Any Good Warbird stories?
Wed May 04, 2005 11:25 pm
Everyone might have heard this one, and I might not get it totally correct... A ball-turret gunner of a 17 and a Ranger from the 101st were talking in a bar durning some R&R. The Ranger told him he'd much rather be on a B-17 then on the front lines. When the Ranger said this the gunner agreed to switch. Then the Ranger stopped and asked what was he post was on the 17. The gunner told him the ball-turret... and the Ranger said, "Heck no, I might be crazy, but I'm not stupid!"
Last edited by Cadillac_of_the_Sky on Wed May 04, 2005 11:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Wed May 04, 2005 11:30 pm
It's very possible. I've read several crazy bomber stories about WW2.
story
Thu May 05, 2005 1:12 am
I had a very good friend here in Salem who during WWII commanded the 366th Fighter Squadron flying P-47Ds in Europe. Around March 45 they had a new 2Lt assigned to the squadron and was soon scheduled for his first combat mission. For this mission the Lt was assigned to fly the wing of the Deputy Group CO a newly minted full Col. with a brand new shiny D-40 Thunderbolt. After briefing his boyish wingman ie eyes open, mouth shut and don't do nothing stupid off they went. Lined up on the runway with brakes on and power up the youngster waited for the Col to bow his head in the traditional go signal. The Col's head went forward and off the Lt went but to his horror the Col's P-47 never moved and the Lt's T-Bolt chewed up that shiney new airplane all the way to the armored seat back. After spending nearly 15 minutes tearing the befuddled Lt a new one, the Col asked for his excuse. The Lt stuttered out that he swore the Col bowed his head. The Col then cleared his throat and sheepishly admitted that he had sneezed.
Re: story
Thu May 05, 2005 4:59 am
Jack Cook wrote:IThe Col's head went forward and off the Lt went but to his horror the Col's P-47 never moved and the Lt's T-Bolt chewed up that shiney new airplane all the way to the armored seat back.
My debrief of this wingman would primarily focus on why the f*ck he didn't have full wingtip clearance with me for the formation takeoff.
Re: story
Thu May 05, 2005 6:25 am
Randy Haskin wrote:My debrief of this wingman would primarily focus on why the f*ck he didn't have full wingtip clearance with me for the formation takeoff.
Probably due to the width (or lack of it!) of the PSP runways used at many of the fighter airfields in Europe during WWII
Thu May 05, 2005 8:28 am
This really isn't a "warbird" story, but a WWII story you might enjoy... a few years ago my father operated on a veteran and he told him this story.
The gentalmen was one of the first solders on in the front of his landing craft, headed in towards Normandy. As the ramp came down, he was the first out the door. On his first step he slipped on the ramp and with all of his equipment started to sink to the bottom. He got everything off and when he came to the surface he found everyone in his boat gone... they had all been mowed down by the German gun posts. Talk about a good time to be clumsy!
The gentalmen was one of the first solders on in the front of his landing craft, headed in towards Normandy. As the ramp came down, he was the first out the door. On his first step he slipped on the ramp and with all of his equipment started to sink to the bottom. He got everything off and when he came to the surface he found everyone in his boat gone... they had all been mowed down by the German gun posts. Talk about a good time to be clumsy!
Story
Thu May 05, 2005 9:31 am
Remember being told this story... most likely not true but funny... I think it goes like this...
Two guys laying in the hospital bed talk about their injuries from their airplane crashes. One asks the other what happened and the P-51 pilot says he was shot down and was all banged up from landing in a field. The P-47 pilot says he pulled up from a gun run and there was a tower in his flight path that he couldnt avoid. The P-51 pilot asks... "what did you do?" The P-47 pilots says, "they told us in training that the P-47 would fly thru buildings... so I tried it!"
Two guys laying in the hospital bed talk about their injuries from their airplane crashes. One asks the other what happened and the P-51 pilot says he was shot down and was all banged up from landing in a field. The P-47 pilot says he pulled up from a gun run and there was a tower in his flight path that he couldnt avoid. The P-51 pilot asks... "what did you do?" The P-47 pilots says, "they told us in training that the P-47 would fly thru buildings... so I tried it!"
Re: Story
Thu May 05, 2005 9:55 am
C170BDan wrote:"they told us in training that the P-47 would fly thru buildings... so I tried it!"
That may be closer to the truth than you think.
