Miles C. McCormack        B 17G 42-37718                                                            Updated:  08 MAR 2009
                                                                          
Da krigen kom til Samsø
fra artikel i Samsø Posten 1999 af Aage Snedker, fotos 1992.     

”Lørdag 9. oktober 1943 blev ikke nogen helt almindelig dag for den unge pilot Miles C. McCormack fra Grand Junction i Colorado. Tidligt om morgenen entrede han sammen med sin besætning en B-17 bombemaskine på Thurleigh luftbasen i England for som 2. pilot at indlede et bombetogt til Tyskland. Inden dagen var omme, var maskinen brændt op og besætningen spredt for alle vinde.

Om selve det skæbnesvangre bombetogt til Gdynia (her) fortalte Miles under besøget i 1992:

”Dagen i forvejen havde vi været over Bremen. Tilbage fra togtet kom en luftdygtig maskine ud af 13. Vores.

På hjemturen til den engelske base efter angrebet overraskedes vi af en to-motorers tysk JU-88 jager/bomber. En fuldtræffer fra det tyske fly satte yderste styrbords motor ud af drift, og lufttrykket mod den døde motor sinkede os så meget, at vi blev væk fra formationen. Over det sydlige Danmark dukkede 4-5 fly af typen Focke-Wulf 190 eller Messerschmitt 109 op, og de pumpede den ene byge bly efter den anden ind i vor maskine. Min ven, agterskytten, sergent Douglas Farris blev dræbt af kuglerne, og handicappet som vi var, indså vi efterhånden, at vi ikke kunne holde flyet i luften ret meget længere.”

Maskinen kom ud af kurs, og over Samsø gik det galt. Besætningen forlod flyet over Alstrup, Østerby-området, og Miles forsøgte at tvinge sin maskine ud over Stauns Fjorden væk fra beboet område. På grund af maskinens ringe højde og dens efterhånden ringe manøvredygtighed mislykkedes forsøget, og som den sidste forlod han maskinen i sin rygskærm med den lange udløserline.

Sekunder efter ramte bombeflyet jorden og udløste et inferno af ild og røg. En firelænget gård og Gammel-Sines hus i Alstrup blev antændt, ingen mennesker led overlast, men såvel gård som hus nedbrændte til grunden.

Miles fortalte, at han og kammeraterne ventede så længe som muligt med at udløse faldskærmene af frygt for at blive beskudt af de tyske jagere, mens de hang i luften.”

Miles C. McCormack fortæller videre om sit ophold i 1943 på Samsø og derpå sammen med andre flyvere i krigsfangelejren Stalag Luft III. Efter krigen gjorde Miles tjeneste i reserven og deltog aktivt som pilot under Korea-krigen.

”Miles og sønnen sluttede opholdet på Samsø i 1992 med et besøg på nedstyrtningsstedet i Alstrup, og senere ved den dræbte kammerat Douglas Farris` gravsten på Besser Kirkegård. Synet af det grå granitkors med navnet på hans ven, der døde i maskinen, rørte ham dybt.

Afværgende og måske dækkende over forlegenheden ved at vise sine følelser sagde han blot:
Vi gjorde jo kun vor pligt.”

When the war came to Samsø
from an article in Samsø Posten 1999 by Aage Snedker, photos 1992 (translated by Anders Straarup)

”Saturday October 9, 1943, turned out to be an unusual day for the young pilot Miles C. McCormack of Grand Junction, Colorado. Early in the morning he and his crew boarded a B-17 bomber at Thurleigh Air Station in England to start a bombing raid to Germany with him as Co-pilot. At the end of the day the plane was burned and the crew scattered to the winds.

Miles told about the fatal bombing raid to Gdynia (map) during his visit in 1992:

“The day before we had been over Bremen. Of 13 planes only one returned fit to fly. Ours.

On the return flight to the English base after the attack we were surprised by a German twin-engined JU-88 fighter/bomber. A direct hit from the German plane made the outer starboard engine stop, and the air pressure on the dead engine delayed us so much that we lost contact with the formation. Over the southern part of Denmark 4-5 planes – Focke-Wulf or Messerschmitt 109 – appeared, and they pumped bursts of lead into our plane. My friend Tail Gunner, Sergeant Douglas Farris was killed by the bullets, and handicapped as we were, we realised that we could not keep the plane in the air much longer.” 

The plane came off its course and over Samsø things went wrong. The crew left the plane over the Alstrup-Østerby area, and Miles tried to force his plane over Stauns Fjord away from inhabited area. Due to the plane´s low altitude and the difficulty to control it the attempt failed, and as the last he left the plane with his parachute with the long rip cord. 

Seconds later the bomber hit the ground and set off an inferno of fire and smoke. A four wing farm and Old Sine´s house caught fire, no people were harmed, but farm and house burned to the ground.

Miles said that he and his buddies waited as long as possible to release their parachutes for fear of being hit by the German fighters, while they hung in the air.”

Miles C. McCormack went on telling about his stay in 1943 on Samsø and then with other airmen in the POW camp Stalag Luft III. After the war he served in the reserve, and he served as a pilot during the Korean War.

“Miles and his son ended their stay on Samsø in 1992 with a visit to the crash site in Alstrup, and later to Besser Churchyard, where he saw the gravestone of Douglas Farris, his friend who was killed. The sight of the grey granite cross with the name of his friend, who died in the plane, moved him deeply.

Perhaps in an attempt to cover up his embarrassment at showing his emotions, he just said off-handedly               
We only did our duty.”