Some things we will just never understand....
WW2 Fighter aces and other heroes
Re: WW2 Fighter aces and other heroes
Thanks JB....hectic stuff hey?
Some things we will just never understand....
Some things we will just never understand....
Re: WW2 Fighter aces and other heroes
The day the bomber crashed at Mt. Hood
... pilot dies avoiding Melrose homes
by Jeanne H. Shanklin (Article published in the Melrose Times 32 years after the accident)
"To the public, the airman of World War II was a dashing, romantic figure, and he usually obliged by playing the part.
He removed the stiffening band from his cap and let the crown flop down, in devil-may-care fashion; he sang about "going off into the wild blue yonder", and he had a strong esprit de corps and pride in his trade.
But for all his glamourous image, he was deadly serious about his work - he had to be.
Many airmen were little more than boys doing a man's work. Flying a bomber was hard work for all aboard, and there was always the dread certainty that many would not return from their mission. Major Weston and his crew had lived close to death for over two years during their tour of duty in Europe and had learned to live with the grim possibili¬ty that the comrades they chatted with at breakfast might not make it back to share the day's experiences over dinner.
Routine Flight
Now the war was over. Major Weston and his crew had been assigned to Grenier Field in Man¬chester, N.H. On the morn¬ing of Sept. 24, they were scheduled to make a routine flight to Boston.
Accustomed as they were to combat missions over the Continent with the ever-pre¬sent danger of attacks by German fighters or heavy fire from anti-aircraft guns, the six fliers welcomed the prospect of an uneventful flight over the peaceful southern N.H. and Massa¬chusetts countryside.
Their plane, the usually reliable B-25, was one of the Army's most versatile bombers. These were the planes that served around the world, with their most spectacular accomplish¬ment occurring in the Pacific. Here 16 of these normally land-based bombers took off from the carrier, "Hornet", with Doolittle's raiders to par¬ticipate in the historic "thir¬ty seconds over Tokyo". This surely was a plane to have confidence in.
To Major Weston, a native of California, the name, Melrose, Mass., meant nothing more than a dot on his aeronautical map. He had no way of knowing that his actions a few hours hence would result in the saving of many lives in Melrose.
The flight started smoothly, but a few minutes from its destination the plane ran into trouble ¬10,000 feet above Lynnfield as it caught fire. Though the crew valiantly battled the blaze, the flames spread rapidly and the bomber started to lose altitude.
By the time the crippled plane was over Melrose, it was obvious that it would soon be enveloped by the raging fire. Major Weston ordered his men to bail out.
However, he foresaw the probable destruction of homes and loss of life that would result if he were to follow suit and allow the plane to crash in the heavily populated area of the Melrose East Side.
Fully aware of the great risk to himself, he elected to stay with the plane as long as possible, attempt to gain altitude and then try for an emergency landing in the open area (Mt. Hood) which stretched out ahead of him. He never had a chance. Seconds after the fifth crewman escaped, the blaz¬ing bomber exploded.
The courageous young pilot had accomplished his objective, but it cost him his life."
65 years later, Major Weston was honoured...here is a short video on the unveiling.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/11/06/vi ... index.html
... pilot dies avoiding Melrose homes
by Jeanne H. Shanklin (Article published in the Melrose Times 32 years after the accident)
"To the public, the airman of World War II was a dashing, romantic figure, and he usually obliged by playing the part.
He removed the stiffening band from his cap and let the crown flop down, in devil-may-care fashion; he sang about "going off into the wild blue yonder", and he had a strong esprit de corps and pride in his trade.
But for all his glamourous image, he was deadly serious about his work - he had to be.
Many airmen were little more than boys doing a man's work. Flying a bomber was hard work for all aboard, and there was always the dread certainty that many would not return from their mission. Major Weston and his crew had lived close to death for over two years during their tour of duty in Europe and had learned to live with the grim possibili¬ty that the comrades they chatted with at breakfast might not make it back to share the day's experiences over dinner.
