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{"cz":"Info EDUARD"}
{"cz":"Měsíčník o historii a plastikovém modelářství.","en":"Monthly magazine about history and scale plastic modeling."}
06/2024 Special EN
Dear Friends, Today's special issue of the newsletter is dedicated to an extraordinary kit, ‘The Bloody Hundredth 1943 / B-17F’ in 1:48th scale. This kit, released in the LIMITED edition line, falls under the group of items based on moldings purchased from partner companies. In this case, the plastic is supplied by Hong Kong Models, HKM. This time, however, the cooperation between our companies goes further than is customary in similar endeavors. Specifically for this kit, we have designed an additional set of clear parts that cover variations used on the B-17F nose that were not a part of the original HKM release. We designed the new parts to fit the HKM kit specifically. The mold for it was cut at HKM in their Chinese tool shop, and the parts are produced by them.
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INFO EduardFREE e-magazine vol 21 June 2024SPECIALPage 2
© Eduard - Model Accessories, 2024This material is for personal use only. No part of the text or graphic presentationsmay be used in another publication, any other media form, or otherwise distributedwithout prior written permission from Eduard - Model Accessories and the authorsinvolved.Editorial and Graphics - Marketing Department, Eduard - Model Accessories, Ltd.INFO EduardFREE e-magazine Vol 23 June 2024Page 3
eduardeduardSPECIAL JUNE 2024CONTENTSEDITORIAL100TH BGF PRESIDENT’S LETTERTHE BLOODY HUNDREDTHSECTIONSTHE KIT CONTENTSNEW SPRUE Xhistorical article31 Piccadilly Lily35 Alice from Dallas38 Sunny II44 Rosie's the Riveters48 Skipper53 Horny II57 Hard Luck!66 Mugwump69 Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk73 Mismalovin'77 Squawkin Hawk45671331Published by Eduard-Model Accessories, spol. s.r.o.Mírová 170, Obrnice 435 21support@eduard.com www.eduard.comPage 4
Dear Friends,Today's special issue of the newsletter isdedicated to an extraordinary kit, ‘The BloodyHundredth 1943 / B-17F’ in 1:48th scale. Thiskit, released in the LIMITED edition line, fallsunder the group of items based on moldingspurchased from partner companies. In this case,the plastic is supplied by Hong Kong Models,HKM. This time, however, the cooperationbetween our companies goes further than iscustomary in similar endeavors. Specificallyfor this kit, we have designed an additional setof clear parts that cover variations used on theB-17F nose that were not a part of the originalHKM release. We designed the new parts to fitthe HKM kit specifically. The mold for it was cutat HKM in their Chinese tool shop, and the partsare produced by them.Among the modellers who responded to ourposts detailing information about this kit, therewere obviously many people who have not comein contact with this line or its concept. Thesepeople sometimes have unrealistic ideas aboutour ability to correct the mistakes of the originalkit used, as supplied by other manufacturers.It needs to be noted that correcting the mistakesof the original kit is not our goal with the LIMITEDedition series kit projects. In truth, such a goalwould rarely ever be financially feasible to shootfor, so please don't expect it from us. The aim ofthe accessories and conversion parts includedin the kit is to improve upon the possibilities ofthe original product, offer a higher level of detailand offer a greater number of marking optionswhile maintaining the best possible success interms of outcome vs goal. In this regard, we feelthe biggest problem is that the original B-17Fkit released by HKM, as well as all other kitsof this type released to date in any scale, onlyhad an older version of the nose of the aircraftused in the first production blocks of the B-17F.Perhaps this was because all manufacturerswere scrambling to release arguably the mostfamous B-17F, the Memphis Belle, an early-series F-10-BO aircraft (production number3470, USAAC serial number 41-24485) that hadthis original nose version. However, it was thenose of the B-17F, a type of which 3,405 unitswere produced in three factories over more thanone and a half years, that underwent complexand intensive development. Its goal was tostrengthen the protection of the aircraft fromthe front hemisphere, from which the attacksof enemy fighters were concentrated, based oncombat experience. Various later developmentversions of the nose equipped the aircraft thatwe selected for our kit, as well as machinesthat we want to include in another project in thefuture, ‘The Mighty Eighth, 1943’, which will bededicated to the important contribution made bythe B-17F to the entire USAAF 8th Air Force.An important component of each of our LimitedEdition kits are the decal sheets that relatethe tightly bound stories of the machines andthe crews that flew them. The compositionand range of options of these, as well as thenumber of options proper, are specific toEduard kits and, I dare say, absolutely uniqueamong manufacturers of plastic aircraft kits.In this kit, there are seven basic options, thatis, seven machines, of which four are offeredin two versions covering different periodsof service of these aircraft. In addition, kitsthat were pre-ordered prior to the kit's officialrelease include four additional bonus options.That's a total of fifteen options that you canchoose from. We have carefully assembledthis collection of aircraft to document theB-17F's period of service with the 100th BombGroup. Each of these birds has a great storybehind it. The full version of the stories ofthe aircraft and their crews, selected for thekit, can be found in today's special newsletter,an abbreviated version of the instructions in thekit. As you can probably guess, the manual itselfis a monumental work in the form of a historicalnotebook with the appropriate thickness.If you are missing one specific bird in this kit,then you are right. And that would probably be‘Royal Flush’, perhaps the most famous FlyingFortress of the Bloody Hundredth. But it's bydesign! We kept ‘Royal Flush’ out to representthe Bloody Hundred in the aforementioned ‘TheMighty Eighth, 1943’ kit. We expect to release itin about two years, and please note that this isthe working name of the kit, and that could stillchange to something else.As is customary with our LIMITED edition kits,this item also includes masks, photoetchedand resin parts. At the same time, there area number of additional aftermarket kits for thiskit, available separately as optional upgrades.These are ready and are available also(naturally) for the original HKM kit. We modifiedthese by removing the parts that are included inthe kit from the new sets, so you don't run therisk of buying parts twice when purchasing theadditionals. Of course, that would cause a veryannoying redundancy. This mainly concerns theset of photoetched for the cockpit and nose ofthe aircraft. We used the spark plug wiring anda few small parts for the kit from the originalengine set photoetched. We did not create a setas an aftermarket item for the new kit, as therewould be very few remaining parts in a modifiedset without the plug wiring. If you absolutelywant these parts, you can get the original setfor the HKM kit, but expect to have the wiringtwice. Another dilemma is with the set of seatbelts. These are, in their entirety, componentsincluded in the kit, but are etched in brass.At the same time, however, we are releasingan additional set, identical in shape and color,made of steel. Also missing from the newaccessory sets are the superchargers andexhausts, which are also included in the kit.There is no point in you getting the original setfor this kit.‘The Bloody Hundredth, 1943’ kit is one of themost demanding and complex projects thatwe have ever embarked upon in the more thanthirty-year history of our company. It is a bigproject not only in scope, dimensions of theresulting model, the volume of material usedand extremely complex logistics, but also in theeffort put in by all of us who participated in it.It is a result of cooperation of three entitiesfrom three continents. In addition to Eduardand HKM, a European and Asian companyrespectively, this project could not have beenimplemented without the participation andactive cooperation of the 100th Bomb GroupFoundation, whose activities encompass notonly the United States, but also Great Britainand the Czech Republic.At this very moment, as you begin readingtoday's special edition of the newsletter, fullof exciting stories of pilots, aircrews, groundcrews and other members of the BloodyHundred, our project is far from over. Althoughwe have everything done and ready, we are stillwaiting to take delivery of some plastic. A smallnumber of them, 300 complete sets of plasticand all of the sprues of the new noses, willarrive by plane on June 20th, and after the kitsare completed, they will begin their next journey.This time across the ocean, to the United States,where these kits will be the first to go on saleduring the IPMS National Convention in Madison,Wisconsin. The rest of the plastic is traveling bytrain from China to the Czech Republic. In thecurrent international situation and the ongoingRussian aggression against Ukraine, it isa path full of pitfalls and dangers. The risk andour nervousness stemming from it increasesevery day. Nevertheless, we believe that theplastic will arrive safe and sound, and as partof complete kits, they will become a centerpieceof the model collections of all of you who boughtThe Bloody Hundredth, 1943!Happy Modelling!Vladimir SulcEDITORIALINFO Eduard4Říjen 2022Page 5
The 100thBomb Group, Inc. is a registered 501[c]3 non-profit organization.www.100thBG.comThe 100thBomb Group Foundation is pleased to recognize Eduard Model Accessories asour o=icial partner in the creation of its limited-edition “The Bloody Hundredth 1943”B17F 1/48 model kits.The high quality of these kits reflects the Eduard reputation for masterful attention to detail.We are thrilled that World War II and modeling enthusiasts everywhere will have access tosuch a variety of B-17F build options that are all tied directly to the service and sacrifice ofthe 100thBomb Group (Heavy) of World War II.The aircraft that were mutually selected for this series are all important representativeships of the famed “Bloody Hundredth.” Each design has been thoroughly researched andvetted by our historical teams and complete access to our vast photo archive was given tothe designers at Eduard to ensure its accuracy and authenticity in every detail.We are truly grateful to Eduard to benefit from the sale of these kits to help further ourshared mission to honor and remember those who served and those who sacrificed somuch.You are invited to learn more about the men, missions, and machines of history’s “BloodyHundredth” at 100thBG.com.Thank you,C.C. (Chip) CulpepperPresident100thBomb Group Foundation, Inc.The 100thBomb Group, Inc. is a registered 501[c]3 non-profit organization.www.100thBG.comThe 100thBomb Group Foundation is pleased to recognize Eduard Model Accessories asour o=icial partner in the creation of its limited-edition “The Bloody Hundredth 1943”B17F 1/48 model kits.The high quality of these kits reflects the Eduard reputation for masterful attention to detail.We are thrilled that World War II and modeling enthusiasts everywhere will have access tosuch a variety of B-17F build options that are all tied directly to the service and sacrifice ofthe 100thBomb Group (Heavy) of World War II.The aircraft that were mutually selected for this series are all important representativeships of the famed “Bloody Hundredth.” Each design has been thoroughly researched andvetted by our historical teams and complete access to our vast photo archive was given tothe designers at Eduard to ensure its accuracy and authenticity in every detail.We are truly grateful to Eduard to benefit from the sale of these kits to help further ourshared mission to honor and remember those who served and those who sacrificed somuch.You are invited to learn more about the men, missions, and machines of history’s “BloodyHundredth” at 100thBG.com.Thank you,C.C. (Chip) CulpepperPresident100thBomb Group Foundation, Inc.Page 6
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SPRUE XNEW SPRUE XCEILING WINDOWS ANDDOUBLERS SOLUTIONNOSE CONE VARIANTSASTRODOMET2N3A1A2N4T4d(HKM PLASTIC)(HKM PLASTIC)(HKM PLASTIC)(EDUARD/HKM SPRUE X)(EDUARD/HKM SPRUE X)(EDUARD/HKM SPRUE X)(EDUARD/HKM SPRUE X)(EDUARD/HKM SPRUE X)Doublers - always connected to the nose gun type N4Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard7June 2024Page 8
SPRUE XCHEEK GUN WINDOWSVARIANT 1VARIANT 2VARIANT 4(HKM PLASTIC)ALL EARLY PRODUCTIONBLOCKS B-17FBLOCKS 15, 20, 25, 30, 35-VEALL LATE PRODUCTION BLOCKSB-17F (from 40-VE, (80,85)90-BO,45-DL(EDUARD/HKM SPRUE X)(EDUARD/HKM SPRUE X)VARIANT 2 VARIANT 4INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 19438June 2024Page 9
SPRUE XEDUARD/HKM SPRUE XSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard9červen 2024Page 10
SPRUE XINFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194310June 2024Page 11
SPRUE XSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard11June 2024Page 12
SPRUE XN3N4INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194312June 2024Page 13
The Hundredth had a reputation for unusual-ly heavy losses over several specific missions,losses that decimated a large percentage ofa particular component squadron, all but empty-ing the quarters that housed the crews that didnot return from that mission. Understandably,the reasons for the unusual, decimating statis-tical fluctuations were investigated, and many ofthe conclusions bordered on fantasy and legend.There was talk of poor morale and discipline,insufficient training of its original crews, or thefact that the Luftwaffe just had the Hundredth infocus. Today, armed with the opportunity to lookat problems from several angles, to put historicalevents into context, there is only one conclusion...the unit was too often in the wrong place at thewrong time. The Bloody Hundredth was simplyunlucky and bore a lot of suffering and destruc-tion on their shoulders, which did not spread tothe other units of the 8th Air Force back in the day.The members of the Bloody Hundredth weresimilar to those who served in other bomb-ing units, not exceptional in their feats, skill orcourage. The uniqueness of the unit was given bya special spirit of mutual reciprocity and deter-mination, supported by the approach of severaloutstanding commanders and exceptional per-sonalities who were an inspiration to their menand became legends that set an example forthose that followed. They were the legends of theBloody Hundredth, and its ‘D’ in a square mark-ing, by which they recognized the planes of theircomrades on missions. The legends inspired bythe four-engined B-17s and the roar of their en-gines, the echoes of which we can still feel todayon the overgrown taxiways of their home, ThorpeAbbotts Base in East England.The 100th Bomb Group was established on June1st, 1942 in Orlando, Florida, but we can considerthe place of its real birth be Boise, Idaho, whereit had its first personnel attached to it. By orderNo. 300, 254 men were transferred here. Lessthan three weeks later, the unit was officiallyThe 100th Bomb Group was one of forty similar units in the 8th Air Force. It has not established any measurable absolutedominance over any other groups during its fighting career. The unit wasn’t the first to come to England, it didn’t drop the mostbombs, it didn’t fly the most missions, it didn’t even have the biggest losses, although that is often said. And yet, it was, and stillis, exceptional in her legacy. After the first months of operation in Europe, it began to be called ‘The Bloody Hundredth’. The unityou didn’t want to be in as a rookie... Although its members preferred to call themselves the ‘Century Bombers’, with the former,less flattering moniker catching on and even adopted by many of its airmen.Jan ZdiarskýThe B-17F, named Swastika Sweater, was one of theaircraft used by the unit during training in the US, butit did not continue to Europe with the group. Picturedfrom left: Maj. William V. Veal (349th BS Commander),Capt. Donald J. Blazer (350th BS Engineering Officer),Maj. Gale W. ‘Buck’ Cleven (350th BS Commander), Sgt.Donald W. Bradley (350th BS Photo Section), Sgt. W.French (456th Sub Depot) (Gale W. Cleven collection)HISTORYSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard13June 2024Page 14
