The Gunner Who Drowned Defending his Flying Fortress

on January 3rd 1943 sons of Fury AB 17 ditched Into The Frigid Waters of the English Channel it had been shot down by of WF 190s but it was by no means out of the fight as its crew struggled to escape the rapidly sinking American bomber a single German fighter opened up on the men in the water within seconds a new sound began the 24-year-old flight engineer was taking aim at the 190 with his twin 50 cows covering his dying friends for nearly a minute he pumped lead into the sky stopping only when his turret filled with water and the fult dragged him beneath the waves the man in the turret was identified as technical Sergeant Arizona Todd Harris but the truth is none of the 10-man crew aboard sons of Fury survived to tell their tale after hours of research I've come up with the only three scenarios to explain the event so what really happened and who was operating that turret first let's answer the question who was Arizona T Harris and what do we know about those boys flying aboard sons of Fury that day the 369th bomber Squadron part of the 306th bombardment group had arrived at thurley bedfordshire in September 1942 this had involved a perilous cross-atlantic voyage by air by some of the group while the bulk risked the boats at Sea thankfully the 306 was not sent to the Bottom of the Sea as German propaganda claimed and so the 369th bomber Squadron became one of the first American units to operate in Britain and was a real Pioneer of precision daylight bombing operations then began in October 1942 with the first mission being flown against Lil on the 9th of that month from the beginning losses were heavy as the German defenses were stepped up to conf confront this new threat nevertheless the Real Enemy would soon become the changeable weather it was the real challenge to overcome before Precision bombing could be proved and perfected technical Sergeant Arizona T Harris was in the thick of the fighting from the very beginning described as a self-sufficient redhead who despite not taking to the Army was well aware of his responsibilities like many of the lads he just wanted the war to be over so we could get back to Tempe Phoenix and his high school sweetheart whether or not he held strong opinions against the enemy is unknown but his actions showed that his chief concern was always protecting his friends during that first mission against the locomotive works at liil just four FS from the 369th took part joining up with other squadrons in the group there is no doubt however that this was an intense baptism of fire they met heavy fighter resistance despite the relatively shallow penetration into French airspace and as ever Flack but it was not all one-sided the Americans claimed a staggering 10 Fighters destroyed and a further 10 probables technical Sergeant Arizona T Harris claimed an fw190 destroyed and this claim was later confirmed as a result he was awarded the air medal on the 8th of November the unit's second mission Harris and his crew put in claims for another four enemy Fighters destroyed and a fifth as a probable it looked very much as if the crew of the sons of Fury would be making a name for themselves in this war at 9:00 a.m. on the 3rd of January 1943 sons of Fury took off to participate in the fifth American raid on San nazer it would be the most devastating so far earning great praise from Brigadier General Longfellow Commanding General of the eighth bomber command in reality of the 10 fults that saw their bombs burst only three reported them to have fallen in the Target area whatever the Real Results Arizona T Harris and his crew mates would not be alive to hear long fellow's attempt at boosting morale just after the attack at about 1145 hours other members of the Squadron saw sons of Fury piloted by Lieutenant crma limping out formation heavily damaged it was then again attacked by enemy Fighters as it descended towards the sea at this point the entire formation were losing height having attacked from 19,000 ft they were detailed to return on the deck this was reported as putting the fw1 190s at a distinct disadvantage as they tried to find a way to attack the low-flying fs being so low down to 500 ft in some cases allowed the others to witness the fate of Sons of Fury and Report the incredible scene to the Intelligence Officers waiting back at base one of whom major Alan Richardson had almost joined the fate of Arizona T Harris and the crew of Sons of Fury Richardson gave one of the only descriptions I found of This Crew although he does remember the B7 being named fighting biting this intelligence officer knew Lieutenant cranmer extremely well having met him back in Utah in their Billet upon being awoken in the we hours by the pilots pist shot the lieutenant and his crew had just returned from a nighttime training flight and was eager to blow off steam before turning in for the night the two men became firm friends and Billet buddies despite some Choice words uttered by Richardson that