I had a great time visiting the Palm Springs Air Museum last January. When I was there one of the docents, a former P-47 pilot, told me about a flight he was on with a wing man. They were making a bomb or rocket attack run on a target that was located someplace tropical (anything warmer than Ottawa I consider tropical). He mentioned the danger of diving the P-47 on attack runs was the speed, and if you didn't start to pull out soon enough you could dive yourself right into the ground. As he started his pull out from the run he looked back over his shoulder to see his wing man still in the dive, and then in inevitable happen when he watched his wing man, who almost made it, dissappeared into the bamboo forest. Sickened by this the lead pilot looked for the explosion that would follow, and there was none! Why? Well that P-47 made an appearance climbing out of that bamboo further along its original path!!! All the leading edges were beaten flat, and the prop blades were bent, but it was still flying! That P-47 made it back to base and never flew again, but man what a tough bird!
Mike
story
Thu May 05, 2005 10:11 am
Wouldnt doubt that one bit! There are pictures of seriously damaged airplanes that returned home. Will have to look thru my books and find just the P-47s. I do have a picture of a B-25 that hit some kind of light or power pole and returned home.
Thu May 05, 2005 10:20 am
A sure sign of old age and senility is how many times you repeat the same story. Well, here goes one more time:
Somewhere in the Pacific...
An acquaintance was flight crew on a B-29, but flew mostly SAR and mining missions (as compared to the more glamorous work of missions over Japanese cities). To relieve the tedium, the fellows in the front office spotted a US carrier and decided to shoot a simulated approach.
Flaps down, gear down, lights start flashing on the carrier, deck crew scrambling...
My friend never did clarify the depth of hot water it got them into. Just the thought of that Superfort waddling in off the fantail still makes me chuckle though.
Somewhere in the Pacific...
An acquaintance was flight crew on a B-29, but flew mostly SAR and mining missions (as compared to the more glamorous work of missions over Japanese cities). To relieve the tedium, the fellows in the front office spotted a US carrier and decided to shoot a simulated approach.
Flaps down, gear down, lights start flashing on the carrier, deck crew scrambling...
My friend never did clarify the depth of hot water it got them into. Just the thought of that Superfort waddling in off the fantail still makes me chuckle though.
Thu May 05, 2005 10:39 am
That's funny, Dan. I tried to visualize that myself, but broke up laughing every time.
Walt
Walt
Thu May 05, 2005 11:38 am
Here is the bio. of a good friend of mine. We would like to have someone pick up the story and do an article. I may have posted this before.
Pete Gus Konduros was born in Anderson, South Carolina on April 27th, 1922. He was a student at Clemson University in South Carolina when Pearl Harbor was attacked. As an ROTC cadet at Clemson he was encouraged to remain in the ROTC program and to continue his coursework. In 1943, during his junior year, he was inducted into the Army as an infantryman. Through sheer luck and determination Pete managed to get transferred into the US Army Air Corp where he was trained as a bombardier in B-24’s. Pete was assigned to the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Group, 13th Air Force and was shipped off to fight in the Pacific Theatre in mid-1945. Pete had several brushes with death during his training and also while flying over ninety hours of combat during nine missions over enemy held territory. Pete was nearly shot down in an earlier mission but it was the events that transpired while flying his 9th mission that would change his life forever. It was during this 9th mission that Pete Konduros was quite literally blown out of his bomber when a flight of B-24’s on the same bombing run inadvertently dropped their ordinance into Pete’s bomber formation flying below. The results were catastrophic. Two 1000 lbs. bombs with 0.10 second delayed fuses ripped through Pete’s B-24, exploded directly beneath it and, in an instant, Pete found himself in the forward section of the nose of the B-24. The rest of the plane was vaporized.
(before and after pics, I have hi-res. if you want) Nothing remained of Pete’s B-24 except for the small section of the nose which he found himself in. Immediately Pete realized that he didn’t have his parachute on and his movement was limited by the centrifugal forces that were being generated as the nose section of his B-24 twirled and tumbled towards the Pacific Ocean below.