activated. Its first commander became Col. DarrAlkire. He led the unit for most of the follow-uptraining, until April 26th, 1943, when he was re-placed by Col. Howard Turner. The training, whichprimarily focused on group formation flying,long-range navigation flights, and bombing prac-tice, was conducted primarily at bases in WallaWalla, Washington, Wendover Field, Utah, SiouxCity, Iowa, and Kearney, Nebraska. On May 25th,1943, the thirty-five original crew members ofthe unit began moving overseas. They arrived inEngland, at a brand new base near the village ofThorpe Abbotts, on June 8th, 1943.In EuropeSeveral officers who were to see to it that thebase for the unit was ready had already movedto England at the beginning of May. Amongthem was the twenty-eight-year-old OperationsOfficer of the 349th Squadron and the futurecommander of the 418th Squadron, Maj. John C.‘Bucky’ Egan. In addition to fulfilling some basicbut necessary activities, he managed to fly twocombat missions as a ‘guest’ of the 305th BombGroup on May 19th and 21st, 1943, during whichhe almost lost his life. He thus became the firstaviator of the 100th Bomb Group to enter combat.After the crews arrived with their B-17s andafter their ground echelon - technical supportpersonnel arrived by sea, the unit was able tosettle into its permanent location. The command-er, Howard Turner, was transferred to 1st BombDivision Headquarters, and the new commanderof the Hundredth became Col. Harold O. Huglin,with the goal of transitioning the unit into opera-tional activity within three weeks.The first two operational flights were referredto as ‘decoys’. A formation of bombers was sentout to lure German fighters away from the actualattack. Although these were not easy tasks, andalthough they were not without danger, neitherthe airmen nor the unit received combat missioncredit for them. The first actual bombing missionfor the Hundredth came on the 25th of June, 1943,when the unit hit submarine docks at Bremen.Already, this first mission cost three crews. Eventhose of the aviators who had not yet taken thewar seriously realized that a trip to Europe wouldnot be just frivolous entertainment.B-17F Badger Beauty V. s/n 42-30604 was lost on 4 October 1943 on a mission to Hanau-Saarlius, with crew of Capt. Harold B. Helstrom (Ernie Havecker collection)Control tower of the USAAF base No. 139 ThorpeAbbotts, home of the 100th Bomb Group from 1943-45.(John Schwarz collection)HISTORYINFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194314June 2024Page 15
activated. Its first commander became Col. DarrAlkire. He led the unit for most of the follow-uptraining, until April 26th, 1943, when he was re-placed by Col. Howard Turner. The training, whichprimarily focused on group formation flying,long-range navigation flights, and bombing prac-tice, was conducted primarily at bases in WallaWalla, Washington, Wendover Field, Utah, SiouxCity, Iowa, and Kearney, Nebraska. On May 25th,1943, the thirty-five original crew members ofthe unit began moving overseas. They arrived inEngland, at a brand new base near the village ofThorpe Abbotts, on June 8th, 1943.In EuropeSeveral officers who were to see to it that thebase for the unit was ready had already movedto England at the beginning of May. Amongthem was the twenty-eight-year-old OperationsOfficer of the 349th Squadron and the futurecommander of the 418th Squadron, Maj. John C.‘Bucky’ Egan. In addition to fulfilling some basicbut necessary activities, he managed to fly twocombat missions as a ‘guest’ of the 305th BombGroup on May 19th and 21st, 1943, during whichhe almost lost his life. He thus became the firstaviator of the 100th Bomb Group to enter combat.After the crews arrived with their B-17s andafter their ground echelon - technical supportpersonnel arrived by sea, the unit was able tosettle into its permanent location. The command-er, Howard Turner, was transferred to 1st BombDivision Headquarters, and the new commanderof the Hundredth became Col. Harold O. Huglin,with the goal of transitioning the unit into opera-tional activity within three weeks.The first two operational flights were referredto as ‘decoys’. A formation of bombers was sentout to lure German fighters away from the actualattack. Although these were not easy tasks, andalthough they were not without danger, neitherthe airmen nor the unit received combat missioncredit for them. The first actual bombing missionfor the Hundredth came on the 25th of June, 1943,when the unit hit submarine docks at Bremen.Already, this first mission cost three crews. Eventhose of the aviators who had not yet taken thewar seriously realized that a trip to Europe wouldnot be just frivolous entertainment.B-17F Badger Beauty V. s/n 42-30604 was lost on 4 October 1943 on a mission to Hanau-Saarlius, with crew of Capt. Harold B. Helstrom (Ernie Havecker collection)Control tower of the USAAF base No. 139 ThorpeAbbotts, home of the 100th Bomb Group from 1943-45.(John Schwarz collection)‘It wasAugust 17th, 1943…’Combat missions quickly continued – LeMans,St. Nazaire, Le Bourget, Hamburg, Kassel, Trond-heim... Command of the unit was taken over byits first ‘permanent’ commander, Neil B. ‘Chick’Harding, who then commanded it until March 7th,1944. Bad luck seems to have taken a liking to theunit pretty soon. Losses ranged from none to oneaircraft per mission, with most of the unit return-ing unscathed. But then came the unit’s 16th mis-sion. It was Tuesday, August 17th, 1943, and thetargets were the aircraft factories in Regensburg.This was the well-known ‘Double Strike’ missionagainst Schweinfurt and Regensburg, for whichnearly 400 B-17s from the 8th Air Force tookoff. At that time, the not yet ‘Bloody’ Hundredthwas placed at the end of the stream of bombersheading for Regensburg, with the intention thatit would continue to North Africa after droppingits bombs. The rather unsuccessful logistics ofthe whole operation threw the bombers headingfor Regensburg ahead of the Luftwaffe fighters.The 100th Bomb Group was punished for this se-verely. She lost nine crews and aircraft that day.Many of the machines that landed in Algiers werebadly damaged. Later, for this mission, the unitreceived its first Distinguished Unit Citation (latercalled the Presidential Unit Citation). At the endThorpe Abbotts base as seen from west to east. The main runway in this direction measured 6167 ft (1 880 m). (100th BG Museum Archives418th Bomb Squadron Commander Maj. John C. ‘Bucky’ Egan with the B-17F s/n 42-30184 ‘Muggs’, destroyed afterthe mission to Hamburg 17. July 1943, when she was able to return with crew of Capt. Charles ‘Crankshaft’ Cruik-shank. Later, both ‘Crankshaft’ Cruikshank and ‘Bucky’ Egan were shot down during raid on Munster, 10 October1943. (Gale W. Cleven collection)HISTORYSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard15June 2024Page 16
Aircraft of the 100th Bomb Group at Algerian airfield after a mission to Regensburg on 17 August 1943. (John E. Schwarz collection)Maj. Gale W. ‘Buck’ Cleven, commander of the 350thBomb Squadron (Don Bradley collection)Lt. Harry H. Crosby, crew navigator for Lt. John D.Brady and later Lt. Everett E. Blakely, became later thegroup’s lead navigator. (Russel W. Heckman collection)Col. Neil B. ‘Chick’ Harding was commander of the100th Bomb Group during its most difficult period, from2 July 1943 to 6 March 1944. (Gale W. Cleven collection)HISTORYINFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194316June 2024Page 17
Aircraft of the 100th Bomb Group at Algerian airfield after a mission to Regensburg on 17 August 1943. (John E. Schwarz collection)Maj. Gale W. ‘Buck’ Cleven, commander of the 350thBomb Squadron (Don Bradley collection)Lt. Harry H. Crosby, crew navigator for Lt. John D.Brady and later Lt. Everett E. Blakely, became later thegroup’s lead navigator. (Russel W. Heckman collection)Col. Neil B. ‘Chick’ Harding was commander of the100th Bomb Group during its most difficult period, from2 July 1943 to 6 March 1944. (Gale W. Cleven collection)Lt. Everett Blakely’s crew in North Africa after themission to Regensburg on 17 August 1944. (EdmundG. Fokner collection)Both photos on the right: B-17F s/n 42-3393 Just-a-Snappin’, flown by crew of Lt. Everett E. Blakely afteran emergency landing at RAF Ludham on their returnfrom Bremen on 8 October 1943. (Edmund G. Foknercollection)B-17G s/n 42-30725 ‘Aw-r-go’, which was shot downon 10 October 1943 with the crew of Capt. Charles B.Cruikshank. (100th BG Archives via Volker Urbanski)HISTORYSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard17June 2024Page 18
of September, the first crew of the Hundredthcompleted its operational tour of twenty-fivemissions. The average lifespan of B-17 aircrewsfor the Eighth Air Force at the time was elevenmissions. However, this lucky crew ended up be-ing the only one of the original thirty-five whocame to England to celebrate the milestone!Another two dark days for the Hundred cameon the 8th and 10th of October, 1943, the climacticdays of Black Week, when it lost 7 and 12 flyingfortresses in raids on Bremen and Münster, re-spectively. During these two missions, the unitalso lost two of its Squadron Commanders, greatfriends, Maj. Gale W. ‘Buck’ Cleven and Maj. JohnC. ‘Bucky’ Egan. Fortunately, both of them sur-vived the destruction of their Fortresses andwere captured. Others were not so lucky. At thesame time, a new legend and inspiring personal-ity of the Hundredth began to develop, Lt. Robert‘Rosie’ Rosenthal, who brought back his B-17 withonly two working engines from the second of thenamed missions, making his the only crew to re-turn from the mission. He was awarded the Sil-ver Star for this, only his third combat flight, andlater became commander of two squadrons andflew 52 combat missions, the most of the entire100th Bomb Group.Unidentified B-17F from the 100th Bomb Group. (John E. Schwarz collection)Not all B-17s from the 100th Bomb Group ended up in direct combat with the enemy. B-17F 42-3474 ‘King Bee’ was lost in a collision with two other two B-17s during taxiingon 27 December 1943. (Percyk collection)HISTORYINFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194318June 2024Page 19
of September, the first crew of the Hundredthcompleted its operational tour of twenty-fivemissions. The average lifespan of B-17 aircrewsfor the Eighth Air Force at the time was elevenmissions. However, this lucky crew ended up be-ing the only one of the original thirty-five whocame to England to celebrate the milestone!Another two dark days for the Hundred cameon the 8th and 10th of October, 1943, the climacticdays of Black Week, when it lost 7 and 12 flyingfortresses in raids on Bremen and Münster, re-spectively. During these two missions, the unitalso lost two of its Squadron Commanders, greatfriends, Maj. Gale W. ‘Buck’ Cleven and Maj. JohnC. ‘Bucky’ Egan. Fortunately, both of them sur-vived the destruction of their Fortresses andwere captured. Others were not so lucky. At thesame time, a new legend and inspiring personal-ity of the Hundredth began to develop, Lt. Robert‘Rosie’ Rosenthal, who brought back his B-17 withonly two working engines from the second of thenamed missions, making his the only crew to re-turn from the mission. He was awarded the Sil-ver Star for this, only his third combat flight, andlater became commander of two squadrons andflew 52 combat missions, the most of the entire100th Bomb Group.Unidentified B-17F from the 100th Bomb Group. (John E. Schwarz collection)Not all B-17s from the 100th Bomb Group ended up in direct combat with the enemy. B-17F 42-3474 ‘King Bee’ was lost in a collision with two other two B-17s during taxiingon 27 December 1943. (Percyk collection)Berlin!The autumn and winter of 1943/44, often ham-pered by bad non-flying weather, were not a walkin the park for the unit. However, her losses didnot deviate from the established averages. Theturning point came in a trio of attacks on thevery heart of the Third Reich, Berlin, on March3-6, 1944, when the One Hundredth lost firstthree, then one, and then fifteen aircraft. Berlinon March 6th, 1944, became the unit’s most trag-ic mission during its existence. Despite heavylosses, the Squadron managed to accomplishthe task during these missions and received theunit’s second Distinguished (Presidential) Cita-tion for its performance.Popular Commander “Chick” Harding, who hada large part in the overall standing of the unitduring these months, had to leave his post dueto illness and was replaced by Col. Robert H. Kel-ly, who, however, was shot down during his firstmission with the One Hundredth on April 28th,1944, a week after taking command. Prior to thearrival of Col. Kelly, as well as after his beingdowned, the unit was temporarily led by Lt. Col.John Bennett, Air Executive and Commander ofthe 349th Squadron.Then, at the beginning of May, 1944, came thearrival of Col. Thomas S. Jeffrey, who would re-main for a significant length of time. Under hisleadership, the unit participated both in thecampaign against targets connected with fuelOne of the most famous B-17Fs from the 100th Bomb Group, 42-6087 ‘Royal Flush’ / ‘Harpers Ferry’, with which the crew of Lt. Robert Rosenthal was the only one to returnfrom the Münster raid. The photo shows the Royal Flush with the crew of Lt. James C. Harper, who was assigned to the unit in late November 1943. (Russel W. Heckmancollection)B-17F 42-30796 ‘Sunny II’ with her ground crew. Her first flight crew, under the command of Capt. Glenn Dye, gaveher the name. Flying Sunny II, they completed a 25-mission operational tour, as the only crew of the unit’s originalcadre to finish. (Robert Stewart collection)HISTORYSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard19June 2024Page 20