night major Richardson then also a lieutenant often flew with cran and other friends in the unit during training State side and so when they entered combat he tried to Black his way on board to fly a mission twice he had been in the aircraft waiting for startup when he was ordered off over the radio twice the same aircraft he just vacated failed to return on the morning of the 3rd of January Richardson clambered aboard sons of Fury the day before he had asked the crew's permission to fly with them and discussed his motivations with cranmer the same night why do you want to stick your neck out Rich he asked me you don't have to go and for Pete's sake enough planes have been lost to turn off any guy in his right mind you go I reminded him well maybe we are crazy maybe believe it or not I'm thinking of our country and the folks back home who depend on us every man had tried to discourage Richardson from his goal but they reluctantly agreed he could share their ship and so Richardson climbed aboard in his full Flying K he reports that Arizona T Harris gave him a strange look did he know what was coming Richardson was not the only new man aboard some of the regular crew were sent to fly on other aircraft while green Replacements joined sons of Fury for some experience then the engines began to turn over within minutes the B17 started to taxi towards the runway but Richardson was left standing on the hardstand ordered off over the radio at the last second he was the last person to see the 10-man crew alive just over 2 hours and 45 minutes later sons of Fury was sinking below the waves of the English Channel and its upper turret was still firing we know this because of an eyewitness account from rear Gunner Sergeant PD small aboard another fult banshe that had flown close to help protect the down bomber but what actually happened when the for hit the water I have three scenarios and I wonder which one you think the most likely based on the after action reports Lieutenant krammer a aircraft with technical Sergeant Harris aboard was heavily damaged over the Target and ditched into the sea about 20 to 40 miles off the coast at this point it was being attacked by at least one fw190 given the normal ditching drill the simplest reason that Harris was in the upper turret while his crew mates were trying to escape into the sea is that he never left it we know that the enemy Fighters followed the American formation down to the deck had Harris remained in the turret to help defend his damaged aircraft it would make sense that he was still there when crir an excellent pilot by all accounts ditched the for into the sea perhaps Arizona was already wounded which would make the choice to sacrifice himself even easier to make if Harris had not been wounded before ditching it's more than likely that he would have been seriously injured by remaining in the turret during impact even the softest possible landing on water in a fully controllable a aircraft would have exerted extreme forces on his body possibly meaning he would never have made it out of the turret even if he had tried assuming that Harris followed his training his presence inside the turret when son of Fury sank becomes even more astounding the flight engineer would ordinarily join the other Gunners in the Radio Room during an emergency landing this would have meant walking back through the Bombay on a narrow walkway in full kit had he been here during the ditches then seeing his buddies being shot up in the water it would have meant he ran or at least shuffled quickly back through the rapidly flooding aircraft and climbed back into the turret before opening fire again Witnesses reported that a stopwatch was started as the aircraft hit the water 40 seconds later the waves were claiming it forever though possible I seriously doubt Harris could have managed this such an act would have displayed another level of bravery and clear clearly shows that most bomac Crews fought for each other more than anything else a less likely and perhaps slightly controversial evaluation is that Harris was not the man firing those guns had Arizona been back in the radio room only a true hero would have chosen to Wade through a sinking aircraft away from the exit so could one of the pilots being the person in the turret it is possible when you think of the location of their crash l Landing positions While most of the enlisted men aboard congregated in the radio room the other men took refuge in the nose of the aircraft the big issue is that Arizona T Harris was extremely particular about his guns reportedly he did not allow any armor to even touch the 50 cows on this ship preferring to do the work himself to ensure its quality so would those officers have overstepped even during that moment of Crisis well there are only 10 people who know and they are now all Remembered at the American war cemeter near Cambridge each having no known grave check out the video on screen now for another amazing story of American Airmen during the second World War