William Seymor BURTT

Source : geoffrey gillon

B-17G 42-38083  "Man ‘O War II – Horsepower Ltd"

Macr : 10144
Mission : Francfort, Allemagne

Take off from Bassingbourn Station

 CEMETERY TEMPORARY of  Cambridge Cemetery, England N°1615

Story of Cemetery Temporary 

After graduating flight school and being commissioned as a 2nd Lt., Burtt was assigned to the 322nd BS, 91st BG based at Bassingbourn. He flew several missions as a copilot before flying his first as a pilot on 29 Jan 1944.

The destination that day was Frankfurt, Germany and Burtt and his crew were flying in a new B-17G they dubbed "Man O War - Horsepower LTD".

The second part of that name would prove to be quite appropriate given what was in store for them.

The mission did not get off to the best start as an oxygen system failed en route and the bomber then became separated from the rest of the group. As they neared the target they were able to find another formation of B-17s and attacked with them, but right after they released their bombs, all hell broke loose. "Man O War" was jumped by a swarm of fighters that quickly knocked out an engine and severed the aileron cables.

The Fortress plummeted several thousand feet in a matter of seconds but the young pilot was able to regain control.

Soon another engine was shot out and the plane was riddled from nose to tail with 20mm cannon and machine gun fire. As Burtt struggled to keep the crippled bomber airborne, a bad situation got even worse when a 20mm shell shattered the nose cone and hit S/Sgt. Roy Wright, the togglier.  

Source : patootie

Source : Skip Farrow

The impact threw him back into the lap of the navigator, Lt. Robert West, who held his wounded buddy in one arm while firing a .50 cal cheek gun in the other.

Hearing the cries for help, Lt. Frank Alford, the copilot, went to the nose to see how he could help.

He and West did everything they could for Wright, but the injury was too great and he died in West's arms 30 minutes later. More shells continued to the hit the plane and shattered more windows in the radio room that injured S/Sgt. Charles Grubb, but the crew refused to give up.

The tail gunner, S/Sgt. Robert Mueller, shot down two Me-110s during the fight while Lt. West claimed another.

With one crewmember dead, three engines out, and his plane riddled with holes, Burtt told the rest of the crew to prepare to ditch as they skimmed a mere 300 feet over the English Channel.

As the crew threw out machine guns, flak jackets and any other dead weight, the coast finally appeared. Burtt and Alford searched for a level stretch of land and found a suitable turnip field just outside the small village of Bredgar near Sittingbourne.

After narrowly hitting a telephone wire, Burtt brought the plane down and the plane skidded to a stop in the soft ground, trailing several hundred feet of fence behind it. By luck, skill and good old fashioned craftsmanship by Boeing, the crew made it home….even if "Man O War"s horsepower was severely limited.

By : matthew_bourke365

Source : Fold3