production, the so-called gasoline war, as wellas in the preparation and support of the Alliedlandings in the western part of the continent andthe opening of a second front.The Battle of FuelOn Friday, May 12th, 1944, the unit took part inthe 8th Air Forces first raid against industrialtargets in the former Czechoslovakia. The tar-get was Most (Brüx) and was the first of manyattacks on German oil refineries in the Battleof Fuel Campaign. During the Allied landingsin Normandy on June 6th, 1944, The Hundredthhad two combat missions to her credit that day.The third – the middle one of the day – was can-celed by bad weather.Also, the beautiful spring and summer of 1944,by when it was already clear that the war wouldend in favor of the Allies with their supremacyin the skies over Europe increasingly evident,saw several heavy missions and losses… such asMay 24th, to Berlin, with the loss of nine aircraft;July 28th and 29th Merseburg, eleven aircraftboth days; the 11th of September, 1944, Ruhland,thirteen aircraft. The latter mission became thesecond most tragic for the Bloody Hundredth.That day she saw a major air battle over theCzech-German border, and although the Luft-waffe was seemingly out of breath, it was not tobe the last of the great battles that awaited theunit before the end of the war.During this period, the Hundredth also flew twoRussian Shuttle missions under the codenameFormation of the 100th Bomb Group during a mission over Europe. The aircraft in the foreground is B-17G 44-8514 ‘Lassie Come Home’, which survived the war and was flownback to the U.S. (Don Bradley collection).Col Thomas S. Jefrey was commander of the 100th Bomb Group from 7 May 1944 to 1 February 1945. He added his15 combat missions flown as a command pilot with the 100th Bomb Group to the earlier 12 he flew as a deputycommander of the 390th Bomb Group. (Michael Faley, 100th BG archives)HISTORYINFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194320June 2024Page 21
production, the so-called gasoline war, as wellas in the preparation and support of the Alliedlandings in the western part of the continent andthe opening of a second front.The Battle of FuelOn Friday, May 12th, 1944, the unit took part inthe 8th Air Forces first raid against industrialtargets in the former Czechoslovakia. The tar-get was Most (Brüx) and was the first of manyattacks on German oil refineries in the Battleof Fuel Campaign. During the Allied landingsin Normandy on June 6th, 1944, The Hundredthhad two combat missions to her credit that day.The third – the middle one of the day – was can-celed by bad weather.Also, the beautiful spring and summer of 1944,by when it was already clear that the war wouldend in favor of the Allies with their supremacyin the skies over Europe increasingly evident,saw several heavy missions and losses… such asMay 24th, to Berlin, with the loss of nine aircraft;July 28th and 29th Merseburg, eleven aircraftboth days; the 11th of September, 1944, Ruhland,thirteen aircraft. The latter mission became thesecond most tragic for the Bloody Hundredth.That day she saw a major air battle over theCzech-German border, and although the Luft-waffe was seemingly out of breath, it was not tobe the last of the great battles that awaited theunit before the end of the war.During this period, the Hundredth also flew twoRussian Shuttle missions under the codenameFormation of the 100th Bomb Group during a mission over Europe. The aircraft in the foreground is B-17G 44-8514 ‘Lassie Come Home’, which survived the war and was flownback to the U.S. (Don Bradley collection).Col Thomas S. Jefrey was commander of the 100th Bomb Group from 7 May 1944 to 1 February 1945. He added his15 combat missions flown as a command pilot with the 100th Bomb Group to the earlier 12 he flew as a deputycommander of the 390th Bomb Group. (Michael Faley, 100th BG archives)One of the most attractive B-17Gs under 100th Bomb Group, B-17G 43-38414 ‘Heaven Sent’, LN-Y, was a replacement for B-17G 42-102657,which was shot down over Kovarska, Czechoslovakia, on September 11, 1944, during a mission to the Ruhland oil refineries. (author’s archive)This image is from a series of photographs taken on 24 Jan 1944 after a raid toFrankfurt, when German flak blew off the entire tail gunner compartment ofB-17G ‘Hang the Expense II’. The tail gunner, Sgt. Roy Ulrich, as it later turnedout, survived and was captured. The pilot, Lt. ‘Big’ Frank Valesh managed toland the badly damaged aircraft at East Church base. (Dick Johnson Collection).Part of the crew of Lt. Lawrence E. Townsend with a Red Army officer at an Ukrainian base,during the first ‘Shuttle Mission’ they started on June 21, 1944. With B-17G 42-102416 ‘LadyLuck’, Townsend’s crew was shot down a month later, on July 25, 1944, during an attack onmilitary targets near Paris. (100th BG archives)HISTORYSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard21June 2024Page 22
Two B-17Gs that survived the 11 September 1944 mission to Ruhland, in which the 100th Bomb Group lost 13 aircraft in an air battle over the Ore Mountains.The ship, s/n 43-37521 ‘Skyway Chariot’ completed 91 missions when was shot down on March 18, 1945. The image below shows B-17G 42-31412 ‘Mason and Dixon’,which survived the war with 85 missions to her credit and was scrapped at Kingman, Arizona, in December 1945. (John E. Schwarz & James J. Potts collections)HISTORYINFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194322June 2024Page 23
Two B-17Gs that survived the 11 September 1944 mission to Ruhland, in which the 100th Bomb Group lost 13 aircraft in an air battle over the Ore Mountains.The ship, s/n 43-37521 ‘Skyway Chariot’ completed 91 missions when was shot down on March 18, 1945. The image below shows B-17G 42-31412 ‘Mason and Dixon’,which survived the war with 85 missions to her credit and was scrapped at Kingman, Arizona, in December 1945. (John E. Schwarz & James J. Potts collections)One of the radar equipped pathfinders of the 100th Bomb Group, B-17G 44-8344 ‘Miss Angel’.(Bruce Dutton collection)B-17G 43-38975 ‘Baby Doris’ from the 350th Squadron on hardstand 27A, Thorpe Abbotts base.(100th BG Museum collection)Maj. Robert Rosenthal, 350th Squadron commander, with injuries after an emergency landing inFrance on 10 September 1944. (Neal P. Scott collection)HISTORYSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard23June 2024Page 24
Frantic, where the bombers would land at air-fields in Ukraine after completing their missionand then return to England via 15th Air Forcebases in Italy. The first took place from June 21stThe 100th Bomb Group over the target. Smoke trails come from ‘flares’, special bombs dropped by the lead aircraft, signaling others in the formation to drop bombs. (DonBradley collection)B-17G 43-38514 ‘E-Z Goin’, with which the crew of Lt. Joe C. Martin returned home after being collided from behindby a German Bf 109 fighter. (Joseph A. Ciotola collection)to July 5th, 1944, the second between September18th and the 22nd. The second Frantic missionwas aimed at dropping supplies and weaponsto aid the Warsaw Uprising. It was not the Hun-dredth’s first such operation, as the unit had pre-viously participated in supplying the resistancemovement in the south of France.The apparent calm during the fall and earlywinter of 1944, when the unit flew another 45sorties after the Ruhland mission with combatlosses of seven aircraft, was shattered by thevery end of the year with a raid on the refiner-ies in Hamburg. On Sunday, December 31st, 1944,The Hundredth’s statistics were to fluctuate con-siderably again. The unexpected ferocity of Luft-waffe fighters and flak meant the loss of twelveaircraft.In the following months, two Berlin missions,on February 3rd and March 18th, 1945, wereamong more the memorable for the Bloody Hun-dredth with the loss of four aircraft and theircrews in each of them. With the loss of ‘only’ twomachines, the mission to Buchen on April 7th,1945 also went down in the history of the unit,with reasons for the losses being unusual forthe unit. That day, some formations of Ameri-can bombers were met with ramming attacksby German fighters. Even the Hundredth did notescape these attacks. In addition to two lostB-17s, there were also several that suffered se-rious damage, which by combination of miracleand pilot skill, managed to return home.HISTORYINFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194324June 2024Page 25
Frantic, where the bombers would land at air-fields in Ukraine after completing their missionand then return to England via 15th Air Forcebases in Italy. The first took place from June 21stThe 100th Bomb Group over the target. Smoke trails come from ‘flares’, special bombs dropped by the lead aircraft, signaling others in the formation to drop bombs. (DonBradley collection)B-17G 43-38514 ‘E-Z Goin’, with which the crew of Lt. Joe C. Martin returned home after being collided from behindby a German Bf 109 fighter. (Joseph A. Ciotola collection)to July 5th, 1944, the second between September18th and the 22nd. The second Frantic missionwas aimed at dropping supplies and weaponsto aid the Warsaw Uprising. It was not the Hun-dredth’s first such operation, as the unit had pre-viously participated in supplying the resistancemovement in the south of France.The apparent calm during the fall and earlywinter of 1944, when the unit flew another 45sorties after the Ruhland mission with combatlosses of seven aircraft, was shattered by thevery end of the year with a raid on the refiner-ies in Hamburg. On Sunday, December 31st, 1944,The Hundredth’s statistics were to fluctuate con-siderably again. The unexpected ferocity of Luft-waffe fighters and flak meant the loss of twelveaircraft.In the following months, two Berlin missions,on February 3rd and March 18th, 1945, wereamong more the memorable for the Bloody Hun-dredth with the loss of four aircraft and theircrews in each of them. With the loss of ‘only’ twomachines, the mission to Buchen on April 7th,1945 also went down in the history of the unit,with reasons for the losses being unusual forthe unit. That day, some formations of Ameri-can bombers were met with ramming attacksby German fighters. Even the Hundredth did notescape these attacks. In addition to two lostB-17s, there were also several that suffered se-rious damage, which by combination of miracleand pilot skill, managed to return home.Germany QuitsOn February 2nd, Col. Jeffrey was succeeded inthe capacity of Commanding Officer, by Col. JackSutterlin. He led the unit until June 23rd, whenhe was succeeded by two more Commanders,Col. John Wallace and Col Harry F. Cruver.On April 20th 1945, the 100th Bomb Group tookoff on its last bombing mission designated num-ber 306. The target was Oranienburg railway sta-tion, and all returned home without loss.Base No. 139, Thorpe Abbotts in Norfolk, hostedaround 7,000 members of the 100th Bomb Groupand its support units during the war. In 22 monthsof operation over the European continent, the unitlost 229 aircraft, 757 men, some of them remainmissing to this day, and 923 were captured.However, the 100th Bomb Group’s operations inEurope were not yet over. At the end of April 1945,many territories were still under German rule,and the guns were far from silent. A large part ofthe Netherlands was plagued by famine, civilianssuffering from Nazi tyrrany until the last days ofthe war. The Bloody Hundredth flew over the con-tinent several more times. Between May 1st and7th, 1945, like other American and British bomberunits, it flew a total of six Chowhound missions,during which its B-17Gs dropped food parcels inlow-flying aid missions. They flew at low alti-tudes over the territory still occupied by Germantroops. However, they were warned in advancenot to interfere with the bombers carrying food.In the weeks following the end of the war inEurope, the One Hundredth took part in repatri-ation flights for prisoners of war and conscriptsof Western countries from various parts of Ger-many and Austria.By the end of June, 1945, almost all aircraftwere flown out of the base, with the exception ofsome radar pathfinders. Men for whom the warwas over were returning home. Part of the unitmoved to Germany, where it participated in theadministration of the occupation. Some of thesupport units involved in the partial dismantlingof the base remained at Thorpe Abbotts until late1945. It then served until 1956, when it was closedand essentially forgotten.It was not until many years after the war thatthe thick concrete slabs and asphalt of the run-ways and most taxiways and hardstands wereremoved. The landscape returned to somethingresembling its original state. However, the her-oism of the men who, many decades previous,took off with trepidation from here on missionsover occupied Europe into horrific air battleswith the sky soaked with the stench of explodingflak shells, burning gasoline, gunpowder, blood,sweat and tears, is not forgotten. It remains inthe legacy of the men and women of the great-est generation, so that we can be reminded ofthe value of our freedom, and how much it cost.Freedom of individuals and nations. And how im-portant it is to fight evil, even though it seemswe can never completely overcome it. However,the determination and faith of the men of theBloody Hundredth remain an inspiration.Former 350th Bomb Squadron Commander Maj. Gale W. ‘Buck’ Cleven (center) returned to the base in April 1944after he managed to escape from captivity. Pictured with Lt.Col. David Lyster, later also 350th BS commander,and Maj. Robert Rosenthal, who commanded the same squadron until his emergency landing in Franceon 10 September 1944. (Gale W. Cleven collection)Two poor quality, but still rare, images from Chow-hound missions, when the 100th Bomb Group partic-ipated in supplying food to the starving population ofthe occupied Netherlands (1-7 May 1945)(100th BG Archives)HISTORYSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard25June 2024Page 26
Post Scriptum:The Bloody HundredthFamilyIn 1968, a meeting of several former members ofthe One Hundredth took place in the living roomof Robert and Phillis Rosenthal. Among themwere Harry Crosby and his wife, Horace Varian,Jack Kid and others. The meeting gave rise to theidea of starting a veterans’ organization with thetwo goals of starting a magazine and organizinga reunion. It was supposed to take place at theRosenthal’s in the garden. It was assumed thataround 30 people would participate. After thefirst rounds of searching for former comradesand invitations, it turned out that there would bemore than 200 participants, who would not all fitinto Rosie’s garden. So the meeting took place in1969 at Andrews Air Force Base. And so, the 100thBomb Group Association was founded. Since then,veterans and their families have been meetingevery few years. A few years ago, the Associa-tion turned into a Foundation. Its mission remains,even though most of the original members of theBlood Hundredth have left us. The task was tak-en over by their children and grandchildren, andnow even the great-grandchildren of the veter-ans, together with unit historians, photo archi-vists and other friends of the Hundredth, workingon a volunteer basis. The foundation maintains itscore mission in terms of the Bloody Hundredthlegacy, holding reunions and publishing a jour-nal, as planned long ago in the Rosenthals’ livingroom. The foundation also supports a numberof educational and museum projects.B-17G 42-97696 ‘Terrible Termite’ during POW repatriation flights in which the 100th Bomb Group participated from 15 May to 3 June 1945. (Percyk collection)From the 100th Bomb Group reunion in 2003 in Houston, TX - from left, Col. Edward A. Gallagher, U.S. Defenseand Air Attaché in the Czech Republic, center, the author of this article, and on the right, Gen. Thomas J.Jeffrey, one of the commanders of the 100th Bomb Group. (Museum of Air battle over the Ore Mountains)100th Bomb Group Reunion 2023 at the National MightyEighth Museum, Savannah, GA. (Museum of Air battleover the Ore Mountains)HISTORYINFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194326June 2024Page 27
