Mays Family Tree - Person Sheet
Birth Date14 Jun 1924
Death Date1976|19772117
OccupationPurchasing Agent Insecticide Company?
FatherClair LeRoy BLOOM (1890-1957)
MotherNora Virginia TATE (1889-1928)
Misc. Notes
Lived in Norfolk, VA
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Zane was a flight engineer aboard the B-29 bomber “Rankless Wreck” in World War Two. Following a June 5, 1945 attack on Kobe, Japan the aircraft came under attack by a single Japanese fighter and suffered serious damage. They managed to shoot down the attack plane themselves but Zane and his fellow crewmembers were forced to ride the crippled plane for four hours to the island of Iwo Jima. Once there, with little fuel to spare and rapidly losing altitude, they made a frightening emergency landing in which the bomber suffered irreparable damage and never flew again.3845,2117
Note: The story of the last mission of the Rankless Wreck is included in the book “Flying Flak Alley: Personal Accounts of World War II Bomber Crew Combat” by Alan L. Griggs, Publisher McFarland (March 6, 2008).
See Multimedia for the document “Last Run of the Rankless Wreck” By J. Ivan Potts, Jr., which is a text only and slightly edited version of the story which appears in the book above.
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No one ever had anything bad to say about this man. When I was a kid I wanted to grow to be like my uncle Zane. I have that photo in a frame along with his DFC [Distinquished Flying Cross], and a picture of the " Rankless Reck" [sic] on it's last flight, out board starboard engine smoking and feathered.3852
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Regarding the book that includes the story of the “Rankless Wreck” “... it misses the end of the story as far as our uncle goes. He forgot to unplug his mike cord when he jumped off the plane. The plane came to rest over a gully or ditch which made it about a 15 to 20 ft drop from the hatch to the ground. He almost hung himself.”3853
Zane suffered from congenital heart problems which showed up on his early 30s. His middle name was possibly “Edwin” and Lee will check on that.2117
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Zane was a flight engineer aboard the B-29 bomber “Rankless Wreck” in World War Two. Following a June 5, 1945 attack on Kobe, Japan the aircraft came under attack by a single Japanese fighter and suffered serious damage. They managed to shoot down the attack plane themselves but Zane and his fellow crewmembers were forced to ride the crippled plane for four hours to the island of Iwo Jima. Once there, with little fuel to spare and rapidly losing altitude, they made a frightening emergency landing in which the bomber suffered irreparable damage and never flew again.3845,2117
Note: The story of the last mission of the Rankless Wreck is included in the book “Flying Flak Alley: Personal Accounts of World War II Bomber Crew Combat” by Alan L. Griggs, Publisher McFarland (March 6, 2008).
See Multimedia for the document “Last Run of the Rankless Wreck” By J. Ivan Potts, Jr., which is a text only and slightly edited version of the story which appears in the book above.
____________
No one ever had anything bad to say about this man. When I was a kid I wanted to grow to be like my uncle Zane. I have that photo in a frame along with his DFC [Distinquished Flying Cross], and a picture of the " Rankless Reck" [sic] on it's last flight, out board starboard engine smoking and feathered.3852
____________
Regarding the book that includes the story of the “Rankless Wreck” “... it misses the end of the story as far as our uncle goes. He forgot to unplug his mike cord when he jumped off the plane. The plane came to rest over a gully or ditch which made it about a 15 to 20 ft drop from the hatch to the ground. He almost hung himself.”3853
Zane suffered from congenital heart problems which showed up on his early 30s. His middle name was possibly “Edwin” and Lee will check on that.2117