91st Bomber Group Engraved POW PH

[Kadet]

Jeez, just snagged this one off of Gunbroker.com for a very nice price! Roy M Tanner was a Tsgt in the 91st Bomber Group and guest of the Germans in March 1945. Should be a fun project...

[Kadet]

2

[scottplen]

nice snag !!!! :thumbsup: i don't have a POW heart as of yet !! have to get me one!!! :thumbsup:

[jim2]

Nice find, I saw this one to and it was an excellent price. :thumbsup: Please keep us updated with the info.

[JDK]

Real nice! GunBroker can yield some good deals from time to time, and not only on militaria, I got a steal on a 1911A1 last fall during the supposed Economic Crisis!

JD

[Kadet]

Here is a great news release that mentions Tanner and his crew....

 

 

NEWS ACCOUNT OF A/C 610 “LIBERTY BELLE”

By Sgt. John H. Smelser

AN EIGHTH AF BOMBER STATION, ENGLAND - With a third

of her crew suffering from lack of oxygen, one

seriously wounded man aboard, two engines out, leaking

gasoline tanks, damaged bomb bay doors, and a fuselage

riddled by flak, the flying fortress “Liberty Belle”

limped back from Munich, Germany, across the skies of

Nazi Europe only to meet her end in the North Sea

within sight of England.

“A flak burst smacked us pretty hard as we were

nearing the target,” says Sgt. John S. Smelser, tail

gunner, son of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Smelser, McLouth,

Kansas, “ the force of the explosion knocked the waist

gunner about 12 feet, slamming him into the top of the

ball turret. The radio gunner, Sgt. Roy M. Tanner,

Ruston, La., went to help him. He found the gunner

with a badly torn kneecap. Sgt. Tanner gave him a

shot of morphine, sprinkled sulfa powder on the gaping

wound, and then bandaged him up. Then I noticed that

the left wing had been hit, too, and gasoline was

streaming from the punctured tanks.”

In addition the bomb bay doors and bomb release

mechanisms had been damaged. The bombardier, 2nd Lt.

Robert S. Bell, Union City, Tenn., managed to get the

doors and salvoed the bombs over the target, but he

was not able to get the doors closed. The open doors

constituted a drag on the aircraft, and along with the

loss of gasoline from the wing tanks, would result in

the ship running short of fuel before it could get

back..

The pilot, 2nd Lt. Don DeLisle, Bucoda, Wash.,

ordered the engineer, Sgt. John D. Carlisle, Houston,

Texas, to try and close the door manually. A few

minutes later, Lt. DeLisle tried to contact Sgt.

Carlisle on the intercom. Receiving no reply, he told

the co-pilot, 2nd Lt. Norman Kimmel, St. Louis, Mo.,

to see what the trouble was.

“Lt. Kimmel,” continues Sgt. Smelser, “found Sgt.

Carlisle hanging halfway out of the open bomb bay,

unconscious. Sgt. Carlisle’s oxygen mask had fallen

off while he was working, and he’d been too busy to

put it back on. Lt. Kimmel dragged the engineer back

in. Then, ripping off his own mask, he put it on the

sergeant. Lt. Kimmel came to, and refusing further

aid, he went back to work trying to get the doors

closed. Lt. Kimmel crawled back to his seat, but

before he could make it, he, too, collapsed, sprawling

across the throttles and controls. The “Belle”

plunged from her spot in the formation and went

careening through the sky, barely missing other

planes. “

With one hand Lt. DeLisle lifted the unconscious

co-pilot off the controls, and with his other fought

to gain control of the floundering Fortress.

“I don’t know how Lt. DeLisle did it,” explains Sgt.

Smelser, “A fort that’s out of control is tough

enough to handle with two hands, let alone one hand.

He shoved the throttles forward and we regained our

air speed. At the same time he pulled the ship back

on an even keel. I’m certain he saved our lives.”

With the big ship under control again, Lt. DeLisle

continued to fly the airplane with one hand. Then

he grabbed the oxygen tube and shoved it into the

co-pilot’s mouth. Lt. Kimmel was getting blue from

lack of oxygen, but the pilot’s quick work saved

Kimmel’s life.

In the meantime, Sgt. Gene A. Capuis, Chicago, Ill.,

the ball turret gunner, was losing consciousness when

his oxygen supply gave out due to flak damage. He

managed to worm his way out of the ball turret before

completely fainting away. He collapsed on the floor

of the fortress. Sgt. Smelser, who had been helping

the wounded waist gunner, rushed to the aid of the

collapsed ball turret gunner. Grabbing an extra

oxygen bottle, he attached it to Sgt. Capuis’ mask,

reviving the gunner.

One engine was out now, and another was weakening.

The “Belle” began dropping back and down.

“Our little friends, the fighter escort, wouldn’t

leave us,” recalls Sgt. Smelser. “They looked plenty

good to us, too, for we were easy meat for Jerry

fighters in our disabled condition.”

As they neared the French coast, another engine quit.

Lt. DeLisle, noting that the gas was almost gone,

too, ordered the crew to prepare to ditch. We began

jettisoning all loose and heavy equipment.

“The ship was losing air speed rapidly,” continues

Sgt. Smelser., but the English coast was in sight, and

we thought we might be able to make it. Then the two

remaining engines quit. We were out of gas. We went

to our ditching positions. I expected a heavy jar

when we hit the water, but Lt. DeLisle set the ship

down nice and easy. A Fort doesn’t stay afloat very

long, and with the bomb bay doors open, we expected

her to sink immediately. We got the wounded man out

and into a dinghy. Then the rest of us clambered out.

We sat in our dinghies for about half an hour, when

we were picked up by a friendly vessel. We were given

brandy, hot food and dry clothing. Just as we were

pulling away in the rescue craft, the “Belle” put her

nose into the water, lifted her tail proudly, and

plunged straight down, out of sight. I don’t

understand why she stayed afloat as long as she did .

I like to think that she knew she was finished the

moment she was hit, but fought her way along until she

knew we would be able to get help. The she didn’t

leave us until she was certain that we were all OK.

Nobody will ever tell me an airplane doesn’t have a

soul.