When it struck, the fighter broke apart, but left some pieces in the B-17. Photo: US NavyĪ mid-air collision on 1FEB1943 between a B-17 and a German fighter over the Tunis dock area became the subject of some of the most famous photographs of World War II.Īn enemy fighter attacking a 97th Bomb Group formation went out of control, probably with a wounded pilot, then continued its crashing descent into the rear of the fuselage of a Fortress named All American, piloted by Lt. In this photo we can see the tension in his shoulders as he fights the controls with both hands. He was, however, devastated by survivor’s guilt. King made it back to the carrier, escorted by squadron mates, ditched and was picked up. Sadly, they were later executed by the desperate and unstable Japanese, as were six other US Navy airmen shot down in the same period. The two crewmen landed close to the shore of Chichijima, waded ashore and were captured. The other Avenger spun out of control into the sea, killing all on board. With the aircraft out of control at 9,000 feet, King ordered his two crewmen (Jim Dye and Grady York) to bail out, but, as he was attempting to get out himself, the aircraft righted itself and he regained control. The left wing of the dying Avenger struck and crumpled the rear fuselage of King’s “Turkey” and its propeller chewed off half the port wing. That Avenger rolled hard right and into a spin, hitting King’s Avenger. Another of the Avengers was hit by flak which blew its right wing off. This Avenger from USS Bennington, flown by Lieutenant Robert King, was one of three Avengers attacking Chichijima’s airfield. Avengers were used to take out the two radio stations on the island, but they faced anti-aircraft fire. The island was used as the primary site for Japanese long-range radio relay operations and surveillance activity in the Pacific. The day before the amphibious assault on Iwo Jima, the starving and doomed Japanese garrison on Chichijima, the next island in the archipelago, came under attack by carrier-based aircraft of the United States Navy. On February 2, 1943, Patent #D134963 was granted for “A Parachutist’s Badge” for a period of three and one-half years.On half a wing and a prayer. This operation took me one entire week, eight hours a day.”Ĭaptain Yarborough even applied for a patent to protect the design from unauthorized reproduction. This is believed to have been an all time speed record for War Department Procurement.” “I personally took the correspondence relative to the badge’s approval from one office to another until the transaction was complete. Dubois, in the Quartermaster General’s office, 350 of the badges were procured from the Bailey, Banks & Biddle Company in Philadelphia and were in the hands of the Commanding Officer of the 501st Parachute Battalion by March 14, 1941. “I drew the original sketch in the office of Lieutenant Colonel Beuchner, G-3 a finished copy of my original sketch was prepared in the office of the Quartermaster General (he came up with the eventual design after dozens of sketches). The same authority was delegated to me in the name of the Chief of Infantry. Major Miley (commander of the 501st), before my departure, gave me full authority to approve any design that I considered acceptable, and to do so in his name. My mission was the procurement of a suitable parachutist badge which would meet with the approval both of the War Department and the Commanding Officer of the 501st Parachute Battalion. A memorandum of record written by Captain Yarborough on April 22, 1941, tells the story of the birth of the parachute badge “On March 3, 1941, I was ordered to Washington to report to the Adjutant General for temporary duty in the Office of the Chief of Infantry. Yarborough of the 501st Parachute Battalion. The first Parachute badge was designed during World War II by Captain (later Lieutenant General) William P.
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