We were recently contacted by Stephen C. Mullins, son of the radio operator, Sgt. Clyde Mullins, who was on the B-17 that crashed near P’ville. You can read more about the crash here and here. And here is a local TV report on the dedication of the monument to the airmen.

Scroll down to read how Stephen’s father remembered that day.

Stephen provided a the above high-quality photo of the crew with notes his father made about the disposition of each man:

Front Row – L to R:

• Lt. Leonard J. Morence – Co-Pilot – survived – injured
• Lt. Harry N. Anderson – Pilot – killed
• Lt. John A. Stinson Jr. – Navigator – killed
• Lt. Andrew G. Kohlhof – Bombadier – survived – injured

Back Row L to R

• S/Sgt. Milton Gersfeld – Engineer – killed
• Sgt. Clyde Mullins – Radio Operator – survived – uninjured
• Sgt. Clement J. Funai – 2nd Armorer – killed
• Sgt. Donald A. Goodner – Assist.-Engineer – killed
• Sgt. Garland F Nincehelser – Gunner – killed

not shown:

• Stg. O. R. French – 1st Armorer – killed

Here is what Stephen wrote:

Dad’s account of what happened went like this: The B-17 was in a bad storm. The pilot told the aircrew to get in their egress positions throughout the aircraft, in case they needed to bailout.

The pilot gave-up on trying to fly through the storm, and began circling and trying to climb above the storm. Dad (the radio operator) and the bombadier’s egress position was to lay in the bomb bay. In the event they needed to evacuate the plane, the copilot would open the bomb bay doors, and those two would fall out.

Also in the bomb bay were crates of ammunition and other supplies. As they tried to climb out of the storm, the plane suddenly went into a steep dive. Although the crates in the bomb bay were strapped down, they began to shift and were crushing against dad so hard, he could feel himself starting to pass-out. The sensation of blacking-out seemed so strange to him, he began trying to clinch his fists shut, but couldn’t do so before he went unconscious.

He regained consciousness in midair, and had enough wits about him to pull his ripcord. He remembered floating overtop of a farmhouse, where a lady, with a baby on her hip, was gathering laundry off the clothesline, before the impending storm.

In hearings about the crash, the copilot testified he never opened the bomb bay doors, suggesting the plane may have broken in half near the bomb bay—the likely reason dad and the  bombadier got out of the plane.

See our other post on the Flying Fortress crash.

Video Courtesy of Weakley County History. Many thanks to Robert Reynolds