Cole's Crew flies again
Inspired by news of the Collings Foundation's Wings of Freedom Tour, three World War II heroes rendezvoused Friday at Page Field in Fort Myers for the chance to hop aboard a Flying Fortress back to the Venice Municipal Airport.
Cole's Crew, as they were known, flew their own B-17 while stationed in Britain in 1944-45.
All in their mid-80s now, pilot Floyd Cole from Connecticut, who winters in Venice, navigator Arnett Kilpatrick of Tennessee and Robert H. "Bobby" Gayle of Texas were some of the finest airmen of their time. They were part of a 10-man crew flying a B-17 named the Final Approach during World War II. Cole finished with 33 missions; Kilpatrick 25 and Gayle 14.
They stayed in touch over the years, having formed a lifetime bond.
On a partly cloudy Friday, the three climbed on board a restored B-17, one of a handful still in service. It was 63 years since their last mission, when they were barely 20 years old.
Cole's Crew made their way from Page Field aboard a B-17 flying the colors of the Nine-O-Nine of the 91st Bomb Group, a 323rd Squadron plane that completed 140 missions without an abort or loss of a crewman.
The restored aircraft was originally built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1945. Although it came off the assembly line too late for combat, the airplane did serve as part of the Air/Sea 1st Rescue Squadron, according to the Collings Foundation, of Stow, Mass.
In 1952 the aircraft was subjected to the effects of three nuclear explosions. After a 13-year cooling down period, it was sold as scrap to an aircraft restoration company and later purchased by Collings.
The Flying Fortress, and the B-25 fighter, were the backbone of the American effort during World War II.
Sitting ducks
For Cole's Crew, it was a chance to relive, at least for a few short moments, events that made history for the United States and the world.
It was far from the reality of their World War II experience.
They were among friends, not people who were attempting to kill them. They flew at 1,000 feet, not the 20,000 to 30,000 feet of their missions.
They enjoyed a warm Florida winter day, not minus 30 degree weather that formed frost on their eyebrows and eyelids during each mission. It was a 30-minute flight from Fort Myers to Venice, not a six-hour mission peppered with moments of terror.
The Nazi air force, Cole remembered, eventually learned to keep its distance from them. The Flying Fortress, loaded with machine guns and bombs, flew in tight but overwhelming groups with companion fighters. It was flak from ground fire that most concerned Cole.
Was the Final Approach ever hit?
"All the time," said Cole. The airplane's skin is remarkably thin, making it light enough to carry up to 36,000 pounds of bombs.
Anti-aircraft fire could easily penetrate the membrane, yet it was known for its ability to sustain damage and still complete its mission.
The windows were wide open to allow maximum maneuverability of the .50 caliber Browning machine guns that dotted the aircraft.
Kilpatrick was the best navigator there was, said Cole. He recalled a mission that took them into Russia. Minor damage caused their plane to be left behind while a fleet of B-17s headed back over enemy territory.
"We were sitting ducks. Kilpatrick figured out the direction, the speed and the amount of time we needed to catch up to the fleet," he said. "We got on it and flew right into our own group. He was that good."
P.O.W.
Gayle, the ball turret gunner in Cole's Crew, went on to become an educator. He'd been shot down three times. His job was to man the gun in the ball turret bubble exposed on the underbelly of the B-17 and protect the crew from enemy aircraft.
He was shot down once over the Adriatic Sea, where he survived for an hour on the wing of the airplane before being rescued. After volunteering for a new mission that took him to Italy, he joined a group of B-17s that, one time, got too close to each other in cloud cover and collided midair. The end of one wing was severely damaged, but the aircraft managed to limp back to safety.
His luck ran out over Italy, where he was shot down. He spent three months as a prisoner of war in Germany.
He recalled being marched through the streets of Frankfurt, Germany. It was February 1945. The Germans were losing the war badly by then, and it was about to end.
"It wasn't good at all. The people ... they weren't happy. They spat on us. Poked us with umbrellas. Screamed at us. The (Nazis) said, 'Don't do anything back or we won't protect you.' They didn't anyway."
Kilpatrick was the only crew member to receive a Purple Heart. Flak struck the Final Approach from beneath Kilpatrick. He was sitting on a box of ammunition. Luckily, it didn't go off.
On Friday, Cole's Crew showed their wives firsthand what a Flying Fortress looks like. They described for them how them jumped into and out of the aircraft, their duties and where they sat during missions.
The flight helped their wives, and others who gathered for a tour of the aircraft, share in the extraordinary events they took part in during World War II -- events that have been re-enacted time and again on film and elsewhere ever since they took to the skies to preserve freedom for generations to come.
©Venice Gomdolier, a division of SUn Coast Media Group, inc.