A really great article about what the crew of the Just-a-Snappin' went through on the Bremen raid on October 8, 1943.
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Article found through this page on the 100th Bomb Group site
Article named: Uncommon valor
Subheading: Everett Blakely personified grace under pressure
By Dan Krieger Telegram-Tribune
Photos of the Just-a-Snappin' crashed into a tree, and one of Blakely smiling in uniform. The latter with the message "Everett 'Gopher' Blakely, right, lost his plne, 'Just-a-Snappin.' but saved his crew when he crash landed the B-17 bomber.
Pull quote in the article: 'For 3,000 feet Captain Blakely and Major Kidd fought to get that plane under control. It was only because of the superior construction of our bomber... plus the combination of two skilled pilots, that we ever even recovered from that dive. -Lt. Harry Crosby
Main article: Lt. Harry Crosby wrote to his wife, "Jean there are just two reasons why I am here today. One of them is because of Blake's superb piloting and the other is because of the skill of our gunners."
We often think of heroes as flamboyant people. More often than not, real heroes are quiet people who are doing what they believe is required of them.
Today Everett Blakely, a pilot trained in Santa Maria, says that he was "just doing what had to be done" in the war against Hitler. He was a quiet hero.
Allan G. Hancock College in Santa Maria has a long and colorful history. Long before it became a community college, the campus was known as the Hancock College of Aeronautics.
It was a private school, named after its energetic, versatile and creative founder and benefactor, Capt. Allan Hancock.
Well prior to American entry into the Second World War, Captain Hancock offered his school to the United States Army Air Corps as a flight instruction school. Between May 1939 and V-J Day, some 8,500 pilots and 1,500 aircraft mechanics were trained at Hancock College.
The commercial warehouse district just west of today's Hancock College campus includes the one-time hangers for the flight instruction aircraft. The Stearman PT-13 biplanes are gone, but the College of Aeronautics administration buildings still survive on campus.
Everett "Gopher" Blakely came to Santa Maria just out of the University of Washington at Seattle. He was convinced that America was going to get involved in the European war.
The Blitzkrieg over Poland in 1939, over Belgium and France in 1940, and the Battle of Britain had convinced Blakely that this was going to be a war where air power was essential. The United States was going to need pilots. "Gopher" Blakely had discovered his mission.
Blakely soon started flying the essentially First World War era Stearmans over the tranquil valleys of the Central Coast. He and his buddies from rainy Puget Sound loved the warm sunny climate. They thought Santa Maria was a friendly town and enjoyed a precious few weekend hours socializing at the Santa Maria Inn.
Within months, Blakely and his friends were on the damp fen lands of Norfolkshire in England's East Anglia. They had graduated from the tiny Stearmans to the "Queen of the Bombers," the four-engine, hundred-foot-winged Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress."
On July 4, 1943, the first American pilots participated with Britain's Royal Air Force in bombing raids over Germany. But as late as January 1943, Winston Churchill, en route to meet with President Roosevelt at Casablanca, wrote a secret memo to his Secretary of State for Air.
In that memo, Churchill complained that "the Americans have not yet succeeded in dropping a single bomb on Germany." What Churchill meant was that no American bombers were able to penetrate German anti-aircraft fire a sufficient distance. This was because the Americans were trained for daylight missions only. The British had bomber Berlin early in the war by flying mainly night missions,
Churchill wanted the Americans to start flying night missions also. But Gen. Henry H. "Hap" Arnold was convinced that it would take too long to retrain air crews for night flying. That loss of time would allow the Germans to rebuild their military strength.
At Casablanca, the Americans won Churchill over to a doctrine of round-the-clock bombing which would "give Hitler no rest." The Americans would send increasingly larger waves of B-17s by day. The RAF would continue doing what it did best through nighttime assaults.
The decision at Casablanca was costly in terms of the lives of American aircrews. Daytime raids were decidedly more risky. Few of us realize that the losses to the Eight Air Force alone approach American losses in the Vietnam War.
Capt. "Gopher" Blakely became the pilot of "Just-a-Snappin," a B-17 in the 100th Bomb Group flying out of Thorpe Abbots in Norfolkshire. Blakelly and his crew were piloting their B-17s over the upper reaches of the Danube in the famous raids on Schweinfurt and Rogensburg.
