It’s February the 1st, 1943
and taking off from Biskra in Algeria
are a formation of B-17 bombers
belonging to the 414th squadron, 97th bombardment group.
Their target is 300 miles away at the seaport of Tunis
which is controlled by the Germans.
At the controls of his B-17F, The All American
sits Lt Ken Bragg Jr and his co-pilot Godfrey Engle Jr.
En route the B-17s were repeatedly harassed by Bf 109s.
Putting up a brave defense they manage to make it through to the target.
And the German fighters peel off
just before the flak starts up.
The bombardier, Ralph Burbridge, takes control.
The flak is very thick and the crew are shook repeatedly.
Burbridge though does his job
and over Tunis releases the load of bombs.
The All American and the rest of the B-17s turn for home.
On their return, once out of the flak
the formation is targeted again by German fighters.
Tenaciously they hang on to the formation
doing repeated passes and taking chunks out of the B-17s.
That is until their maximum range is reached
and the Germans are forced to turn back home.
Thankfully, the All American is still in good shape
and all the crews breathe a sigh of relief as they are almost out of German range.
But any celebrations are too early
when suddenly the cry goes up,
“Bandits!”
as 2 Bf 109s are spotted.
At the controls of the fighters are 2 very experienced German pilots.
One of the Bf 109s targets the lead plane in the squadron.
The gunners on the All American try and defend the lead bomber.
The right side gun pumps lead into the Bf 109 and it’s a critical hit.
The 109 slipped under the formation streaming smoke and oil
and went down in the desert below.
Meanwhile the second 109 “Yellow 1” piloted by Eric Paczia
gets the all American in its sights.
Paczia is an experienced pilot with 16 victories to his name.
His plan is to take the All American head on
and roll underneath it.
The nose gunner has other plans and gets to work.
The All American is hit repeatedly
but the plucky crew continue their defense,
peppering Yellow 1 with lead...
all the time it's flying closer to the point it's filling the gun sights.
In the Bf 109 his attack run done,
Paczia starts to roll and line up for another attack,
but the hail of fire from the B-17 has done its job,
incapacitating the pilot.
Whether through injury or mechanical problems
he is unable to complete his maneuver,
and the plane heads straight for the All American.
The crew hear a “WHOOMPH” and a shudder
as the out of control 109 plowed into the All American.
The alarming noise of the 2 birds colliding
coincides with a storm of twisted tangled razor sharp metal
flying about, stunning the crew.
The plane lurched and writhed
at the controls with Bragg struggling to keep her straight and level.
Picking themselves off the ground
the crew were amazed to see a huge gaping hole in the fuselage.
The 109 had completely disintegrated
but it had left its mark on the now seemingly critically injured warbird.
The crew were also astounded to find
bits of the 109 lying around inside the fuselage…
or what was left of the fuselage.
The B-17 had been almost entirely torn in two.
The tail end of the plane was connected to the main fuselage
by just 2 small parts of the air frame.
Despite their reputation as tough and hard to bring down
this B-17 should have been critically damaged.
The melee had left its mark.
None of the right hand engines were now running.
Only one engine on the left was fully operational.
The rudder had been damaged
and the vertical fin looked like it would give way at any moment.
Unbelievably, the entire crew was still alive.
They tightened their parachutes ready to jump
as soon as the tail gave up its tenuous connection to the aircraft,
but again unbelievably,
the All American kept on flying.
Other B-17s in the formation were amazed to see the plane
almost torn in 2
pitch up, recover and continue flying,
it seemed to everyone like a miracle.
Lieutenant Charles Cutforth in an accompanying bomber, the Flying Flit Gun,
snapped an image of the stricken bomber that would become famous:
“The All American cruising over the desert landscape,
with a ragged slice through its fuselage”
Bragg later recalled:
"As I opened the door of the radio compartment and looked back into the fuselage
I was stunned.
A torn mass of metal greeted my eyes.
Wires were dangling and sheets of metal were flapping
as the air rushed through the torn wreckage.
Three-fourths of the plane had been cut completely through by the enemy fighter
and a large piece of the wing of the Me 109 was still lodged in the tail of our plane.
It left our tail section hanging on by a few slender spars
and a narrow strip of metallic skin.”
Sgt Sam Sarpolus, the tail gunner,
decided it was time to escape his position in the most fragile part of the plane
and crawled along the spars to make it back into the main fuselage
bringing with him four gun brushes, his parachute,
and Bragg's jacket.
The formation slowed and stayed with the plane
until they were safely over American controlled airspace
then went ahead to land.
The brave pilots of the All American
managed to ease the plane down on a straight landing trajectory at Biskra.
Without a rear wheel now,
the incredibly resilient B-17
held together as it came skidding to a halt.
The crew exited the plane
and apart from minor injuries were unhurt.
Even the All American was not critically injured.
The bird that wouldn’t be put down,
was patched up and continued to the end of the war
eventually having to be scrapped.
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