In what Pete describes as a miracle, he managed to get his flak vest off, his parachute on and, during the last precious moments before the nose section of the B-24 he was trapped in crashed into the ocean, he was able to get out and pull the ripcord. Pete was the lone survivor. All nine of his fellow crew members perished. He survived the explosion but he was not out of trouble yet. Still stunned from his ordeal, he bobbed in the water just offshore of Zamboanga, Mindanao in the Philippines. From his vantage point he could see, hear and feel the bombs from his flight of B-24’s exploding on a Japanese held airfield that was being targeted. He was just a few hundred yards away from the action and it didn’t take long for Pete to realize that by staying there he risked being a casualty of his own exploding bombs. Also, to be taken prisoner by the Japanese may have resulted in death. He decided to swim away from the shoreline and distance himself from the maelstrom. Pete swam through the wreckage of his own plane, he swam through the bodies of his fallen comrades and when he felt he was far enough away from the shoreline, he stopped and waited to be rescued…he hoped. Pete was fortunate enough to be spotted by a seaplane from the USS Phoenix. Under covering fire from US Navy Corsairs, the seaplane rescued him and transported him back to the ship where he spent several days resting and recuperating.
Pete was delivered back to his base on Bougainville but, by then, the war in the Pacific was winding down and Pete was released from active duty in the US Army Air Corp on October 28th, 1945. After the war Pete went back to school, finished getting his degree and moved to Houston to work as a stock broker and started a family. Over time, photos of Pete’s rescue and, amazingly, his B-24 being destroyed by friendly fire were made available to him. They stand in mute testament to the 9th mission the Pete survived over sixty years ago.
Here is the actual combat report:
"Today our formation struck a building area southwest of Zamboanga Town, Mindanao. Several seconds after the bombs hit the target a formation of three (3) as yet unidentified, B-24's were seen on a heading of approximately 70 deg and about 1000 feet higher than our formation. When they were several hundred yards away on a relative bearing of about 285 deg they were seen to release their bombs. Our squadron leader, Co-pilot Lt Grissom, seeing that the bombs were falling toward the formation, attempted to evade them with a sharp turn to the right. This was not entirely successful. One bomb, apparently a 1000 pounder, struck the plane of Lt KR Smith, in the vicinity of bomb bay. The ship exploded and the pieces fell to the water about four miles southeast of the target in flames. No chutes were seen to open. Flames and pieces of wreckage flew back on the ship of Lt Gutheil, flying no. six position. Several holes were made in the left wing and the skin was burned from his left aileron and left rudder. However, he was able to fly the ship back and landed at the base without mishap."The following was taken from the 394th Bombardment Squadron (H), APO #719, Mission Number 5-513-81: "Our losses: A/C 023 and complete crew are listed as M.I.A. due to a 1,000 lb bomb from a three-plane B-24 formation dropping on said plane and exploding on impact. A/C 650 received a hole below the bombardier's and pilot's compartment as a result of flying debris from the exploded A/C 023. A/C 735 received a burned off left aileron, left rudder burned off, seven (7) holes in the leading edge of right and left wings; antenna was damaged, skin on left elevator stabilizer was stretched and wrinkled; both waist windows were broken; dome on nose turret was cracked and number 1 engine slightly damaged from flying debris from explosion of A/C 023. A/C 819 had the left window blown out as a result of the explosion of A/C 023. Several crew men reported being jarred from their positions in the plane, turret gunners were knocked from turrets as a result of the blast; others received violent shocks in different sections of the plane. No bodily harm has been reported." The following was taken from the 394th Bombardment Squadron (H), Historical Officer, Squadron History for the month of March 1945: "On the 9th, as our warships and landing craft, which lay a few miles out, were chafing at the bit to come ashore and take over Zamboanga situation, six (6) of our big bombers battered away at targets in the town, an encore to the previous performance in Zamboanga Town. 36 half tonners made their incredible impressions, leaving in their wake three (3) buildings destroyed, one (1) building damaged, and the railroad facilities a mass of twisted steel. Overshadowing the good job done in our attack was a heart rendering unfortunate occurance that resulted in the loss of nine (9) men and one of our aircraft. After having completed the bomb run and while our formation was leaving the target, one of our planes was hit by a 1,000 pound bomb which had been dropped from a friendly three (3) plane formation flying 2,000 feet above us. The bomb exploded on impact and our aircraft completely disintegrated in midair. No parachutes were seen to open and no survivors could be found by our crew men in the search that immediately followed the disaster. Later, however, it developed that the nose section had blown off intact and miraculously the bombardier, Lt Pete Konduras, lived and suffered no injuries. The following men are listed as missing as a result of this accident: 2nd Lt Kenneth R. Smith, pilot; 2nd Lt Conover B. Sarvis, Jr., co-pilot; 2nd Lt Arthur Rubenstein, navigator; Cpl Louis D. Bedgood, engineer; Cpl Tom E. Gallagher, assistant engineer; Cpl James W. Stack, radio operator; Cpl Robert E. Lumm, assistant radio operator; Cpl William E. Johnson, gunner; and Cpl Carroll V. Rittner, gunner. In addition to this irreparable loss, three (3) other planes were damaged as a result of the explosion from this incident."
