The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Bizarre B-17 Collision over the North Sea - August 28th, 2004

see educational sources

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


...................................................................................... ...........................................

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Bizarre B-17 Collision Over the North Sea



WWII

When a pair of B-17s collided in midair and became interlocked, the surviving crewmen experienced the ride of their lives.
By Teresa K. Flatley

At dawn on December 31, 1944, while the Battle of the Bulge raged, two young airmen took off from Thorpe Abbotts, England, and flew their Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress in formation with hundreds of others in what was to be a "maximum effort" over Germany by every available flier. That New Year's Eve would soon require the maximum effort these two men could muster to stay alive in what has to be considered one of the most unlikely incidents in aerial history.

It was the 22nd mission for 1st Lt. Glenn H. Rojohn, a native of Greenock, Pa., the pilot of B-17 No. 42-231987, and 2nd Lt. William G. Leek, Jr., from Washington state, his co-pilot. Both men had been scheduled for leave after flying several missions in a row. But their plans were interrupted at 4 a.m. that day when they were awakened for the so-called maximum effort, which meant, as Rojohn later explained, "Everyone flies." Thirty-seven heavy bombers took off with the 100th Bomb Group that day. Only 25 planes returned to England.


Thorpe Abbotts

Following breakfast and briefing at the base, home to members of the 100th Bomb Group from June 1943 to December 1945, Rojohn and Leek learned that their target would be Hamburg, a port city with numerous oil refineries and submarine pens. Second Lieutenant Robert Washington, the ship's navigator, recalled the start of that, his 27th, mission: "Takeoff on the morning of December 31, 1944, was delayed because of fog, and when we assembled the group and departed the coast of England, we learned that the fighter escort had been delayed due to the weather."

It took "almost as much time to rendezvous to go on a mission as it did to complete a mission," Rojohn recalled, "because the weather in England was always bad, and we had to circle around and around until we broke out above the overcast. Our squadrons [Rojohn flew in C Squadron] then formed, and we met other groups until we got into a long line of traffic heading toward Germany.



This particular day we flew over the North Sea to a point south of Denmark and then turned southwest down the Elbe River to Hamburg. We were somewhere in the neighborhood of 25,000 feet [altitude]. At that time I don't think much was known about the jet stream, but we had a tail wind of about 200 nautical miles an hour. We got into the target pretty quick. Over the target, we had just about everything but the kitchen sink thrown at us."

Leek's recollections of the Hamburg mission were equally vivid: "The target and the sky over it were black from miles away. The flak was brutal. We flew through flak clouds and aircraft parts for what seemed like an hour."

While Rojohn does not like to criticize his commanding officers, he thinks a mistake was made that day. "Instead of hitting the target and angling out over Germany still on a southwesterly direction and then out over Belgium, they turned us at 180 degrees back toward the North Sea," Rojohn said. "So an 80-knot tailwind became an 80-knot headwind. We were probably making about 50 or 60 mph on the ground."

"When we finally got clear of the coastal flak batteries," recalled Washington, "we turned west and skirted the flak area by flying between Heligoland and Wilhelmshaven. The flak was heavy as we crossed the coastline. I'm not certain whether we headed northwest between Bremerhaven and Kuxhaven, or due west over the little town of Aurich and across the coastline near Norden."



Over the North Sea, Rojohn remembered, they were flying at 22,000 feet when they "encountered wave after wave of German fighters. We just barely got out over the North Sea, and the sky was rumbling around us with exploding flak and German [Messerschmitt] Me-109 fighter planes so close I could see the faces of the young German pilots as they went by. They were just having a field day with our formation. We lost plane after plane."

According to an account written by Tech. Sgt. Orville E. Elkin, Rojohn's top turret gunner and engineer: "The fighters came from every direction, 12 o'clock, 6 o'clock, from the bottom and from the top. Your body becomes cold and numb from fright as you realize that only one-sixteenth of an inch of aluminum stands between you and this battery of firepower." Ten planes were quickly lost.

Leek had been at the controls when the crew came off the bomb run. He and Rojohn alternated the controls each half hour. "On this mission," Leek recalled, "the lead plane was off Glenn's wing, so he flew the bomb run. I should have kept the controls for at least my half-hour, but once the attack began, our formation tightened up and we started bouncing up and down. Our lead plane kept going out of sight for me. I may have been overcorrecting, but the planes all seemed to bounce at different times. I asked Glenn to take it, and he did."



