Saturday, November 29, 2008

Jack Scoltock's 'The Meltin' Pot' tells the Story of a B-17 and Its Crew


Today in the mail I got a copy of "The Meltin' Pot: From Wreck to Rescue to Recovery" by my friend in Ireland, Jack Scoltock. Jack spent many years researching this book, and it was well worth it. The book tells of the fate of the B-17 Flying Fortress 'The Meltin' Pot' that crashed off the coast of Ireland during WWII. One of the crewmen on that plane was Lee Kessler, and the crew went on to fly missions on a different plane over Europe. Lee was later shot down and became a POW, and this book covers the fate of the crew as well as the plane.

Jack is a diver and chronicles the search for and discovery of the Meltin' Pot, undertaken by divers over the past few years. A documentary is in the works.

When I visited Lee Kessler back in 2003, he was very excited about the work of the Irish divers, and was looking forward to going to Ireland to see the wreck of his old plane for himself. Lee spent several freezing hours in the sea awaiting rescue after the Meltin' Pot went down. Unforunately, Lee passed away in the fall of 2003, without ever realizing his hopes of seeing his old plane again. However, the pilot of the plane, William C. Melton, did have a chance to go to Ireland and see artifacts from his plane before Melton himself passed away June 13, 2008.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in WWII, the 8th Air Force, the lives of B-17 crews, or deep sea diving. You can order the book here from Amazon.com in the United Kingdom: http://www.amazon.com/Meltin-Pot-Wreck-Rescue-Recovery/dp/0752447254/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228006425&sr=8-1

I give this book my highest recommendation. Buy it, read it, treasure it.

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