Post Scriptum:The Bloody HundredthFamilyIn 1968, a meeting of several former members ofthe One Hundredth took place in the living roomof Robert and Phillis Rosenthal. Among themwere Harry Crosby and his wife, Horace Varian,Jack Kid and others. The meeting gave rise to theidea of starting a veterans’ organization with thetwo goals of starting a magazine and organizinga reunion. It was supposed to take place at theRosenthal’s in the garden. It was assumed thataround 30 people would participate. After thefirst rounds of searching for former comradesand invitations, it turned out that there would bemore than 200 participants, who would not all fitinto Rosie’s garden. So the meeting took place in1969 at Andrews Air Force Base. And so, the 100thBomb Group Association was founded. Since then,veterans and their families have been meetingevery few years. A few years ago, the Associa-tion turned into a Foundation. Its mission remains,even though most of the original members of theBlood Hundredth have left us. The task was tak-en over by their children and grandchildren, andnow even the great-grandchildren of the veter-ans, together with unit historians, photo archi-vists and other friends of the Hundredth, workingon a volunteer basis. The foundation maintains itscore mission in terms of the Bloody Hundredthlegacy, holding reunions and publishing a jour-nal, as planned long ago in the Rosenthals’ livingroom. The foundation also supports a numberof educational and museum projects.B-17G 42-97696 ‘Terrible Termite’ during POW repatriation flights in which the 100th Bomb Group participated from 15 May to 3 June 1945. (Percyk collection)From the 100th Bomb Group reunion in 2003 in Houston, TX - from left, Col. Edward A. Gallagher, U.S. Defenseand Air Attaché in the Czech Republic, center, the author of this article, and on the right, Gen. Thomas J.Jeffrey, one of the commanders of the 100th Bomb Group. (Museum of Air battle over the Ore Mountains)100th Bomb Group Reunion 2023 at the National MightyEighth Museum, Savannah, GA. (Museum of Air battleover the Ore Mountains)In 1977, Englishman Mike Harvey and a groupof friends decided to save the still standing, butovergrown and neglected original control towerat Thorpe Abbotts and rebuild it as a memorial tothe American airmen who had made a temporaryhome there many years prior. The owner of theland, Sir Rupert Mann, was sympathetic to theidea and leased the land, including the controltower, for 999 years. The long-lasting, demand-ing reconstruction and landscaping also includedclearing the former control tower of the mess leftby the wild pigs that lived there in the 50s and 60s.Already in the early days of the repair of the con-trol tower, and the reconstruction of other build-ings, strange visitors occasionally came around.They were curious American tourists wanderingthe English countryside. However, they were notjust any tourists. Former members of the BloodyHundredth, who spent several months of theiryouth there in the 1940s, came to see their forgot-ten base. Soon, the 100th Bomb Group MemorialMuseum in Thorpe Abbotts and the 100th BombGroup Association linked up and museum pho-tographs, uniforms, equipment, awards, notes,and memories began to surface. The museumopened in May, 1981. Over the following decades,the care of volunteers has made it a truly uniquememorial to the history of the 100th Bomb Group,and it continues to grow. However, it is not justa collection of exhibits, but a truly living placeTop to bottom:Forgotten control tower at Thorpe Abbotts, usedas a pig shelter and straw storage in the 1970s.Part of a team of English volunteers who in 1977 beganbuilding a museum commemorating the activitiesof the 100th Bomb Group at this site. From left: MikeHarvey, Paul Meen , Peter Adcock and daughter, JohnGoldsmith, Jim Mole, Ron Batley, with Richard Gibsonkneeling in front.Today the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum is oneof the finest air war museums in the UK. The core of itsexhibition is housed in a restored control tower.(100th BG Memorial Museum collection)HISTORYSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard27June 2024Page 28
that breathes history and where at every stepyou can meet those tremendous stories thatwere born right there and that today recreatethe legend and legacy of the Bloody Hundredth.In 2022, the museum received the prestigiousQueen’s Award for Voluntary Service from theBritish Queen.The 100th Bomb Group was formally deactivat-ed on the 21st of December, 1945. It was reactivat-ed as a training unit with B-29s on May 29th, 1947and decommissioned again on June 27th, 1949.It was later reactivated several more times asthe 100th Bomb Wing (1956-1966, with B-47s), the100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (1966–1976,U-2s), the 100th Air Refueling Wing (1976–1983,KC-135s), followed by seven years on ice, afterwhich the One Hundredth was reactivated asthe 100th Air Division (1990–1991) and then againas the 100th Air Refueling Wing (1992–present,KC-135R aircraft). The unit is based in the UK atRAF Mildenhall, just a few minutes’ flight fromThorpe Abbotts, and is the main USAF refuelingunit for the European area. The members of the100th ARW are justifiably proud of their genera-tional connection to the 100th Bomb Group, whichis shown, among other things, by sporting the‘Square D’ on the tails of their giant Stratotankers,the designation used by the 100th Bomb Groupduring World War II. The 100th ARW representa-tives regularly attend 100th BGF reunions and oc-casionally volunteer to help out at the museum atThorpe Abbotts. They faithfully familiarize them-selves with the history that preceded their unitlong before they themselves came into the world.Boeing KC-135R s/n 58-0100, due to its last three digitsof the tail number, usually serves as the commander’ship of the 100th Air Refuelling Wing.(100th ARW & Public Domain)The KC-135R s/n 63-7999 ‘Boss Lady’ was namedafter one of the 100th Bomb Group’s aircraft lost overKovarska on September 11, 1944. (100th ARW & PublicDomain)Meeting of Generations. In addition to the humanparticipants, several 100th BG Foundation Reunionsfeatured the B-17 ‘The Movie Memphis Belle,’ a flyingwarbird with the 100th Bomb Group designation, anda KC-135R from the 100th ARW. This image was takenat the 2017 Reunion.(Museum of Air battle over the Ore Mountains)HISTORYINFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194328June 2024Page 29
that breathes history and where at every stepyou can meet those tremendous stories thatwere born right there and that today recreatethe legend and legacy of the Bloody Hundredth.In 2022, the museum received the prestigiousQueen’s Award for Voluntary Service from theBritish Queen.The 100th Bomb Group was formally deactivat-ed on the 21st of December, 1945. It was reactivat-ed as a training unit with B-29s on May 29th, 1947and decommissioned again on June 27th, 1949.It was later reactivated several more times asthe 100th Bomb Wing (1956-1966, with B-47s), the100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (1966–1976,U-2s), the 100th Air Refueling Wing (1976–1983,KC-135s), followed by seven years on ice, afterwhich the One Hundredth was reactivated asthe 100th Air Division (1990–1991) and then againas the 100th Air Refueling Wing (1992–present,KC-135R aircraft). The unit is based in the UK atRAF Mildenhall, just a few minutes’ flight fromThorpe Abbotts, and is the main USAF refuelingunit for the European area. The members of the100th ARW are justifiably proud of their genera-tional connection to the 100th Bomb Group, whichis shown, among other things, by sporting the‘Square D’ on the tails of their giant Stratotankers,the designation used by the 100th Bomb Groupduring World War II. The 100th ARW representa-tives regularly attend 100th BGF reunions and oc-casionally volunteer to help out at the museum atThorpe Abbotts. They faithfully familiarize them-selves with the history that preceded their unitlong before they themselves came into the world.Boeing KC-135R s/n 58-0100, due to its last three digitsof the tail number, usually serves as the commander’ship of the 100th Air Refuelling Wing.(100th ARW & Public Domain)The KC-135R s/n 63-7999 ‘Boss Lady’ was namedafter one of the 100th Bomb Group’s aircraft lost overKovarska on September 11, 1944. (100th ARW & PublicDomain)Meeting of Generations. In addition to the humanparticipants, several 100th BG Foundation Reunionsfeatured the B-17 ‘The Movie Memphis Belle,’ a flyingwarbird with the 100th Bomb Group designation, anda KC-135R from the 100th ARW. This image was takenat the 2017 Reunion.(Museum of Air battle over the Ore Mountains)On Saturday, September 13th, 1997, after manyyears of research, the Museum of the Air Battleover the Ore Mountains, September 11, 1944, wasestablished at Kovarska, in the Czech Republic.It is dedicated to the largest air battle overCzechoslovakia and at the same time the sec-ond most tragic mission of the Bloody Hundredth.It lost thirteen B-17Gs that day. Already after itsopening, the Museum in Kovarska was recog-nized as part of the 100th Bomb Group Associ-ation, today Foundation. Together with the threeentities described in this chapter above, that is,the Foundation itself, the museum at Thorpe Ab-botts and the 100th ARW USAF, they form, as theyoungest of them, an informal community calledthe 100th BG Family, or The Bloody HundredthFamily. It is thus its only non-Anglo-Americancomponent and also the only representative ofthe Bloody Hundredth in continental Europe, theplaces where the unit fought in the years 1943-45.A large number of books have been writtenabout the 100th Bomb Group since the war, mostof them by the members of the unit themselves,and the unit has become the basis of the famousfilm ‘Twelve O’Clock High’ from 1949. Space isdedicated to it in many museums in the UnitedStates and Europe, and, more recently, has in-spired a book by Don Miller, leading to a minise-Part of the display at the Museum of the Air Battleof the Ore Mountains on September 11th, 1944 inKovarska, Czech Republic. The photo on the rightshows a detail of the display case dedicated to B-17G44-6089 ‘Leading Lady’, shot down that day with crewLt. Lawrence W. Riegel. This plane was several timesflown also by Maj. Robert Rosenthal, Commander ofthe 350th Bomb Squadron. (Museum of Air battle overthe Ore Mountains)The memorial day commemorating the 70th anniver-sary of the air battle over the Ore Mountains, held inKovarska, Czech Republic, in September 2014, wasattended by representatives of the 100th Bomb GroupFoundation, the U.S. Air Force, the 100th BG Museum atThorpe Abbotts, and family members of some of theairmen of the 100th BG lost that day. (Museum of Airbattle over the Ore Mountains)HISTORYSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard29June 2024Page 30
ries released in January, 2024, called ‘Masters ofthe Air’ from the production team of Gary Goetz-man, Kirk Saduski, Tom Hanks and Steven Spiel-berg. The series brought the fate of the BloodyHundredth and, through it, other allied air unitsin World War II to a very wide audience.One of the radar pathfinders of the 100th Bomb Group, B-17G s/n 44-8183, which flew with the unit from November 1944 until the end of the war. (Author’s collection)Sources (common for this article, also as for the followingeleven articles about featured aircraft from the 100th BG):- Century Bombers, Richard LeStrange, 1997- Plane Names & Bloody Noses, Ray Bowden, 2000- The Story of the Century, John R. Nilsson, 1946- High Noon over Haseluenne, Luc Dewez & Michael P. Faley, 2009- The Forgotten Man, The Mechanic, Kenneth A. Lemmons, Cindy Goodman, Jan Riddling, 1999- Seven Days In October, Paul Andrews, Michael P. Faley, 2005, 2015- Damn Lucky, Kevin Maurer, 2022- With crew #13, Earl Benham, 1990- 100th Bomb Group Foundation Archives- Archives of the US Air Force Research Agency, Maxwell, Alabama- National Archives and Record Administration, College Park, MD- Archive of the Museum of Air Battle over the Ore Mountains on September 11th, 1944- Ray Bowden/USAAF Nose Art Research Project- Personal conversation with 100th BG veterans and historians- Abbreviated History of the 100th Bomb Group, Harry Crosby, Jan Riddling and Michael Faley- Bloody Hundredth, The Most Famous Heavy Bomb Group of World War II, Dewey Christopher- Hang the Expense, a History of the “Big Frank” Valesh Crew, John R. “Dick” Johnson- I Saw Regensburg Destroyed, Bernie Lay, Jr., Saturday Evening Post Magazine, 1943- Original 100th, Crew #22, Piccadilly Lily, Paul M. Andrews and David Aiken- Port Arthur News, March 23 1944- Schweinfurt – 14 Oct 43 “Black Thursday”, Robert Hughes- The Jeffersonian Democrat, Sept 30 1943- Sgt. Walters shoots down enemy plane…, local newspaper articla, 10 December 1943- The unmanned plane, Sven Persson, www.forcedlandingcollection.se- The US Eighth Air Force in Europe / Black Thursday Blood and Oil; Martin Bowman, 2012- www.100thbg.com- www.100bgmus.org.uk- www.mildenhall.af.milThe Eduard Model Accessories release of theB-17F in 1:48th scale as ‘The Bloody Hundredth1943’ Limited Edition model kit, prepared in col-laboration with the 100th BG Foundation focusingon the early months of the 100th Bomb Group’sfighting in Europe, is a significant element inthe field of plastic modeling which draws on thehistory of the 100th Bomb Group while helping topreserve its legacy.HISTORYINFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194330June 2024Page 31