On Oct. 8, 1943, the 10th Bomb Group participated in a raid on the shipbuilding and industrial center of Bremen and the nearby U-Boat building yards and pens at Vegesack.
Both of "Just-a-Snappin's" right wing engines were shot out in a running battle with German fighters over the Zuider Zee. Five of the crew were injured - Waist Giner Sgt. Lester Saunders fatally.
Lt. Harry Crosby, "Just-a-Snappin's" navigator, filed an astonishing report on the B-17's struggle to return to England:
"For 3,000 feet Captain Blakely and Major Kidd fought to get that plane under control. It was only because of the superior construction of our bomber, and its perfect maintenance, plus the combination of two skilled pilots, that we even recovered from that dive.
"If I were an expert on stress and strain analysis, or a mechanic, or even a pilot, I would dwell at length on the manner in which the plane was restored to normal flying attitude. As it is, the procedure defies my description. But I am certain it was a very great accomplishment."
Everett Blakely's description recalls, "You can lose altitude awfully fast when one engine goes sour and your controls are chewed to ribbons. We dropped for 3,000 feet before Major Kidd and I could regain control... Most of the crew were not strapped to their seats were thrown to the floor, shaken severely - but at last the ground was once more back where it ought to be, instead of standing up on one ear. Once more we were in level flight and, at least temporarily, safe."
Crosby's report states that:
"At 10,000 feet we were able to look out the windows (and) were temporarily assured to not that the ground was now in the right place. A hurried consultation was held over inter-phone to determine a plan for fighting our way back to England.
"The following facts had to be considered: We had lost all communication back of the top turret, so it was impossible to determine the extent of injury and damage. Our control wires were fraying as far back as the top turret operator could see. At least two of the crew had reported being hit immediately after we left the target.
"One engine was in such bad condition that bits and finally all of the cowling were blasted off. We were losing altitude so rapidly probably because of the condition of the elevator that any but the shortest way back was beyond contemplation. So we headed across the face of Germany for home."
Later, Harry Crosby wrote of Blakely and his co-pilot:
"The normal reaction on the part of our pilots should have been to think of their own personal safety, or in cases of extreme nobility of character perhaps they would have been thinking about the other members of the crew. But they did not, even in this crisis, forget for one minute they were the leaders of a great formation. Their first thought was of the crews behind them. In unison, as we fell into our dive, the words came over the interphone to our tail gunner, 'Signal the deputy leader to take over.'
"I can't help but to think as they fought for their lives they might have been excused for being too busy to think of their command, but such was not the case.
"By this signaling, the remainder of the formation was notified immediately that we had been hit and were aborting. This act would have prevented any planes being pulled even a few feet out of position into danger from the enemy aircraft buzzing about."
Despite the loss of the airplane's compass, Blakely and his amazing navigator, Lt. Harry Crosby, made it to landfall. They crash-landed at Ludham, Norfolk. The completely unmaneuverable aircraft, without any brakes, skidded into an ancient British oak tree.
Blakely remembers: "The tree crashed between Np. 2 engine and the pilot's compartment. That was lucky because another three inches to the right and it would have crushed the pilot and co-pilot. We had slowed to maybe 50 mph by then..."
Blakely's co-pilot for that mission, Major John B. Kidd, recalled that "someone counted over 800 separate holes in that aircraft."
"Just-a-Snappin" would never fly again.
The Bremen mission was typical of dozens of missions which penetrated deeper and deeper into German territory. Even before the Bremen raid, Blakely and his crew were piloting their B-17's over teh upper reaches of the Danube in the famous raids on Schweinfurt and Regensburg.
Today, Blakely is retired and lives with his wife, Marge, in San Luis Obispo. They are the parents of Supervisor David Blakely, who speaks with great pride of his father's contribution to the fight against Hitler.
-three stars end the article and separate a note about the author
Dan Krieger is a Cal Poly history professor and member of the County Historical Society.
-Along the bottom of the page the article is attributed to the San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Telegram-Tribune in the Saturday, February 16, 1991 edition on page 23.
