RE: Edward Joseph Leary Obit.
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05/20/2008 12:16:45 PM
The following was extracted from the obituary guestbook of Edward J Leary. It describes his service during WWII as a member of the aircrew
of the Peggy D II. I hope I haven't violated any copyright laws but thought all interested folks should read of his service.. Larry T.
Quote:
" Here follows a fuller story of Uncle Ed's experience during World War II.
Uncle Ed enlisted in the Army in October 1941 – two months before Pearl Harbor. He hoped to become a pilot; but that was not to happen. Instead, as the smallest member of his crew – and I should mention here that he was all of 5'3" tall and 126 pounds – he was selected – or I should say “volunteered” – as the ball turret gunner of a B-17 Flying Fortress.
Let me tell you about the role of a ball-turret gunner. The ball-turret was
so small that the smallest member of the crew had to sit in it in a fetal-position with his knees drawn up close to his shoulders. He used his feet to push pedals to rotate the turret 360 degrees or to point it up or down. The gunner used his hands to cock the twin 50-caliber guns and to fire them.
As Uncle Ed wrote in his war-time journal, as the ball-turret gunner, he was in the unique position of being able to see the bomb bay doors open as his plane approached the target; then watching the tons of bombs being released from the bomb bay; then seeing the bombs rain down until they were out of sight; and then witnessing them explode as they struck their target.
Uncle Ed was among the first B-17 units to arrive in England in July 1942.
He was also among the 120 airmen, including General Ira Eaker and Major Paul Tibbets, who later went on to drop the first atomic bomb, that flew the first daylight bombing mission over Europe. For his bravery, Uncle Ed was awarded several commendations, including the Air Medal and the Order of the Great Patriotic War (First Class), which the Soviet Unit awarded to all the airmen involved in that first bombing mission.
Uncle Ed’s plane was shot down at least twice, and possibly a third time.
His first plane, the Peggy D, was first shot down over France on October 21, 1942. I know little about this event, other than it happened.
His next plane, the Peggy D II, was shot down in January 1943 over North Africa after bombing the docks at Bizerte, Tunisia. This was a harrowing event in which almost every member of the 10-man crew, including Uncle Ed, was wounded, some very seriously.
Uncle Ed rarely spoke of his wartime experience. Therefore, I had to compile the facts surrounding this air battle from two sources. One is an account written by one of the crew of the Peggy D II. The other is an account written by William Hess in his book "B-17 Flying Fortress Units of the Mediterranean Theater Operation," which was published in 2003. Although these accounts differ in small ways, they are remarkably similar.
Just after dropping its bombs over Bizerte, the Peggy D II, was struck by
several flak bursts. One piece of shrapnel struck the ball-turret, shattering the plexiglass, and seriously wounding Uncle Ed in the left shoulder and wrist. The other crew members were able to pull him out of the turret. Another flak burst damaged the plane’s electrical system, making it impossible to close the bomb bay doors. It also damaged the internal radio system, making it impossible for the crew to communicate with the cockpit. A third burst knocked out Engine No. 3. The cumulative damage caused the Peggy D II to fall out of formation, at which point several German fighter planes pounced on it. One of those planes was a Messerschmitt 109 piloted by Lieutenant Franz Schiess, who,
at that time, was one of Germany’s leading flying aces. Uncle Ed was 19
years old at the time and Lieutenant Schiess was 21.
Lieutenant Schiess made several passes at the Peggy D II. On one pass,
he shot out Engine No. 2, which then caught fire. Captain Dallas then
put the plane into an almost vertical dive in order to put out the fire.
During this dive, Lieutenant Schiess followed the plane down continuing his attack. Lieutenant Schiess wounded the tail gunner and one of the waist gunners, who Uncle Ed remembered, had a hole in his thigh the size of a baseball and was bleeding profusely. At this point, Uncle Ed, who had the use of only his right arm, took over the injured waist gunner's 50-caliber machine gun and began firing at the fighters swarming around the plane.
On another pass, Lieutenant Schiess wounded the radio gunner and knocked out the top turret gun.
Captain Dallas was also shot three times in the chest. In addition, a fire
had broken out in the cockpit. Moreover, Engine No. 4 had failed, leaving
the plane with only one functioning engine. Captain Dallas ordered the crew to huddle in the radio room and to prepare for a crash landing. He brought the badly damaged plane in low over the North African desert and set it down. The plane bounced several times before finally coming to a stop.
The impact had been tremendous, causing additional injuries to the crew.
The tail section was knocked off, further injuring the tail gunner. The
least injured helped evacuate the more seriously injured from the plane.
Some of the crew, including Captain Dallas and the copilot, suffered serious burns.
Uncle Ed and other members of the crew then went back into the plane to retrieve emergency supplies, and the crew’s sidearms. But Captain Dallas
told his crew: “Boys, were too shot up to fight any more – so holster your weapons.” Luckily, the crew was rescued by a group of nomadic Arabs, who then summoned a British patrol. As I mentioned before, all of the crew survived, although they would not see any further action for several months. Uncle Ed was awarded the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious conduct and the Purple Heart for having been wounded in combat. Captain Dallas was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
It is believed that the crew shot down at least one German fighter and, perhaps, a second one. Lieutenant Schiess escaped unharmed, although he was to die less than seven months later in a dogfight at the age of 22 with 67 confirmed “kills.”
A few weeks ago – when Uncle Ed was hospitalized the first time – I spent almost five hours talking with him about anything and everything. Actually, Uncle Ed did most of the talking. At one point, he said: “You know, I wasn’t brave. None of us were. We were petrified every time we flew.”
I respectfully disagree. Of course, he was terrified. He would have been crazy if he weren’t. Uncle Ed’s mistake was equating fear with a lack of courage.
During World War II, more than 400,000 military personnel were killed in action – in both the European and Pacific theaters. Of those killed, more than 100,000 were airmen. In fact, an airman hoping to complete the required 30 missions had a 70% chance of being killed before completing all his missions.
Uncle Ed completed his 30 missions. On one occasion, he could have avoided flying at least one of those missions. An army doctor had grounded him because of an ear infection. The doctor was concerned that the high altitude could cause his eardrums to rupture. But Uncle Ed said: “To hell with that. I’m not letting by buddies fly with some other unknown, perhaps untested, ball-turret gunner.” And so he flew that mission. He told me – and these are his words – that his ears had hurt like a “son-of- bitch,” but that he suffered no long term consequences (unless, of
course, you overlook his early hearing loss, which probably was more attributable to the constant firing of a machine gun in the enclosed space of the ball-turret than flying that one mission.)
I am told that Uncle Ed, if he had chosen, could have been rotated back to the States after completing the required number of missions. Instead, tempting fate, he and the other members of his crew chose to stay and continue fighting. They ended up flying almost 40 missions.
Uncle Ed was brave – very brave. Indeed, he is the bravest person I have ever met.
Brian Hannon (San Jose, CA) ", End Quote