Ian McLachlan, bomber crew, 24th war sortie
452nd Bomb Group, 24.12.1944, , plane B-17G 42-31358.
"Two FW 190s made a pass through our formation. They hit out ship with a 20 mm shell.
Our radio operator Phil was badly wounded by the explosion before he could sound the alarm. Phil had shrapnel in both arms, in his legs at the knees. He also had pieces of aluminium above his eyes and the radio room as like a sieve with two or three hundred small holes.
The oxygen system was damaged.
Slightly Dangerous was in a bad shape. The 20mm shell exploded in the left inner wing panel behind No.2 engine. The hole was large enough for two men to stand in. The trailing edge of the wing and the flaps were in tatters.
Control cables and electrical cables were sheared. The explosion missed a main fuel tank by six inches.
The left wing vibrated above 145 mph, so we could not keep up with the formation.
...
(rtb)
We made a straight-in approach for a hot landing without flaps.
(approach) Suddenly another plane was overhead and dropped down in front of us. Mac gunned all four engines to full boots and No.3 caught fire as we staggered across the air base.
(overshot the runway) Mac was evidently trying to crashland in a large, sloping field. The mail wheels tripped into treetops and pitched the bomber's nose violently downwards."
In the end the plane crashlanded heavily, with six of the crew perishing.
--
And all this from a single 20 mm strike at the wing.
Source: Flypast February 2006 issue, article "Always Maximum", page 32->
g.
