I have to say that reading about all of the strange and inspiring things that happened in the Second World War Growing up, Alan Magee’s story is one of the most miraculous tales of survival.
Surviving in the exposed and enclosed ball turret of an American B 17 Flying fortress, Magee was thrown from his aircraft at an altitude of 20,000 feet. The trouble was, he wasn’t wearing his parachute. The Miraculous thing was that he survived the fall and returned after the war to tell the tale. What is even more miraculous was that this dice with death didn’t put Magee off flying.
What an amazing man, and this is his amazing story!
Background to the story
German forces invaded France in the spring of 1940 and as their blitzkrieg spread over the French countryside, they quickly took control of the coastal town of St Nazaire. This small harbor would be an important part of Germany’s war-winning strategy, as it had plentiful docks and access to the Atlantic Ocean and the Allied shipping beyond.
The Harbor was a hub for all sorts of ship repairs for the Kriegsmarine during the war, as well as for the rapidly built pens to house German U-boats. These were responsible for launching deadly German submarine attacks on allied ships which almost cost Britain the war.
Because of this, the Allies were desperate to destroy this target once and for all. Boy, and they really tried!
Saint Nazaire was given the nickname “flak city” by the young airmen because of the number of anti-aircraft defenses which ringed the city by 1942. The Germans had taken appropriate measures to protect the harbour, because they knew it was a high-value target just as much as the allies.
By 1942, Britain and her allies were slowly making progress in breaking Germany’s chokehold on the beleaguered island using the convoy system. But the u-boat menace still persisted.
Winston Churchill was reported as saying the only thing that truly scared him during the war was the battle for the Atlantic and Britain’s supply lines to her commonwealth and the United States.
However, there was still a lot of work to be done even by 1942, before they were able to stop the U-boat threat completely. Not doing so would jeopardize any prospect of invading France, as, without the reliable shipping of men and supplies across the Atlantic, an invasion would be nearly impossible.
The 8th Air Force Attacks Saint Nazaire
In January 1943, the 8th air force would return to Saint Nazaire for a second time and face a newly devised German defense known as ‘predicted barrage’. This was the idea of filling an area of sky with dense flak and hitting any aircraft that passed through it. It was In the process of this bombing attack that one of the most amazing survival stories of World War II would happen.
Alan Magee was born on January 13th, 1919 in Plainfield, New Jersey to a large family. He immediately enlisted into the United States army air force after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. His assigned role was that of a ball turret gunner to a B-17 bomber nicknamed snap crackle pop.
This name was given to it by the captain of the bomber, Jacob Fredericks since he had worked for the Kellogg Company and the rice crispy cereal brand. And so accordingly, the plane was painted with the appropriate nose art.
If you want to hear my thoughts on how a B-17 shaped up to the British Avro Lancaster and which one you would probably want to fight in during the war, feel free to watch this video next!
After arriving in England Magee gained, the rank of Staff Sergeant and took part in several combat missions with the 360th bomber squadron and 303rd bomb group.
On January 3rd, 1943, Magee and his crew flew their B-17 flying fortress on a daylight bombing raid to the staging yard for U-boat torpedoes at St Nazaire. This was an important mission with high stakes, and it was no secret to the crews that there would be deadly defenses facing them.
It was to be Magee’s 7th combat mission.
Magee faces his death
Despite the challenges facing them, the aircrews of the 360th bomber squadron were determined to succeed and departed for St. Nazaire in formation.
The mission to attack flak city was as fierce and deadly as anticipated. The planes were engulfed in rounds from anti-aircraft fire and enemy fighters. Many aircraft were sent down in flames as the American Bombers still relied largely on their own defensive firepower at this stage of the war.
Then disaster struck!
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The German defenders were able to land a direct hit on snap, crackle, pop, which sent the aircraft into a death spin. As it lost altitude, the shrapnel wounded Magee crawled out of his ball turret to search for his parachute.
Being a very enclosed space, this was not kept with the gunner but was stored away for just such emergencies. It was only when he had battled out of his gun turret that Magee saw the damaged chest pack that held his parachute. He found a large hole in the middle of it. Rendering it completely useless.
He frantically searched for another parachute so that he could bail out, but with no success. Before he could continue looking for some kind of solution, another shell landed on the plane and Magee’s world turned black.
This latest anti-aircraft shell broke up the B 17. The shock of it threw his body from the aircraft and he plummeted to the ground from almost four miles high.
Magee’s terrible fall and survival
As he fell, he encountered a cold wind on his face which revived him. Upon realizing what was happening, it must have been one of the worst realizations one could have. He was falling to earth and was doing so without a parachute.
As the French soil raced up to meet him, Magee uttered a final prayer to God, begging for his life. “I do not want to die,” he told his maker. “I know nothing about life.” This, he thought, were his last ever ponderings on this earth. Soon the lack of oxygen and shock finally overtook his body and he passed out again.
Magee was unconscious when he landed on the train station which stood at the heart of Saint Nazaire. It was sheer luck or perhaps divine intervention that he happened to land there.
Just like the architecture of many contemporary train stations, a glass roof served as a way to let in sunlight and warm the air, as well as providing natural airflow for the passengers below. It was this design feature which saved the young Magee’s life.
Magee’s body crashed through the roof panes at an extremely high speed but the force of the fall was offset, saving him from certain death.
The body of the young airman was found snagged on the steel girders that arched over the railway tracks. When German soldiers found him, he was in a horrible condition. His arm was nearly taken completely off in the fall, his eye and nose were almost crushed, and there was severe damage to his teeth, leg, and knee.
Magee was miraculously alive despite his severe injuries and more than 20,000-foot free fall. His lungs and other organs may have been partially crushed, but he was still breathing. When the German soldiers pulled him from the remains of the destroyed roof, a military doctor was called to provide medical care.
Magee slowly regained consciousness as the doctor approached, who greeted him with respect and explained that although they may be enemies he would do his duty as a doctor first and foremost.
The doctor managed to prevent Magee’s arm from needing amputation and assessed the rest of his wounds, which he tended as he went through his careful inspection. Magee was later told that he had 28 individual shrapnel wounds, and several more internally.
Life might be painful for a while, but he was certainly going to learn a lot more about it, firstly as a prisoner of war!
Aftermath
Only two other members of Sergeant Magee’s crew survived the attack on their plane. The navigator, Second Lieutenant Glenn, M Harrington, who lost a leg in the process, and the tail gunner staff, Sergeant James Gordon, who managed to survive his descent without injury. Sadly, the other seven crew members of Snap Crackle Pop did not make it home to their loved ones, including Jacob Fredericks who named the Fortress.
Magee’s time as a POW was finally over in May of 1945 when the camp was liberated and he was able to return home to the United States. He was honored with an air medal for his bravery and meritorious conduct, as well as a purple heart. After returning home, Magee retired from the air force. However, he continued to fly, gaining his own flying license, and worked in the airline industry until his retirement in 1979.
When asked, Staff Sergeant Magee would summarize his experience by simply stating “I don’t know how I got there, but here I am. Thanks to God.” Despite his gratitude to his maker, Magee also owed a lot to the German doctor who rushed to the scene of his impact.
Unfortunately, Magee found himself unable to properly thank the man who ultimately saved his life as he never learned his name. And it was not listed in any documents he could uncover.
Magee himself was not forgotten by the people he was trying to liberate.
The fall of Magee would be remembered by the locals as a miracle. The event would be commemorated 50 years later on January 3rd, 1993. When the people of St Nazaire erected a memorial dedicated to Magee and the crew of his bomber, this included a six-foot-tall monument.
