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00:00It's the 26th of July 1943 and in the cockpit of his B-17 Ruth E-2
00:07is co-pilot 2nd Lieutenant John Morgan and his good friend Captain Robert Campbell.
00:14They're in a formation of 120 bombers on their way to attack Germany,
00:18but they've barely made it over the North Sea when Morgan sees enemies up ahead.
00:24Bandits, 12 o'clock high. A lot of them.
00:27Swarming towards them are over 150 German fighters.
00:32Ready up, boys.
00:33Behind the pilots, Engineer Staff Sergeant Tyer Weaver climbs into the top turret and lines up his guns.
00:40The enemy flies in a straightening level with the Flying Fortresses.
00:43It's the best angle to hide from as many guns as possible.
00:47On the right side cheat gun, 2nd Lieutenant Keith Kosky shouts out the enemy position.
00:52Bandits, 1 o'clock level.
00:54And he is the first to open fire.
00:58The FW-190s shoot their 20mm cannons and machine guns
01:02and German shells streak across the sky, headed directly towards the Ruth E-2's cockpit.
01:12Morgan flinches as the enemy fire crashes into his position.
01:16Weaver cries out in pain as a 20mm shell strikes him on the left shoulder,
01:21but a single bullet finds its mark directly at the head of Captain Campbell.
01:29The FW-190s roar past the battered B-17 and pepper its fuselage with shells.
01:38As they pass through the box formation of B-17s, it seems like the entire formation is stirred to life
01:45as gunners try and hit the passing Germans.
01:49On the flight deck, Morgan is stunned as he takes in the devastation inside the cockpit and the gruesome scene.
01:57He sees a terrible sight of his captain who is slumped in the seat next to him with a wound
02:02to the head.
02:04Morgan is on his own.
02:08It's now his responsibility to get the crew home.
02:16He determinedly grips the controls and brings his fortress into formation.
02:22But suddenly he's shocked as the yoke moves in his hands.
02:27Morgan feels the controls move as the bomber banks hard to the left.
02:30He fights back and looks over at his captain.
02:34Incredibly, despite his head wound, Campbell is sitting straight and alert as he maneuvers the aircraft.
02:42It's not good.
02:43As FW-190s comes screaming towards the fort, Campbell banks hard to the right.
02:49It's the opposite of what he should do.
02:51The maneuvers push them out of formation.
02:54Bob, what are you doing? Keep formation. We're dead if we're on our own.
02:58Campbell doesn't reply.
03:00Instead, he carries on flying the plane.
03:02He's suffered severe brain trauma.
03:05His skull is shattered and is bleeding.
03:07He doesn't hear Morgan.
03:08Bob, hold formation.
03:11More BF-109s come roaring over the B-17
03:14and Campbell throws the plane into yet another aggressive maneuver.
03:18At the back, the gunners hold on for dear life.
03:21The growing number of casings rolling across the floor.
03:24And they almost lose their footing.
03:27With colossal effort, they still manage to get their guns on target
03:31and keep sending as much lead at the enemy as they possibly can.
03:35In the nose, Koski holds down the trigger of his machine gun.
03:39As targets approach from all directions, the intercom's awash with call-outs
03:43as they fight for their lives.
03:45Suddenly, he sees the turret gunner, Tyre Weaver, fall beside him and collapse on the floor.
03:51Koski immediately rushes to his aid.
03:54He finds Weaver's left arm has been shot off and is bleeding heavily.
03:57Weaver, stay with me.
03:59He tries to administer as much aid as he can, but he knows that the injuries are too severe
04:04and there's no way that Weaver's going to make the four arrows back to England.
04:08And Weaver himself knows it.
04:10He's weak and in severe pain.
04:13He catches Koski's attention.
04:15He points at himself, then at the hatch.
04:18He wants to bail.
04:20Koski is torn.
04:22Even if Weaver survives the jump, there's no guarantee the Germans won't leave him to die.
04:26But he quickly realizes it's his only chance.
04:29Not to cut low, fighters.
04:33Outside, the mayhem of fighters continues and the sounds of machine gun chatter
04:36as enemies pass by at incredible speeds.
04:40A BF-109 fires a burst of shells across the length of the Ruthie II.
04:44They detonate in the thin skin.
