Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A B-17 gunner fell 20,000 feet over France with no parachute, and somehow survived.
Alan Magee was stationed inside one of the most dangerous positions in World War II: the ball turret. It was a cramped steel and plexiglass sphere mounted beneath the bomber, only 44 inches across. At altitude, temperatures dropped to around -50 degrees, oxygen was limited, and there was no room for a parachute inside. Every mission meant folding into a machine that offered little margin for error while defending the bomber from attacking German fighters.
On January 3, 1943, Magee was flying aboard the B-17 Snap! Crackle! Pop! during a bombing mission over the U-boat base at Saint-Nazaire. As the formation crossed the target, heavy flak struck the aircraft. Magee was hit by shrapnel inside the turret and managed to get out, but when he reached his parachute, it had been torn apart.
Another blast ripped through the bomber and sent it into a spin. At around 20,000 feet, Magee lost consciousness from lack of oxygen and was thrown clear of the aircraft.
He fell more than four miles before crashing through the glass roof of the Saint-Nazaire railway station. The structure absorbed enough of the impact to keep him alive. He survived with 28 shrapnel wounds, multiple fractures, severe injuries to his face, and damage to his lungs and kidneys. Out of the ten men on board, he was the only one who lived.
This is the story of Alan Magee, and how one of the most dangerous jobs in the war turned into an almost impossible survival.
A B-17 gunner fell 20,000 feet over France with no parachute, and somehow survived.
Alan Magee was stationed inside one of the most dangerous positions in World War II: the ball turret. It was a cramped steel and plexiglass sphere mounted beneath the bomber, only 44 inches across. At altitude, temperatures dropped to around -50 degrees, oxygen was limited, and there was no room for a parachute inside. Every mission meant folding into a machine that offered little margin for error while defending the bomber from attacking German fighters.
On January 3, 1943, Magee was flying aboard the B-17 Snap! Crackle! Pop! during a bombing mission over the U-boat base at Saint-Nazaire. As the formation crossed the target, heavy flak struck the aircraft. Magee was hit by shrapnel inside the turret and managed to get out, but when he reached his parachute, it had been torn apart.
Another blast ripped through the bomber and sent it into a spin. At around 20,000 feet, Magee lost consciousness from lack of oxygen and was thrown clear of the aircraft.
He fell more than four miles before crashing through the glass roof of the Saint-Nazaire railway station. The structure absorbed enough of the impact to keep him alive. He survived with 28 shrapnel wounds, multiple fractures, severe injuries to his face, and damage to his lungs and kidneys. Out of the ten men on board, he was the only one who lived.
This is the story of Alan Magee, and how one of the most dangerous jobs in the war turned into an almost impossible survival.