This is a photo taken with Pete at a recent dinner I hosted for WWII pilots and you probably already know thier stories
. Tex Hill, Paul Tibbets, me, Pete Konduras, and Tokyo Raider Dick Cole
Pete Gus Konduros was born in Anderson, South Carolina on April 27th, 1922. He was a student at Clemson University in South Carolina when Pearl Harbor was attacked. As an ROTC cadet at Clemson he was encouraged to remain in the ROTC program and to continue his coursework. In 1943, during his junior year, he was inducted into the Army as an infantryman. Through sheer luck and determination Pete managed to get transferred into the US Army Air Corp where he was trained as a bombardier in B-24’s. Pete was assigned to the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Group, 13th Air Force and was shipped off to fight in the Pacific Theatre in mid-1945. Pete had several brushes with death during his training and also while flying over ninety hours of combat during nine missions over enemy held territory. Pete was nearly shot down in an earlier mission but it was the events that transpired while flying his 9th mission that would change his life forever. It was during this 9th mission that Pete Konduros was quite literally blown out of his bomber when a flight of B-24’s on the same bombing run inadvertently dropped their ordinance into Pete’s bomber formation flying below. The results were catastrophic. Two 1000 lbs. bombs with 0.10 second delayed fuses ripped through Pete’s B-24, exploded directly beneath it and, in an instant, Pete found himself in the forward section of the nose of the B-24. The rest of the plane was vaporized.
(before and after pics, I have hi-res. if you want) Nothing remained of Pete’s B-24 except for the small section of the nose which he found himself in. Immediately Pete realized that he didn’t have his parachute on and his movement was limited by the centrifugal forces that were being generated as the nose section of his B-24 twirled and tumbled towards the Pacific Ocean below.
In what Pete describes as a miracle, he managed to get his flak vest off, his parachute on and, during the last precious moments before the nose section of the B-24 he was trapped in crashed into the ocean, he was able to get out and pull the ripcord. Pete was the lone survivor. All nine of his fellow crew members perished. He survived the explosion but he was not out of trouble yet. Still stunned from his ordeal, he bobbed in the water just offshore of Zamboanga, Mindanao in the Philippines. From his vantage point he could see, hear and feel the bombs from his flight of B-24’s exploding on a Japanese held airfield that was being targeted. He was just a few hundred yards away from the action and it didn’t take long for Pete to realize that by staying there he risked being a casualty of his own exploding bombs. Also, to be taken prisoner by the Japanese may have resulted in death. He decided to swim away from the shoreline and distance himself from the maelstrom. Pete swam through the wreckage of his own plane, he swam through the bodies of his fallen comrades and when he felt he was far enough away from the shoreline, he stopped and waited to be rescued…he hoped. Pete was fortunate enough to be spotted by a seaplane from the USS Phoenix. Under covering fire from US Navy Corsairs, the seaplane rescued him and transported him back to the ship where he spent several days resting and recuperating.
Pete was delivered back to his base on Bougainville but, by then, the war in the Pacific was winding down and Pete was released from active duty in the US Army Air Corp on October 28th, 1945. After the war Pete went back to school, finished getting his degree and moved to Houston to work as a stock broker and started a family. Over time, photos of Pete’s rescue and, amazingly, his B-24 being destroyed by friendly fire were made available to him. They stand in mute testament to the 9th mission the Pete survived over sixty years ago.
