MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
On 6 Jun 1944 the 91st Bomb Group launched its entire force to support the Allied landings in Normandy. Left behind was Maj McPartlin, a squadron commander who normally only flew when his squadron was leading. He was sitting having a cup of coffee when the phone rang. It was MGen Gross, Commander of the First Combat Wing. He asked if they had any airworthy airplanes that were not on the mission. Maj McPartlin replied they had an old B-17G that was used for training and practice missions. It had no bombs or ammo but it would fly. The General said that he wanted to go observe the landings. So they scratched up a crew, the General arrived, and off they went.
They caught up with the 91st BG formation, stayed off to one side, and watched as they dropped their bombs. The Major figured they'd next do a 180 and head back home but the General said he wanted to go see the actual beaches where the landings were taking place. So Maj McPartlin told the navigator to give him a heading to where the actual landings were taking place. The Navigator said "WHAT!" but came up with a new heading. They dropped down through the clouds and broke out at about 700-800 ft. There were ships everywhere, and many of them were shooting. Gen Gross said to make a right turn so he could see the beach and during the turn they started seeing flak bursts and hearing shrapnel impact the airplane. Maj McPartlin said "We don't belong here!" to Gen Gross, shoved in the throttles, and climbed through the clouds, following the Navigator's directions for a heading back to England. They broke out at 18,000 ft and went home to Bassingbourn.
After landing they found minor flak damage but no one was hurt. The General thanked everyone for the ride and left but later was chewed out by MG Williams, the division CO.
From the book "D-Day Bombers: The Veterans' Stories."
You know, I can well imagine the urge to go see an operation of that size in person but I think taking a B-17 with no guns on an unauthorized mission is a bit much. I think that Gen Ike went for a look in the back seat of a converted P-51B, but that's not really the same thing.
They caught up with the 91st BG formation, stayed off to one side, and watched as they dropped their bombs. The Major figured they'd next do a 180 and head back home but the General said he wanted to go see the actual beaches where the landings were taking place. So Maj McPartlin told the navigator to give him a heading to where the actual landings were taking place. The Navigator said "WHAT!" but came up with a new heading. They dropped down through the clouds and broke out at about 700-800 ft. There were ships everywhere, and many of them were shooting. Gen Gross said to make a right turn so he could see the beach and during the turn they started seeing flak bursts and hearing shrapnel impact the airplane. Maj McPartlin said "We don't belong here!" to Gen Gross, shoved in the throttles, and climbed through the clouds, following the Navigator's directions for a heading back to England. They broke out at 18,000 ft and went home to Bassingbourn.
After landing they found minor flak damage but no one was hurt. The General thanked everyone for the ride and left but later was chewed out by MG Williams, the division CO.
From the book "D-Day Bombers: The Veterans' Stories."
You know, I can well imagine the urge to go see an operation of that size in person but I think taking a B-17 with no guns on an unauthorized mission is a bit much. I think that Gen Ike went for a look in the back seat of a converted P-51B, but that's not really the same thing.