Rojohn maneuvered to take a position to fill the void created when a B-17 (No. 43-338436) piloted by 2nd Lt. Charles C. Webster went down in flames and exploded on the ground. "I was going into that void when we had a tremendous impact," Rojohn recalled. Feeling the bomber shudder, the men immediately thought their plane had collided with another aircraft. It had, but in a way that may never have happened before or since.

Another B-17 (No. 43-338457), piloted by 1st Lt. William G. MacNab and 2nd Lt. Nelson B. Vaughn, had risen upward. The top turret guns on MacNab's plane had pierced through the aluminum skin on the bottom of Rojohn's plane, binding the two huge planes together, as Leek said, like "breeding dragonflies." The two planes had become one.

Whether MacNab and Vaughn lost control of their plane because they were seriously injured or the planes collided because both Rojohn and MacNab were moving in to close the open space in the formation is uncertain. Both MacNab and Vaughn were fatally injured that day and were never able to tell their own story.


The 350th's Glenn H. Rojohn Crew

Staff Sergeant Edward L. Woodall, Jr., MacNab's ball-turret gunner, remembered that when a crew check was called just prior to the midair collision, everyone had reported in. "At the time of the impact," Woodall said, "we lost all power and intercom on our aircraft. I knew we were in trouble from the violent shaking of the aircraft, no power to operate the turret, loss of intercom, and seeing falling pieces of metal. My turret was stalled with the guns up at about 9 o'clock. This is where countless time drills covering emergency escape procedures from the turret paid off, as I automatically reached for the hand crank, disengaged the clutch and proceeded to crank the turret and guns to the down position so I could open the door and climb into the waist of the airplane. I could see that another aircraft was locked onto our aircraft and his ball turret jammed down inside our aircraft."

In the 1946 book The Story of the Century, John R. Nilsson reported that E.A. Porter, a pilot from Payton, Miss., who witnessed the midair collision, had sounded the warning over the radio: "'F for Fox, F for Fox, get it down!' -- however MacNab, whose radio was dead, did not hear. Not to see the collision which seemed inevitable, Porter turned his head, while two of his gunners, Don Houk of Appleton City, Missouri, and Clarence Griffin of Harrisburg, Illinois, watched aghast, as MacNab and Rojohn settled together 'as if they were lifted in place by a huge crane,' and many of the 100th's anguished fliers saw the two Fortresses cling -- Rojohn's, on top, riding pick-a-back on MacNab's, how held together being a mystery. A fire started on MacNab's ship, on which three propellers still whirled, and the two bombers squirmed, wheeled in the air, trying to break the death-lock."

Washington opened the escape hatch and "saw the B-17 hanging there with three engines churning and one feathered. Rojohn and Leek banked to the left and headed south toward land."



"Glenn's outboard prop bent into the nacelle of the lower plane's engine," recalled Leek. "Glenn gunned our engines two or three times to try to fly us off. It didn't work, but it was a good try. The outboard left engine was burning on the plane below. We feathered our propellers to keep down the fire and rang the bail-out bell."

"Our engines were still running and so were three on the bottom ship," Rojohn said. When he realized he could not detach his plane, Rojohn turned his engines off to try to avoid an explosion. He told Elkin and Tech. Sgt. Edward G. Neuhaus, the radio operator, to bail out of the tail, the only escape route left because all other hatches were blocked.

"The two planes would drop into a dive unless we pulled back on the controls all the time," wrote Leek. "Glenn pointed left and we turned the mess toward land. I felt Elkin touch my shoulder and waved him back through the bomb bay. We got over land and [bombardier Sergeant James R.] Shirley came up from below. I signalled to him to follow Elkin. Finally Bob Washington came up from the nose. He was just hanging on between our seats. Glenn waved him back with the others. We were dropping fast."

As he crawled up into the pilot's compartment before bailing out, Washington remembered, "I saw the two of them [Rojohn and Leek] holding the wheels against their stomachs and their feet propped against the instrument panel. They feathered our engines to avoid fire, I think. [Shirley] and I went on through the bomb bay and out the waist door, careful to drop straight down in order to miss the tail section of the other plane which was a little to the right of our tail." Because of Rojohn's and Leek's physical effort, Shirley, Elkin, Washington, Staff Sgt. Roy H. Little (the waist gunner), Staff Sgt. Francis R. Chase (the replacement tail gunner), and Neuhaus were able to reach the rear of the plane and bail out. "I could hear Russo [Staff Sgt. Joseph Russo, Rojohn's ball-turret gunner] saying his Hail Marys over the intercom," Leek said. "I could not help him, and I felt that I was somehow invading his right to be alone. I pulled off my helmet and noticed that we were at 15,000 feet. This was the hardest part of the ride for me."