Here is the actual combat report:
"Today our formation struck a building area southwest of Zamboanga Town, Mindanao. Several seconds after the bombs hit the target a formation of three (3) as yet unidentified, B-24's were seen on a heading of approximately 70 deg and about 1000 feet higher than our formation. When they were several hundred yards away on a relative bearing of about 285 deg they were seen to release their bombs. Our squadron leader, Co-pilot Lt Grissom, seeing that the bombs were falling toward the formation, attempted to evade them with a sharp turn to the right. This was not entirely successful. One bomb, apparently a 1000 pounder, struck the plane of Lt KR Smith, in the vicinity of bomb bay. The ship exploded and the pieces fell to the water about four miles southeast of the target in flames. No chutes were seen to open. Flames and pieces of wreckage flew back on the ship of Lt Gutheil, flying no. six position. Several holes were made in the left wing and the skin was burned from his left aileron and left rudder. However, he was able to fly the ship back and landed at the base without mishap."The following was taken from the 394th Bombardment Squadron (H), APO #719, Mission Number 5-513-81: "Our losses: A/C 023 and complete crew are listed as M.I.A. due to a 1,000 lb bomb from a three-plane B-24 formation dropping on said plane and exploding on impact. A/C 650 received a hole below the bombardier's and pilot's compartment as a result of flying debris from the exploded A/C 023. A/C 735 received a burned off left aileron, left rudder burned off, seven (7) holes in the leading edge of right and left wings; antenna was damaged, skin on left elevator stabilizer was stretched and wrinkled; both waist windows were broken; dome on nose turret was cracked and number 1 engine slightly damaged from flying debris from explosion of A/C 023. A/C 819 had the left window blown out as a result of the explosion of A/C 023. Several crew men reported being jarred from their positions in the plane, turret gunners were knocked from turrets as a result of the blast; others received violent shocks in different sections of the plane. No bodily harm has been reported." The following was taken from the 394th Bombardment Squadron (H), Historical Officer, Squadron History for the month of March 1945: "On the 9th, as our warships and landing craft, which lay a few miles out, were chafing at the bit to come ashore and take over Zamboanga situation, six (6) of our big bombers battered away at targets in the town, an encore to the previous performance in Zamboanga Town. 36 half tonners made their incredible impressions, leaving in their wake three (3) buildings destroyed, one (1) building damaged, and the railroad facilities a mass of twisted steel. Overshadowing the good job done in our attack was a heart rendering unfortunate occurance that resulted in the loss of nine (9) men and one of our aircraft. After having completed the bomb run and while our formation was leaving the target, one of our planes was hit by a 1,000 pound bomb which had been dropped from a friendly three (3) plane formation flying 2,000 feet above us. The bomb exploded on impact and our aircraft completely disintegrated in midair. No parachutes were seen to open and no survivors could be found by our crew men in the search that immediately followed the disaster. Later, however, it developed that the nose section had blown off intact and miraculously the bombardier, Lt Pete Konduras, lived and suffered no injuries. The following men are listed as missing as a result of this accident: 2nd Lt Kenneth R. Smith, pilot; 2nd Lt Conover B. Sarvis, Jr., co-pilot; 2nd Lt Arthur Rubenstein, navigator; Cpl Louis D. Bedgood, engineer; Cpl Tom E. Gallagher, assistant engineer; Cpl James W. Stack, radio operator; Cpl Robert E. Lumm, assistant radio operator; Cpl William E. Johnson, gunner; and Cpl Carroll V. Rittner, gunner. In addition to this irreparable loss, three (3) other planes were damaged as a result of the explosion from this incident."
This is a photo taken with Pete at a recent dinner I hosted for WWII pilots and you probably already know thier stories
. Tex Hill, Paul Tibbets, me, Pete Konduras, and Tokyo Raider Dick Cole
Thu May 05, 2005 12:11 pm
There was a B-17 crew who decided to desert the war, because they were nearly killed over Germany more than once. SO they decided to land in Switzerland. On a raid into Germany they slowly left the formation and then headed towards Switzerland. The crew decided to bail out, but they had to jettison their bombs first. So they bombardier released the bombs, but they hit a small village!
So when they all baled out they were all lynched by angry villagers!
So when they all baled out they were all lynched by angry villagers!
Thu May 05, 2005 12:47 pm
Good stories here folks!
Here's another one about P-47s.
This guy was straffing some place in Europe, and as he sped over the ground, he found himself directly in front of some house with Germans inside, firing away. It was too close to pull up, so he just plowed forward, flying through the house. Now, the wings and the fuselage stayed at the entry point, but the engine and the cockpit crossed the house, leaving the pilot alive!
Here's another one about P-47s.
This guy was straffing some place in Europe, and as he sped over the ground, he found himself directly in front of some house with Germans inside, firing away. It was too close to pull up, so he just plowed forward, flying through the house. Now, the wings and the fuselage stayed at the entry point, but the engine and the cockpit crossed the house, leaving the pilot alive!
ooops
Thu May 05, 2005 1:16 pm
Lt Van Ausdall of the 308th FS was taking off with his wingman from their air field in Sicily in 1943. During their take-off run, a herd of donkey wandered across the runway. Lt Van Ausdall did some frantic weaving and almost crashed before getting off safely. As for his wingman Lt Hurd, well you know how it is sometimes...........................
