When a B-17 Crew had a Fistfight During a Dogfight

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00:00It's the 26th of July 1943 and in the cockpit of his B-17 Ruth E-2 is co-pilot 2nd Lieutenant

00:10John Morgan and his good friend Captain Robert Campbell. They're in a formation of 120 bombers

00:16on their way to attack Germany but they've barely made it over the North Sea when Morgan sees

00:23enemies up ahead. Bandits, 12 o'clock high, a lot of them. Swarming towards them are over 150

00:30German fighters. Behind the pilots, Engineer Staff Sergeant Tyre Weaver climbs into the top turret

00:38and lines up his guns. The enemy flies in a straightening level with the Flying Fortresses.

00:43It's the best angle to hide from as many guns as possible. On the right side cheek gun 2nd Lieutenant

00:49Keith Koski shouts out the enemy position and he is the first to open fire.

00:58The FW-190s shoot their 20mm cannons and machine guns and German shells streak across the sky

01:05headed directly towards the Ruth E-2's cockpit. Morgan flinches as the enemy fire crashes into his

01:15position. Weaver cries out in pain as a 20mm shell strikes him on the left shoulder but a single

01:22bullet finds its mark directly at the head of Captain Campbell.

01:30The FW-190s roar past the battered B-17 and pepper its fuselage with shells.

01:36As 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. On the flight deck Morgan is stunned as he takes in

01:52the devastation inside the cockpit and the gruesome scene. He sees a terrible sight of his captain who is

02:00slumped in the seat next to him with a wound to the head. Morgan is on his own.

02:08It's now his responsibility to get the crew home.

02:11Have we been hit? There's too many of them. The cabin's hit but I got this.

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.

02:31He fights back and looks over at his captain.

02:34Incredibly, despite his head wound, Campbell is sitting straight and alert as he maneuvers the

02:41aircraft. It's not good. As FW-190s comes screaming towards the fort, Campbell banks hard to the right.

02:49It's the opposite of what he should do. The maneuvers push them out of formation.

02:53Bob, what are you doing? Keep formation. We're dead if we're on our own.

02:58Campbell doesn't reply. Instead, he carries on flying the plane. He's suffered severe brain trauma.

03:05His skull is shattered and is bleeding. He doesn't hear Morgan.

03:08Bob, hold formation.

03:11More BF-109s come roaring over the B-17 and Campbell throws the plane into yet another aggressive maneuver.

03:18At the back, the gunners hold on for dear life. The growing number of casings rolling across the floor.

03:25And they almost lose their footing.

03:26What's going on?

03:27With colossal effort, they still manage to get their guns on target and keep sending as much lead at the

03:32enemy as they possibly can. In the nose, Koski holds down the trigger of his machine gun. As targets

03:40approach from all directions, the intercoms are washed with call-outs as they fight for their lives.

03:45Suddenly, he sees the turret gunner, Tyre Weaver, fall beside him and collapse on the floor. Koski

03:52immediately rushes to his aid. He finds Weaver's left arm has been shot off and is bleeding heavily.

03:58Weaver, stay with me.

04:00He tries to administer as much aid as he can, but he knows that the injuries are too severe

04:05and there's no way that Weaver's going to make the four arrows back to England.

04:08And Weaver himself knows it. He's weak and in severe pain.

04:13He catches Koski's attention. He points at himself, then at the hatch.

04:18He wants to bail. Koski is torn. Even if Weaver survives the jump,

04:23there's no guarantee the Germans won't leave him to die. But he quickly realizes it's his only chance.

04:33Outside, the mayhem of fighters continues and the sounds of machine gun chatter as enemies pass by

04:38incredible speeds. A BF-109 fires a burst of shells across the length of the Ruth E2.

04:44They detonate on the thin skin. The 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 and fights desperately

05:02to keep the B-17 in formation. He's attempting to counteract Campbell's erratic inputs.

05:08But it's not working. The plane is all the while falling further out of formation.

05:14Morgan feels the weight of command on his shoulders. He has to get his captain off the controls.

05:20He reaches over to the wounded captain to pull him away from the yoke. Campbell still has his strength

05:26and immediately resists. Morgan tries to pry him away but Campbell doesn't budge. With one hand,

05:33he makes a fist and punches Morgan straight in the face. Morgan is shocked, furious and in despair.

05:42Robert, please. Robert Campbell doesn't comprehend what's happening. On some deep level in his injured

05:48brain, he's still in command and fighting for the lives of his crew. With intense fury, he repeatedly

05:56punches Morgan, a flurry of blows striking him on the head and torso. Robert, please let me have control.

06:04But Campbell is undeterred. He 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. But then he sees that in

06:16his anger, Campbell has stopped working the controls. Pushing through the painful punches,

06:21Morgan grips the yoke and starts maneuvering the aircraft back up towards the formation.

