was escorted by 50, P-51 Mustang fighters that day. "It was our fifth mission, the one to Oswiecim, when we had our oxygen shot out by flak (from the 88-mm anti-aircraft guns) while we were over the target." The temperature inside the bomber was approaching 60 degrees below zero. The B-17 was forced to drop more than 20,000 feet so the crew could breath. An unescorted allied bomber out of formation was red meat for the Messerschmitt-109 and Focke-Wulf 190 fighters.     [ sun-herald :: 2006-10-09 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

U-boat hit by the B24 Liberator bomber - Victoria Cross for Pilot
Submarine commander Oberleutant Clemens Schamong, who held an Iron Cross 1st class, ordered to open fire when an Allied B24 Liberator caught the German u-boat on the surface. Cannon shells from two 20mm anti-aircraft guns on the U-boat hit the B24 Liberator, which caught fire and the Germans thought it would turn away. Despite many more direct hits, Pilot Lloyd Trigg ran the burning bomber toward the u-boat, dropping 6 depth charges before the plane plunged into the Ocean and blew up. All men aboard it were killed. Two of the depth charges exploded alongside the U-boat, fatal strikes which had the submarine sinking. Trigg was decorated with the Victoria Cross.     [ northernadvocate :: 2006-08-22 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

'Mythbusters' re-create a bizarre World War II tale of survival
Plans bombed out for a large explosion south of Angels Camp that would re-create a bizarre World War II tale of survival. The effort was launched by Mythbusters. The myth that was to be tested is the story of a World War II American airman who survived a 20,000-foot fall from his B-17 bomber plane. The airman's plane was shot down and he jumped out without a parachute. As the man plummeted toward a glass railroad station, a bomb inside the station exploded. The blast from that counteracted the airman's fall and allowed him to survive by sending him to a much softer landing in a nearby field.     [ uniondemocrat :: 2006-07-26 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

One of the first to face luftwaffe jets over Nazi Germany
Paul Dodder was sent overseas with the 34th Recon Squadron and was stationed in Haganeau, France. He flew roughly a dozen missions over Germany - not with a gun, but with a camera - taking pictures to see what was left of the German air forces. "I had the dubious honor of being one of the first Recon planes to be attacked by a German jet. Since I had no weapons on board, all I could do was take evasive action to escape the danger." After VE-Day he was reassigned to Nuerenberg where they were given the duty of keeping the air space above the city free of air traffic. It was suspected that remnants of the German Luftwaffe were in the Alps.     [ cjournal :: 2006-07-19 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

B-24s and the highly classified radar jamming technology
Earl Siler served in the 36th Bomber Squadron attached to the Eighth Air Force during World War II. The B-24 Liberator squadron was assigned the top secret mission of jamming German radar in advance of bombing runs by B-17 Flying Fortresses. Radar and radar jamming technology was in its infancy during WWII and highly classified. Problem was that the B-17s at the time couldn't run their jamming equipment and operate the bomb bay doors at the same time, so the B-24s would take off 30 minutes before the B-17s and run their jamming equipment over the target zone over the Axis powers and Nazi Germany.     [ havasunews :: 2006-05-29 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

A Photographic Diary of a WWII Aerial Reconnaissance Pilot
Joe Thompson wasn't thinking about future generations as he chronicled his four years in the US Army Air Forces during WWII. He took the photos merely to relieve the tension of his missions. It was only decades later when he saw his experiences in a larger historical context. That led him to write a book, Tiger Joe: A Photographic Diary of a WWII Aerial Reconnaissance Pilot. He could chose some his own favorite photographs in the book. "There's a picture of what we feared the most of the German planes - Focke-Wulf long-nosed 190. It was a deadly plane: powerful, maneuverable, heavy fire power; you did not want to meet it in the air."     [ nashvillescene :: 2006-05-12 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

WWII Crash Survivor Shares His Experience
F. Willard Robinson does not know why he survived a World War II plane crash. Neither does the U.S. Navy. So astonished were Navy officials that they submitted his story to "Ripley's Believe Or Not". In late Jan 1944, Robinson was returning to his aircraft carrier following an mission over the Marshall Islands. His plane, a TBM-3E Avenger, weighted down with four 500-pound depth charges and rockets, went out of control on its approach. "We plummeted into the Pacific with terrifying finality. The plane smashed into the water in a death dive, hitting the sea and instantly exploding into a shattering burst of water and debris."     [ ww2aircraft :: 2006-05-02 :: World War 2 Plane Crashes ]

British WWII Swordfish Pilot John Moffat recalls Bismarck sinking
Commander John Moffat hadn't seen a Swordfish biplane since 1945, when he was a pilot for the Royal Navy on a mission to sink the largest ship in the German fleet. He visited the London Air Show to see what is now a vintage aircraft, reflecting on the attack that sank the Bismarck and killed all but 115 of the 2,200-strong crew. On May 26, 1941, 15 torpedo-armed Swordfish aircraft were sent from the aircraft carrier Victorious to attack the Bismarck. Moffat's torpedo was one of two, possibly three, which hit the ship. He believes it was his torpedo that jammed the ship's rudder.     [ washingtontimes :: 2006-04-22 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Ring led to the remains of a US Army bomber that had crashed
In 2001, a man hiking in the rain forest of Papua New Guinea saw something sparkling on the ground and picked it up. He saw it is a ring that clearly belonged to an American. The villager had no idea that what he found would lead to the discovery of the remains of a US Army bomber that had crashed in the area 57 years ago, killing the 11 WWII soldiers who were on board. One of those soldiers was Staff Sgt. William Lowery, whom the Army declared MIA along with his 10 comrades in 1944. The ring that the hiker found was brought to the the U.S. Embassy, which led to a 2002 search in the ravine.     [ heraldstandard :: 2006-04-17 :: Nazi Ring ]