Routine Flight
Now the war was over. Major Weston and his crew had been assigned to Grenier Field in Man¬chester, N.H. On the morn¬ing of Sept. 24, they were scheduled to make a routine flight to Boston.
Accustomed as they were to combat missions over the Continent with the ever-pre¬sent danger of attacks by German fighters or heavy fire from anti-aircraft guns, the six fliers welcomed the prospect of an uneventful flight over the peaceful southern N.H. and Massa¬chusetts countryside.
Their plane, the usually reliable B-25, was one of the Army's most versatile bombers. These were the planes that served around the world, with their most spectacular accomplish¬ment occurring in the Pacific. Here 16 of these normally land-based bombers took off from the carrier, "Hornet", with Doolittle's raiders to par¬ticipate in the historic "thir¬ty seconds over Tokyo". This surely was a plane to have confidence in.
To Major Weston, a native of California, the name, Melrose, Mass., meant nothing more than a dot on his aeronautical map. He had no way of knowing that his actions a few hours hence would result in the saving of many lives in Melrose.
The flight started smoothly, but a few minutes from its destination the plane ran into trouble ¬10,000 feet above Lynnfield as it caught fire. Though the crew valiantly battled the blaze, the flames spread rapidly and the bomber started to lose altitude.
By the time the crippled plane was over Melrose, it was obvious that it would soon be enveloped by the raging fire. Major Weston ordered his men to bail out.
However, he foresaw the probable destruction of homes and loss of life that would result if he were to follow suit and allow the plane to crash in the heavily populated area of the Melrose East Side.
Fully aware of the great risk to himself, he elected to stay with the plane as long as possible, attempt to gain altitude and then try for an emergency landing in the open area (Mt. Hood) which stretched out ahead of him. He never had a chance. Seconds after the fifth crewman escaped, the blaz¬ing bomber exploded.
The courageous young pilot had accomplished his objective, but it cost him his life."
65 years later, Major Weston was honoured...here is a short video on the unveiling.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/11/06/vi ... index.html
Re: WW2 Fighter aces and other heroes
Amazing Wartime Facts from WWII
"1.The first German serviceman killed in the war was killed by the Japanese (China, 1937)
2.The first American serviceman killed was killed by the Russians (Finland 1940).
3.The highest ranking American killed was Lt. Gen. Lesley McNair, killed by the US Army Air Corps.
4.The youngest US serviceman was 12 year old Calvin Graham, USN. He was wounded in combat and given a Dishonorable Discharge for lying about his age. (His benefits were later restored by act of Congress).
5.At the time of Pearl Harbor, the top US Navy command was called CINCUS (pronounced “sink us”), the shoulder patch of the US Army’s 45th Infantry division was the Swastika, and Hitler’s private train was named “Amerika”. All three were soon changed for PR purposes.
6.More US servicemen died in the Air Corps that the Marine Corps. While completing the required 30 missions, your chance of being killed was 71%.
Not that bombers were helpless. A B-17 carried 4 tons of bombs and 1.5 tons of machine gun ammo. The US 8th Air Force shot down 6,098 fighter planes, 1 for every 12,700 shots fired.
7.Germany’s power grid was much more vulnerable than realized. One estimate is that if just 1% of the bombs dropped on German industry had instead been dropped on power plants, German industry would have collapsed.
8.Generally speaking, there was no such thing as an average fighter pilot. You were either an ace or a target. For instance, Japanese ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa shot down over 80 planes. He died while a passenger on a cargo plane.
9.It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every 5th found with a tracer round to aid in aiming. That was a mistake. The tracers had different ballistics so (at long range) if your tracers were hitting the target, 80% of your rounds were missing. Worse yet, the tracers instantly told your enemy he was under fire and from which direction. Worst of all was the practice of loading a string of tracers at the end of the belt to tell you that you were out of ammo. That was definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy. Units that stopped using tracers saw their success rate nearly double and their loss rate go down.
