He was a tail gunner, the tail was blown off the airplane, he didn't realize it had became unattached until he unstrapped to go get his parachute. He then fell out, fell 20,000+ into a snow bank
Posted on 02/03/2004 8:54:26 PM PST by woofie
Alan Magee of Angel Fire ranked among the luckiest of those who served in the Army-Air Force during World War II.
A B-17 ball turret gunner, Magee had no choice but to jump out of a disabled, spinning-out-of-control bomber from about 22,000 feet.
A drop of more than four miles. Without a parachute. And Magee miraculously lived.
His incredible story was featured in a 1981 Smithsonian Magazine on the 10 most amazing survivals during World War II.
Magee seldom spoke of that death-defying drop. He died nearly 61 years later on Dec. 20 of complications from a stroke and kidney failure in San Angelo, Texas, said a niece, Jill Greene of Albuquerque. Magee was 84.
"He didn't like to talk about it, and he wouldn't dwell on it," Greene said. "One of the guys who saw him come through the roof of the railroad station tracked Alan down (in 1978).
Before that, Alan wasn't interested in discussing this."
However, Greene recalled him saying, "God was certainly looking out (for me.)"
Alan E. Magee, who retired to northern New Mexico in 1979, was born in Plainfield, N.J. The youngest of six children, he enlisted after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Greene described her uncle as "just a regular guy."
He was 5-foot-7, barely small enough to fit in the B-17's ball turret— a cramped, donut-shaped plastic glass and metal turret on the bomber's underside. It was such a tight fit— a gunner's knees were practically against his chest— that Magee had to leave his chute on the deck of the four-engine Flying Fortress.
The ball turret offered a panoramic view and also a precarious target for German fighter planes. B-17 gunners had a high casualty rate, said Don Jenkins of Albuquerque, Magee's friend of 38 years and a World War II Navy veteran.
"He was very easy to get along with— very cheerful, very talkative and a very, very sweet guy," Jenkins said. But, he said, Magee only spoke to him three times about the events on Jan. 3, 1943.
Sgt. Magee, 24, was one of the oldest of the 10-man crew who flew out of Molesworth, England, on a bomber nicknamed "Snap! Crackle! Pop!" The pilot was only 19.
His seventh mission was a daylight bombing run on St. Nazaire, France, called "Flack City" because of the anti-aircraft guns defending the German submarine port. The 360th Bomb Squadron of the 303rd Bomb Group sent 85 B-17s with a fighter escort.
Over the target area, flack damaged Magee's plane, and then German fighters shot off a section of the right wing.
Magee, who was wounded, scrambled back into the cabin, but his parachute was ruined.
"He saw a gap in the spinning plane and jumped out," said Jenkins, who explained that in the confusion Magee forgot he wasn't wearing a chute.
"He remembered tumbling," Jenkins said. But at that altitude, Magee quickly lost consciousness.
Eyewitnesses saw Magee crash through the Nazaire train station's glass skylight, breaking his fall. When he regained consciousness, Magee said to his captors: "Thank God I'm alive."
Magee's injuries included 28 shrapnel wounds. A lung and kidney were hit. His nose and an eye were ripped open. His broken bones included his right leg and ankle. A right arm was nearly severed.
Jenkins said the Germans decided that anyone who could miraculously survive deserved "real special attention."
With the German doctors' help, Magee fully recovered. Jenkins said Magee later hiked and backpacked and "led a pretty good life."
Two of his crewmen also survived. In all, 75 airmen died, seven U.S. planes were destroyed and 47 were damaged that day, he said.
Magee was a prisoner of war until May 1945. He received the Air Medal for meritorious conduct and the Purple Heart.
"Alan was never the type to look in the past," Greene said. "He always was looking forward, living for the moment."
Despite the harrowing experience, Magee loved to fly. He qualified for a private pilot's license. His career included the air freight business and airline reservations.
On Jan. 3, 1993, Magee and the other two crewmen were guests of the St. Nazaire townspeople. They hosted a banquet and erected a six-foot-tall memorial to salute the Snap! Crackle! Pop! crew.
"He was very excited and honored," Jenkins said.