04:48The resulting damage takes out the intercom for the entire plane.
04:53But even worse, the oxygen supply for the rear half of the plane is punctured.
04:58In the cockpit, Morgan is still wrestling with the controls
05:01and fights desperately to keep the B-17 in formation.
05:04He's attempting to counteract Campbell's erratic inputs.
05:07But it's not working.
05:09The plane is all the while falling further out of formation.
05:14Morgan feels the weight of command on his shoulders.
05:17He has to get his captain off the controls.
05:20He reaches over to the wounded captain to pull him away from the yoke.
05:24Campbell still has his strength
05:26and immediately resists.
05:28Give me the controls, sir.
05:29Morgan tries to pry him away, but Campbell doesn't budge.
05:32With one hand, he makes a fist and punches Morgan straight in the face.
05:38Morgan is shocked, furious, and in despair.
05:42Robert, please.
05:43Robert Campbell doesn't comprehend what's happening.
05:46On some deep level in his injured brain,
05:48he's still in command and fighting for the lives of his crew.
05:54With intense fury, he repeatedly punches Morgan,
05:57a flurry of blows striking him on the head and torso.
06:00Robert, please let me have control.
06:04But Campbell is undeterred.
06:06He punches Morgan in the eye, followed by another punch in the jaw.
06:10Morgan covers his head with his arm and leads as far from Campbell as he can.
06:15But then he sees that in his anger, Campbell has stopped working the controls.
06:19Pushing through the painful punches, Morgan grips the yoke and starts maneuvering the aircraft
06:24back up towards the formation.
06:27Meanwhile, in the nose of the aircraft, Koski finishes tightening the parachute on Weaver,
06:32who is fading quickly.
06:34He pushes open the hatch and is blasted by the freezing air.
06:38Looking down, he can see a German city in the distance.
06:41He shuffles Weaver forwards and places a parachute grip cord in his hand.
06:46But barely conscious, Weaver pulls early and the chute flops on the floor.
06:51No!
06:54Koski is mortified.
06:56Weaver can't miss this city or his already slim chances will be gone.
07:00Completely out of time now, Koski takes the parachute and jams it under Weaver's arm
07:05before pushing him out of the plane, praying that it will open and his friend will be saved.
07:12At the rear, the gunners still fight but the leaking oxygen tanks are running out.
07:16They can feel the early symptoms of hypoxia.
07:19However, their decision-making is getting slow.
07:22Their shots become less accurate and they start to feel sleepy.
07:27What the hell?
07:28It's the oxygen.
07:31We lost the oxygen.
07:33But without the intercom, there's no hope of the men being heard.
07:37Their vision blurs and balance wanes.
07:39But they stay at their machine guns, firing at the blurry forms of aircraft.
07:44But one by one, they collapse.
07:47The remaining waste gunner pleads for oxygen over the broken intercom one last time before everything goes dark.
07:55Everyone behind the bomb bay is fallen unconscious except the ball turret gunner,
08:00who continues to fight, unaware of what's going on above him.
08:05The Germans empty the last of their ammunition at the Americans.
08:09The B-17 shudders and shakes as the Germans break off their attack.
08:14But in the cockpit, the battle continues.
08:16Morgan keeps taking hits from a relentless Campbell.
08:20Welts and cuts are appearing over him.
08:22And he realizes he can't take much more.
08:25Morgan strikes out, attempting to restrain Campbell's arm.
08:28But he fails.
08:29And Campbell lands a punch into Morgan's mouth.
08:31He feels something loose and spits it out.
08:35It's a tooth.
08:36He can't keep flying like this.
08:38He needs to end it.
08:39Redoubling his efforts, he reaches for Campbell and grabs onto his oxygen mask.
08:43And is ready to rip it off.
08:45But he doesn't.
08:46Morgan holds onto it, weighing his options.
08:49If he rips it off, the fight will end.
08:51And he can save all the others, but his friend can die.
08:55But the decision is taken from him.
08:57As Campbell shoves Morgan's arm off his face and continues his relentless assault.
09:01As the pilot and co-pilot fight over the controls,
09:05the B-17 wobbles and drifts off course.
09:08Eventually blood loss and exhaustion weaken Campbell.
