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Extraordinary bravery of two US WWII pilots
Daily Mail ^ | 1/27/16 | George Odling

Posted on 01/27/2016 9:18:27 AM PST by Kartographer

Disaster struck when a machine gun went off without warning, hitting two crew members and shooting off the plane's right stabilizer.

In a jaw-dropping display of valour and skill, Capt Rogers and Lt Gorse managed to control the stricken aircraft for two hours.

They jettisoned their bombs in The Wash, off the UK's east coast, and allowed their seven crewmates to bail out safely.

Once the last two had jumped through the bomb bay near King's Lynn, Rogers and Gorse continued to the North Sea. THE LIFE OF NORVILLE GORSE

Born in 1924, he was the son of a Chicago tailor who counted gangster Al Capone among his customers.

He began his pilot training aged just 19, eventually leaving the Air Force in 1945.

Lt Gorse went on to design rockets for NASA.

He married and has a son who is a specialist doctor in Missouri.

His nephew remembers him as a disciplined man who would do 50 sit-ups and push-ups a day at the age of 79. Lt Norville Gorse ended the War in a PoW camp

Lt Norville Gorse ended the War in a PoW camp

By now the engines were starting to fail and the battered bomber was fast losing height.

In his account, Gorse wrote: 'Rogers told me to jump.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: aviation; ww2
Captain Rogers, Lieutenant Gorse thank you for your service in the finest tradition of what was truly America's Greatest Generation.
1 posted on 01/27/2016 9:18:27 AM PST by Kartographer
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To: Kartographer
when a machine gun went off without warning,

With all due respect - machine guns just don't go off without a "warning." Someone f*cked with the trigger. Exception for rounds "cooking off" after prolonged use but that is not this case.

2 posted on 01/27/2016 9:22:17 AM PST by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - they want to die for islam and we want to kill them)
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To: 2banana

Yup.


3 posted on 01/27/2016 9:25:40 AM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Kartographer

Thanks for the post.

Tweeted the link.


4 posted on 01/27/2016 9:26:31 AM PST by NEWwoman (God Bless America)
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To: Kartographer
Prisoner in the same POW camp in The Great Escape?...

...

Hmm... :-)

5 posted on 01/27/2016 9:46:17 AM PST by Hatteras
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To: Kartographer

Well, it’s a great story but there are a few questions:
They accidently shot off the stabilizer but why did the engines overheat?

The group photo is not in front of a B-17. The tail looks like a B-24 but it looks small, and it has windows!


6 posted on 01/27/2016 10:04:15 AM PST by libertylover (The problem with Obama is not that his skin is too black, it's that his ideas are too RED.)
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To: libertylover
Ok someone ID this plane:

7 posted on 01/27/2016 10:09:16 AM PST by Kartographer ("We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.")
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To: libertylover

It’s what the Brits called a Hudson bomber. Actually a Lockeed Lodestar.


8 posted on 01/27/2016 10:10:50 AM PST by PhiloBedo (You gotta roll with the punches and get with what's real.)
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To: Kartographer

It’s what the Brits called a Hudson bomber. Actually a Lockeed Lodestar.


9 posted on 01/27/2016 10:11:40 AM PST by PhiloBedo (You gotta roll with the punches and get with what's real.)
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To: PhiloBedo; libertylover
We have a WINNER! Give the MAN A C-I-I-GAR!


10 posted on 01/27/2016 10:15:23 AM PST by Kartographer ("We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.")
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To: Kartographer

Whoever wrote the title for this doesn’t know what a fight and bomber are “US WW2 fighter plane Flying Fortress discovered off Norfolk coast | Daily Mail Online”


11 posted on 01/27/2016 2:11:11 PM PST by rmlew ("Mosques are our barracks, minarets our bayonets, domes our helmets, the believers our soldiers.")
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To: Kartographer

Thanks for the photo. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before.


12 posted on 01/27/2016 2:27:22 PM PST by libertylover (The problem with Obama is not that his skin is too black, it's that his ideas are too RED.)
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To: Kartographer

Lockheed Hudson in costal command paint scheme.


13 posted on 01/27/2016 2:33:01 PM PST by HANG THE EXPENSE (Life's tough.It's tougher when you're stupid.)
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To: Kartographer

I can see how it shot its own tail off.


14 posted on 01/27/2016 2:40:03 PM PST by PLMerite (The Revolution...will not be kind.)
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