It was December 31st, 1944, New Year’s eve. But
there were many young men who are not celebrating on that day as they crew a group
37 B 17 Flying Fortresses conducting missions targeting oil refineries over
Hamburg. Having their mission complete, they were battering against the German
Flak as they find a way to escape that situation. Lieutenant Glenn Rojohn is in
command of a B 17 Flying Fortress nicknamed “The Little Skipper”.
He and his crew were desperately finding a way to avoid the
flak maneuvering as best as they can; the sky was dark because it was full of
flak burst. When they reached the North Sea, they were relieved. There were
starting to fly level and in tight formation looking out for enemy 109s. There
was a very strong headwind which means that the B 17s were flying slowly, but
suddenly they were spotted. At 22,000ft B 17 gunners started firing at the
enemy 109s. B 17 bombers can only take much damage and many B 17s were lost.
Because flying in tight formation is their best defense,
enemy fighters were relentless. With so many planes lost, the B 17 nicknamed
“Lucky Lassie” becomes the leader and the plane sprang into action forming new
formations; Lt Rojohn increases the plane’s speed and catching up to the new
formation. But the Me-109s were merciless and just underneath Rojohn’s plane,
another B 17 nicknamed “Nine Lives” was shot and damaged. Amazingly, the plane
is still flying but both pilots were knocked out and the plane starts drifting.
Inside the little skipper, there was a sickening crunch as an
impact runs through the plane. Both pilots were shocked and looked over his
Co-pilot; the plane starts to feel heavy and they immediately pulled the stick.
Until they realized that they had collided with another plane and locked in
place flying together as one. The ball bottom ball turret of the little skipper
was under the fuselage of the Nine Lives and some of the rudder sections were
sliced as little skipper’s elevator crashed on it, no matter how hard they
shake the aircraft in an attempt to free their aircraft it was useless.
Three of the Nine Live’s engines were still running until
engine fire broke out on engine number two and the plane starts losing
altitude quickly; when they realized that they couldn’t make it back and
ditching is risky, they decided to head back to Germany. They turned off little
skipper’s engines because there is a risk of damaging the Nine Lives, they
turned the aircraft and head back to Germany. As they approached the shore,
they were spotted by German anti-aircraft batteries. A German recorded his
sight on his logbook, “Two fortresses collided in a formation in the North
East. The planes flew hooked together and flew 20 miles south; the two planes
were unable to fight anymore. The crash should be awaited”.
Six men from little skipper safely bailed out, when Rojohn
ordered his co-pilot to leave the aircraft but his co-pilot refuses to leave to
keep the plane flying level. A navigator from the Little Skipper watched the
strange sight watching two bombers stuck together and crashed to the ground.
They were in a Piggy Back ride; one of the aircraft is approaching the ground
at high speeds. After saying their last prayer they pulled the stick in an
attempt to pull up the aircraft and gave much lift as possible.
They had to pull the steering yoke that they had to put their
feet on the console to brace them. The two aircraft hit the ground at terrifying speeds, the Nine Lives was smashed and disintegrated while the
Little Skipper slides down the hill and crashed into a wooden building tearing
the wings and fuselage. As the plane stops, both pilots looked at each other
they miraculously survived the crash. Just after they get out and inspect the
plane so as the German troops arrived to capture them, all of the survivors
were captured and taken prisoner by the Germans.
Lt Glenn Rojohn was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
for his actions that day, but he always credited leak (His Co-pilot that day)
for saving his life. The two men lost touch with each other after the war, but in
1986 Glenn Rojohn manages to track Bill Leek down and get in touch. In 1987 the
two men and the surviving crew were reunited and finally brought back together
at a reunion of the 100th bomb group in long beach California.
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