09:11And Morgan finally manages to pin him down.
09:14He breathes heavily as Campbell still struggles under his grasp.
09:18He might be able to get everyone home after all.
09:23But just then, as he gets the B-17 straight and level and back into formation,
09:29he sees black cotton puffs erupt in the skies ahead.
09:33It's flak.
09:34The bombing run is still going ahead.
09:37Explosions rock the formation.
09:39Shrapnel rips at the fortresses as they get closer to their target.
09:43Morgan feels the Ruthie II get buffeted by the waves of Shrapnel slamming into the
09:47fuselage.
09:48All the while, Campbell's still struggling, but Morgan keeps him pinned.
09:52Just as he thinks it can't get any worse, he sees in the distance more German aircraft approaching.
09:58Bandits, eight o'clock high.
10:00He reports it over the intercom, but has no idea the intercom is out.
10:04Bandits, eight o'clock high.
10:06He watches in horror as the enemy fighters brave their own flak and comes screaming in from his left.
10:12Their guns light up.
10:14Morgan feels even more impact strike his fort.
10:17They punch through the wings and pierce one of the fuel tanks, causing it to leak right next to the
10:21hot engines.
10:23The drop target's coming up, but without intercoms, there's no way to signal the bombardier.
10:28But the bombardier is ready.
10:30I think the intercom is out, but I'm dropping those bombs.
10:33And is already checking the bomb site.
10:35He doesn't have control of the plane as he normally would,
10:37but he's watching the puffs of smoke through thousands of feet below and releases his bombs as best he can.
10:46Morgan feels the B-17 rise as the bombs are released.
10:50Unbelievably, despite all the events, they've achieved the mission objective and the B-17's turn for home.
10:56He's amazed it's still flying, but the Ruthie II is still answering his controls.
11:02The German aircraft chase and harass them, shooting at the fortresses from the rear.
11:06Without rear gunners, the Ruthie II is blasted without any return fire.
11:12Where is everyone?
11:14Morgan thinks his crew has bailed and considers following them down,
11:17but he can't leave Campbell, or whoever might still be on board, behind.
11:21The Germans turn away, once again, out of ammunition.
11:24The remaining gunners in the ball turret and the nose remain on high alert for another hour,
11:29until, finally, the beautiful sight of the English Channel comes into view.
11:34We're gonna make it!
11:36The battle over, Koski takes a moment to breathe and calm himself,
11:40before he decides to go check on the pilots.
11:43He's not ready for what he sees.
11:45The flight deck is a nightmarish scene of blood and destruction.
11:49Morgan locks eyes with Koski and is immensely relieved to see someone else.
11:53Morgan quickly explains what happened and Koski is incredulous.
11:57To land the plane, Morgan needs to get into the pilot's seat.
12:01Help me get Campbell off the seat.
12:02They begin to remove Campbell. He resists, but is too weak to push them off.
12:07Working carefully, it takes the crew half an hour to move him off the seat.
12:11Morgan's now in a race for time if he's going to save his friend.
12:15He gets as low as he can and aims to head for the closest friendly airbase.
12:20By pushing the plane lower early to save Campbell, the air becomes breathable for the crew, without
12:26having to use masks. And so, unbeknownst to Morgan, in the back of the plane, a miracle takes place.
12:32Despite spending nearly two hours without oxygen,
12:35all four of the affected men in the rear stir awake.
12:40Apart from some frostbite, the men are unharmed.
12:43Some three hours after the start of the nightmare mission, Morgan brings Ruthie to to land safely
12:49back in England. He has saved the lives of everyone on board, except one.
12:55Tragically, the pilot, Robert Campbell, succumbed to his injuries just one hour after landing.
13:02Incredibly, Weaver also managed to survive.
13:06Thanks to Kosky, who helped him bail out of the aircraft, Weaver received immediate medical
13:11attention upon landing and became a POW. He survived the war and lived to the age of 74.
13:19For his unwavering determination, John Morgan earned the Medal of Honor for his actions.
13:27Did you hear about the B-17 tail that landed with the gunner inside?
13:31Watch this film and find out all about it.
13:36Have a lot of fun.
13:40Be everything!
13:42Are you feeling fine?
13:45Do you...
13:52I think, often, I live in the gameplay...
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