A Williamsport airman, Sg. Carl W. Moore of 509 Depot Street, top turret gunner on a Flying Fortress, figures prominently in the air drama which took place over England and saw a navigator and engineer make an unsuccessful attempt to land the Fortress because the wounded pilot still breathed and they wanted to save his life.
Despite orders to bail out, the navigator and engineer stuck with the ship, despite the fact that they did not know how to fly. Ground officers ordered them to bail out but they refused. They were killed in the crash of the ship. Sgt. Moore was one of the six crewmen ordered to bail out as orders were received.
The local sergeant helped fly the Fortress part of the way back home. Moore’s story follows.:
“We were 250 miles from the target when a couple of ME-109s came up to us,” Moore said, “and I saw a sheet of yellow flame and I instinctively ducked. The co-pilot was killed instantly and I thought I was too. The two FW-190s hit us, wounding our radio operator but he got one of them in turn.
“The ship went into a flat spin and everybody was thrown to the floor. I went inside and found that pilot and co-pilot and fallen against the stick. Both of them were hit in the face. I pulled the plane out level but we couldn’t get them from their seats.
Moore said the navigator took the stick and closed the bomb bay doors, since the bombs had not been dropped . With the windows blasted open it was icy cold in the pilot’s compartment.”
“Myself, the navigator and engineer took turns piloting the plane toward home for three hours. We couldn’t stand the cold very long at a time. I just had to stand between the pilot and co-pilot and hold that limp body with my elbow while I guided the ship.”
“We flew over water for a long time. We flew over the coast and nobody shot up at us, so we decided it must be England.”
They finally got a bearing on the airfield and the engineer flew the plane.”
“We had to leave the pilot in his seat,” Moore said. “He seemed to be breathing. Then they ordered us to bale out and let the navigator and engineer take control of the ship. I landed in a herd of sheep and was OK.”
