Friendly fire WWII

[Zemper]

Thought some of you may be interested in seeing the attached pictures. They are two of a series of pictures showing a B-17 out of formation being hit by a bomb from the B-17 above. The date on the photos is October 24, 1944. The pictures were taken by the photo officer (my Grandfather) who was in the 457th BG.

-Eric Zemper

[dakota]

Just one accident locally -
22/6/41 at Wollaston Northants, England, Manchester L7314 of 207 Sqdn, Waddington, Lincs was shot down by a Beaufighter of 25 Sqdn, Wittering.
dakota.

[Brian]

Hi Zemper and Dakota

Apologies for the delay in thanking you for your input but I have been away for a few days.

Keep 'em coming!

Cheers
Brian

[Juha]

Hello Brian
In Finland we have saying ”better late than never” so here the story of the Do 17Z hit by ”friendly” bombs.
Date: 30.09.1942 after midnight
A/c: DN-52 (Dornier Do 17 Z-3 W.Nr. 2608 ) / LeLv 46

Four DNs of LeLv 46 has taken off from Noljakka a/f to bomb Sekehe a/f in East-Karelia when the accident happened. The target was under fog so the leader kapteeni (Captain) Uotinen ordered attack against the secondary target, Murmansk railway North of Sekehe. The four bombers approached the new target at 1400m in line formation and DN-52 was the last one. Its observer luutn. Kaarlo Mauno Holger RUNDQVIST (* 20.05.1920 in Viipuri) dropped the bombs and the pilot luutn. Jorma Turpeinen pushed the plane in a shallow dive. Then he unexpectedly shouted “Bail out!”. A moment later the plane rocked violently and something crashed into nose and howling air stream filled the cockpit. The observer Rundqvist, who was nearest to the bottom hatch, immediately opened the hatch and jumped. The pilot opened his harness and moved towards the hatch and saw that Rundqvist’s parachute opened when W/O kers. (Sgt) Osmo Rautavaara shouted that they were too low for jump and shouted that Turpeinen ought to pull the stick. Turpeinen went back to his seat and pulled and the Dornier straightened out. Then the gunner alik (Corporal) Väinö Nousiainen acknowledged than also he was still in plane. The air stream had pinned him down and he had been unable to bail out. After minutes silence Turpeinen told to others that their plane had not hit by AA but by two 50kg bombs. The nose was smashed and there was a big hole in the right wing. Engines worked normally but all maps had gone. All they could do was to take a rough course to West. Turpeinen decided to break radio silence and ordered the W/O to inform the leading plane. So Rautavaara send the message:”Arska (the pet name of the W/O in the leading plane), here Osku” (pet name of Rautavaara). Answer came fast “Cannot be Osku, he is dead.” In the leading plane they believed that DN-52 had crashed and the message was some sort Soviet trick. Rautavaara answered:”We will follow behind, we have some damage. Over” When they got nearer a bigger base Onttola Turpeinen suggested to others that they should bail out and that he would try to land the plane alone but the other refused. And so they made a normal landing at Onttola base. Later a Soviet PoW told to Finns that Rundqvist had survived and was held in a PoW camp. Rundqvist returned to Finland after war on 26.12.1944. When the crews figured how DN-52 had gone under the Dornier front of it they draw a conclusion that Rundqvist had dropped DN-52’s bombs before the observer of the Dornier in front had dropped his. When Turpeinen had after Rundqvist’s “Bombs away” had followed the normal procedure and pushed the plane in a dive DN-52 had moved under slower moving DN-54.
It took a little over 2 weeks to repair the damages in DN-52.


Sources: Jaakko Hyvönen's Kohtalokkaat lennot 1939-1944 Toinen painos (1st reprint) Hämeenlinna 2001 ISBN 952-5026-21-3
Matti Hämäläinen's Pommituslentolaivue 46. 1. painos. Hämeenlinna 2005.
Pertti Manninen: Dornier Do 17 Z tuttu tuntematon in Suomen Ilmailuhistoriallinen Lehti 4/2006

Juha

[Brian]

Hi Juha

Many thanks indeed - we have the same saying in England!

What's Finnish for 'Cheers' ?

Cheers
Brian

Dear Brian,

9 April 1945 loss of a 25th Bg Mosquito NS792 claimed to have been by FFAF P-51? The French AF did not operate any P-51s during WWII. I interviewed the navigator involved, and my work was pirated and appeared in another book with this error.

24 March 1945, loss of Mosquito NS635. Again I am the only individual to locate and interview the navigator before he died. The tail WAS NOT painted Red according to the navigator. Again my work was pirated and appeared in another book with this misinformation.

11 August 1944 Mosquito NS533. Again I searched and located the navigator who survived the incident. I interviewed him by telephone, and at the 25th BG reuinion in Kansas City, the navigator presented me with a full written account of the Frantic Mission and how he was shot down, and escaped from France with help of the Maquis. I still have all my taped telephone interviews and the orignal typed account by the navigator. Again my work was pirated and appeared in another book.

I obtained information from the USAAF P-51 unit that shot down the Mosquito, from Maxwell AFB. The person who pirated my work did not know where I obtained this information and gave reference to NARA, Washington, DC as the source.

The person who pirated my copyrighted work is currently deceased.

Norman Malayney

[Robert Todd]

In December 1944 Lt Allen Burgham, Senior Pilot of 835 Squadron took off in ther twilight of an arctic "Day" to intercept 40 Junker's 88's attacking the convoy. Also taking off with him was Sub Lt "Dusty" Miller as Burgham's Number two. Darkness came quickly and they were in poitch black conditions in day fighters (Wildcat VIs). They only caught glimpses of the enemy flying in low at less than 500 feet. They managed to disrupt the torpedoe runs and not one ship was hit. However they were left up there and in serious trouble flying only on instruments and with no help. Burgham flew for over an hour and a half and was directed by the fighter direction officer of the ship. It was problematic because they were giving him directions relative to the ship - not to him. Fianlly after all that time he maaaaade it back only to be faced with a wall of tracersd from most of the ships in the convoy. Finally the shooting was ended by the Admiral (McGrigor). The exhausted pilot landed in total darkness (he received the Distinguished Service Cross for his gallant actions and was written up in London's newspapers. The Admiralty called it "a magnificent piece of workj" as he became the first man in history to land a day fighter at night (onto a 68 foot wide deck)

When he lanmdfed he was hit with a sea of angry piloits. They had seen Miller coming up the sea lane approachiung the ship. His undercarriage was down and his landing lights were on. he was waggling his wings. He was hit by a wall of fire from HMS Bellona. The navy never admitted that Miller was killed by friendly fire. But i9t is instructive to note that Rear Admiral McGrigor sent a sharp order to all ships to not fire on single engine aircraft. The enemy had two engines on thier planes and didn't fly with landing lights on and undercarriage down!

[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by Norman Malayney

Dear Brian,

24 March 1945, loss of Mosquito NS635. Again I am the only individual to locate and interview the navigator before he died. The tail WAS NOT painted Red according to the navigator.

Are you certain of this?

Red tails were standard in the 25th Bomb Group at that time because their planes had been attacked by friendly aircraft in the past. Even if Mosquito NS635 was a new arrival at their base, it seems unlikely that the group commander would risk sending it aloft without the usual tail ID markings.

[Brian]

Thanks Norman, Robert and Six Nifty - much appreciated

Cheers
Brian

[Brian]

Thanks Norman, Robert and Six-Nifty - very much appreciated.

Cheers
Brian