OLD " 666"

16th of June 1943 a b-17 flying fortress was lumbering through the skies above Bougainville in the solomon islands chain the four-engine army bomber known as old 666 was completely alone beyond the range of fighter escort it would soon be forced to fight for its survival in a harrowing and deadly ordeal pilot jay-z mer and his crew had been charged with taking detailed photographs of Bougainville and nearby bucha Island for Allied invasion maps the nine man crew had volunteered for this extremely dangerous mission the b-17 cruised into enemy airspace over bucha island the Japanese hurriedly scrambled 17 fighters to attack pilot Joe szema remembered that moment in this rare archived interview I should have just spoken headed for home and the hell with the mapping but having been in the infantry knowing that their schedule to the window over first on a landing the importance of doing the mapping hit me they were up there after us and it was hell a Japanese fighters encircled the American bomber keeping out a machine gun range as they coordinated their attack the battle to come was a bomber crews nightmare an escorted in enemy airspace and faced with 17 fighters the story of old 666 had begun five months earlier in Port Moresby New Guinea the base of operations for the 43rd Bomb Group a reputation for lack of discipline put J Zima and his men at the bottom of the waiting list for new b-17s Zima was forced to look elsewhere photographer for me whole squadron could I know where there's an older plane nobody will find any mortars every time ago Jarrah get shot for him off the wrecked fortress was about to be scrapped for its parts but zimas men recovered the plane tail number 666 and towed it back to their squadron to repair it and restore it to Flight Readiness a standard b-17 II was a four-engined aircraft designed to carry up to 8,000 pounds of bombs 13 machine guns were mounted throughout the aeroplane but Jay Zima and his crew intended to volunteer for the most dangerous missions ones that others were reluctant to fly they needed more firepower zimas men rigged the fortress with extra guns the waste guns were converted to twin 50 calibers an extra 50 caliber was fitted in the chin for the Bombardier in the nose a fixed gun was installed for Zima to operate in the end old 666 was loaded with 19 machineguns six more than a standard b-17 it was the most heavily armed bomber in the Pacific now confronted by 17 Japanese fighters zimas men needed those extra guns the zeroes were trying to split the Bombers defensive fire that old 666 was bristling with extra firepower in front as zeros rolled over inverting as they attack so they could peel away quickly Zima fired his nose mounted gun at the attacker directly in front of him the zeroes fuel tanks ignited and the plane tumbled um below the pilots fixed gun Bombardier Joe Sarno ski was tracking another attacker with a long burst he sent a second plane spiraling to earth they'd struck an early blow for their exhilaration quickly turned to horror explosive 20 millimeter cannon shells from the third zero hit the flight deck and fuselage they shout out in my window but everything command on J side and he put Hale in the pilot seat shrapnel ripped into zimas legs arms and wrists in the nose shattered plexiglass and metal tore through Joe Sandusky's abdomen after sonar ski got hit he was dying he started to crawl back to the nose the navigator check to see him and kind of stop and say are you okay shouldn't ask he just kept crawling up to his gun the b-17s rudder controls were gone the hydraulics shot up and the forward firing machine guns were out of commission but worst of all the oxygen system and ceased function old 666 dropped three miles in 40 seconds it leveled off at 8,000 feet where the crew could breathe without equipment to survive Zeeman knew he must make himself a smaller target as possible while maintaining a heading for home he executed a defensive tacking maneuver by winging the bomber sharply to meet each frontal attack Zima gave the zero pilots only a moment to fire while most dogfights last only one minute old 666 endured wave upon wave of Japanese attacked for an excruciating 45 minutes finally having used up almost all of their fuel in the dogfight the Japanese aircraft had to return to base they peeled off lifting their siege of the flying fortress only when his crew was safe from enemy fire did Zima relinquish control of the bomber old 666 limped its way to a friendly base at dobe adora on New Guinea in a b-17 bomber Zima and his men had battled 17 enemy fighters and completed their mapping mission we here on the end of the runway and I made a lot of landing since in but I've never made what I said just slipped her in medics and ground crew rushed to the aircraft Bombardier Joe Sandusky was dead they thought Jay Zima was too we told him to get Jay first and somebody said easy he's gone but do we to respond to that I wanted to lift my head devil doll me poor kid amazingly Zima survived 187 bullets and five cannon shells had shredded old 666 of the nine men in the crew six had been hit for his perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds Zima was awarded the American Medal of Honor for returning to his guns while mortally wounded Joe Sarnowski was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor the seven other crew members received a Distinguished Service Cross it was the most highly decorated mission by an American air crew in the Second World War

Channel: bbottlezigzag

Views: 4,769,165

Rating: 4.7537065 out of 5

Keywords: OLD, 666, Boeing, B-17, Flying, Fortress, Jay, Zeamer, Joe, Sarnoski, Medal, of, Honor, USA, W.W.2

Id: 6Im086TCu3I

Length: 8min 23sec (503 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 03 2009

Reddit Comments

[u/MyaloMark]

You have to love the fact that the plane's number was 666. As for the bravery shown by these guys, we shouldn't be surprised. There are many such stories out there, but we never heard them because the participants either didn't want to brag or the memories were to tough to raise.

I've been fortunate enough to have spoken to quite a few of the guys who fought in WWII. After a few beers I could sometimes get them talking. Many would be surprised that anyone even wanted to hear their old war stories because they couldn't repeat them in polite company for so long. I don't know how many times I heard, "I haven't talked about this in years!"

If you know anyone still alive who fought in that war, or Vietnam, you should ask them about it when you get the opportunity. You will be surprised at the heroism displayed at one time by what you previously considered just some old dude.

[u/ridethecliche]

Never question "The Greatest Generation"

Amazing

[u/antarcticgecko]

It's important to mention that shooting down a fighter from a bomber is extremely difficult. You have to account for the difference in airspeed and gravity, not to mention the fact that you are aiming at a tiny target going anywhere and up to ~450 mph in some cases. I read somewheres that the best tactic was to shoot behind the fighter as it was turning in for its attack run, as it would make it's attack and curve back into your stream of bullets.

[u/[deleted]]

Amazing stuff -- and what makes it even more impressive is if you've ever seen one of these things fly by. I remember a Fleet Week in San Francisco about 20 years ago, when part of the celebrations involved a flyover of the Golden Gate Bridge by what seemed like every vintage fighter, bomber, trainer, transport, anything that had propellers and makes noise, that they could find. Must have been the Cactus AF, the Confederate AF, and every other private owner around, because I couldn't count the massive, massive formation.

A few days previously, I'd been playing volleyball at college across the bay, when everything just started rumbling and shaking. We thought it was an earthquake, but it seemed "different" -- and all of a sudden, a B-17 and B-24 came barreling over at what couldn't have been more than 3-400 feet. Those things make such an unholy racket, I've rarely seen anything that impressive.

Side note -- what tool was used to make the video? Is it a flight simulator? Great quality, thanks for posting.

Edit: And I think this authoritatively proves that the answer to most of life's problems is, "MOUNT MORE MACHINE GUNS ON IT".

[u/paiaw]

I've never heard of that, and it was fascinating. Thanks for the link.

[u/lorbuspoopsubrol]

Heroes. Every fucking one of them.

[u/Trent1373]

Very cool.

[u/ProfitMoney]

Wilford Brimley was a badass pilot.

[u/Inquisitor1]

Is it about the ace pilot with no FUCKING LEGS!? Тo feet actually, but still