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MORE Cute Spider Society Headcanons:
Extracurriculars and Sports
Another list of headcanons I have about Spider Society and what it's like on campus. This time - Music, Sports, The Society Newspaper, and other fun things to do on campus
Heads-up: There's light mentions of Spidersonas below - including my own lovely Disco-Spider Diane. All creators tagged at the end
[This post has a lot of links in thise - ALL lead to other tumblr posts. Most of them explain callback jokes, additional headcanons, or the information about the Spider-person being named.
All the Spider-people mentioned here are free-to-use headcanons, unless otherwise named. Those who are actual Spider-sonas that my Spider-sona knows - their first names maybe used, or their sona introduction will be linked. Basically if their normal name isn't given and/or theres no link, have at it]
LETS GO
The Spider Music Scene goes CRAZZZYY
Thought it was just Hobie?
Of course not! There's MetroSpider too
In fact there's a whole wide range of accompanying 'Spider-*music genre*'
There's Spider-Goth who plays gothic death metal, DiscoSpider who plays funky pop, Spider-Grunge into 90's garage grunge, RrrriotSpiderrr who plays Riot Girl Grunge
There's even SpiderSync
Which is NYSNC. But they're all Spider-people. Like Justin Timberlake as Spider-man. They roam as a group
That's because Metro isn't the only celebrity Spidey either -
There's SpiderB, which is just Beyonce but a Spider-person. Britney Spiders, which is Britney Spears but a Spider-person. Doja-Spider, Doja Cat. You get the gist.
Like imagine being in the Spider Society campus food court and turning around to see BEYONCE
And she's like 'yes.. It's me'
and it's literally just like the normal Beyonce with albums and everything excepts shes also Spiderwoman
And gay. And has a rapper wife named Jane-Z
Every year there's a collaborative album from all the musical Spiders
Called 'The Yearbook'
A lot of the songs are about the direct struggle or experience of being Spider-people
With some really good party songs thrown in for the Spider-raves
Hobie and Gwen's band Wicked Webs appears on the album, along with any Spider who plays an instrument.
If your spidersona can carry a tune, they're on it.
AND IT'S FIRE
You can buy the album at the Commissary.
The first week at campus EVERYbody is playing it. In the common rooms or the food court or training rooms -
They'll just play this album that's by Spider-people for Spider-people
If your spidersona starts singing ANY part of a 'Yearbook' song some without a doubt will respond with the next lyric. everybody knows the words
Spidey people really treat Hobie like a rockstar - and a lot of them go to his concerts
It's kinda a huge unspoken thing on campus that a LOT of people are willing to break rank and head to 136 without permission, just to see Hobie on Saturday nights.
Even people who don't hang with Hobie or don't necessarily know the real him
They still go cause his shows are THE PLACE to be.
Spider-people pour into his tiny venues in London, all out of uniform, and they mingle with the punks in the crowd while Hobie goes Miguel Mode on stage
It's a place where they can all drink (if over 18) and party (any age, Hobie gotchu ur safe with him) and enjoy themselves
And as a result, Hobie is a HIT with people from his universe
They know that Hobie's shows are always lit and full of cool people you'll never see anywhere else
The after-parties are CRAZY (party on all six walls), and it's really common for Spider-friends to link up and head to each others universes after the show - getting into their own shenanigans
There's MANY times Ansi, Asa, Hobie, and Diane have gotten themself into some shit while lit after one of Hobie's shows
And every Monday people are talking about what they get into after the show, the crazy stuff that popped off in the after-parties
MetroSpider, Pavi, Diane, Hobie, & Margo throw the BEST parties
Miguel knows about this, and he lets it slide - for the sake of morale (and not causing a riot if he banned it)
There's an international Spider community on campus
You thought Spiderman India and Spider-UK was it? NO
Spider-Canada and Hobie are other noticeable ones , but there's more!
There's the Peruvian 'IncaSpider' named Moche, a Paris born SpiderFrance, a SpanishSpider, SpiderItaly
A Mahayana Buddhist ThaiSpider, VietSpider, Spiderwoman Brazil. The list goes ON AND ON.
There's a large group of Indigenous Spider-people
Some Spider-people are even born in countries that don't exist in most universes or live in universes that live in countries that USE to exist
My favorite international Spider-person is the Australia Spider-person who is simply named Australian Spider
People constantly joke they're no dangerous than the average Australian Spider
And there's also a Spider Olympics!