Before they jumped, Little, Neuhaus and Elkin took the hand crank for the ball turret and tried to crank it up to free Russo. "It would not move," Elkin wrote. "There was no means of escape for this brave man."

"Awhile later," recalled Leek, "we were shot at by guns that made a round white puff like big dandelion seeds ready to be blown away. By now the fire was pouring over our left wing, and I wondered just what those German gunners thought we were up to and where we were going! Before long, .50-caliber shells began to blow at random in the plane below. I don't know if the last flak had started more or if the fire had spread, but it was hot down there!" As senior officer, Rojohn ordered Leek to join the crew members and jump, but his co-pilot refused. Leek knew Rojohn would not be able to maintain physical control of the two planes by himself and was certain the planes would be thrown into a death spiral before Rojohn could make it to the rear of the plane and escape. "I knew one man left in the wreck could not have survived, so I stayed to go along for the ride," Leek said.

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[SAMWolf]

:-) Can't wait to see what you have.

[SAMWolf]

Let's hope they let her take it off.

[stand watie]

ME TOO!

hugs/kisses to all who prayed for her.

free dixie,sw

[SAMWolf]

The show was a "you had to be there" to really enjoy it. If you have no knowledge of the times a lot of the humor would make no sense.

[killjoy]

When a pair of B-17s collided in midair and became interlocked, the surviving crewmen experienced the ride of their lives.

What did Bush know and when did he know it?

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. It's all Bush's fault! Kerry was busy getting a magic super secret hat in Berlin.

[snippy_about_it]

Sam and I are running errands, be back in a couple hours.

[Darksheare]

I remember reading about this.
Had to be pretty weird looking.

[aomagrat]

Omaha class light cruiser

Displacement: 7,050 t.
Length: 555’6”
Beam: 55’4”
Draft: 20’
Speed: 35 k.
Complement: 790
Armament: 12 6”; 7 3”; 6 21” torpedo tubes

USS MEMPHIS (CL-13) was laid down by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa., 14 October 1920; launched 17 April 1924; sponsored by Miss Elizabeth R. Paine, daughter of Mayor Rowlett Paine of Memphis; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard 4 February 1925, Capt. Henry E. Lackey in command.

Late in February, MEMPHIS got underway for a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean. On 13 April the cruiser participated in the dedication of an American memorial gateway to Commodore Oliver H. Perry at Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. Six years after the indomitable Perry had defeated the British on Lake Erie 10 September 1813, he died on board frigate JOHN ADAMS at Port-of-Spain and was interred there until his remains were removed to Newport, R.I., 7 years later. In June, MEMPHIS joined ships of a scouting fleet off Honolulu, Hawaii, for a cruise to the South Pacific through September, with visits to Australia and New Zealand. From October to April 1926, she again operated in the West Indies before returning to her home port, New York.

MEMPHIS next sailed for Europe, arriving off St. Nazaire, France, 26 June. Relieving PITTSBURGH (CA-4) as flagship of Commander, U.S. Naval Forces in Europe 4 July, she operated in European waters into 1927. During a stay at Santander, Spain, 31 July to 31 August 1926, the ship was visited by King Alfonso XIII.

On 3 June 1927, MEMPHIS embarked Capt. Charles A Lindbergh and his plane at Southampton, England; following his nonstop flight from New York to Paris. The next day, the cruiser departed Cherbourg, France, arriving Washington, D.C., 11 June to debark her famous passenger at the Washington Navy Yard. For the rest of the year she performed surveillance duty along the Atlantic coast.

During January 1928, MEMPHIS acted as part of an escort group for President Calvin Coolidge on a cruise to the West Indies. After 4 months of Caribbean operations, she served in the eastern Pacific.

On 5 June, the cruiser arrived at Balboa, Canal Zone for duty off Central America to May 1933. MEMPHIS operated in a peacekeeping capacity at Corinto, Nicaragua, during the inauguration of President Juan B. Sacasa in 1932. In the next 5 years she alternated duty along the west coast with patrols to the troubled area of the West Indies.

