Medal of Honour – 2nd Lt. John Morgan

On July 26, 1943, 2nd Lt. John Morgan, had two alternatives: pull the plug on a wounded friend or fight him for control of the stricken B-17. At mid-1940, with war raging in Europe & the United States sure to become involved, it looked as though John Morgan was never going to be an Army flyer. The 6-foot-2-inch, 210-pound Texan had been classified 4-F by his draft board as a result of an earlier accident in which he had broken his neck. But the Royal Canadian Air Force, more interested in willing warriors than in medical history, welcomed Morgan into its pilot-training program.

A year later, he was in England, wearing the RCAF uniform but flying bombers for the Royal Air Force. In May 1943, Morgan transferred to the US Army Air Forces as a flight officer & was assigned to the 92d Bomb Group’s 326th Squadron, based at Alconbury. Sixty days later, on July 18, Morgan sat in the right seat of a B-17 as co-pilot for 1st Lt. Robert Campbell, a huge, muscular Mississippian. They climbed out over the North Sea & headed for Hanover & one of the most remarkable bomber sorties of the war. Before the bomber stream reached the Dutch coast, it came under heavy attack by Luftwaffe fighters. The intercom of Morgan’s plane was shot out, the tail, waist, & ball-turret guns ceased firing, a cannon shell shattered the windshield on the co-pilot’s side, & a machine-gun bullet struck pilot Campbell in the head, splitting open his skull. Campbell, semiconscious & in a crazed condition, fell forward, locking his arms around the control column. Morgan knew that if the B-17 dropped out of formation it would be easy prey for German fighters. Flying with his right h&, he dragged Campbell off the controls, holding him back in the pilot’s seat with his left arm. The wounded pilot continued to fight instinctively for the controls as Morgan maneuverer back into formation. He now had two alternatives: pull Campbell’s oxygen mask off, which, at 26,000 feet, would have been fatal to the wounded man, or fight the crazed pilot for control of the B-17 as long as his strength lasted, hoping that another crew member might come up to the cockpit & help. He chose the latter alternative. Once again enemy fighters came in. As they pulled up over the riddled B-17, the top turret gunner fell to the floor, one arm shot off at the shoulder. Morgan’s navigator, Keith Koske, unable to apply a tourniquet, got the gunner into a chute & pushed him out the lower hatch, believing correctly that the minus 50-degree F. cold would stop the bleeding. The gunner survived, was cared for by German surgeons, & was repatriated in late 1944. The navigator, bombardier, & engineer were aware from the B-17’s erratic flight that something was wrong in the cockpit, but all were too busy fighting off attackers to leave their stations. For two hours, John Morgan held formation, all the time fighting to keep the irrational Campbell off the controls. Finally, after bombs-away, navigator Koske came up to the cockpit &, shocked by the grisly scene, helped Morgan get Campbell out of the pilot’s seat. As the formation let down over the North Sea, the gunners Morgan had believed to be dead appeared on the flight deck. Their oxygen system had been knocked out in the first fighter attack & they had been unconscious until the bombers descended to lower altitude. Campbell died minutes after Morgan landed the battered bomber at an RAF base near the English coast. On Dec. 17, 1943, Lt. Gen. Ira Eaker, Commander of the Eighth Air Force, presented 1st Lt. John C. Morgan the Medal of Honour in recognition of his heroic acts over Germany that July day. General Eaker directed Morgan to fly no more combat. But Morgan decided that if the war was not over for the Allies, it wasn’t over for him. He volunteered for several more missions, including the first Berlin raid of March 6, 1944. On that day, Morgan’s war against Nazi Germany came to an end. His B-17 was shot down & he remained an unwilling guest of the Luftwaffe at Stalag Luft I.

Morgan must surely be the only draft-classified 4-F to serve with the air forces of three nations, fly 26 combat missions (he says it really was only 25 & a half) with the RAF & the AAF, earn this country’s highest decoration for valour, & spend 14 months as a POW. No American who survived World War II paid his dues more fully than that tough, tenacious Texan. MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION For conspicuous gallantry & intrepidity above & beyond the call of duty, while participating on a bombing mission over enemy-occupied continental Europe, 28 July 1943. Prior to reaching the German coast on the way to the target, the B17 airplane in which 2nd Lt. Morgan was serving as co-pilot was attacked by a large force of enemy fighters, during which the oxygen system to the tail, waist, & radio gun positions was knocked out. A frontal attack placed a cannon shell through the windshield, totally shattering it, & the pilot’s skull was split open by a .303 calibre shell, leaving him in a crazed condition. The pilot fell over the steering wheel, tightly clamping his arms around it. 2nd Lt. Morgan at once grasped the controls from his side &, by sheer strength, pulled the airplane back into formation despite the frantic struggles of the semiconscious pilot. The interphone had been destroyed, rendering it impossible to call for help. At this time the top turret gunner fell to the floor & down through the hatch with his arm shot off at the shoulder & a gaping wound in his side. The waist, tail, & radio gunners had lost consciousness from lack of oxygen &, hearing no fire from their guns, the co-pilot believed they had bailed out. The wounded pilot still offered desperate resistance in his crazed attempts to fly the airplane. There remained the prospect of flying to & over the target & back to a friendly base wholly unassisted. In the face of this desperate situation, 2nd Lt. Officer Morgan made his decision to continue the flight & protect any members of the crew who might still be in the ship & for 2 hours he flew in formation with one h& at the controls & the other holding off the struggling pilot before the navigator entered the steering compartment & relieved the situation. The miraculous & heroic performance of 2nd Lt. Morgan on this occasion resulted in the successful completion of a vital bombing mission & the safe return of his airplane & crew.

Article courtesy of Air Force Magazine by John Frisbee, January 1984

Information from American Air Museum