On January 3, 1943, Alan Eugene Magee was B-17 ball turret gunner on his 7th mission - a daylight bombing run over Saint-Nazaire, France. Magee left his ball turret when it became inoperative after being damaged by German flak, and discovered his parachute had been torn and rendered useless. Another flak hit then blew off a section of the right wing, causing the aircraft to enter a deadly spin.
Magee, in the process of moving from the bomb bay to the radio room, blacked out but was miraculously thrown clear of the aircraft. He fell over four miles (22,000 feet or 6,700m) before crashing through the glass roof of St. Nazaire railroad station. The glass roof shattered, reducing the force of Magee's impact. Rescuers found him on the floor of the station.
Magee was taken as a prisoner of war and given medical treatment by his captors. He had 28 shrapnel wounds in addition to his injuries from the fall: several broken bones, severe damage to his nose and eye, lung and kidney damage, and a nearly severed right arm.
Alan Eugene Magee was liberated in May 1945 and lived to the ripe old age of 84 years old!
