I've been reading excerpts from the memoirs of General Keith Coster who was in command of the Rhodesian Army during the Second Chimurenga, or War of Independence, in the 1970's. Prior to his service in Rhodesia, Coster was an allied fighter pilot who was shot down and imprisoned in Stalag Luft III in Sagan, from which the Great Escape was launched. One of his fellow POW's was Paul Brickhill, an Australian, who wrote the book about the escape. However, my question concerns an anecdote in the memoirs.
Quote
'' We had a USAF lieutenant-colonel in our room called Jamie Murray. He had bailed out of his Flying Fortress [B-17] at 30,000 feet, and decided to free-fall most of the way. He became so intrigued with the free-fall, that he only just got the parachute open in time''
Unquote
So this question is probably more for the HALO experts out there, preferably if they are WW11 Flying Fortress buffs. Would this have been possible? My simple mind tells me that Coster's recollection might have been muddied over the 50-60 years that passed between WW11 and his penning his memoirs. Oxygen deprivation (unless there was a bail-out bottle in those days) and therefore hypoxia must surely have come into play at 30k and the opening shock at terminal from a WW11 bail-out rig would have been immense. I don't believe that sliders had been invented back then. Probably didn't have an alti either but then the USAF did fly their missions in daylight which would have helped a bit.
As an aside, another of Gen Coster's fellow POW's was an RAF Sergeant Alkemade, who was blown out of a Lancaster bomber without a parachute. He fell from about 16,000 feet and landed in a very deep snowdrift. He sprained his ankle and lived to tell the tale...
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I've been reading excerpts from the memoirs of General Keith Coster who was in command of the Rhodesian Army during the Second Chimurenga, or War of Independence, in the 1970's. Prior to his service in Rhodesia, Coster was an allied fighter pilot who was shot down and imprisoned in Stalag Luft III in Sagan, from which the Great Escape was launched. One of his fellow POW's was Paul Brickhill, an Australian, who wrote the book about the escape. However, my question concerns an anecdote in the memoirs.
Quote
'' We had a USAF lieutenant-colonel in our room called Jamie Murray. He had bailed out of his Flying Fortress [B-17] at 30,000 feet, and decided to free-fall most of the way. He became so intrigued with the free-fall, that he only just got the parachute open in time''
Unquote
So this question is probably more for the HALO experts out there, preferably if they are WW11 Flying Fortress buffs. Would this have been possible? My simple mind tells me that Coster's recollection might have been muddied over the 50-60 years that passed between WW11 and his penning his memoirs. Oxygen deprivation (unless there was a bail-out bottle in those days) and therefore hypoxia must surely have come into play at 30k and the opening shock at terminal from a WW11 bail-out rig would have been immense. I don't believe that sliders had been invented back then. Probably didn't have an alti either but then the USAF did fly their missions in daylight which would have helped a bit.
As an aside, another of Gen Coster's fellow POW's was an RAF Sergeant Alkemade, who was blown out of a Lancaster bomber without a parachute. He fell from about 16,000 feet and landed in a very deep snowdrift. He sprained his ankle and lived to tell the tale...
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