10.When allied armies reached the Rhine, the first thing men did was pee in it. This was pretty universal from the lowest private to Winston Churchill (who made a big show of it) and Gen. Patton (who had himself photographed in the act). Don't believe me? Take a look at this.
11.German Me-264 bombers were capable of bombing New York City but it wasn’t worth the effort.
12.A number of air crewmen died of farts. (ascending to 20,000 ft. in an un-pressurized aircraft causes intestinal gas to expand 300%!)
13.The Russians destroyed over 500 German aircraft by ramming them in midair (they also sometimes cleared minefields by marching over them). “It takes a brave man not to be a hero in the Red Army”. Joseph Stalin
14.The US Army had more ships that the US Navy.
15.The German Air Force had 22 infantry divisions, 2 armor divisions, and 11 paratroop divisions. None of them were capable of airborne operations. The German Army had paratroops who WERE capable of airborne operations.
16.When the US Army landed in North Africa, among the equipment brought ashore were 3 complete Coca Cola bottling plants.
17.Among the first “Germans” captured at Normandy were several Koreans. They had been forced to fight for the Japanese Army until they were captured by the Russians and forced to fight for the Russian Army until they were captured by the Germans and forced to fight for the German Army until they were capture by the US Army.
18.The Graf Spee never sank, The scuttling attempt failed and the ship was bought by the British. On board was Germany’s newest radar system.
19.One of Japan’s methods of destroying tanks was to bury a very large artillery shell with on ly the nose exposed. When a tank came near the enough a soldier would whack the shell with a hammer. “Lack of weapons is no excuse for defeat.” – Lt. Gen. Mataguchi
20.Following a massive naval bombardment, 35,000 US and Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska. 21 troops were killed in the fire-fight. It would have been worse if there had been Japanese on the island.
21.The MISS ME was an unarmed Piper Cub. While spotting for US artillery her pilot saw a similar German plane doing the same thing. He dove on the German plane and he and his co-pilot fired their pistols damaging the German plane enough that it had to make a forced landing. Whereupon they landed and took the Germans prisoner. It is unknown where they put them since the MISS ME only had two seats.
22.Most members of the Waffen SS were not German.
23.The only nation that Germany declared was on was the USA.
24.During the Japanese attack on Hong Kong, British officers objected to Canadian infantrymen taking up positions in the officer’s mess. No enlisted men allowed!
25.Nuclear physicist Niels Bohr was rescued in the nick of time from German occupied Denmark. While Danish resistance fighters provided covering fire he ran out the back door of his home stopping momentarily to grab a beer bottle full of precious “heavy water”. He finally reached England still clutching the bottle, which contained beer. Perhaps some German drank the heavy water…
Contributed by Ronald Padavan, LTC, CAP MIWG Chief of Staff MSGT, USAF (Ret.) Past President Lodge 143, Fraternal Order of Police
As printed in, The Victory Division News. No. 4. December, 2000. "
Source: http://www.5ad.org/AmazingFacts.htm
"1.The first German serviceman killed in the war was killed by the Japanese (China, 1937)
2.The first American serviceman killed was killed by the Russians (Finland 1940).
3.The highest ranking American killed was Lt. Gen. Lesley McNair, killed by the US Army Air Corps.
4.The youngest US serviceman was 12 year old Calvin Graham, USN. He was wounded in combat and given a Dishonorable Discharge for lying about his age. (His benefits were later restored by act of Congress).
5.At the time of Pearl Harbor, the top US Navy command was called CINCUS (pronounced “sink us”), the shoulder patch of the US Army’s 45th Infantry division was the Swastika, and Hitler’s private train was named “Amerika”. All three were soon changed for PR purposes.
6.More US servicemen died in the Air Corps that the Marine Corps. While completing the required 30 missions, your chance of being killed was 71%.
Not that bombers were helpless. A B-17 carried 4 tons of bombs and 1.5 tons of machine gun ammo. The US 8th Air Force shot down 6,098 fighter planes, 1 for every 12,700 shots fired. 7.Germany’s power grid was much more vulnerable than realized. One estimate is that if just 1% of the bombs dropped on German industry had instead been dropped on power plants, German industry would have collapsed.