Bravery under fire - 7:40 a.m. Kiel, lots of flak, some fighters
A smudged and faded pocket calendar from 1944 bears evidence of the close encounters with death 1st Lt. He flew 33 missions over Germany, France and Normandy as the pilot of a B-17 bomber. Rudolph Smith experienced during WWII. "Over Paris we ran into heavy resistance both on the ground and in the air. When we got back to our base we counted 45 holes on the underside of our plane. Some of the holes were big enough to stick your hand in. It wasn't unusual for us to return from our mission with one or two engines out."     [ hartselleenquirer :: 2006-04-13 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Wing Commander Tom Baker
Wing Commander Tom Baker had completed a large number of daylight bomber sorties when he was selected to be lead navigator on the RAF's most dangerous low-level bombing raid. The crews of 54 Blenheim bombers learned in the August 12 1941 that they were to attack the Knapsack and Quadrath power stations. At first, they were stunned: the bombers had to fly 250 miles over enemy territory in broad daylight and without a fighter escort... After the mission Baker became an instructor. On April 17 1942 he flew on his first operation for six months. His Blenheim was damaged, but his pilot managed to crash-land. Baker was taken to the Luftwaffe hospital, where he spent the next eight months.     [ telegraph :: 2006-04-10 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Pilot who escaped 7 times from prisoner of war camps died
A Second World War pilot who escaped seven times from prisoner of war camps has died aged 102. Friends said Sqn Ldr Eric Foster was part of the inspiration behind Steve McQueen's character in the film The Great Escape. As a flight lieutenant with 38 Bomber Squadron, Mr Foster was shot down over Paris while flying a Wellington bomber in 1940 and captured by German troops. Over the next four years he escaped seven times from prisoner of war camps, sometimes in a German officer uniform. At Spangenberg Castle, which was surrounded by a moat, he sneaked out disguised as a member of the Hitler Youth.     [ telegraph :: 2006-03-28 ]

Veteran remembers WWII flight in Japan
Charles Abel will never forget the day a shell exploded in his right wing over Yokohama. It was May 29, 1945, and the resulting damage almost caused the B-29 Superfortress to go out of control. "I had to use full left rudder and full right aileron to keep it under control." He was able to make it to an emergency landing strip on Iwo Jima where the wing was replaced. His entering the B-29 program was something of an accident. Army officers showed the men a classified film about the B-29. "The B-29 was a secret airplane at that time. They told us they wanted 16 pilots." Abel studied hard, but ended up 17th on the list. However, an officer told that one of the 16 had taken ill and that Abel would be sent.     [ jonesborosun :: 2006-03-14 ]

Neil Lambell flew in the most successful Lancaster during WW2
There were only 35 Lancasters out of 6500 that were successful in achieving 100 or more operational missions. The most successful plane was Lancaster ED888, which achieved 140 ops. ED888 arrived at 103 Squadron's base and began operations on May 4, 1943. The Lancaster became known as "Mother Of Them All". Neil was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for gallant service. On one occasion during an attack on Berlin he was hit on the face by a piece of shrapnel whilst making his bombing run, but undeterred, he released his bombs at the correct time.     [ yourguide :: 2006-03-09 ]

Sky Queen almost shot down by German 88s
2nd Lt. Edward Ochen was flying his 36th combat mission over Nazi-occupied Europe in a B-26 "Marauder" named "Sky Queen" with his 5-man crew. He will never forget Dec. 15, 1944, it was a key bridge Allied forces wanted to knock out near Ruthen... -- "Among other things, we cleared the way for Patton's 3rd Army, but we didn't get much credit for it. We hit targets like tanks, bridges, ammunition depots and troop concentrations. Most of the time We flew between 10,000 and 14,000 feet. We were in 'Flak Alley' all the time. We were perfect targets for German 88 anti-aircraft gunners."     [ sun-herald :: 2006-03-06 :: Bomber Pilots of WWII: B-17, B-24 ]

Airman awarded cross for saving pilot in WWII incident
On the day before D-Day 1st Lt. Bernard W. Bail served as lead radar navigator for a group of B-24 bombers en route to bomb a Nazi V-1/V-2 rocket site. Bail's aircraft failed to drop its bomb payload and commander Vance ordered another pass over the site. On the second flyover, their plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire and Vance suffered a severe leg injury. Bail tended to Vance's wound, and Vance was then able to take control of the badly crippled plane, still armed with a 500-pound bomb, and ordered the other crew members to parachute to safety. Bail saved Vance, who went on to win the Medal of Honor for steering the plane into the Channel instead of an English village.     [ detnews :: 2006-02-26 ]

See also

'Vintage Warbirds'

'Aces: Fighter Pilots'

'Female Pilots'

'Military Uniforms'

'Kamikaze Pilots'.

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