B17 Flying Fortress Mi Amigo memorial story today.

peanut

peanut

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Every once in a while you hear a story that puts your heart in a vice . A story of heroism and supreme sacrifice . This morning I was listening to the BBC News and one such story unfolded ...

In 1944 in Sheffield England a B17 Flying Fortress ,Mi Amigo, was returning home from a bombing raid . Alll shot up by German Fighter planes the Pilot was desperately looking for somewhere to crash land . Lining up to land in a Sheffield park at the last moment the Pilot spotted children playing in the park and veered off to crash into a nearby hill to avoid killing the children. All 10 crewmen and the Pilot died .


One of the children there that day ,an 8 year old boy, Tony Foulds , witnessed the accident as the bomber flew over him and his playmates in the park and crashed into the nearby hill . Tony Foulds has visited the site of the crash almost every day for the past 75 years to lay flowers and talk to the dead airmen . He has never told anyone of what and why he does this and locals have always thought him to be a bit of a ‘weirdo’ .

So I’m sitting here this morning all choked up, with tears rolling down my face and feeling very humble.
God bless you Tony and may the 10 brave airmen rest in eternal peace.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/pensioner-who-witnessed-plane-crash-13804583
airmen.jpg
 
You can point the finger at Hollywood for a part of the reason. The B-17 was a good bomber and Hollywood brought it to the silver screen often... but the B-24 could fly farther with a heavier load. But the B-17 had.. screen appeal. The " joke " was the B-24 was the crate that the B-17 came in. The Hurricane was the back bone of the RAF dur'n the Battle of Britain.. but the " Spit " got the glamour.
If you want to start a lively .. never end'n… discussion, just.. pick, any plane from the era .. was better then ..any plane from the era.. friend or foe.
I'm a fan of the P-47....I tell people I ride motorcycles because I can't afford a " Jug " with the fat Hamilton props.
 
Thanks for sharing the story of Mi Amigo Peanut - quite a tale indeed.

What all those teenagers and 20-something (and older) men and women did all those years ago still resonates with me too.

Pete
 
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the event moves me in the same way as the Charlie brown story about the bomber that was escorted over the channel by the German fighter ace .(see below)

As a kid at school studying the 'classics' I never understood complex emotions such as ' tragic irony ' . I had not lived , loved and lost now that I am older I understand completely.
That bomber crew despite being shot up made it all the way back to blighty within yards of landing safely and then they all lose their lives tragically due to a split second decision by the Pilot . That decision saved the lives of countless British children that day but sealed their fate in a heartbeat.
 
motormike said:
You can point the finger at Hollywood for a part of the reason. The B-17 was a good bomber and Hollywood brought it to the silver screen often... but the B-24 could fly farther with a heavier load. But the B-17 had.. screen appeal. The " joke " was the B-24 was the crate that the B-17 came in. The Hurricane was the back bone of the RAF dur'n the Battle of Britain.. but the " Spit " got the glamour.
If you want to start a lively .. never end'n… discussion, just.. pick, any plane from the era .. was better then ..any plane from the era.. friend or foe.
I'm a fan of the P-47....I tell people I ride motorcycles because I can't afford a " Jug " with the fat Hamilton props.
Click to expand...
A pic my Dad took during his time in the
IMG_1114.JPG
Pacific
 
motormike said:
I'm a fan of the P-47
Click to expand...
Last night I watched a long documentary on youtube of the p-47 using color film shot at the time. It was about the follow up to the invasion of Germany. Very enjoyable. All these docs feature small interviews with the pilots and I hope the entire interviews, parts that didn't make the cut, are archived somewhere.
 
wildav said:
No , he was USN. I guess he was using a wide lens there. I bet I looked at that picture a hundred times over years before I realized that was a gun barrel in the corner!
Click to expand...
Ha ha. Hope you didn't mind the remark. The b-24 is my favorite bomber. In person on the ground it looks mean.... I like the b-29 because of the way it bridges the gap between eras. Favorite plane is the Hellcat though, love the stocky purposeful look.
 
I visit'd a small military museum in Red Wing, Mn… from the Zulu war, WWI, WWII Korea, V-Nam...I ask'd how many field trips he gets from the local schools…
Never.. he's asked repeatedly... they don't even reply.
 
motormike said:
... If you want to start a lively .. never end'n… discussion, just.. pick, any plane from the era .. was better then ..any plane from the era.. friend or foe...
Click to expand...

Reminds me of the old PC-based WW2 combat flight sims, where folks could test their mettle against others. One series had a "1946" expansion pack, based on the scenario that Truman chose to not use the A-bomb, extending the war, and emerging aircraft that didn't make it to the war were deployed in the Pacific theater.

F7F Tigercat, F8F Bearcat, Seafury, Jap version of the ME-262, and others....
 
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What would have emerged was Japanese Zeros made of spare parts with nobody to fly them, and Allied versions of the 262 and Meteor that were too fast to use for anything but fun to make anyway. The 262 couldn't take full advantage of its speed because the time from in-range to need to pull away was so short there was no time time to shoot. What the Japanese needed was planes with armor so they could develop and keep experienced pilots. Maybe their fundamental problem was life was too cheap to them.
 
I always liked the Martin B26 Marauder....
B_26.jpg


and the Douglas A26 Invader...
Douglas_A-26_Invader.jpg


...although I cannot imagine why the USAAF would give two entirely different, yet remarkably similar airplanes nearly the same designation. It must have made spares and logistics an absolute frickin' nightmare.

Pete
 
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