When A Ball Turret Gunner Fell Without A Parachute

On January 3, 1943, a group of B-17 Flying Fortresses embarked on a bombing mission targeting a heavily fortified German U-boat base in France. Aboard one of these bombers, Snap! Crackle! Pop!, was Staff Sergeant Alan Magee, a ball turret gunner. This mission, however, would take a terrifying turn for him.

A Crucial Mission

Inside the cramped ball turret, Magee scanned the skies for enemy fighters. The B-17s were en route to the U-boat base at St. Nazaire. As they made a final approach over Lake Grand-Lieu, they encountered heavy flak, and their P-51 escorts had to peel away. Alone and vulnerable, the formation of bombers pressed forward, rocked by the barrage.

Suddenly, Fw 109 German fighters appeared. Magee fired his twin .50-caliber machine guns, bright tracer rounds illuminating his view. The battle intensified as the Germans pressed their attack, but the B-17s remained on course.

Disaster Strikes

An explosion shattered the plane, and Magee felt a freezing gust of wind around his mask. He looked down to find shrapnel embedded in his chest. Desperate to escape, Magee knew the ball turret had no parachute, so he wrestled it into position and pushed open the hatch. Climbing out into the chaos of battle, he found the aircraft’s waist gunners still firing as enemy planes roared past.

Grabbing his parachute, Magee saw it was damaged. Another explosion tore through the plane, sending him and his crew tumbling. A gaping hole had opened in the fuselage. A German fighter’s rounds struck the right wing, and Magee blacked out.

Freefall

The next thing Magee knew, he was plummeting from 20,000 feet without a parachute. Helpless, he hurtled toward the earth, crashing through the glass roof of the St. Nazaire railway station. German guards rushed to the scene, astonished to find him alive.

The Miracle of St. Nazaire

When Magee regained consciousness, a German doctor stood over him, marveling at his survival. Miraculously, his fall had been cushioned by the station’s roof and the multiple layers of his flight suit. Though he suffered a broken right leg, ankle, and severe internal injuries, including shrapnel wounds, he was alive. His arm had to be painstakingly stitched back together.

Magee’s incredible survival became known as the “Miracle of St. Nazaire.” After being captured, he was sent to a POW camp in Austria, where he was reunited with fellow crew member Staff Sergeant James I. Gordon, who had also survived.

War’s End

Of Snap! Crackle! Pop!’s crew, only three survived that fateful mission. After World War II, Magee returned to the United States, where he was awarded the Purple Heart and Air Medal. Despite his harrowing experience, he continued to fly, earning a pilot’s license and working in the airline industry.