Sergeant Charles Tuttle (ball turret gunner) Staff Sergeant Robert Mayfield (radio operator) Second Lieutenant Melchor Hernandez (bombardier) Staff Sergeant Harry Estabrooks (flight engineer/top turret gunner) Second Lieutenant John Humphrey (navigator) The 10 airmen killed in the ‘Mi Amigo’ crash were:įirst Lieutenant John Kriegshauser (pilot) Around 20 firefighters fought for more than an hour to put out the blaze. The aircraft had split into two and the front section was on fire, says Allonby. Moments after ‘Mi Amigo’ crash-landed in Endcliffe Park, firemen hurried to the scene to find trees uprooted and crushed beneath the destroyed bomber, with wreckage strewn across the hillside. Seeing only the grassed area of the park ahead, a split-second decision was needed.” Would-be rescuers “As Lt Kriegshauser used every bit of his skill and experience, at least one engine began to cut out. Ahead were houses, roads, trees and a splash of green: Endcliffe Park, a public play area, complete with a river, woods and a bandstand. “He began to descend cautiously, and suddenly came out through the clouds low over a major city – Sheffield, in South Yorkshire. Looking for a place to landĮngines fading fast, Mi Amigo’s pilot, Lt Kriegshauser, urgently needed somewhere to land, writes Allonby. ‘Mi Amigo’ had been badly damaged in the attack. The mission was aborted and the surviving aircraft began their journey home to England, jettisoning their bombs over the North Sea en route (‘Mi Amigo’ was carrying a total bomb load of 4,000 lbs). Three B-17s in the formation were shot down, with most crew members being killed and the others captured as prisoners of war. What happened to the Royal Air Force Stirling pilots?Īfter a series of serious accidents and total aircraft losses involving uncontrolled ground loops on takeoff, the Royal Air Force implemented a special training and certification programme for all prospective Stirling pilots.But on 22 February, things did not go to plan – the military air base at Aalborg was covered by fog and so could not be pinpointed, and the group of planes soon found itself under attack by German enemy fighters. For D-Day on 6 June 1944 RAF Transport Command Squadrons Nos 190 and 622 from Fairford and Nos 196 and 299 from Keevil towed Airspeed Horsa gliders into Normandy. Starting in 1944 the main role of the Stirling was that of glider-tug and transport with RAF Transport Command. What was the role of the Stirling Air Force in WW2? Norris observed that, by 1942, the type had “given plenty of punishment to the Germans and was also proving that it could itself take punishment to an incredible extent”. Stirlings were amongst the RAF bombers used during the First 1,000 bomber raid against Cologne. Crew positions also changed slightly depending on defensive armament carried. On later aircraft the position of the second pilot was removed. N2980 is the only known surviving Brooklands-built Wellington and the only one to see active service during World War Two.Īccommodation/Crew: A crew of eight was carried on early Stirlings comprising of the Pilot and Co-Pilot, Navigator/Bomb-aimer, Wireless/Radio Operator, three air-gunners and a Flight Engineer. Why was the B-17 called the “Flying Fortress”? The name was coined when the plane, with its heavy firepower and multiple machine gun emplacements, made its public debut in July 1935. Why is the B-17 called the Flying Fortress? Q: Was this the most effective British bomber of the Second World War? A: Yes, by a long way. There are so many stories of a Lancaster coming back in with just one engine and still being able to land. Lancaster PA474 was built at the Vickers Armstrong Broughton factory at Hawarden Airfield, Chester on, just after VE day. There are only two airworthy Lancasters left in the world – 7,377 were built. So much so that the odds of a B-17 crewman surviving the 25 missions required to complete a tour were only one in four. How many B-17 crews completed 25 missions?īut flying it proved deadly. Two Wellington bombers have survived to the present the one recovered from Loch Ness is on display at Brooklands Museum Weybridge, Surrey.
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