ries released in January, 2024, called ‘Masters ofthe Air’ from the production team of Gary Goetz-man, Kirk Saduski, Tom Hanks and Steven Spiel-berg. The series brought the fate of the BloodyHundredth and, through it, other allied air unitsin World War II to a very wide audience.One of the radar pathfinders of the 100th Bomb Group, B-17G s/n 44-8183, which flew with the unit from November 1944 until the end of the war. (Author’s collection)Sources (common for this article, also as for the followingeleven articles about featured aircraft from the 100th BG):- Century Bombers, Richard LeStrange, 1997- Plane Names & Bloody Noses, Ray Bowden, 2000- The Story of the Century, John R. Nilsson, 1946- High Noon over Haseluenne, Luc Dewez & Michael P. Faley, 2009- The Forgotten Man, The Mechanic, Kenneth A. Lemmons, Cindy Goodman, Jan Riddling, 1999- Seven Days In October, Paul Andrews, Michael P. Faley, 2005, 2015- Damn Lucky, Kevin Maurer, 2022- With crew #13, Earl Benham, 1990- 100th Bomb Group Foundation Archives- Archives of the US Air Force Research Agency, Maxwell, Alabama- National Archives and Record Administration, College Park, MD- Archive of the Museum of Air Battle over the Ore Mountains on September 11th, 1944- Ray Bowden/USAAF Nose Art Research Project- Personal conversation with 100th BG veterans and historians- Abbreviated History of the 100th Bomb Group, Harry Crosby, Jan Riddling and Michael Faley- Bloody Hundredth, The Most Famous Heavy Bomb Group of World War II, Dewey Christopher- Hang the Expense, a History of the “Big Frank” Valesh Crew, John R. “Dick” Johnson- I Saw Regensburg Destroyed, Bernie Lay, Jr., Saturday Evening Post Magazine, 1943- Original 100th, Crew #22, Piccadilly Lily, Paul M. Andrews and David Aiken- Port Arthur News, March 23 1944- Schweinfurt – 14 Oct 43 “Black Thursday”, Robert Hughes- The Jeffersonian Democrat, Sept 30 1943- Sgt. Walters shoots down enemy plane…, local newspaper articla, 10 December 1943- The unmanned plane, Sven Persson, www.forcedlandingcollection.se- The US Eighth Air Force in Europe / Black Thursday Blood and Oil; Martin Bowman, 2012- www.100thbg.com- www.100bgmus.org.uk- www.mildenhall.af.milThe Eduard Model Accessories release of theB-17F in 1:48th scale as ‘The Bloody Hundredth1943’ Limited Edition model kit, prepared in col-laboration with the 100th BG Foundation focusingon the early months of the 100th Bomb Group’sfighting in Europe, is a significant element inthe field of plastic modeling which draws on thehistory of the 100th Bomb Group while helping topreserve its legacy.By the time Waltham’s own Lt. Thomas E. Murphy,a former transport pilot, touched down on June8th, 1943 with his crew in their new B-17F ‘564’at Thorpe Abbots, the 8th Air Force had elevenmonths and 61 bombing missions under its belt.Still, at that point, the Bombing offensive againstGermany was in its infancy and toughest was yetto come. And one of its greatest symbols would beMurphy, his crew, and their B-17.The aircraft was christened ‘Piccadilly Lily’ anda pinup nude with a glass in her hand and a haloabove her head were painted on the right side ofthe nose. The name was inspired not only by thewell-known song ‘Lily from Piccadilly’, but alsoby girls with big hearts who waited in the streetsleading from London’s Piccadilly Circus for thereturn of Allied airmen and soldiers, especiallyAmerican, to help them better endure the hard-ships of war.Two weeks after arriving in England, the 100thBomb Group was fully ready for combat. PiccadillyLily also took part in the first two missions, butthese were not credited because they were diver-sionary rather than bombing tasks. Confirmationof participation in these diversionary missions,nicknamed ‘Decoy’, later appeared on this aircraftin the form of two painted ducks mission mark-ings. These missions were intended to lure Ger-man fighters over the North Sea, after which themain attack force of the 8th Air Force headed forthe Ruhr region.Three days later came an actual bombing mis-sion to Bremen. A baptism of fire befitting a unitsoon to be nicknamed ‘The Bloody Hundredth’.Murphy and his crew with Piccadilly Lily playedtheir role. The unit paid the price of three B-17Fs.On Thursday, August 17, 1943, the 100th BombGroup took off on its 16th mission that was be-come the first milestone in the ill-fated unit’s rep-utation, as well as the reason for the unit’s first oftwo Distinguished (Presidential) Unit Citations thatthe 100th BG received. The targets of the famousTitle photo: Piccadilly Lily at Telergma airfield in NorthAfrica after the Regensburg mission on August 17, 1943.The crew of Capt. Thomas E. Murphy after landing fromthe mission to Regensburg. Second from the left isfuture author and screenwriter, Lt. Col. Bernie Lay.PICCADILLY LILYB-17F-30-VE 42-5864 EP-AText: Jan ZdiarskýColor profiles: Michal FárekPhotos: 100th Bomb Group ArchivesSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard31June 2024Page 32
“Double strike” mission for the 100th BG werethe aircraft factories at Regensburg followed bya landing in North Africa. It was the 14th missionfor Murphy’s crew, and Lily’s thirteenth. In an al-most last minute decision, the unit’s operationsofficer made a change when a ‘trainee’ observerfrom 8th Air Force Headquarters, Lt.Col. BernieLay, was reassigned from the crew of ‘Alice fromDallas’ 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 pilotThomas Murphy.Bernie Lay submitted a report to headquartersabout the horror experienced and the heroismdisplayed during the battles over Regensburg,in which, among other things, he nominated allthe crew members of the 100th BG participatingin the Regensburg mission for the DFC and thecommanding pilot of the low squadron, Maj. GaleW. ‘Bucky’ Cleven, for the Medal of Honor.Through September 21st, 1943, ‘Lily’ flew onlytwo more missions. Among the reasons werethe difficult repairs to damage that the aircraftendured during the course of its missions. Flakover Paris on September 15th, 1943 severely im-pacted the underside of the aircraft, tearing offhalf of the bomb bay doors. Meanwhile, ThomasMurphy’s crew was nearing the end of its opera-tional tour. When ‘Lily’ and her ground crew werephotographed on September 21st, 1943, she waspainted with fifteen bomb mission markings, twoducks and eight swastikas symbolizing downedenemy fighters.On the afternoon of October 7, 1943, Murphy’screw were notified that they had been removedfrom flight status, although they still had two mis-sions left to complete their tour. The officers of thecrew 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 officersfrom the crew were to go to the headquarters ofthe 13th Combat Wing or the 3rd BombardmentDivision.Variant 1: Capt. Thomas E. Murphy crew, Lt. Col. Beirne Lay. Jr., 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group,Regensburg mission, 17 August 1943, Telergma, AlgeriaPiccadilly Lily in North Africa.The 100th BG formation chart for the Regensburg mission on August 17, 1943. Crosses indicate lostaircraft.INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194332June 2024Page 33
“Double strike” mission for the 100th BG werethe aircraft factories at Regensburg followed bya landing in North Africa. It was the 14th missionfor Murphy’s crew, and Lily’s thirteenth. In an al-most last minute decision, the unit’s operationsofficer made a change when a ‘trainee’ observerfrom 8th Air Force Headquarters, Lt.Col. BernieLay, was reassigned from the crew of ‘Alice fromDallas’ 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 pilotThomas Murphy.Bernie Lay submitted a report to headquartersabout the horror experienced and the heroismdisplayed during the battles over Regensburg,in which, among other things, he nominated allthe crew members of the 100th BG participatingin the Regensburg mission for the DFC and thecommanding pilot of the low squadron, Maj. GaleW. ‘Bucky’ Cleven, for the Medal of Honor.Through September 21st, 1943, ‘Lily’ flew onlytwo more missions. Among the reasons werethe difficult repairs to damage that the aircraftendured during the course of its missions. Flakover Paris on September 15th, 1943 severely im-pacted the underside of the aircraft, tearing offhalf of the bomb bay doors. Meanwhile, ThomasMurphy’s crew was nearing the end of its opera-tional tour. When ‘Lily’ and her ground crew werephotographed on September 21st, 1943, she waspainted with fifteen bomb mission markings, twoducks and eight swastikas symbolizing downedenemy fighters.On the afternoon of October 7, 1943, Murphy’screw were notified that they had been removedfrom flight status, although they still had two mis-sions left to complete their tour. The officers of thecrew 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 officersfrom the crew were to go to the headquarters ofthe 13th Combat Wing or the 3rd BombardmentDivision.Variant 1: Capt. Thomas E. Murphy crew, Lt. Col. Beirne Lay. Jr., 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group,Regensburg mission, 17 August 1943, Telergma, AlgeriaPiccadilly Lily in North Africa.The 100th BG formation chart for the Regensburg mission on August 17, 1943. Crosses indicate lostaircraft.The next morning the crew were neverthelesswoken up to quickly replace another, who hadoriginally been slated to fly Piccadilly Lily that day,despite their being grounded. It was October 8thand the destination was, as with Lily’s first mis-sion, Bremen.Before taxiing to the final take-off point, for anunknown reason, Capt. Alvin L. Barker, OperationsOfficer of the 351st Squadron joined the crew asits 11th member, despite being medically excludedfrom flying. He sat in the co-pilot’s seat. Lily wasto be the lead machine of the lower box formation.One of the ground crew, Sgt. Ken Lemmons (oneof the key characters depicted in the Masters ofthe Air series) recollected:Murphy leaned out ofthe cockpit window and I saluted him. He motionedfor me to remove the chocks so that he could be-gan to taxi. Smiling his lopsided smile, he salutedme 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 onthe 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 pilotswould take off every thirty seconds and begin theintricately choreographed moves required to formhundreds 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 byLuftwaffe fighters. The crews observed distantcombat 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 inflictingmajor damage.Suddenly, however, a group of German fightersstruck the formation of the 100th Bomb Groupwith enormous force. They attacked from the front,slightly to the left. Within moments, after collidingwith 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 leftthe formation with an engine engulfed in flames.Many of the remaining B-17s were damaged to oneextent or another.As the formation approached the target, all hellbroke loose yet again. This time it was a barrage ofheavy flak. Piccadilly Lily received hits through herVariant 1Repairing damage to the left side of vertical stabilizerof Piccadilly Lily.The original appearance of the starboardnose, before the mission and aerial victorysymbols were applied.Capt. Thomas E. Murphy in the cockpit of Piccadilly Lily.Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard33June 2024Page 34
front end and the radio operator’s compartment.The radio operator and one of the waisy gunnerswere killed by flak shrapnel. The oxygen line wasdamaged. Murphy decided to continue attackingthe designated target. To leave the safety of theformation at this point would have been temptingfate way beyond reason. Few crews that foundthemselves alone in such a situation managed toreturn home safely. Just after laying her eggs, Lilytook another heavy hit. Flames erupted from theright inboard engine and the right landing gear ex-tended. The plane began to vibrate violently. Therewas nothing left to decide and Murphy began tocarefully leave the formation. At least the surviv-ing crew members who would leave the aircraftwould be less likely to be endangered by the otheraircraft still in formation and also, an explosion,a good possibility by then, would be less likely todamage friendlies. The crew members were moreor less successful in getting out of the burningplane. While Thomas Murphy and Alvin Barker, inthe position of co-pilot, were trying to hold theplane together so that they could eventually bailout, the fuel tank near the number three engineexploded, killing those who had not yet gotten outof the plane.Piccadilly Lily went down off Wesermünde, northof Bremen, taking with her five crew members.One more died after unsuccessfully attemptingto bail from the stricken aircraft. The 100th Bom-bardment Group lost a total of 7 crews and aircraftthat day.Bernie Lay, who flew on Lily to Regensburg onAugust 17th, 1943, built a sort of memorial to herand Thomas Murphy when, in the script for thefamous 1949 film ‘Twelve O’Clock High’, and thebook of the same title, he named the central plane,piloted in the film by Gregory Peck, Piccadilly Lily.Variant 2: Capt. Thomas E. Murphy crew351st BombSquadron, 100th Bomb, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain,21 September 1943Variant 2: Capt. Thomas E. Murphy crew351st Bomb Squadron,100th Bomb, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain, 21 September 1943Capt. Thomas E.Murphy was killedalong with threeother men of hiscrew in a raid onBremen on Octo-ber 8, 1943.Capt.Alvin L. Barker,Operations Officerof the 351st BS,died as a Com-manding Pilot withthe crew of Capt.Murphy.Murphy’s crew with Piccadilly Lily in her later form inthe second half of September 1943.Twelve O’Clock High movie poster.INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194334June 2024Page 35
front end and the radio operator’s compartment.The radio operator and one of the waisy gunnerswere killed by flak shrapnel. The oxygen line wasdamaged. Murphy decided to continue attackingthe designated target. To leave the safety of theformation at this point would have been temptingfate way beyond reason. Few crews that foundthemselves alone in such a situation managed toreturn home safely. Just after laying her eggs, Lilytook another heavy hit. Flames erupted from theright inboard engine and the right landing gear ex-tended. The plane began to vibrate violently. Therewas nothing left to decide and Murphy began tocarefully leave the formation. At least the surviv-ing crew members who would leave the aircraftwould be less likely to be endangered by the otheraircraft still in formation and also, an explosion,a good possibility by then, would be less likely todamage friendlies. The crew members were moreor less successful in getting out of the burningplane. While Thomas Murphy and Alvin Barker, inthe position of co-pilot, were trying to hold theplane together so that they could eventually bailout, the fuel tank near the number three engineexploded, killing those who had not yet gotten outof the plane.Piccadilly Lily went down off Wesermünde, northof Bremen, taking with her five crew members.One more died after unsuccessfully attemptingto bail from the stricken aircraft. The 100th Bom-bardment Group lost a total of 7 crews and aircraftthat day.Bernie Lay, who flew on Lily to Regensburg onAugust 17th, 1943, built a sort of memorial to herand Thomas Murphy when, in the script for thefamous 1949 film ‘Twelve O’Clock High’, and thebook of the same title, he named the central plane,piloted in the film by Gregory Peck, Piccadilly Lily.Variant 2: Capt. Thomas E. Murphy crew351st BombSquadron, 100th Bomb, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain,21 September 1943Variant 2: Capt. Thomas E. Murphy crew351st Bomb Squadron,100th Bomb, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain, 21 September 1943Capt. Thomas E.Murphy was killedalong with threeother men of hiscrew in a raid onBremen on Octo-ber 8, 1943.Capt.Alvin L. Barker,Operations Officerof the 351st BS,died as a Com-manding Pilot withthe crew of Capt.Murphy.Murphy’s crew with Piccadilly Lily in her later form inthe second half of September 1943.Twelve O’Clock High movie poster.The story of Alice from Dallas is a prime exampleof how entangled the fates of individual crews andtheir planes can be if they served over the sameperiod with the same squadron and also how dif-ficult it can be for historians to position all thepieces of the puzzle to form a clear and accuratepicture, telling a story set in the time context withevents as moving and surreal as were the skiesover Europe in 1943.B-17F Serial Number 42-5867 was one of theoriginal B-17s that was delivered to the 100thBomb Group in April, 1943, to Kearney Air Base,Nebraska. She was assigned to crew No. 17, com-manded by Lt. William D. DeSanders of Dallas,Texas. Twenty-two-year-old Bill, a 1940 gradu-ate of the New Mexico Military Institute, marriedAlice Madeline Jones, a native of the same town,in October, 1942. A few months later, he named ‘his’brand new airplane after her. The white letteringon either side of the front was supposed to bringgood luck to DeSanders and the remaining ninemen of his crew. Later, on both sides of the nose,just in front of the pilot’s and co-pilot’s side win-dows, there appeared a white drawing of a gremlintype figure from the 350th Bomb Squadron em-blem, releasing bombs from a chamber pot.Alice from Dallas was unusual in her front endconfiguration. As an aircraft built in the 30 F-se-ries production block at the Vega factories in Bur-bank, it carried one of the evolutionary stages ofthe development of the nose gun on the left side ofthe nose. The machine gun was placed in a convexsemi-bubble in the shape of a teardrop, which wassupposed to give the navigator, who was taskedwith its use, a better view of the space between9 and 11 o’clock. However, development did not stopthere and a satisfactory designed was realizedonly by a diagonally raised firing positions, suchas those found on aircraft from the late produc-tion blocks of the F series. Thanks to this, Alicefrom Dallas was quite unusual among the othermachines of the unit.On May 29th, 1943, the crew initiated their moveto England with their Alice. They arrived at ThorpeAbbotts on June 8th and took off together on theirfirst combat mission two weeks later. It was notyet a bombing attack against German military tar-gets, but a decoy mission to lure German fighters.It was not a rule for 350th Squadron ground crewsto decorate the noses of their aircraft with mis-sion markings for those they had flown, and Alicewas no exception. She was not decorated witheither bombs or duck symbols indicating partici-pation in those decoy missions. Alice suffered herfirst serious fighter inflicted damage during a raidon Le Bourget on the 14th of July.After a very long and difficult raid on Trondheim,Norway, on July 24th, 1943, Bill DeSanders fell illwith an unpleasant virus. The following morning,his crew flew with a replacement pilot, the 350thBomb Squadron’s Operations Officer, Capt. Rich-ard Carey. They flew in a B-17F borrowed from thecrew of Lt. Roy F. Claytor with the name ‘Duration+ 6’. DeSanders’ men never returned from the mis-sion to the port of Warnemünde. After heavy flakText: Jan ZdiarskýColor profiles: Michal FárekPhotos: 100th Bomb Group ArchivesTitle photo: “Alice from Dallas” during a missionto Warnemünde on 29 July 1943.“Alice from Dallas” with her crew during the finalphase of the unit’s training in the USA. The originalname of the aircraft is repainted on the nose,and the new name has not yet been applied.ALICE FROM DALLASB-17F-30-VE 42-5867 LN-OSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard35June 2024Page 36
