B-17 "Lazy Baby"
In this episode, 96 Year Old B-17 Bomber Flight Engineer Bob Cinibulk tells his an amazing story.
On the morning of October 14th, 1943 along with 15 others from the 305th Bomb Group, Lazy Baby set off from Chelveston in England on Mission 115, the second Schweinfurt raid, later to become known as Black Thursday. By the time they reached Aachen on the outward leg only Lazy Baby and two others of the 305th were left flying.
They were then seriously damaged and three crew severely injured whilst two bailed out. Diving from 23,000 ft to only 3,000 ft, pilot Ed Dienhart managed to escape the attacking fighters. With the ball turret gunner trapped and navigator seriously injured they proceeded at 30 to 50 feet, hedge-hopping all the way, to Switzerland and safety.
Guided by the navigator Don Rowley who, despite having both arms virtually severed, managed to steer them from memory for over an hour to Switzerland where they made a dramatic crash landing only four miles from the German border. The navigator died the following day from his injuries."
On this 2017 Memorial Weekend take a moment to respect our fallen and give thanks to all our fallen who died to preserve our freedoms. God Rest Your souls - Pitchlock Pete (Hangardeck Podcast)