Ramsey are the first to bail out through the nose hatch, and, after sending an S.O.S., Sgt. With hope of reaching England now gone and the ship in danger of exploding, the crew is ordered to bail out. Boles struggle valiantly to maintain control of Damn Yankee. With the ball turret crippled and the top turret gun jammed, the FW 190s shoot out both waist guns killing gunners Sgt. At 5000 feet the #2 engine is on fire and partial control of the aircraft is maintained. Gunners in the B-17 fire back a constant stream hitting two 190s, disintegrating one. Fighters again assault the stricken bomber hitting the control cables, instrument panel, and automatic flight control equipment while severely wounding radioman Sgt. Diving and losing altitude fast, Damn Yankee reaches cloud cover but it does not provide sufficient cover. The situation is now desperate, with the tail now shot to pieces, the rudder useless, the intercom out, the fuse box shattered and oxygen leaking freely. The fighters continue firing when the #2 engine is hit and begins smoking. On the intercom an agonizing cry is then heard "Oh.they got me bad". Hayes, who is killed by gunfire while in the doorway of the bomb bay. One 500 pound bomb, caught in the bomb bay since the bomb drop, is released by bombardier, Sgt. Focke Wulf 190s, from Jagdgeschwader (JG 26), assault the "Fortress" from 6, 7, and 8 o'clock destroying the left horizontal stabilizer and tail gunner's cabin, killing Sgt. Frank Lekas, calls out "enemy aircraft at six." but had no chance to finish.
Jylkka, gives the heading for England when suddenly tail gunner Sgt. Losing speed and altitude Damn Yankee falls behind the group and earns the dreaded title of a "straggler".
Over the target, planes of the 384th encounter intense flak and Damn Yankee's #4 engine is hit, causing the propeller to begin to windmill. On a bombing mission to Solingen, Germany, December 1, 1943, a B-17F "Flying Fortress" of the 384th Bomb Group, 545th Squadron is on its 13th mission piloted by ship commander Lt.
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