hits, the plane crashed into the North Sea. Fivemen from the crew perished. The only one left ofthe original crew besides DeSanders at the basewas the radio operator, Sgt. Rudden, who also didnot fly that day. He was soon assigned to anothercrew as a substitute.Alice from Dallas and Bill DeSanders were or-phaned. Because he was not yet in good health,his Alice was flown by others. This was also thecase on August 17th, 1943, during an attack on Re-gensburg. Alice was one of nine 100th Bomb GroupB-17s lost that day.The irony lies in the fact that Roy F. Claytor’screw, who lost their Duration + 6 with the originalAlice from Dallas crew three weeks earlier, wasflying Alice that day.When the 100th Bomb Group formation on routeto Regensburg reached the eastern part of Bel-gium, a group of German fighters attacked the lowsquadron of the formation, led by Maj. Gale ‘Bucky’Cleven. Its rearguard was led by Roy Claytor inAlice. And it was on him that the current fighterattack focused and sent all three of his planes tothe ground. At the same time, the fighters shotdown one of Bucky Cleven’s wingmen, leaving onlytwo machines of the six plane formation of the lowsquadron.The initial rounds that hit Alice from Dallas werevery serious. Roy Claytor later testified:‘I had notseen any enemy fighters nor had any been calledout but then I suddenly felt the ship being hit hard…I pushed the nose down to get out of formation andat the same time saw that the left wing was on fire.The ship was trying to go to a spin to the left. I gavethe order to bail out. I got up, standing betweenthe seats, flying the plane, when the nose went upand I was thrown to the accessory compartment.From there I worked my way out of the nose es-cape hatch…’As more parachutes appeared behind the plane,the burning Alice from Dallas pitched up and downfuriously with the landing gear extended, makinga 360° turn back toward the formation before finallyspiraling toward the ground in flames. At approxi-mately 8,000 feet, her fuel tanks exploded and thewreckage crashed near Langerloo, Belgium. Whatwas left of Alice from Dallas also buried tail gun-ner S/Sgt. Musant, whose parachute opened toosoon and snagged the horizontal stabilizer. Thesecond crewman to fall was the ball turret gun-Port side of Alice’s nose being serviced by a ground crew member. A gremlin from the 350th BS emblem is visiblein front of the pilot’s window.INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194336June 2024Page 37
hits, the plane crashed into the North Sea. Fivemen from the crew perished. The only one left ofthe original crew besides DeSanders at the basewas the radio operator, Sgt. Rudden, who also didnot fly that day. He was soon assigned to anothercrew as a substitute.Alice from Dallas and Bill DeSanders were or-phaned. Because he was not yet in good health,his Alice was flown by others. This was also thecase on August 17th, 1943, during an attack on Re-gensburg. Alice was one of nine 100th Bomb GroupB-17s lost that day.The irony lies in the fact that Roy F. Claytor’screw, who lost their Duration + 6 with the originalAlice from Dallas crew three weeks earlier, wasflying Alice that day.When the 100th Bomb Group formation on routeto Regensburg reached the eastern part of Bel-gium, a group of German fighters attacked the lowsquadron of the formation, led by Maj. Gale ‘Bucky’Cleven. Its rearguard was led by Roy Claytor inAlice. And it was on him that the current fighterattack focused and sent all three of his planes tothe ground. At the same time, the fighters shotdown one of Bucky Cleven’s wingmen, leaving onlytwo machines of the six plane formation of the lowsquadron.The initial rounds that hit Alice from Dallas werevery serious. Roy Claytor later testified:‘I had notseen any enemy fighters nor had any been calledout but then I suddenly felt the ship being hit hard…I pushed the nose down to get out of formation andat the same time saw that the left wing was on fire.The ship was trying to go to a spin to the left. I gavethe order to bail out. I got up, standing betweenthe seats, flying the plane, when the nose went upand I was thrown to the accessory compartment.From there I worked my way out of the nose es-cape hatch…’As more parachutes appeared behind the plane,the burning Alice from Dallas pitched up and downfuriously with the landing gear extended, makinga 360° turn back toward the formation before finallyspiraling toward the ground in flames. At approxi-mately 8,000 feet, her fuel tanks exploded and thewreckage crashed near Langerloo, Belgium. Whatwas left of Alice from Dallas also buried tail gun-ner S/Sgt. Musant, whose parachute opened toosoon and snagged the horizontal stabilizer. Thesecond crewman to fall was the ball turret gun-Port side of Alice’s nose being serviced by a ground crew member. A gremlin from the 350th BS emblem is visiblein front of the pilot’s window.ner, S/Sgt. William M. Hinton, who probably did notmanage to bail out in time.Five of the eight surviving airmen managed toescape capture with the help of the Belgian andFrench resistance movements.Bill DeSanders, who first lost his crew andlater Alice from Dallas, did not return to combatflying until September 3rd, 1943. He flew as a re-placement pilot with other crews, and later asCommanding Pilot for the 350th BS. As Octoberarrived, so did a new B-17G, which inherited thecode LN-O from Alice and was named Alice fromDallas II. It was with her that Capt. DeSanders flewhis twenty-fifth and final mission. It was February13th, 1944, and the Commanding Pilot for the flightwas Capt. John C. ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo, who appearsin this intertwined recounting in connection withSunny II and who, like DeSanders, completed hisoperational tour that day.Bill DeSanders lived in Dallas with his wife Alice,his ‘Alice from Dallas’, until his death in 1983.B-17F 42-5867 LN-O ”Alice from Dallas“, Lt. William D. Desanders crew, 350th Bomb Squadron, 100th BombGroup, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain, August 1943John H. Luckadoo, 350th BombSquadron operations officer, andWilliam D. DeSanders completed theiroperational tour together in B-17G“Alice from Dallas II” on 13 February1944.Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard37June 2024Page 38
B-17F, Serial Number 42-30796, arrived in En-gland at the end of August, 1943 and less thana week later was ready at Thorpe Abbots for ser-vice with 351st Squadron. On her sides, membersof the ground crew sprayed in light gray the codeEP-K, and the name was inherited from the famous‘Sunny’, with which the crew led by Capt. Glenn W.Dye flew eleven combat missions and was lostwith another crew on September 3rd, 1943. Thisnew B-17F 796 became ‘Sunny II’. The name dis-played in decorative lettering on the noses of bothaircraft was derived from the nickname the crewcommander, Glenn W. Dye, gave to his young son.It is not clear from surviving historical recordswhether the first three missions of this aircraftwere flown by the crew of Glenn Dye, but at leastone of them was (and probably all three), becauseon September 7th or 8th, 1943, this crew was pho-tographed in front of the aircraft, which at the timedisplayed two mission markings.This aircraft and this crew certainly flew togeth-er on the 15th and 16th of September, 1943, whenthe majority of the crew, the first of the 100thBomb Group, completed a tour of twenty-five mis-sions. After returning from a milk run to La Pallice,her ground crew and the Squadron Commander,Maj. Ollen O. Turner, were waiting for Sunny II, andshe was the center of attention, along with thecrew of Cpt. Dye. These airmen were able to flytheir operational tour in less than eleven weeks.They celebrated until the early hours of the morn-ing, with the promise that the next day would holdno flying.The completion of twenty-five missions wasa great success and also a boost for the youngcrews who were just starting their combat duties.Likewise for the more seasoned peers who stillhad a few of those missions left to go through.At least on the level of morale and encouragement,the milestone counterbalanced the inexorablestatistics. However, the celebration would proba-bly not have been so joyful if its participants hadknown that the Dye crew would end up being theonly one from the original 100th Bomb Group, ofthe teams that moved to England as a whole aftertraining, to complete the tour…Of the ten members of Glenn Dye’s crew,there were two that would not fly to fulfillment.This happened due to an illness or injury of oneof the men, or for various procedural reasons.The two were side gunner S/Sgt. Elder D. Dicker-son and Lt. John H. ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo, co-pilot.Text: Jan ZdiarskýColor profiles: Michal FárekPhotos: 100th Bomb Group ArchivesTitle photo: Glenn W. Dye in early September 1943,when “Sunny II” had her first two combat missionsunder her belt.“Sunny II” on a hardstand at Thorpe Abbotts,probably in late September 1943.SUNNY IIB-17F-120-BO 42-30796 EP-K/JINFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194338June 2024Page 39
B-17F, Serial Number 42-30796, arrived in En-gland at the end of August, 1943 and less thana week later was ready at Thorpe Abbots for ser-vice with 351st Squadron. On her sides, membersof the ground crew sprayed in light gray the codeEP-K, and the name was inherited from the famous‘Sunny’, with which the crew led by Capt. Glenn W.Dye flew eleven combat missions and was lostwith another crew on September 3rd, 1943. Thisnew B-17F 796 became ‘Sunny II’. The name dis-played in decorative lettering on the noses of bothaircraft was derived from the nickname the crewcommander, Glenn W. Dye, gave to his young son.It is not clear from surviving historical recordswhether the first three missions of this aircraftwere flown by the crew of Glenn Dye, but at leastone of them was (and probably all three), becauseon September 7th or 8th, 1943, this crew was pho-tographed in front of the aircraft, which at the timedisplayed two mission markings.This aircraft and this crew certainly flew togeth-er on the 15th and 16th of September, 1943, whenthe majority of the crew, the first of the 100thBomb Group, completed a tour of twenty-five mis-sions. After returning from a milk run to La Pallice,her ground crew and the Squadron Commander,Maj. Ollen O. Turner, were waiting for Sunny II, andshe was the center of attention, along with thecrew of Cpt. Dye. These airmen were able to flytheir operational tour in less than eleven weeks.They celebrated until the early hours of the morn-ing, with the promise that the next day would holdno flying.The completion of twenty-five missions wasa great success and also a boost for the youngcrews who were just starting their combat duties.Likewise for the more seasoned peers who stillhad a few of those missions left to go through.At least on the level of morale and encouragement,the milestone counterbalanced the inexorablestatistics. However, the celebration would proba-bly not have been so joyful if its participants hadknown that the Dye crew would end up being theonly one from the original 100th Bomb Group, ofthe teams that moved to England as a whole aftertraining, to complete the tour…Of the ten members of Glenn Dye’s crew,there were two that would not fly to fulfillment.This happened due to an illness or injury of oneof the men, or for various procedural reasons.The two were side gunner S/Sgt. Elder D. Dicker-son and Lt. John H. ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo, co-pilot.Text: Jan ZdiarskýColor profiles: Michal FárekPhotos: 100th Bomb Group ArchivesTitle photo: Glenn W. Dye in early September 1943,when “Sunny II” had her first two combat missionsunder her belt.“Sunny II” on a hardstand at Thorpe Abbotts,probably in late September 1943.SUNNY IIB-17F-120-BO 42-30796 EP-K/JThe part of Glenn W. Dye’s crew that did com-plete their tour requirement returned to the UnitedStates after a few days off. After returning to theUS, Glenn W. Dye was stationed at Smokey Hill AirForce Base in Salina, KS, where he participated inB-29 testing as a test pilot, instructor, and acci-dent investigator until the end of the war.Co-pilot ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo had four missions leftto fly after September 16th, 1943. The deficit wascreated by his gang becoming the lead crew. Andwhen the commander of the operation (Command-ing Pilot) sometimes flew with them, he usuallysat in the co-pilot’s seat and the regular co-pilotstayed at home. This happened four times betweenJune 25th and August 15th, so Lucky had to remainon duty and make up those combat missions. Thiswas to last quite a long time in the end, as he wasassigned to the position of Squadron OperationsOfficer and his duties did not allow him to fly veryoften. He completed three of the remaining mis-sions in October and November as lead pilot atthe element or squadron level. After that, he wastransferred to the 350th Squadron at his own re-quest, where he also served as Operations OfficerCo-pilot John H. Luckadoo during training. Glenn W. Dye, pilot with B-17F 42-30152 “Messie Bessie” (11 September 1943).Damage to the “Sunny II”rudder while it still borethe designation EP-K.Variant 1: B-17F 42-30796 EP-K ”Sunny II“, Capt. Glenn W. Dye crew, 351st Bomb Squadron,100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain, September 1943Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard39June 2024Page 40
Members of the ground crew in late December 1943,when their “Sunny II” had 13 missions under her belt.Only one more combat mission awaited her.John H. “Lucky” Luckadoo and an order for the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).Variant 2: B-17F 42-30796 EP-J „Sunny II“, Lt. GeorgeW. Brannan crew, 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th BombGroup, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain, 30 December1943Variant 2INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194340June 2024Page 41
