Mildly off thread, but in a similar vein...
Some years back, I read an autobiography of a wartime Blenheim gunner (Blenheim Boy by Richard Passmore - well worth a read. There can't have been many other Blenheim aircrew who lived to write their memoirs!). The book ends with him being shot down during a raid over Germany.
With the aircraft, which had had both engines disabled by flak, in a descending spiral, the pilot gave the "Prepare to abandon" order, and so Passmore disconnected his intercom while wriggling out of the turret and clipping on his parachute. By the time he plugged back in, the pilot had given the order to abandon, heard nothing from Passmore, and baled out followed by the observer. Passmore waited for the order, then after a delay crawled up the fuselage to seek clarification, and found the cockpit empty! By now, the aircraft was close to the ground and way below the minimum published height for abandonment, but - faced with certain death if he did nothing - decided to give it a go. In the event, his parachute canopy only opened fully because the aircraft hit the ground immediately beneath him, and the resulting explosion helped the canopy inflate, as well as deflecting his course away from the blazing wreckage. On the ground, he picked himself up and brushed himself off - in time to watch the other two crew-members land in their parachutes! The pilot came over and asked how he'd got down so quickly, and he replied "I came down in the lift!". Just after that some German soldiers arrived and they were captured.
Some guys have all the luck...
Last edited by TorqueOfTheDevil; 30th Nov 2007 at 00:16.
Reason: Adding detail