06:27Meanwhile, in the nose of the aircraft, Kosky finishes tightening the parachute on Weaver,

06:32who is fading quickly. He pushes open the hatch and is blasted by the freezing air. Looking down,

06:39he can see a German city in the distance. He shuffles Weaver forwards and places a parachute grip

06:45cord in his hand. But barely conscious, Weaver pulls it early and the chute flops on the floor.

06:51No! Kosky is mortified. Weaver can't miss this city or his already slim chances will be gone.

07:00Completely out of time now, Kosky 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.

07:11So, at the rear, the gunners still fight, but the leaking oxygen tanks are running out.

07:16They can feel the early symptoms of hypoxia. Their decision-making is getting slow,

07:22their shots become less accurate and they start to feel sleepy.

07:26What the hell? It's the oxygen.

07:31We lost the oxygen.

07:33Without the intercom, there's no hope of the men being heard. Their vision blurs and balance wanes.

07:40But they stay at their machine guns, firing at the blurry forms of aircraft. But one by one,

07:46they collapse. The remaining waste gunner pleads for oxygen over the broken intercom one last time,

07:52before everything goes dark. Everyone behind the bomb bay has fallen unconscious, except the ball

07:59turret gunner who continues to fight, unaware of what's going on above him.

08:06The Germans empty the last of their ammunition at the Americans. The B-17 shudders and shakes,

08:11as the Germans break off their attack. But in the cockpit, the battle continues. Morgan keeps taking

08:18hits from a relentless Campbell. Welts and cuts are appearing over him, and he realizes he can't take

08:23much more. Morgan strikes out, attempting to restrain Campbell's arm, but he fails, and Campbell lands

08:29a punch into Morgan's mouth. He feels something loose, and spits it out. It's a tooth. He can't

08:37keep flying like this. He needs to end it. Redoubling his efforts, he reaches for Campbell and grabs onto

08:42his oxygen mask, and is ready to rip it off, but he doesn't. Morgan holds onto it, weighing his options.

08:49If he rips it off, the fight will end, and he can save all the others, but his friend could die.

08:53But the decision is taken from him, as Campbell shoves Morgan's arm off his face and continues

09:00his relentless assault. As the pilot and co-pilot fight over the controls, the B-17 wobbles and drifts

09:07off course. Eventually blood loss and exhaustion weaken Campbell, and Morgan finally manages to pin

09:13him down. He breathes heavily, as Campbell still struggles under his grasp. He might be able to get

09:19everyone home after all. But 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. It's flak. The bombing run is still going ahead.

09:36Explosions rock the formation. Shrapnel 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 fuselage.

09:48All the while, Campbell's still struggling, but Morgan keeps him pinned. Just as he thinks it can't

09:53get any worse, he sees in the distance more German aircraft approaching.

09:57He reports it over the intercom, but has no idea the intercom is out. He watches in horror as the

10:07enemy fighters brave their own flak, and comes screaming in from his left. Their guns light up.

10:14Morgan feels even more impact strike his fort. They punch through the wings and pierce one of

10:19the fuel tanks, causing it to leak right next to the hot engines. The drop target's coming up,

10:24but without intercoms, there's no way to signal the bombardier. But the bombardier is ready.

10:29I think the intercom is out, but I'm dropping those bombs.

10:33And is already checking the bomb site. He doesn't have control of the plane as he normally would,

10:38but he's watching the puffs of smoke through thousands of feet below,

10:41and releases his bombs as best he can.

10:44Bombs away!

10:45Morgan feels the B-17 rise as the bombs are released.

10:49Unbelievably, despite all the events, they've achieved the mission objective,

10:54and the B-17's turn for home. He's amazed it's still flying, but the Ruthie-2

10:59is still answering his controls. The German aircraft chase and harass them,

11:04shooting at the fortresses from the rear. Without rear gunners,

11:07the Ruthie-2 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.

11:36The battle over, Koski takes a moment to breathe and calm himself,

11:40before he decides to go check on the pilots. He'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.

12:12Morgan'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 air base.

12:20By pushing the plane lower early to save Campbell, the air becomes breathable for the crew,

12:25without having to use the masks. And so, unbeknownst to Morgan,

12:29in the back of the plane, a miracle takes place.

12:32Despite spending nearly two hours without oxygen, all four of the affected men in the rear

12:38stir awake. Apart from some frostbite, the men are unharmed.

12:43Some three hours after the start of the nightmare mission,

12:46Morgan brings Ruthie to him to land safely back in England.

12:50He 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.

13:18For 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.

13:45K-12 tail that landed in England.

13:51You can't all see him!

13:54You have spent more hours here.

13:55You are a famous man.

14:00You got the same?

14:02You got the same?

14:04You got the same.

14:05Well that's about it.

14:07You can't walk away from there.

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