Members of the ground crew in late December 1943,when their “Sunny II” had 13 missions under her belt.Only one more combat mission awaited her.John H. “Lucky” Luckadoo and an order for the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).Variant 2: B-17F 42-30796 EP-J „Sunny II“, Lt. GeorgeW. Brannan crew, 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th BombGroup, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain, 30 December1943Variant 2and on February 13th, 1944, he flew his 25th andlast mission.The fate of Sgt. Dickerson was not as kind.For his 25th mission, he was added as a waistgunner to the crew of Capt. Thomas Murphy fly-ing Piccadilly Lily. Lucky, his original co-pilot, flew‘King Bee’ and led the second element, essentiallydirectly behind Lily. It was October 8th, 1943, andthe target that day was Bremen. Lily didn’t returnfrom the mission and Sgt. Dickerson was killed onhis last, twenty-fifth, mission…That fateful mission to Bremen was also under-taken by their former Sunny II. Lt. John T. Griffinhad the controls. This was the third journey overenemy territory for his crew in Piccadilly Lily andsixth mission overall.Sunny II returned badly damaged. The top tur-ret cupola was completely destroyed after be-ing hit by a fighter, seriously injuring the gunner,Sgt. Harjo. The explosion of the projectile knockedhim to the floor near the navigator and bombardiercompartment. He scrambled back into the turretwith the shattered dome. His gloves, stained withblood from his head, froze to the controls of hismachine guns, but he continued to fight. He waslater sent back to the United States because ofhis injuries. The co-pilot, Lt. Johnson, after his re-covery was transferred to a non-combat role withthe Group. Rear Gunner Sgt. Pilgrim was hit in theright arm. Engine number 3 was disabled and thewing and fuselage were punctured by countlesshits from fighters and flak. Still, Sunny II returnedfrom Bremen. Upon returning, the pilot, Lt. Griffin,counted hits to four of the twelve propeller bladesas well.The redesignation of the aircraft’s individual letter from K to J was made after repairing extensive damagesustained by “Sunny II” in the raid on Bremen on October 8, 1943.“Sunny II” after an emergency landingat Harlseton, 30 December 1943.Variant 2Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard41June 2024Page 42
Sunny II was in need of demanding repairs andtherefore, like Rosie’s Riveters and other aircraftseriously damaged from the mission to Bremen,did not take part in the even more tragic operationtwo days later, when the objective was Münster.During the period that Sunny II was under repair,the code EP-K was assigned to a new aircraft,B-17G 42-31051 Goin’ Jessies. After repairs, SunnyII was given the available code letter, the same asthe original Sunny, forming the code EP-J.Even before the mission to Bremen, the yellowinscription ‘Sunny II’ was bordered in black, theaircraft carried mission markers, but it did notyet carry any swastikas denoting downed enemyfighters.Other known photos show the aircraft at the endof December 1943, when it carried thirteen bombson both sides of the nose, every fifth one red, andfive swastikas. On December 30th, 1943, the crewof Lt. George W. Brannan climbed aboard this air-craft. The target was a chemical factory in Lud-wigshafen. Assigned to the crew as a replacementwas Sgt. Henry A. Markowski. It was to be his firstand at the same time last combat mission. Theylost two engines over the target and with furtherdamage had to abandon formation and head for“Sunny II” after an emergency landing at Harlseton, 30 December 1943.The crew of Lt. George W. Brannan.INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194342June 2024Page 43
Sunny II was in need of demanding repairs andtherefore, like Rosie’s Riveters and other aircraftseriously damaged from the mission to Bremen,did not take part in the even more tragic operationtwo days later, when the objective was Münster.During the period that Sunny II was under repair,the code EP-K was assigned to a new aircraft,B-17G 42-31051 Goin’ Jessies. After repairs, SunnyII was given the available code letter, the same asthe original Sunny, forming the code EP-J.Even before the mission to Bremen, the yellowinscription ‘Sunny II’ was bordered in black, theaircraft carried mission markers, but it did notyet carry any swastikas denoting downed enemyfighters.Other known photos show the aircraft at the endof December 1943, when it carried thirteen bombson both sides of the nose, every fifth one red, andfive swastikas. On December 30th, 1943, the crewof Lt. George W. Brannan climbed aboard this air-craft. The target was a chemical factory in Lud-wigshafen. Assigned to the crew as a replacementwas Sgt. Henry A. Markowski. It was to be his firstand at the same time last combat mission. Theylost two engines over the target and with furtherdamage had to abandon formation and head for“Sunny II” after an emergency landing at Harlseton, 30 December 1943.The crew of Lt. George W. Brannan.home on their own. As they trudged across the sea,steadily losing altitude, support came in the formof RAF Spitfires to escort them home. With ThorpeAbbots almost in sight, just four miles from homebase, the crew had to make an emergency landingin a field at Starston. Three men were seriouslyinjured. Sgt. Markowski underwent lengthy treat-ment for an injured leg and did not take part infurther combat missions. As he himself recalled:‘We were shot up badly - lost two engines and justmade the English coast where we crash landed.We were MIA for a while’.John H. “Lucky” Luckadoo with friend and 100th BG Foundationmember Karl Hauffe at the 2019 reunion in Colorado Springs.Officials had gone so far in this error as to sendout telegrams to the families of the airmen of thiscrew informing them that they are MIA, had notreturned from a mission over Germany.When the technical team from Thorpe Abbottsarrived at the crash site, they found the aircraft ir-reparably damaged. That was the end for Sunny II,but not yet for the crew of Lt. Brannan. They con-tinued their missions until March 6th, 1944, whenthey were shot down during a raid on Berlin.At the Masters of the Air series premiereceremony. From left: Tom Hanks, John H. “Lucky”Luckadoo, and Henry “Hank” Cervantes(co-pilot of Lt. Joe C. Martin’s crew).Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard43June 2024Page 44
True great legends are not born by accident.It takes exceptional and strong personalities tocreate them. One such person was Robert Rosen-thal. When his young crew arrived at Thorpe Ab-bots in late September, 1943, the 100th Bombard-ment Group had completed thirty missions and thefirst ‘lucky bastards’ of the unit’s original line-upwere close to completing their 25-mission oper-ational tour.Robert Rosenthal, nicknamed Rosie, was alreadya twenty-six-year-old officer at the beginning ofhis combat career, a true leader for his crew, whorespected him for his firmness as well as hisfriendly and kind nature. His path to the combatunit was not very direct, but from the beginningit bore signs of great determination and a senseof justice and responsibility. After graduating fromBrooklyn Law School, he worked in a law firm inManhattan. On December 8th, 1941, the day afterJapan attacked the United States, he volunteeredfor the Army Air Force. After completing basictraining, he worked as a gunnery instructor forseveral months. But he wanted to fight. Especial-ly against Nazi. Therefore, on February 1st, 1943,he left for further training as a B-17 bomber pi-lot. After his crew was assembled, he completedtraining in mid-August 1943 and moved to Europe.B-17F serial number 42-30758,of the 418th Squadron, was a re-latively modern aircraft fromthe 120th production block fromBoeing. It arrived in England onthe last day of August in 1943 andwas flown to the base at ThorpeAbbotts shortly afterwards. Un-usually, the aircraft was assignedto a newly arriving crew. The For-tress was named Rosie’s Rivetersafter her commander. In additionto the commander’s name, the ti-tle is a play on words and a trib-ute to the American women whowent to the aircraft, shipbuilding,and armaments factories to jointhe war effort and were nick-named ‘Rosie the Riveter.’The mission of October 8th, 1943may have been the first and lastfor both B-17F ‘Rosie’s Riveters’and Rosenthal’s crew. The term ‘baptism by fire’took on a full meaning here. During the raid onBremen, the unit lost seven crews, including thecommander of the 350th Squadron, Maj. Gale W.‘Bucky’ Cleven. Robert Rosenthal was able to bringthe seriously damaged aircraft back from his firstmission, with many hits from flak and fighters.And it should have been worse.The rookie crew didn’t get much of a chance toshake off the shock of their first mission. WhileRosie’s Riveters was being repaired, the crew con-tinued their combat flights the next day and thenext after that. They replaced their own aircraftwith a B-17F named ‘Royal Flush’. The target forthe third mission in three days was Münster onOctober 10th, 1943. If not two days earlier, thenon this day the legend of Robert Rosenthal wascertainly born. The 100th Bomb Group flew asone of the combat units of the 13th Combat Wing.Out of thirteen aircraft from the Hundredth, onlyone returned that day. Royal Flush. With only twoworking engines, countless bullet holes, disabledintercom and oxygen systems, wounded on boardand a large hole from a Wfr.Gr.21 rocket in the righthalf of the wing, the bird limped home. The unitlost twelve crews, including Rosenthal’s squadroncommander, Maj. John C. ‘Bucky’ Egan.On board Rosie’s Riveters, the crew flew a largenumber of their operational missions through tothe end of 1943. She also became a lead aircraftduring this period, leading a formation of the13th Combat Wing five times in addition to lead-ing the squadron. This demanded a newer aircraft.During January 1944, they received a new, moremodern B-17G, which they also named ‘Rosie’sRiveters’. The original Rosie’s Riveters, a B-17F,Text: Jan ZdiarskýColor profiles: Michal FárekPhotos: 100th Bomb Group ArchivesROSIE’S RIVETERSB-17F-120-BO 42-30758 LD-WTitle photo: A trio of B-17Fs from the 418th Bomb Squadron at Thorpe Abbotts. From left toright are ‘Rosie’s Riveters’ LD-W, ‘Messie Bessie’ LD-X, and ‘Terry n’ Ten’ LD-O.Rosie the Riveter was the name given to the women and girls who joined the US war industryto contribute to the common cause in the factories.INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194344June 2024Page 45
True great legends are not born by accident.It takes exceptional and strong personalities tocreate them. One such person was Robert Rosen-thal. When his young crew arrived at Thorpe Ab-bots in late September, 1943, the 100th Bombard-ment Group had completed thirty missions and thefirst ‘lucky bastards’ of the unit’s original line-upwere close to completing their 25-mission oper-ational tour.Robert Rosenthal, nicknamed Rosie, was alreadya twenty-six-year-old officer at the beginning ofhis combat career, a true leader for his crew, whorespected him for his firmness as well as hisfriendly and kind nature. His path to the combatunit was not very direct, but from the beginningit bore signs of great determination and a senseof justice and responsibility. After graduating fromBrooklyn Law School, he worked in a law firm inManhattan. On December 8th, 1941, the day afterJapan attacked the United States, he volunteeredfor the Army Air Force. After completing basictraining, he worked as a gunnery instructor forseveral months. But he wanted to fight. Especial-ly against Nazi. Therefore, on February 1st, 1943,he left for further training as a B-17 bomber pi-lot. After his crew was assembled, he completedtraining in mid-August 1943 and moved to Europe.B-17F serial number 42-30758,of the 418th Squadron, was a re-latively modern aircraft fromthe 120th production block fromBoeing. It arrived in England onthe last day of August in 1943 andwas flown to the base at ThorpeAbbotts shortly afterwards. Un-usually, the aircraft was assignedto a newly arriving crew. The For-tress was named Rosie’s Rivetersafter her commander. In additionto the commander’s name, the ti-tle is a play on words and a trib-ute to the American women whowent to the aircraft, shipbuilding,and armaments factories to jointhe war effort and were nick-named ‘Rosie the Riveter.’The mission of October 8th, 1943may have been the first and lastfor both B-17F ‘Rosie’s Riveters’and Rosenthal’s crew. The term ‘baptism by fire’took on a full meaning here. During the raid onBremen, the unit lost seven crews, including thecommander of the 350th Squadron, Maj. Gale W.‘Bucky’ Cleven. Robert Rosenthal was able to bringthe seriously damaged aircraft back from his firstmission, with many hits from flak and fighters.And it should have been worse.The rookie crew didn’t get much of a chance toshake off the shock of their first mission. WhileRosie’s Riveters was being repaired, the crew con-tinued their combat flights the next day and thenext after that. They replaced their own aircraftwith a B-17F named ‘Royal Flush’. The target forthe third mission in three days was Münster onOctober 10th, 1943. If not two days earlier, thenon this day the legend of Robert Rosenthal wascertainly born. The 100th Bomb Group flew asone of the combat units of the 13th Combat Wing.Out of thirteen aircraft from the Hundredth, onlyone returned that day. Royal Flush. With only twoworking engines, countless bullet holes, disabledintercom and oxygen systems, wounded on boardand a large hole from a Wfr.Gr.21 rocket in the righthalf of the wing, the bird limped home. The unitlost twelve crews, including Rosenthal’s squadroncommander, Maj. John C. ‘Bucky’ Egan.On board Rosie’s Riveters, the crew flew a largenumber of their operational missions through tothe end of 1943. She also became a lead aircraftduring this period, leading a formation of the13th Combat Wing five times in addition to lead-ing the squadron. This demanded a newer aircraft.During January 1944, they received a new, moremodern B-17G, which they also named ‘Rosie’sRiveters’. The original Rosie’s Riveters, a B-17F,Text: Jan ZdiarskýColor profiles: Michal FárekPhotos: 100th Bomb Group ArchivesROSIE’S RIVETERSB-17F-120-BO 42-30758 LD-WTitle photo: A trio of B-17Fs from the 418th Bomb Squadron at Thorpe Abbotts. From left toright are ‘Rosie’s Riveters’ LD-W, ‘Messie Bessie’ LD-X, and ‘Terry n’ Ten’ LD-O.Rosie the Riveter was the name given to the women and girls who joined the US war industryto contribute to the common cause in the factories.was taken over by a new crew led by Lt. Ross E.McPhee, who renamed the aircraft ‘Satcha Lass’after several missions. Rosenthal’s original B-17Fbecame McPhee’s crew’s ‘own’ plane. They wereproud of her and together they were shot downon February 4th, 1944 during a raid on Frankfurt.The aircraft, which had saved Robert Rosenthal’srookie crew on its first combat flight a few monthsearlier, did not disappoint this time either. The for-mer Rosie’s Riveters bellied in on a plowed fieldin the middle of Germany and her surviving crewwere captured.It is certainly worth noting the fact that the sec-ond Rosie Riveters, the B-17G with which Rosen-thal’s crew completed their operational tour, wasLt. Robert RosenthalBelow: the crew of Robert Rosenthal, fall 1943.Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard45June 2024Page 46
