May 19th 1944

[Whiplash]

OMG... cliffhanger!!! What happened to the guy who lost his chute? Did they find him?

 

I don't know! I talked to my grandfather a little here an there about his experience but I was pretty young at the time to fully appreciate who I was talking to. That text I quoted is a small side tangent to a short memoir he wrote about his escape from Yogoslavia after his B-24 took a flack hit which severed a fuel line. I remember him telling me that before they bailed they lighten their load by throwing guns, ammo, gear, etc. out the window. I guess the bombardier started throwing light bulbs and fuses out, one by one, as his contribution for "lighting the load".

 

It was so ridiculous that it broke the tension as we threw out ammunition, etc.

-Garth Kanen

 

I'm Not trying to hijack the thread, but if you want to check out pictures of the plane (the Banana Boat) they jumped out of that day you can see them here. The personal in those pictures are from the crew that flew the plane before my grandfather's crew was assigned to it.

 

Anyways, I'm right there with you guys, I'm pretty sure any movie like the Memphis Belle only give a fraction of what it must have been like as a bomber crew member, but even that is enough to make a successful movie. So it's kind of hard to imagine what it must have really been like.

 

I like to think about the day when we could have a B-17 or something with a refined version of Sith's flak scrip and P-51 escorts flying over Europe. I don't know if you could build a single server big enough to satisfy the demand that would bring.

[NineLine]

No hijack at all I am loving the clips of your grandfathers experience...

 

On DCS Bombers... it would be cool to have an order to lighten the load, and animated crew tossing out guns, ammo... and light bulbs :)

[Whiplash]

No hijack at all I am loving the clips of your grandfathers experience...

 

On DCS Bombers... it would be cool to have an order to lighten the load, and animated crew tossing out guns, ammo... and light bulbs :)

 

Oh man, see it's comments like that, that make me wish I had gone into computer science instead of engineering so I could get to work on it right now. That would seriously be great!

[9.JG27 DavidRed]

definitely very appreciated those stories whip!

i have to confess, since you told me, that your grandfather had to bail over vienna, at exactly the place where i grew up and played with my friends when i was a young school boy, makes it even more interesting for me...

[Whiplash]

definitely very appreciated those stories whip!

i have to confess, since you told me, that your grandfather had to bail over vienna, at exactly the place where i grew up and played with my friends when i was a young school boy, makes it even more interesting for me...

 

I know, that is crazy! It kind of makes this world feel small. It will most likely have to wait until I am old and retired but I have always wanted to visit the area. Maybe make a big trip out of it. First I'd start around the coordinates that I gave you then retrace his journey to the island of Vis where he saw Marshall Tito himself, (not in his usual combat fatigues but wearing a pinkish grey suit with red lapels and gold embroidery around the edges) then onto a boat to the harbor of Bari and finally back to Muraduria, Italy where their abandoned airfield still exist. It would be epic! I'll be sure to pay you a visit when that happens :D

[Krupi]

WOW fantastic information, thank you!

[NineLine]

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