Скачать или смотреть German Fighters Mocked This US Ball Turret Gunner Until He Saved His B 17 With 3500 Holes

May 1, 1943. Over Saint-Nazaire, France. Staff Sergeant Maynard Harrison "Snuffy" Smith, 423rd Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, faced coordinated attacks from Luftwaffe Fw 190 fighters while his B-17F burned from within. This verified account from Medal of Honor citations documents how a disciplinary problem airman single-handedly saved his bomber through 90 minutes of continuous combat. The 3,500 holes counted upon landing would prove that sometimes the worst soldiers become the best warriors.
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The mission that Smith encountered represented Eighth Air Force's bloodiest period. German fighter squadrons from JG 2 and JG 26 had perfected head-on attacks against B-17 formations. Previous missions to Saint-Nazaire had resulted in 30 percent losses with multiple aircraft exploding from ammunition fires. According to 306th Group procedures, ball turret gunners were to remain at their position regardless of aircraft damage. What Smith did next would violate everything the Army Air Forces believed about crew discipline and assigned positions.

The engagement began at 1340 hours. Smith initially engaged attacking Fw 190s from his ball turret position. When incendiary rounds ignited fires in the radio compartment and waist sections, three crew members immediately bailed out. Using manual hand cranks to extract himself from the turret, Smith fought spreading fires with extinguishers and his bare hands while German fighters continued pressing attacks. The critical moment came when he alternated between throwing burning .50 caliber ammunition boxes overboard and firing the abandoned waist guns at pursuing fighters. In total: 90 minutes of combat, fires extinguished in two compartments, tail gunner's wounds treated, multiple fighter passes repelled. Lieutenant Lewis P. Johnson, pilot, later reported: "Smith was everywhere at once, we wouldn't have made it without him." The immediate result: B-17F "Werewolf" returned to Thurleigh with structural integrity barely maintained.

This action earned Smith the Medal of Honor, the first for an enlisted airman in the European Theater. More significantly, his demonstration of initiative over rigid position discipline was incorporated into crew cross-training programs. Post-war analysis by the Air Force Historical Research Agency credited his actions with proving the value of flexible crew response. The official record, preserved in the National Archives Record Group 18, remains one of the most documented examples of individual initiative saving an entire aircraft in the European Theater.

Primary sources: Medal of Honor Citation File #043-01-05, 306th Bombardment Group Mission Reports, Eighth Air Force Combat Chronology

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📁 Disclaimer: This content is based on verified military records and primary sources. While we document every detail possible, combat narratives sometimes require tactical reconstruction based on military doctrine of the period. All major events, persons, units, and outcomes are historically verified. For academic research, please consult professional historians and official military archives.