When a Ball Turret Gunner Fell Without a Parachute!
On January 3rd, 1943 a group of 72 B-17 Flying Fortresses were on a bombing mission in occupied France. Their target was a heavily fortified German U-boat base at St. Nazaire, an important strategic location for the Kriegsmarine during the Battle of the Atlantic. Inside a B-17 named Snap! Crackle! Pop! was 24-year-old Staff Sergeant Alan Magee in the position of ball turret gunner. Magee was on his seventh and last combat mission during which he was sucked out of the B-17 at an altitude of 20,000 feet without a parachute!