And the events are DESIGNED for superhumans
Diving from buildings into swimming pools, Track meets where people are running at like 80mph, Web Gymnastics, Contact Sports
Ice Hockey gets REAL intense - and of course SpiderCanada is a team captain
As does Roller Derby. Wanna see superhumans fucking WRECKING each other? Go watch Spider-Derby, the players have derby names that play off their own Spider-names. So it's like a triple identity.
And once a year, they all throw down - and even if you aren't THE Spider of your nation, you can still participate if you want -
Like Hobie can enter for Britain but he'd rather die than do anything for that country
It's the one place you can compete and fully push your spider powers without danger - plus it's with your friends
They do give out medals. But it's mainly bragging rights.
Pavi earned his first gold medal in the diving portion for India only three months after his bite. Which is a record for The Society
However the Spider-person with the highest number of medals is Lego-Spider-man. I don't know how.
Sports are HUGGGEEEE on campus I cannot stress this enough
Everyone knows The Society LOVES baseball (shoutout @theevoh12)
But they also love football too (European - not American)
The Society also has TWO soccer teams that constantly play against each other
They play 4 wall soccer in which the field extends the length of a room, up the walls, and across the ceiling - leaving two walls for spectators. This is usually just called 4wFootball or 4WF
This is played with extended rules - and a modified ball that can stick and roll along walls
MANY people on Society backs one of the teams.
And before a game there WILL be arguments without a doubt
You DO NOT insult someones 4WF
You can get team jerseys in the Commissary
WebSlinger Patrick O'Hara is Captain on one team. No, the horse does not play
(I want a jersey with Patrick's 4wFootball number)
Imagine being a Spider Society Athlete and seeing other superhumans wearing your jersey and giving you thumbs up - WHOLESOME
Games can be played 'Plain' or 'Full'
A 'plain' game of 4wFootBall uses basic spider abilities such as speed, strength, and reaction time - however special abilities are not allowed
A 'full' game of 4wFootBall uses basic spider abilities as well special abilities and passive tactics. If Mile wants to go invisible in a 'full' game - that's permissible
Miguel's venom is NOT however. Can't be paralyzing other players. Abilities that effect the other players are off limits, so no electro powers
'Plain' games are played out-of-suits, in team uniform
'Full' games are played in-suits, with the team uniform over it
Betting on teams and players is against the rules
But also Lyla runs an underground betting system and fantasy 4wfootball league. Don't tell Miguel.
There's other activities with solo athletes, and like Hobie being a famous rockstar on campus - there are star athletes too
Tennis is a huge one. Volleyball too. With an extra long field.
The serves, spikes, and hits can be genuinely dangerous. They're managing swings and hits that can top out at like 110 mph (just above the world's fastest baseball pitch)
But because everyone are Spider-people, its fairly easy to follow in real-time
Star-Spiders are usually tennis players, gymnasts, weightlifters, and track stars, but there's a couple others too.
Pavi is a star gymnast, swimmer, AND A 4WFOOTBALL PLAYER - he goes REALLY hard at extracurriculars
(And he's surprisingly competitive. Like insanely competitive. Pavi will scream at the top of his lungs cause he scored a goal. He loses a game and as soon as they end the game he wants to practice cause he HAS to win next time)
The boy is a perfectionist.
One thing that's SO annoying is Venom Evaluation Checks
If you come in acting weird, too bold, or uncharacteristically agressive - You get sent to Spider-psyche so they can make sure you don't have venom.
Not my fault. Raimi-Peter (from the Raimi movies) pulled up to HQ one day in all black and started dancing all weird and saying cringy shit like 'Now dig on this'
And Jess was immediately like "Yeah, no. We're not digging on anything, sir."
There's a newspaper you can write for
Spider-Scrawl is the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Web who is a GREAT boss by the way
And it's a MUCH better gig than working at The Bugle
So if your spidersona has worked for Jonah - submit a resume, you might get a call
Theres things like a Canon Event Advice Column, which Diane writes for
A news section that details the Craziest News across the multiverse
If your Doc Ock pulls some crazy shit and turns into a giant octopus - oh yeah thats going Front Page. Everyone on campus knows and you get to gloat about fighting a giant octopus
There's a Debate Section that updates with hot topics that only exist between Spider-people like:
'Is it okay to genetically replicate another Spider-persons organic webbing so you can recreate it for your mechanical webslingers?'
