Instead of an accidental combining of two planes in midair, the Germans believed the “Piggyback” was a brand-new eight-engine warplane that the Allies had developed!
Germans believed it to be a Superplane! Throughout World War II, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress flew over every combat zone, but its most important missions were over Europe. The B-17, together with the B-24 Liberator, served as the foundation of the USAAF’s strategic bombing force and contributed to the war’s victory by destroying Germany’s war industry.
By stifling domestic industry, war production, and the German people’s will to resist, USAAF heavy bomber daylight strikes sought to compel Nazi Germany to submit alongside RAF Bomber Command in its nighttime bombing campaign. Participating in the Combined Bomber Offensive was one of the riskiest missions of World War II due to the heavy fighting that resulted in a large number of casualties among US bomber crews. This claim was supported by the so-called “Piggyback Flight,” a highly unusual accident that occurred on January 1, 1945.
‘Pilot Glenn Rojohn survived what became one of the miracles of the war when his’ says Troy Dugo (whose father loaded ordinance on B-17s at RAF Deopham Green during World War II) on Quora. ‘My dad, who loaded ordinance on B-17s at RAF Deopham Green, became friends with Rojohn in their Pittsburgh social group in the 90s.’
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune, when all hell broke loose during the New Year’s Eve attack on a synthetic oil factory in Hamburg, Rojohn was flying a B-17 Flying Fortress. 12 of the 37 aircraft were shot down, resulting in the deaths of 100 crew members, when they were surrounded by intense anti-aircraft fire close to the target and repeatedly strafed by German fighters.
Dugo clarifies;
‘Rojohn’s B-17 collided mid-air with a bomber below it and became hooked together in what has become known as the “Piggyback flight.” A propeller and top guns of the lower B-17 were jammed into Rojohn’s B-17 and he and his co-pilot, William Leek, were unable to free their plane.
‘Rojohn’s crew, part of the 8th Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group, was awakened in the middle of the night and told they were to fly across the English Channel and the North Sea to participate in a massive bombing raid. A fighter escort they were supposed to meet over the English Channel never materialized because of heavy fog, so they were flying the bombing mission against German targets without protection during the Battle of the Bulge.
‘They were sitting ducks for the German fighter planes.’
The reason for the lower plane’s collision with Rojohn’s B-17 at a height of roughly 19,000 feet, when it was filling in a gap in the ‘V’ formation created by previous planes being shot down, is unknown. The other plane’s pilots are thought to have been rendered incapable. Rojohn and his co-pilot shut off their plane’s engines and turned south toward Germany to try to land the aircraft while the lower plane’s engines continued to run and cut into Rojohn’s B-17.
Unaware that they had not reached land, some crew members regrettably bailed out over the water. The survivors were seized, and three crew members perished.
Dugo goes on;
‘Rojohn and his co-pilot landed the conjoined planes on German soil near Wilhemshaven. Rojohn’s plane slid free upon impact, and the lower plane exploded and burned. Rojohn would undergo two weeks of interrogation by the Germans. They thought Rojohn was piloting a new eight-engine warplane the Allies had developed rather than it being the accidental joining of two planes in mid-air! The Germans thought it was a Superplane!’
Finally, he says;
‘For their heroic actions, Rojohn and his co-pilot, William Leek, were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. At the petitioning of my dad and his fellow veterans, we were all there when Rojohn was inducted into the Hall of Valor at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum in Pittsburgh where the paint [featured in this post] hangs.’
Photo by Hall of Valor at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum.
