|
Click
Pictures
to
View
|
STUPEN-TAKET
41-24549
B-17F-25-BO
91/323
OR-Q
 This
was
another
of
the
group's
original
planes
assigned
to
the
323rd
Squadron
at
Dow
Field,
Bangor,
Maine,
in
September
1942.
On
the
group's
third
mission
on
9
November,
Lt
Martin
McCarty
took
the
plane
to
attack
the
lock
gates
at
St
Nazaire,
'Flak
City'.
The
navigator
on
his
crew,
Captain
Maas,
kept
a
combat
diary
in
which
he
described
the
initial
signal
light
challenge
that
the
formation
received
from
the
shore
before
the
flak
opened
up
on
them.
A
105mm
shell
streaked
past
the
nose
of
Stupen-Taket
and
heralded
a
veritable
hell
of
fire.
Just
prior
to
bombing,
flak
exploded
directly
in
front
of
the
ship,
punched
holes
in
the
plexiglass
and
mortally
wounded
the
bombardier,
Lt.Louis
Briglia,
as
he
huddled
over
his
bomb
sight.
He
was
the
first
Officer
to
be
killed
in
action.
On
30th
December,Stupen-Taket
led
the
formation
to
strike
at
the
submarine
pens
at
Lorient
with
Major
Paul
D.Brown
at
the
controls.
Just
as
they
turned
onto
the
bomb
run
to
fly
straight
and
level,
swarms
of
Fwl90s
and
Mel09s
hit
the
group
from
dead
ahead.
The
fighters
were
described
as
lining
up
in
two
lines,
one
each
side
of
the
nose,
then
peeling
off
far
out
and
diving
in
with
20mm
cannons
blazing.
The
top
turret
gunner
claimed
one
Fwl9O
as
it
roared
in
to
attack
but
then
the
turret
jammed
leaving
those
in
the
nose
to
provide
what
protection
they
could
from
the
frontal
assault.
In
mid
February,
on
the
16th,
Stupen-Taket
went
back
to
St
Nazaire
but
an
engine
quit
on
the
return
flight
and
the
propeller
could
not
be
feathered.
The
resultant
drag
caused
the
ship
to
fall
behind
the
formation,
a
sitting
target
for
the
Luftwaffe
fighters.
The
pilot
took
violent
evasive
action
by
diving
and
climbing
to
avoid
the
incoming
shells
and
eventually
made
it
back
to
Bassingbourn.
Martin
McCarty's
crew
was
flying
the
ship
on
4th
March
1943
for
the
8th
Air
Force's
first
strike
into
the
heavily
defended
Ruhr
area.
The
marshaling
yards
at
Hamm
were
the
target
but
the
weather
disrupted
a
carefully
laid
plan
and
caused
three
of
the
four
attacking
groups
to
turn
)out
or
hit
secondary
objectives.
The
91st,
however,
unaware
that
it
was
alone,
headed
straight
for
the
primary
target.
Over
the
Continent
the
weather
improved
and
revealed
their
predicament
but
the
formation
pressed
on
to
be
met
by
intense
fighter
attacks
and
accurate
flak.
The
group
lost
three
Fortresses
and
had
another
ditch
into
the
North
Sea.
One
of
those
lost
was
Stupen-Taket.
At
Bassingbourn
during
debriefing,
eyewitnesses
described
seeing
Stupen-Taket
drop
to
20,000
ft.
before
exploding
with
just
two
chutes
deployed.
Eight
men
on
McCarty's
crew
lost
their
lives
that
day
and
one
of
the
two
survivors,
Lt
John
Bell,
later
described
what
happened.
Just
prior
to
the
target,
a
machine
gun
bullet
had
hit
the
waist
gunner
in
the
neck
and
he
died
immediately.
After
crossing
over
the
target,
amid
heavy
flak,
the
plane
received
a
direct
flak
burst
and
just
a
few
seconds
later
the
pilot
ordered
the
crew
to
bail
out.
John
Bell
was
picked
up
by
German
police
immediately
on
landing
and
was
taken
to
view
the
wreckage
of
Stupen-Taket
which
had
crashed
5
miles
north-east
of
Munster.
He
was
informed
by
officials
that
seven
of
the
crew
had
not
reached
the
ground
safely
and
another
had
burned
in
the
plane.
This
is
one
of
the
original
Nine
B-17
Flying
Fortresses
that
formed
the
323rd
Bomb
Squadron
of
the
91st
Bomb
Group.
|