After a good will cruise to Australia in January 1938, MEMPHIS reached Honolulu 1 April to rejoin the fleet for operations until she participated in the presidential review off San Francisco 12 July 1939. In August she sailed to Alaska, operating there until early l941.

As the time of U.S. involvement in World War II approached, MEMPHIS sailed to the east coast. She departed Newport 24 April 1941 to take part in the neutrality patrol of the ocean triangle, Trinidad-Cape San Roque-Cape Verde Islands, arriving Recife, Brazil, 10 May. She continued operations in the South Atlantic for most of World War II. In March 1942, the ship escorted two Army transports in convoy to Ascension Island, where the Army's 38th Engineer General Service Regiment debarked to construct an airport as staging point for planes flying from the United States to Africa. By May she was on patrol near the entrance to Fort de-France, Martinique.

In January 1943, the cruiser flew President Franklin Roosevelt's flag off Bathurst, Gambia, during the Casablanca Conference, 14 to 24 January. The President and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill outlined plans at that time for the invasion of Sicily and Italy. From February to September, MEMPHIS was once more on patrol duty against blockade runners, mostly off Bahia and Recife, Brazil.

President Amenzoga of Uruguay and President Getulio Vargas of Brazil toured the ship in January 1944 while their countries continued to give valuable aid in blockading the "Atlantic Narrows." The following year, MEMPHIS sailed for Europe, arriving Naples, Italy, 16 January 1945. On the 27th, as flagship for Adm. Harold R. Stark, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces in Europe, she got underway for Valletta, Malta, scene of preliminary Allied conferences prior to the Yalta Conference in February. Before the end of January, the cruiser had two important visitors: Fleet Adm. Ernest J. King and General of the Army George C. Marshall.

The 18th of February found MEMPHIS at Algiers for President Roosevelt's last Allied conference before his return to the United States. The next 8 months she continued to receive distinguished leaders. She participated in the first anniversary ceremonies of the Allied landings at St. Raphael and St. Tropez, southern France, on the 15th of August and the Navy day festivities at Naples, Italy, the 27th of October. Late in November, MEMPHIS departed Tangier for Philadelphia, Pa., where she decommissioned 17 December 1945.

She was struck from the Navy list 8 January 1946 and sold to Patapsco Scrap Co., Bethlehem, Pa., 18 December for scrapping, following delivery 10 January 1947.

[stand watie]

YEP!

that !@#$%^&*! brace is a real PITA!( i KNOW as i'm the one who had to put her in & take her out of it a ZILLION times)

free dixie,sw

[Victoria Delsoul]

Howdy all! Getting closer and closer…

[snippy_about_it]

Hiya Darksheare.

[snippy_about_it]

Good afternoon aomagrat.

[Darksheare]

Hello.
Slow day.
And even the troll that showed up was waaaay lame..
*sigh*

[snippy_about_it]

Good afternoon Victoria.

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. We could all take an afternoon nap.

[Darksheare]

Too many naps in a foxhole cricks the neck.
The sand under a Humvee is much more comfortable..

[Light Speed]

Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.

-- Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, D.C.

LOL!

During my first visit to D.C. in 1992....went down to the old...Washington Naval yard,

The light rail gets ya close..but one still needs to walk about a mile or so.

I saw a bus..ran and jumped in.
One quick glance...
I am the only white person on the bus..alot of eyes fixed on me.
The Bus driver was a rather large African American Lady..who grabbed my arm as I walked past....[I was intending to sit down]

"No Honey...you stand right here.."
"You want the naval base right"?

The bus stopped at the Base entrance...I jumped off with a smile.

The Bus does not stop at the gate..so the Security step out ..to see who this is.....that has buses stop at gates for them : )

When I returned home,,,I learned that I had been walking around in *Anacostia....which had the highest Murder rate per capita in the U.S. at the time.

went again to the naval base...this time..rented a car : )

[Light Speed]

Nascar...Bristol under the lights..tonight.

Bump,shove em outta the way...Gladiator time in the bowl!

[SAMWolf]

The untold story is that Kerry was on the top plane and when he realized they were going down he tied one end of some dental floss around the tail of the top plane and the other end around his ankle. He then bailed out and opened his chute, allowing the planes to float down with him.

Otherwise the planes would have come down a lot harder. ;-)