>>3281502
>>3216469
Connections?
7/16/99 &/or 8/12/44?
"Operation Aphrodite (U.S. Army Air Corps) & Operation Anvil (U.S. Navy) made use of unmanned, explosive-laden Army Air Corps
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Navy Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator bombers
that were deliberately crashed into their targets under radio control.[6] These aircraft could not take off safely on their own, so a crew of two would take off and fly to 2,000 feet (610 m) before activating the remote control system, arming the detonators, and parachuting from the aircraft.
Kennedy was appointed a Lieutenant on July 1, 1944.[5] After the U.S. Army Air Corps operation missions were drawn up on
July 23, 1944,
Lieutenants Wilford John Willy[7] and Kennedy were designated as the first Navy flight crew. Willy, who was the executive officer of Special Air Unit ONE, had also volunteered for the mission and
"pulled rank" over Ensign James Simpson, who was Kennedy's regular co-pilot.
Kennedy and Willy (co-pilot) flew a
BQ-8 "robot" aircraft (drone; a converted B-24 Liberator)
for the U.S. Navy's first Aphrodite mission. Two Lockheed Ventura mother planes and a Boeing B-17 navigation plane took off from RAF Fersfield at
1800 on August 12, 1944. Then the BQ-8 aircraft, loaded with 21,170 lb (9,600 kg) of Torpex, took off. It was to be used against the U-boat pens at Heligoland in the North Sea
Following them in a USAAF F-8 Mosquito to film the mission were pilot Lt. Robert A. Tunnel and combat camera man Lt. David J. McCarthy,
who filmed the event from the perspex nose of the aircraft.
As planned, Kennedy and Willy remained aboard as the BQ-8 completed its first remote-controlled turn at 2,000 ft (610 m) near the North Sea coast. Kennedy and Willy removed the safety pin, arming the explosive package, and Kennedy radioed the agreed code Spade Flush, his last known words. Two minutes later (and well before the planned crew bailout, near RAF Manston), the Torpex explosive detonated prematurely and destroyed the Liberator, killing Kennedy and Willy instantly…
According to USAAF records, the trailing Mosquito "was flying 300 feet above and about 300 yards to the rear of the robot. Engineer photographer on this ship was injured, and the ship was damaged slightly by the explosion."[12] The Mosquito, which made an immediate emergency landing at RAF Halesworth, belonged to the 325th Reconnaissance Wing,
a unit under the command of the son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Colonel Elliott Roosevelt. Years later, Roosevelt claimed to have been aboard this trailing aircraft, and his version of the event has gained wide currency.[13] However, Air Force records cannot substantiate this…
Elliott Roosevelt
(September 23, 1910 – October 27, 1990)
…he became aviation editor for the William Randolph Hearst papers. After controversial involvement in the Air Mail Scandal and a secret attempt to sell bombers in civilian disguise to the USSR…
Roosevelt received a captain's commission in the United States Army Air Corps on
23 September 1940…
He served as a procurement specialist, navigator, and intelligence and reconnaissance officer and rose to brigadier general by January 1945. Despite having poor eyesight and being classified 4-F (unfit), he also became a pilot and reportedly flew 89 combat missions…