ÿþ<!-- saved from url=(0022)http://internet.e-mail --> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Crash Landing of Angel of Mercy</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#CCFFCC"> <Center> <IMG SRC="428thTitlePage.jpg" Width=642 Height=186 ALT="428th BS, 310th BG Title Page."> <BR><BR> <CENTER><FONT SIZE="5"> <FONT COLOR=BLUE><B>Crash Landing of "Angel of Mercy"</B></Font Color=Blue></Font Size=5><BR><BR> </B><Font Size=4> <IMG SRC="AngelOfMercyCrashLanding.jpg" Width=800 Height=678 ALT="Its landing gear damaged by flak, Angel of Mercy comes in for a crash landing."><BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="Angel.jpg" Width=400 Height=316 ALT="Right after the belly landing."><IMG SRC="AfterBellyLanding.jpg" Width=412 Height=316 ALT="The crew minus the injured tail-gunner right after the belly landing."><BR> The two photos above were provided by James McLean, brother of co-pilot Walter McLean. <a href="charlieodisgates.html" target="blank"> Odis Gates</a>, a civilian field service representative for North American Aviation, had the same photos with the following captions provided by his son-in-law John Hughes: <B>Left Photo:</B> Officers appraise damage and enlisted men go about their work. The "Angel of Mercy" (#43-35982) brought the crew safely through a rough belly landing after an equally rough mission over northern Italy (Rovereto RR Bridge). Nazi flak knocked out the hydraulic system and only one wheel could be lowered. 12th Air Force Photo taken by Cpl. Robert H. Cooper of East Syracuse, NY. <B>Right photo:</B> These crewmen of the flak-riddled "Angel of Mercy" (#43-35982) came through the dangerous belly landing unscathed. They are, left to right, Radio-gunner S/Sgt Donald E. Wilson, 222 K Rte, Tracy, Calif., Bombardier 2/Lt William W. Graham, 5428 Woodbine Ave., Philadelphia, PA, Pilot 1/Lt Wm. S. McMillan, Route 1, Coblesville, N. Y., Turret-gunner T/Sgt Kenneth G. Mueller, 1366 A West Fondulac Ave., Milwaukee, Wisc. (kneeling), and Co-pilot 1/Lt Walter D. McLean, 530 Vancroft Ave., Philadelphia, PA. Not in the picture is Tail-gunner S/Sgt Arthur S. Hatfield, 1354 E. 63rd St. Chicago, who was wounded by enemy flak. 12th Air Force Photo taken by Cpl. Robert H. Cooper of East Syracuse, NY. According to James McLean, both McMillan and McLean were killed on June 9, 1945 while shooting night landings in preparation for flying home. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="AngelOfMercy.jpg" Width=700 Height=490 ALT="Noseart for 'Angel of Mercy.'"><BR> This rare color photo provided by Jeff Wolford shows the noseart on "Angel of Mercy."<BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="AngelOfMercyBillMcMillan.jpg" Width=800 Height=521 ALT="Bill McMillan in Angel of Mercy."><BR> Bill McMillan in "Angel of Mercy."<BR><BR><BR> The B-25 Mitchell medium bombers of the 321st Bombardment Group and the other B-25 groups in the 57th Bomb Wing were manufactured by <a href="http://www.warwingsart.com/12thAirForce/b-25colorphotos.html" target="blank"> North American Aviation</a>. Civilian Field Service Representatives of North American Aviation (NAA) were assigned to the theater to help with maintenance and repair of the B-25s. Part of their job was to document and analyze any defects or damage to NAA aircraft (B-25s and P-51s). In 1944, NAA Field Service Representatives worked with the Air Maintenance Division of the United States Army Air Force Service Command in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (AAFSC/MTO). One such NAA representative was <a href="charlieodisgates.html" target="blank"> Charlie Odis Gates</a>. Gates' photographs include those showing the crash damage of <a href="8u8p.html" target="blank"> B-25 8P</a> at Alesan Air Field on Corsica (340th Bombardment Group) and B-25 <a href="Gates07.jpg" target="blank"> Angel of Mercy</a> at Fano, Italy (310th Bombardment Group). Judging from the <a href="http://www.warwingsart.com/12thAirForce/Quivey01.jpg" target="blank"> patch on his jacket</a>, it appears that another NAA Field Service Representative was present at Pompeii, Italy where nearly all of the 340th Bombardment Group's B-25s were destroyed by the <a href="Vesuvius.html" target="blank"> eruption of Mount Vesuvius</a> in March of 1944.<BR><BR><BR> Go back to <A HREF="310428.html">428th Bomb Squadron Index</A><BR><BR> Go back to <A HREF="page.html">main 489th BS page</A><BR><BR> If you have any comments or suggestions please <A HREF="mailto:321stbg@gmail.com?Subject=The 321st Bombardment Group"> email me</A>.<BR><BR> <!--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup" startspan ALT="Site Meter" --> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript">var site="sm6Fstella"</script> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript1.2" src="http://sm6.sitemeter.com/js/counter.js?site=sm6Fstella"> </script> <noscript> <a href="http://sm6.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=sm6Fstella" target="_top"> <img src="http://sm6.sitemeter.com/meter.asp?site=sm6Fstella" alt="Site Meter" border=0></a> </noscript> <!-- Copyright (c)2000 Site Meter --> <!--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup" Endspan --> </B></Font Size=4> </BODY> </HTML>