I debated with my self before posting this - it is long, I think some 26 pages - but I enjoyed it enough to read it twice in one sitting. Incredible what these young men endurured in the frozen skies over Fortress Europa.
"“10-20-43: Mission #7. Duren Germany. Someone was praying hard for us today. Left England at 1230 – 28,000 feet – 44 degrees below zero. Spit escort. 20 min. before the target our #4 engine ran away and we couldn’t feather it. Couldn’t hold our altitude or stay in formation. We dropped down and turned back. 3 min. later four M.E. 109’s picked us up. We dove down to 12,000 feet trying to get away. The fighters came in at 5, 6, & 7 o’clock on our tail making several passes. Got in to all the clouds we could…couldn’t get much speed having only three engines & a head wind. We finally hit the coast and 20 min. later hit the English coast. Our tail gunner was wounded. A 20mm hit the tail. Bullets in his leg, buttocks, and side. Not much bleeding so no First Aid necessary. Turned North up the coast for home but our #4 engine was burning so we landed at the nearest field, settling, an RAF Spitfire field, 5 miles south of the Thames river near London. . . Plane was riddled with holes. Must have been 200-300 holes in it, 20 mm cannon holes (maybe 7 or in it. Can’t see how the tail and waist gunners got back alive. Holes within inches of them – dozens of them. One 20mm went through our bombay with our 12 incendiary bombs still there. Nose was not shot up as much as they all attacked from the tail. Skinny Frier turned back 10 min. after we did and evidently went down as they haven’t heard from him. . .Three gunners in our Group died on the raid from anoxia. Their oxygen tubes came loose and they didn’t know it. Moral: Stay in formation, even if you have to get out and push.”

There’s more, much more..:

May they long endure and then rest in peace forever. Have a look at:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/17018411/WWII-B17-Log

Best regards, and

Thank you for posting that. That was a great read and very interesting.

best thing I have seen on this site ever

If stories like this interest you, go fing a WWII vet and thank him for his service. Ask him where he served and you get stories that last a lifetime.

Another chance is volunteering on a honorflight. Most cities now have Honor Flight Chapters that take WWII vets to see the memorial in Washington DC. Almost every vet needs a volunteer to assist them. Its our way of paying them back.

I went with my Grandfather in June and will be going again next month with another group. Fewer things in my life will be as memorable.

www.honorflight.org

ddj