'Masks: Hair out or No? Spider-man India and DiscoSpider weigh in'
'Is the Go-Home machine ethical?'
'What's Miguel's favorite flavor of empanada?'
As you can imagine, these coversations across campus can get REALLY heated
There's a lot of entertainment
Yes, there's a movie theatre on campus. They play movies from across the Spider-verse, and they're a GREAT way to see versions of films you know - but different.
Watch GhostBusters except it's from WebSlinger's world and everyone is cowboys and they catch the ghosts with lassos
Other hits are shown on the big screen too
Barbie was a HUGE hit on campus. People coming in with pink outfits OVER their suits
And it's really cheap in terms of credits
So people like Gwen who started out living on campus, or who are apart of the Educational Study Program have nice things to do in their off-time
And, The Food Court is THE BEST
You think they only have empanadas - think AGAIN
Every culture, every time period. Even weird ass food that you wouldn't even want but is a staple in other universes.
They even have a FISH N CHIPS SHOP (Malala loves it there)
So Hobie can get his nasty ass beans on toast without leaving HQ
The Food Court is almost as big as the Training Wing, and there are so many places indoor and out to eat lunch
And it doesn't stop there -
There's a store (based on credits not money) and a general kitchen.
(As well as separate kitchens in each dorm wing)
You know how in SpyKids they have those meals that like GROW to full size in the microwave???
Guess what NUEVA YORK HAS THAT MY FRIEND
Missing McDonalds or a specific chain? - Just go to the Grocery in HQ and get a capsulized happy meal.
It grows to fill size in the expanders in the kitchen
Just pick the meal, put it in the expander, dip your ID card, and BOOM
Olive Garden with breadsticks on the side, Waffle House Waffles, McDonalds WITH international food options
Plus the grocery is fully automated by Lyla so you don't have to talk to people if you don't want to
But she will see all the nutter butters and pringles you pick up and she will judge you for it - it's between you and her but she's judging you
Miguel wants members to actually like the place he made
Because he finds no point in having unhappy, unsupported, unstable Spider-people out in the field -
He wants them at their happiest and healthiest so he tries his best
And he hardly partakes in any of this, but to him that's fine. It's not suppose to be for him.
He does enjoy seeing a full food court or walking by the training rooms and hear all the sessions going on
Hearing people talk about the new movie on campus
And sometimes you can even catch him humming a song from 'The Yearbook'
Imagine how smug Hobie was when he went 'bruv - are you tapping out my guitar notes rn?? you thinking about my song?'
Miguel can never live it down
Miguel DOES follow 4WFootball though -
He is actually one of the coaches for 4WFootball - he's a GREAT coach. Hardheaded ass fuck sometime but GOD he loves the Spider's on his team they're his favorites but he tries not to show it
And finally -
Yes there's a nursery and kindergarten on campus, specialized for Spider-kids regardless of if they have powers.
Peter doesn't let MayDay run free (all the time). MayDay attends the Itsy Bitsy Spider Daycare, and so will Jess's child
Sometimes while walking around HQ, you'll see little toddlers in single-file lines, holding lunch boxes as they follow Spider-Teacher on a field trip to another universe - to learn about the wonders of the multiverse
Their favorite trip is to WebSlinger's world, all the kids get to be cowboys and Patrick shows them ponies and lets them feed his horse Widow
There's a breakroom for people the multiple Spider-Teachers, Spider-Professors (Educational Program), Spider-Psyches, Spider-coaches, the list goes on and on
(Though Society Administration like Jess, Ben Reilly, and yes - Hobie (don't ask how hes just that good) have a separate breakroom from the educators and coaches and such )
And those breakrooms are funny as HELL It's like the Office back there.
This is really long :) Here's a photo of Hobie
Bye.
_________________________
ALSO ALSO ALSO : All the people, OCs, and other things I mentioned -
Ansi - by @spidey-bie
Asa - by @suchholydebauchery
Disco-Spider Diane - by ME
@theevoh12's amazing baseball concept
Spider-Scrawl by @whaliiwatching
Thanks for making HQ so rad!!
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