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Piccadilly Lily, an aircraft primarily flown by
the crew of Captain Thomas E. Murphy of the
351st Bomb Squadron, is probably the most fa-
mous B-17F of the 100th Bomb Group. Her story
has been featured in two film projects: the 1949
movie “Twelve O’clock High” and, more recently,
the “Masters of the Air” series. The popularity of
the first movie was due to screenwriter Beirne
Lay, who, on August 17, 1943, with the rank of
Lt. Col. and sitting in the co-pilot’s seat of Pic-
cadilly Lily, flew a mission to Regensburg. This
was the famous “Double Strike Mission,” after
which the 100th Bomb Group landed in North Af-
rica. Above all, however, it marked the first of the
unit’s black days, as they lost 9 of the 21 aircraft
involved in the mission. It also earned the unit its
first “Distinguished Unit Citation.”
The B-17F Piccadilly Lily and Murphy’s
crew had been flying it combat since the
first missions of the 100th BG in the sec-
ond half of June 1943. During her service,
the nature of the insignia changed twice
- first the round insignia was replaced by
a variant with stripes and red trim, then
again when the red trim was obscured by
a richer blue. Lily was lost on 8 October
1943 in the raid on Bremen. From the crew
of Cpt. Murphy’s crew, six men perished.
With them, the squadron operations offi-
cer, Capt. Alvin L. Barker, who joined the
crew at the last minute before taxying for
take off.
Variant 1 - Capt. Thomas E. Murphy crew, Lt. Col. Beirne Lay. Jr., 351st Bomb Squadron,
100th Bomb Group, Regensburg mission, 17 August 1943, Telergma, Algeria
Variant 2 - Capt. Thomas E. Murphy crew351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb,
Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain, 21 September 1943
Variant 1
Variant 2
Variant 2
INFO Eduard
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