Magee is survived by his wife, Helen; a sister, Adele; six nieces and three nephews. A celebration of his life will be held this spring.
It's happened on more than one occasion. On January 26, 1972, a bomb detonated on board a JAT Yugoslav Airlines DC-9-32. The aircraft was at 33,000 feet at the time and disintegrated in flight. There was one survivor, a flight attendant who had been seated in the rear of the aircraft. Despite her severe injuries, she lived although she was paralyzed from the waist down.
Hey, instead of reserve parachutes, maybe they will invent airbags, like the Mars Rover's?
1. "Lieutenant I. M. Chisov of the former Soviet Union was flying his Ilyushin 4 on a bitter cold day in January 1942, when it was attacked by 12 German Messerschmitts. Convinced that he had no chance of surviving if he staged with his badly battered plane, Chisov bailed out at 21,980 feet. With the fighters still buzzing around, Chisov cleverly decided to fall freely out of the arena. It was his plan not to open his chute until he was down to only 1000 ft above the ground. Unfortunately, he lost consciousness en route. As luck would have it, he crashed at the edge of a steep ravine covered with 3 ft of snow. Hitting at about 120 mi/h, he plowed along its slope until he came to rest at the bottom. Chisov awoke 20 min later, bruised and sore, but miraclously he had suffered only a concussion of the spine and a fractured pelvis. Three and one-half months later he was back at work as a flight instructor." Hecht, Eugene. Physics: Calculus. 2nd ed. United States: Brooks/Cole, 2000. p 85
2. Flight Sergeant Nicholas Steven Alkemade was on a bombing mission over Germany on 23 March 1944 when his Lancaster bomber flying at 18,000 feet was blazed apart and in flames when he was forced to jump, without a parachute or be burn to death. He dove out of his destroyed aircraft hoping on a quick death. His speed accelerated to over 120 miles per hour and he impacted on a snow covered sloping forest. He was completely uninjured and later captured by the Germans who refused to believe his story.
Probably well in excess of an unladen swallow, English or African.
Naw, they'll do genetic engineering.
The next generation Airborne trooper: his top is made of rubber, his bottom is made of springs...
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Probably maxed out at about 100 mph due to air resistancw.
There's another, a WWII Russian bomber pilot who similarly had little choice in the matter, but landed in snow after a bailout from 21,000 feet and survived; another Russian pilot went into fir trees and lived to tell about it. Details *here* and following:
Notable Free Fallers
I.M. Chisov:
Lt. I.M. Chisov was a Russian airman whose Ilyushin IL-4 bomber was attacked by German fighters in January of 1942. Falling nearly 22,000 feet, he hit the edge of a snow-covered ravine and rolled to the bottom. He was badly hurt but survived.
Alan Magee:
Alan Magee, a gunner on a B-17 with the 303rd Bomb Group of the U.S. 8th Air Force, was on a mission to St. Nazaire, France in January of 1943, when his bomber was set aflame by enemy fire. He was thrown from the plane before he had a chance to put on his parachute. He fell 20,000 feet and crashed through the skylight of the St. Nazaire train station. His arm was badly injured, but he recovered from that and other injuries.
Nicholas Alkemade
In March of 1944, Nicholas Alkemade was the tail gunner in a British Lancaster bomber on a night mission to Berlin when his plane was attacked by German fighters. When the captain ordered the crew to bail out, Alkemade looked back into the plane and discovered that his parachute was in flames. He chose to jump without a parachute rather than to stay in the burning plane. He fell 18,000 feet, landing in trees, underbrush, and drifted snow. He twisted his knee and had some cuts, but was otherwise alright.
Kids, don't try this at home...
He had gone back to the bay in an attempt to remove a bomb that had hung up. But, in trying to disengage it, he fell out of the open bay. They were flying at about 8,000 feet, as I recall.
He dropped about fifty feet -- into a snow bank on a mountainside.
Got up. Dusted himself off. And, once the sun came up, walked down the mountain.
My dad who also served in WW II told me this story some time back, and I'll check back with him tomorrow to just to make sure I have the story totally straight.
Okay, I'm inside. Get some BIG parachutes.
-archy-/-
I'd like to see this issue. Amazing story, thanks partner for the ping!
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