London Boyhood Memories of World War II from a Crystal Lake Resident – 7

Today we continue the London wartime memories of Crystal Laker John Kinsley. He spoke at the First United Methodist Church to the Methodist Men’s breakfast the first Saturday of October.

John Kinsley

Down London Memory Lane with John Kinsley

The American Air Force bombed during daytime and concentrated on strategic targets.

The British bombed at night concentrating on population centers in major cities.

Germany complained bitterly about the bombing of population centers, and had to be reminded that it was they who started it by the blitz on London.

On some raids deep into Germany losses were as high as 40%, but it was not until after the war that we told about it.

We were however given wildly exaggerated figures on enemy losses.

The American Mustang P51, fitted with the Rolls Royce Merlin engine was developed in the US and towards the end of the war escorted bombers deep into Germany making a tremendous difference in the bombers surviving attacks by fighters.

Commenting on the raids, President Roosevelt remarked, “Hitler built a fence around his ‘Fortress Europe’ but he forgot to put a roof on it”.

On D day June 6, 1944 we were living on the South coast in Brighton and during that time army camps, troops, trucks, and tanks were to be seen everywhere .

There was some friction as the soldiers waited for action and it was said by the British soldiers of the Americans that they were

  • over paid,
  • oversexed and
  • over here.

I read somewhere that there were 2 ½ million soldiers in the UK prior to the invasion.

The invasion took place along a 50 mile stretch of the Normandy coast and it was two days before we got confirmed reports of the success of the landings.

The story is told that nobody dared wake Hitler to ask for his permission to release the Panzers that were on hold near Calais.

That was a big a big help to the Allies.

We all watched progress on the Continent and the newspapers published detailed maps so we could better understand what was going on.

General Patton became famous for various reasons and I remember that it was reported that he was the first to urinate into the Rhine.

It made good copy for our usually staid press.

In Germany converging calamities, the bombing, the collapse of the economy, and the advancing Allied forces undermined the people’s faith in Hitler’s promises that his secret weapons would turn the tide of battle, but Hitler had demanded that they hold ground to the last man and they fought on when it was obvious that defeat was inevitable.

In September 1944 Germany launched a new weapon.

It was the V-2 rocket. It carried a one ton warhead and travelled at supersonic speeds at an altitude of 50 miles.

German records indicate that 1400 of them were fired towards London but only 200 actually reached us.

Their approach made no sound until suddenly there was an explosion for no apparent reason.

Initially the government’s explanation was that there had been a gas main explosion.

One day a woman passed by a soldier who was roping off a bomb crater and asked if was from a V2.

“No Ma’am” he replied, “It was one of those flying gas mains”.

War damaged row houses.

It really frightened a lot of people causing some to leave London.

= = = = =
More tomorrow.


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London Boyhood Memories of World War II from a Crystal Lake Resident – 7 — 2 Comments

  1. Now that is one hell of an aircraft, and so is the crew that flew it.
    WOW! What a read!
    ——————————————————————————–
    WW II B 17 Survival Story

    B-17 “All American” (414th Squadron, 97BG) Crew
    Pilot- Ken Bragg Jr.
    Copilot- G. Boyd Jr.
    Navigator- Harry C. Nuessle
    Bombardier- Ralph Burbridge
    Engineer- Joe C. James
    Radio Operator- Paul A. Galloway
    Ball Turret Gunner- Elton Conda
    Waist Gunner- Michael Zuk
    Tail Gunner- Sam T. Sarpolus
    Ground Crew Chief- Hank Hyland

    B-17 in 1943

    A mid-air collision on February 1, 1943, between a B-17 and a German fighter over the Tunis dock area, became the subject of one of the most famous photographs of WW II.

    An enemy fighter attacking a 97th Bomb Group formation went out of control, probably with a wounded pilot then continued its crashing descent into the rear of the fuselage of a Fortress named “All American”, piloted by Lt. Kendrick R. Bragg, of the 414th Bomb Squadron. When it struck, the fighter broke apart, but left some pieces in the B-17. The left horizontal stabilizer of the Fortress and left elevator were completely torn away. The two right engines were out and one on the left had a serious oil pump leak. The vertical fin and the rudder had been damaged, the fuselage had been cut almost completely through connected only at two small parts of the frame and the radios, electrical and oxygen systems were damaged. There was also a hole in the top that was over 16 feet long and 4feet wide at its widest and the split in the fuselage went all the way to the top gunner’s turret.

    Although the tail actually bounced and swayed in the wind and twisted when the plane turned and all the control cables were severed, except one single elevator cable still worked, and the aircraft still miraculously flew !

    The tail gunner was trapped because there was no floor connecting the tail to the rest of the plane. The waist and tail gunners used parts of the German fighter and their own parachute harnesses in an attempt to keep the tail from ripping off and the two sides of the fuselage from splitting apart. While the crew was trying to keep the bomber from coming apart, the pilot continued on his bomb run and released his bombs over the target.

    When the bomb bay doors were opened, the wind turbulence was so great that it blew one of the waist gunners into the broken tail section. It took several minutes and four crew members to pass him ropes from parachutes and haul him back into the forward part of the plane. When they tried to do the same for the tail gunner, the tail began flapping so hard that it began to break off. The weight of the gunner was adding some stability to the tail section, so he went back to his position.

    The turn back toward England had to be very slow to keep the tail from twisting off. They actually covered almost 70 miles to make the turn home. The bomber was so badly damaged that it was losing altitude and speed and was soon alone in the sky. For a brief time, two more Me-109 German fighters attacked the All American. Despite the extensive damage, all of the machine gunners were able to respond to these attacks and soon drove off the fighters. The two waist gunners stood up with their heads sticking out through the hole in the top of the fuselage to aim and fire their machine guns. The tail gunner had to shoot in short bursts because the recoil was actually causing the plane to turn.

    Allied P-51 fighters intercepted the All American as it crossed over the Channel and took one of the pictures shown. They also radioed to the base describing that the appendage was waving like a fish tail and that the plane would not make it and to send out boats to rescue the crew when they bailed out. The fighters stayed with the Fortress taking hand signals from Lt. Bragg and relaying them to the base. Lt. Bragg signaled that 5 parachutes and the spare had been “used” so five of the crew could not bail out. He made the decision that if they could not bail out safely, then he would stay with the plane to land it.

    Two and a half hours after being hit, the aircraft made its final turn to line up with the runway while it was still over 40 miles away. It descended into an emergency landing and a normal roll-out on its landing gear.

    When the ambulance pulled alongside, it was waved off because not a single member of the crew had been injured. No one could believe that the aircraft could still fly in such a condition. The Fortress sat placidly until the crew all exited through the door in the fuselage and the tail gunner had climbed down a ladder, at which time the entire rear section of the aircraft collapsed .

    This old bird had done its job and brought the crew home and all in one piece.

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