Charles Seth WWII Era Photos & Info
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Sgt. James (Jim) Nelson Branum, WWII B-24 Nose Gunner
Sgt. James Nelson Branum |
Lt. Charles Seth (left) |
Sgt. James Nelson Branum It is interesting to note that the upper right hand picture shows him labeled as an Armor Gunner. I'm wondering if at that time, since the "air force" was still part of the Army, there was no distinction between a gunner in an aircraft or a gunner in a tank, and so on? |
Sgt. James Nelson Branum The photo to above was taken of James Branum at an unknown location. His family feels it may have been taken in Sweden, after the crash of Lovely Lady's Avenger, while the crew was awaiting transport back to Allied territory. This seems likely, since he's posing with his military hat but is wearing civilian clothes, which would have been unlikely at any other time other than their stay in Sweden. See the main page for more details. |
Sgt. Jim Branum was the nose gunner in my great uncle Charles Seth's flight crew during WWII at the time of the plane's crash in Malmö, Sweden. Their crew was Crew #609, 786th Bomber Squadron, 466th Bomb Group, 2nd Air Division, 8th Army Air Force
Charles Seth: "I got to know Jim very well during the 5 months that we spent in Sweden. We didn't have much free time while in England, but lots of it while in Sweden..."
"While we were heading for Sweden and we knew the plane was badly damaged, we realized our hydraulic system was damaged and the nose turret, which Jim was in, wouldn't turn because we were low on hydraulic fluid, so he was stuck (Locked In). We had a manual system to turn the turret so the doors would open, so he could get out. As I was turning the crank, the chain kept creaking and cracking, and we were afraid it might break. Jim said to me, QUOTE Charlie if you break that chain I will haunt you the rest of your life (we laughed about it much later). The chain didn't break, we got him out Ok, and finished up getting ready for landing in Sweden."