The Masters Of The Air Clue to A Sad Sacrifice – Sweet Caroline
By Haybag Maddie
We’re loving watching Masters Of The Air and although of course there will be the odd thing that isn’t quite accurate, Mr Gibbs and I think that on balance the producers have done an amazing job of conveying the atmosphere of what it must have been like.
What the series can’t do is to give some of the wider historical background to the little things you see on screen. Things like in Episode 2 when you see one of the crew tell the skipper that he’s going to go and arm the bombs.
Read on for more
Depending on the type of bombs the B-17 fort could carry a normal maximum load of 8,000 lbs and if it was fitted with special external racks the maximum normal short-range bomb load could go as high as 17,600 lbs. On top of that the forts carried all the ammunition for the five .30 caliber machine guns.
So you might assume that waiting until you were in the air and close to the IP or Initial Point where the bomb run started to arm the bombs would always have been standard procedure. But you would be wrong. As with so many things in WW2, that safety procedure was a sad legacy.
On 23 June 1943 the B-17 Flying Fortress #42-30024 ‘Caroline’ was being prepared at Ridgewell airfield in Essex, home of the 381st Bomb Group.
She was to be part of a combined force of 172 B-17s attacking the air depot at Villacoublay, France and the German airfield at Bernay St. Martin.
As the bombs were being loaded there was an accident and the bombs exploded. 23 men were killed, 22 serving personnel and one British civilian – John Hunwick – who was cycling past on his way to work on the base.
The huge explosion also damaged 2 other B-17s, killing Lieutenant Paul E Tull who was in his B-17 42-29992 “Connie” checking his bombing instruments when he was struck in the head by debris from the explosion. As a result of the terrible sacrifice of all these men, new safety protocols were brought in.
That’s what’s behind the scene of the bombs being armed in the air in Masters Of The Air Episode 2.
It goes to show that there are many kinds of sacrifice that we should remember. Mr Gibbs honours these men by having their photos and names on our wall, and also has some of the twisted pieces of ‘Caroline’ recovered after the explosion. You can see pictures of them below along with a picture of Edward G Robinson in the Ridgewell Officer’s Mess in 1944.
Masters Of The Air can’t possibly tell the huge, full story of the Mighty Eighth, but if it encourages us to discover and remember more of the sacrifice and lives given for a greater cause, then that’s just a brilliant thing. Dedicated to those lost on 24 June 1943.
Those lost: B-17 Flying Fortress #42-30024 ‘Caroline’
◼Roger H Allen :: Ground Crew
◼Robert M Ashcraft :: Ground Crew
◼Ervin Bohlander :: Radio Operator
◼George K Boland :: Ground Crew
◼Henry Bongiorno :: Ground Crew
◼Dennis L Collins :: Ground Crew
◼Michael J Egan :: Ground Crew
◼Charles A Feeley :: Ground Crew
◼George Fiamma :: Ground Crew
◼Milton J Foerstel :: Ground Crew
◼Elwood R Harris :: Tail Gunner
◼Melvin L Jerkins :: Ground Crew
◼James H King :: Ground Crew
◼Joseph Kristapavich :: Ball Turret Gunner
◼Christian Langolf :: Left Waist Gunner
◼James J Lintgen :: Right Waist Gunner
◼Elmer F Madden :: Ground Crew
◼James A Main :: Ground Crew
◼Guy McDuffee :: Armorer Gunner
◼Joseph L Neel :: Engineer
◼Louis Smulowitz :: Top Turret Gunner
◼Joseph F Sproha Jr :: Ground Crew
◼Paul E Tull :: Bombardier
◼Charles H Wilton :: Ground Crew
And British civilian John Hunwick.
Top: B-17 42-30024 ‘Caroline’ foreground, in formation.
Above: Some of those lost in the 23 June 1943 disaster at Ridgewell
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