Page 33
“Double strike” mission for the 100th BG were
the aircraft factories at Regensburg followed by
a landing in North Africa. It was the 14th mission
for Murphy’s crew, and Lily’s thirteenth. In an al-
most last minute decision, the unit’s operations
officer made a change when a ‘trainee’ observer
from 8th Air Force Headquarters, Lt.Col. Bernie
Lay, was reassigned from the crew of ‘Alice from
Dallas’ to co-pilot ‘Picadilly Lily’. During the mis-
sion, the 100th BG lost nine aircraft, ninety men.
‘Alice from Dallas’ was one of the lost B-17s. Picca-
dilly Lily was brought safely to Algiers by her pilot
Thomas Murphy.
Bernie Lay submitted a report to headquarters
about the horror experienced and the heroism
displayed during the battles over Regensburg,
in which, among other things, he nominated all
the crew members of the 100th BG participating
in the Regensburg mission for the DFC and the
commanding pilot of the low squadron, Maj. Gale
W. ‘Bucky’ Cleven, for the Medal of Honor.
Through September 21st, 1943, ‘Lily’ flew only
two more missions. Among the reasons were
the difficult repairs to damage that the aircraft
endured during the course of its missions. Flak
over Paris on September 15th, 1943 severely im-
pacted the underside of the aircraft, tearing off
half of the bomb bay doors. Meanwhile, Thomas
Murphy’s crew was nearing the end of its opera-
tional tour. When ‘Lily’ and her ground crew were
photographed on September 21st, 1943, she was
painted with fifteen bomb mission markings, two
ducks and eight swastikas symbolizing downed
enemy fighters.
On the afternoon of October 7, 1943, Murphy’s
crew were notified that they had been removed
from flight status, although they still had two mis-
sions left to complete their tour. The officers of the
crew were notified of their pending promotions,
evidently being considered for promotion to com-
mand positions.
Thomas Murphy was to become the assistant ex-
ecutive officer of the group, while other officers
from the crew were to go to the headquarters of
the 13th Combat Wing or the 3rd Bombardment
Division.
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
Piccadilly Lily in North Africa.
The 100th BG formation chart for the Regensburg mission on August 17, 1943. Crosses indicate lost
aircraft.
The next morning the crew were nevertheless
woken up to quickly replace another, who had
originally been slated to fly Piccadilly Lily that day,
despite their being grounded. It was October 8th
and the destination was, as with Lily’s first mis-
sion, Bremen.
Before taxiing to the final take-off point, for an
unknown reason, Capt. Alvin L. Barker, Operations
Officer of the 351st Squadron joined the crew as
its 11th member, despite being medically excluded
from flying. He sat in the co-pilot’s seat. Lily was
to be the lead machine of the lower box formation.
One of the ground crew, Sgt. Ken Lemmons (one
of the key characters depicted in the Masters of
the Air series) recollected:
Murphy leaned out of
the cockpit window and I saluted him. He motioned
for me to remove the chocks so that he could be-
gan to taxi. Smiling his lopsided smile, he saluted
me and then closed his window and went to work.
We moved over the flight line as the bombers tax-
ied into position. As usual, the officers were up on
the Control Tower to observe take-off. For once,
the weather was great. The sun shone bright-
ly and there was only a slight breeze. The pilots
would take off every thirty seconds and begin the
intricately choreographed moves required to form
hundreds of bombers into a coherent group. Spi-
raling upwards, the squadron would form up first,
and then the group would assemble…
About ten minutes after crossing the continen-
tal coast, the stream of bombers was attacked by
Luftwaffe fighters. The crews observed distant
combat of German aircraft with a group of P-47s,
isolated attacks by Bf 110s and Fw 190s concen-
trated on the 390th Bomb Group, without inflicting
major damage.
Suddenly, however, a group of German fighters
struck the formation of the 100th Bomb Group
with enormous force. They attacked from the front,
slightly to the left. Within moments, after colliding
with an Fw 190, one B-17 exploded. As her fireball,
consuming metal and crew, headed for the ground,
a second ripped at the seams while another left
the formation with an engine engulfed in flames.
Many of the remaining B-17s were damaged to one
extent or another.
As the formation approached the target, all hell
broke loose yet again. This time it was a barrage of
heavy flak. Piccadilly Lily received hits through her
Variant 1
Repairing damage to the left side of vertical stabilizer
of Piccadilly Lily.
The original appearance of the starboard
nose, before the mission and aerial victory
symbols were applied.
Capt. Thomas E. Murphy in the cockpit of Piccadilly Lily.
Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard
33
June 2024