8.Generally speaking, there was no such thing as an average fighter pilot. You were either an ace or a target. For instance, Japanese ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa shot down over 80 planes. He died while a passenger on a cargo plane.
9.It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every 5th found with a tracer round to aid in aiming. That was a mistake. The tracers had different ballistics so (at long range) if your tracers were hitting the target, 80% of your rounds were missing. Worse yet, the tracers instantly told your enemy he was under fire and from which direction. Worst of all was the practice of loading a string of tracers at the end of the belt to tell you that you were out of ammo. That was definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy. Units that stopped using tracers saw their success rate nearly double and their loss rate go down.
10.When allied armies reached the Rhine, the first thing men did was pee in it. This was pretty universal from the lowest private to Winston Churchill (who made a big show of it) and Gen. Patton (who had himself photographed in the act). Don't believe me? Take a look at this.
- ppatton.jpg (34.35 KiB) Viewed 624 times
12.A number of air crewmen died of farts. (ascending to 20,000 ft. in an un-pressurized aircraft causes intestinal gas to expand 300%!)
13.The Russians destroyed over 500 German aircraft by ramming them in midair (they also sometimes cleared minefields by marching over them). “It takes a brave man not to be a hero in the Red Army”. Joseph Stalin
14.The US Army had more ships that the US Navy.
15.The German Air Force had 22 infantry divisions, 2 armor divisions, and 11 paratroop divisions. None of them were capable of airborne operations. The German Army had paratroops who WERE capable of airborne operations.
16.When the US Army landed in North Africa, among the equipment brought ashore were 3 complete Coca Cola bottling plants.
17.Among the first “Germans” captured at Normandy were several Koreans. They had been forced to fight for the Japanese Army until they were captured by the Russians and forced to fight for the Russian Army until they were captured by the Germans and forced to fight for the German Army until they were capture by the US Army.
18.The Graf Spee never sank, The scuttling attempt failed and the ship was bought by the British. On board was Germany’s newest radar system.
19.One of Japan’s methods of destroying tanks was to bury a very large artillery shell with on ly the nose exposed. When a tank came near the enough a soldier would whack the shell with a hammer. “Lack of weapons is no excuse for defeat.” – Lt. Gen. Mataguchi
20.Following a massive naval bombardment, 35,000 US and Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska. 21 troops were killed in the fire-fight. It would have been worse if there had been Japanese on the island.
21.The MISS ME was an unarmed Piper Cub. While spotting for US artillery her pilot saw a similar German plane doing the same thing. He dove on the German plane and he and his co-pilot fired their pistols damaging the German plane enough that it had to make a forced landing. Whereupon they landed and took the Germans prisoner. It is unknown where they put them since the MISS ME only had two seats.
22.Most members of the Waffen SS were not German.
23.The only nation that Germany declared was on was the USA.
24.During the Japanese attack on Hong Kong, British officers objected to Canadian infantrymen taking up positions in the officer’s mess. No enlisted men allowed!
25.Nuclear physicist Niels Bohr was rescued in the nick of time from German occupied Denmark. While Danish resistance fighters provided covering fire he ran out the back door of his home stopping momentarily to grab a beer bottle full of precious “heavy water”. He finally reached England still clutching the bottle, which contained beer. Perhaps some German drank the heavy water…
Contributed by Ronald Padavan, LTC, CAP MIWG Chief of Staff MSGT, USAF (Ret.) Past President Lodge 143, Fraternal Order of Police
As printed in, The Victory Division News. No. 4. December, 2000. "
Source: http://www.5ad.org/AmazingFacts.htm
Re: WW2 Fighter aces and other heroes
We Remember Them...
What an awesome vid... Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU1oB8sG ... r_embedded
What an awesome vid... Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU1oB8sG ... r_embedded
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