shot down on May 12th, 1944 during a raid on Most(Brüx) in Czechoslovakia. The plane explodedin the air near St. Goarshausen in Germany. Theentire crew commanded by Lt. Alexander Kinderbailed out and survived.At that time, however, Robert Rosenthal wasno longer flying with the 418th Squadron. He be-came the Assistant Group Operations Officer ofthe 100th Bomb Group and later the Commanderof the 350th Squadron, and now, with the rank ofMajor, he began his voluntary second operationaltour. He also occasionally flew, mainly as a Com-manding Pilot, at the head of his squadron, groupor the 13th Combat Wing. This was also the caseon September 10th, 1944, when he led a stream ofbombers to Nuremberg. Due to heavy flak over thetarget, Rosie was forced to break away from theformation and attempt to return with the serious-ly damaged aircraft on his own. The subsequentcrash landing behind the front lines in Francesaved the crew, but also left Robert Rosenthalwith a broken arm, facial and internal injuries thatput him in a military hospital. He thus missed themission the following day, when the 100th BombGroup lost thirteen of its aircraft in the air battleover the Czech-German Ore Mountains during theraid on Ruhland. Not a single oneof Rosenthal’s 350th Squadronplanes returned. When he learnedof this in the hospital, it remind-ed him, among other things, ofOctober 10th, 1943, when, exceptfor his crew, no one from his unitmade it back…After returning from the hospi-tal, Rosie Rosenthal was brieflyinvolved in the training programof the 13th Combat Wing and then,on December 1st, 1944, assumedcommand of his original 418thSquadron. Due to the demandsplaced on him by command tasks,he continued his combat mis-sions with less intensity. Evenso, he completed a second oper-ational tour and began his third.He was on his 52nd combat mis-sion when he led the 3rd Air (formerly Bomb) Divi-sion to Berlin on March 3rd , 1945. Above the target,their aircraft was severely damaged by flak, whichkilled the bombardier and the navigator. In addi-tion, a fire broke out on board. Robert Rosenthalknew he could not get back to friendly territory, sohe continued east in an attempt to cross the battlelines there. When the conditions were such thatthey threatened an imminent crash or explosion,he gave the order to the crew to bail. Then he alsoleft the plane. He injured his legs in a hard landingin a plowed field in no man’s land. Red Army sol-diers discovered him lying on his back. With thehelp of the Soviets, he managed to return to En-gland at the end of March, 1945, where he trainednew crews until the end of May. He returned to theUnited States on June 7th, 1945.Here he was to be assigned to B-29 training, buton November 30th, he was honorably dischargedfrom the Air Force. However, direct contact withthe horrors of World War II was not to end forRobert Rosenthal. His wartime experience, highintelligence, legal education, and, let’s assume,Jewish ancestry, made him adept at yet anotherunusual service to his country and civilization thatRosie believed in. He returned to Europe in 1946 asa member of the American prosecution team atthe Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. Duringthe trip, he met a colleague, lawyer Phillis Heller,on an ocean liner, whom he married in Nuremberg.They spent the rest of their lives together andraised three children.When the 100th Bomb Group Veterans Organiza-tion was formed many years after the war, Rosiebecame one of its founders, most active membersB-17F-120-BO s/n 42-30758 LD-W ”Rosie’sRiveters“, Lt. Robert ”Rosie“ Rosenthal crew,418th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group,Bremen mission, 8 October 1943Maj. Rosenthal, now squadron commander, at a decoration ceremony. He attended countlessceremonies, being decorated for his war service with numerous honors: the DistinguishedService Cross (for the Berlin mission on Feb 3, 1945), the Silver Star (Munster, Oct 10, 1943) withCluster (Oct 3, 1943 - Sept 10, 1944), the Distinguished Flying Cross (completion of 25 missionson March 8, 1944 - Berlin) with Cluster (July 12, 1944 - Munich / Aug 5, 1944 - Magdeburg), thePurple Heart with Cluster (Sept 10, 1944 - Nurnberg and Feb 3, 1945 - Berlin), the Air Medal with7 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross (British), the Croix de Guerre (French), theETO Ribbon with 4 Battle Stars (Air Offensive Europe, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland),the Distinguished (Presidential) Unit Citation, and authorization to wear 3 overseas servicebars, having served 21 months overseas (each bar represents 6 months of overseas service).B-17F 42-30758, now named “Satcha Lass,”after an emergency landing near Roedingen, Germany, on February 4, 1944.INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194346June 2024Page 47
shot down on May 12th, 1944 during a raid on Most(Brüx) in Czechoslovakia. The plane explodedin the air near St. Goarshausen in Germany. Theentire crew commanded by Lt. Alexander Kinderbailed out and survived.At that time, however, Robert Rosenthal wasno longer flying with the 418th Squadron. He be-came the Assistant Group Operations Officer ofthe 100th Bomb Group and later the Commanderof the 350th Squadron, and now, with the rank ofMajor, he began his voluntary second operationaltour. He also occasionally flew, mainly as a Com-manding Pilot, at the head of his squadron, groupor the 13th Combat Wing. This was also the caseon September 10th, 1944, when he led a stream ofbombers to Nuremberg. Due to heavy flak over thetarget, Rosie was forced to break away from theformation and attempt to return with the serious-ly damaged aircraft on his own. The subsequentcrash landing behind the front lines in Francesaved the crew, but also left Robert Rosenthalwith a broken arm, facial and internal injuries thatput him in a military hospital. He thus missed themission the following day, when the 100th BombGroup lost thirteen of its aircraft in the air battleover the Czech-German Ore Mountains during theraid on Ruhland. Not a single oneof Rosenthal’s 350th Squadronplanes returned. When he learnedof this in the hospital, it remind-ed him, among other things, ofOctober 10th, 1943, when, exceptfor his crew, no one from his unitmade it back…After returning from the hospi-tal, Rosie Rosenthal was brieflyinvolved in the training programof the 13th Combat Wing and then,on December 1st, 1944, assumedcommand of his original 418thSquadron. Due to the demandsplaced on him by command tasks,he continued his combat mis-sions with less intensity. Evenso, he completed a second oper-ational tour and began his third.He was on his 52nd combat mis-sion when he led the 3rd Air (formerly Bomb) Divi-sion to Berlin on March 3rd , 1945. Above the target,their aircraft was severely damaged by flak, whichkilled the bombardier and the navigator. In addi-tion, a fire broke out on board. Robert Rosenthalknew he could not get back to friendly territory, sohe continued east in an attempt to cross the battlelines there. When the conditions were such thatthey threatened an imminent crash or explosion,he gave the order to the crew to bail. Then he alsoleft the plane. He injured his legs in a hard landingin a plowed field in no man’s land. Red Army sol-diers discovered him lying on his back. With thehelp of the Soviets, he managed to return to En-gland at the end of March, 1945, where he trainednew crews until the end of May. He returned to theUnited States on June 7th, 1945.Here he was to be assigned to B-29 training, buton November 30th, he was honorably dischargedfrom the Air Force. However, direct contact withthe horrors of World War II was not to end forRobert Rosenthal. His wartime experience, highintelligence, legal education, and, let’s assume,Jewish ancestry, made him adept at yet anotherunusual service to his country and civilization thatRosie believed in. He returned to Europe in 1946 asa member of the American prosecution team atthe Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. Duringthe trip, he met a colleague, lawyer Phillis Heller,on an ocean liner, whom he married in Nuremberg.They spent the rest of their lives together andraised three children.When the 100th Bomb Group Veterans Organiza-tion was formed many years after the war, Rosiebecame one of its founders, most active membersB-17F-120-BO s/n 42-30758 LD-W ”Rosie’sRiveters“, Lt. Robert ”Rosie“ Rosenthal crew,418th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group,Bremen mission, 8 October 1943Maj. Rosenthal, now squadron commander, at a decoration ceremony. He attended countlessceremonies, being decorated for his war service with numerous honors: the DistinguishedService Cross (for the Berlin mission on Feb 3, 1945), the Silver Star (Munster, Oct 10, 1943) withCluster (Oct 3, 1943 - Sept 10, 1944), the Distinguished Flying Cross (completion of 25 missionson March 8, 1944 - Berlin) with Cluster (July 12, 1944 - Munich / Aug 5, 1944 - Magdeburg), thePurple Heart with Cluster (Sept 10, 1944 - Nurnberg and Feb 3, 1945 - Berlin), the Air Medal with7 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross (British), the Croix de Guerre (French), theETO Ribbon with 4 Battle Stars (Air Offensive Europe, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland),the Distinguished (Presidential) Unit Citation, and authorization to wear 3 overseas servicebars, having served 21 months overseas (each bar represents 6 months of overseas service).B-17F 42-30758, now named “Satcha Lass,”after an emergency landing near Roedingen, Germany, on February 4, 1944.and for several years its President. He remainedactive until his death in 2007. Two years beforethat, he came to the Czech Republic to pay tributeto the men of his unit who were shot down in thelargest air battle over Czechoslovakia on Septem-ber 11th, 1944, at the Ore Mountain Air Battle Mu-seum in Kovarska.After Rosie’s passing, his father’s baton at the100th Bomb Group Foundation was passed on tohis son, Dan Rosenthal, who was also the founda-tion’s President for many years and today servesas its Vice President of Philanthropy and a mem-ber of the Board of Directors.In the Masters of the Air film series, RobertRosenthal is portrayed by actor Nate Mann asone of the main characters in the story. A lesserknown fact is that Rosie’s grandson Sam was castas one of Robert Rosenthal’s crew members on hislast mission to Berlin.Ground service personnel of the 418th Bomb Squadron at “Rosie’s Riveters II” - Elil Schwartz, Harold Haglund,Chet Karwatski, and Bill Fogle.Friends meeting at the 100th Bomb Group Reunionin San Antonio in 1979. Little did either of these menknow that 45 years later, they would become charac-ters in the spectacular Masters of the Air series thatwould relive their long-ago stories. From left: HarryCrosby, Robert Rosenthal, and Everett Blakely.B-17G 42-31504 “Rosie’s Riveters II,” with whichRosenthal’s crew completed its operational tourin March 1944. On May 12, 1944, this aircraft, withthe crew of Lt. Alexander W. Kinder, was lostin a raid on Most (Brüx).Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard47June 2024Page 48
The figures behind the great stories of America’sinvolvement in the air war over Europe in 1943 arenot just about the pilots who guided their bomb-ers over occupied territory and fought their waythrough barrages of flak and 20mm rounds fromenemy fighters, nor the Lightning and Thunderboltpilots who conquered piece by piece the Germansky, nor the commanders, developing strategicplans and routes of individual missions... Amongthose great personalities, among many othersthat I have not listed here, are the mechanics.They tireless ground crew men who prepared theirairplanes day and night so that the next morningthe flight crews could sit in them and head safelyand confidently to their tasks with equipment theyknew they could count on.One of the standout personalities of this craftwith the 100th Bomb Group was the charismatic,burly M/Sgt. Dewey Ray ‘Chris’ Christopher, oneof the ground crew chiefs with the 351st BombSquadron.Dewey entered the Army at age eighteen onDecember 16th, 1941, just days after the attack onPearl Harbor. He underwent training as a mechan-ic and in less than a year he was part of the 100thBomb Group. He went through training with theunit in Nebraska and Wendover, and continued onto Thorpe Abbotts, England.From an ordinary mechanic, Dewey worked hisway up to the head of the ground crew and underhis care were such machines as Skipper (a B-17F),Skipper II (a B-17G), and Humpty Dumpty (B-17G),among others. With his extraordinary knowledge,skill and dedication to his task, he won the respectnot only of his colleagues, but also of his com-manders.That is also why he was occasionally includedin the flight crew as a flight engineer during theunit’s training in the USA. During demanding nav-igation and training missions around the USA, hetuned engines and ensured optimal fuel consump-tion. He would even take to the air later, duringoperational activity of the 100th Bomb Group inEurope. This was the case, for example, duringthe Frantic VII mission on September 18th, 1944,during which his unit dropped supplies and weap-ons to participants in the Warsaw Uprising. As partof this mission, sometimes referred to as ‘ShuttleMissions’, the bombers landed in Ukraine and thencontinued to bomb Szolnok, Hungary, and into Italy.From there they returned to England. In Italy, atthe bases of the 15th Air Force, some B-17s dam-aged by flak over Hungary needed to be repairedafter the second phase of the mission. So Dew-ey and one other colleague remained in Italy andspent several days putting together the damagedplanes so that they could be flown back to England.As one of very few ground personnel, DeweyChristopher was awarded the Bronze Star. Amonghis unusual honors was also the Krzyż Walec-znych, the Polish War Cross, for his participationin the aforementioned mission in support of theWarsaw Uprising.B-17F 42-3307, named ‘Skipper’, was the firstof several B-17s for which Dewey served as chiefmechanic. Skipper was not among the aircraftwith which the unit moved overseas from the US,although it arrived in England around the sametime. She was flown to Thorpe Abbotts before theHundredth began combat flying. ‘Skipper’ there-fore took part in the second combat mission ofthe unit, on June 26th, 1943, and at the same timebecame the personal machine of the command-er of the 351st BS, Maj. Ollen O. Turner. He wasText: Jan ZdiarskýColor profiles: Michal FárekPhotos: 100th Bomb Group ArchivesSKIPPERB-17F-45-DL 42-3307 EP-NTitle photo: Part of the crew of Lt. Jack R. Swartout at Skipper’s hardstand at Thorpe Abbotts, probably in July1943. The aircraft does not yet bear the symbols of missions flown.T/Sgt. Dewey R. Christopher, Crew Chief, 351st Bomb SquadronINFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194348June 2024Page 49
The figures behind the great stories of America’sinvolvement in the air war over Europe in 1943 arenot just about the pilots who guided their bomb-ers over occupied territory and fought their waythrough barrages of flak and 20mm rounds fromenemy fighters, nor the Lightning and Thunderboltpilots who conquered piece by piece the Germansky, nor the commanders, developing strategicplans and routes of individual missions... Amongthose great personalities, among many othersthat I have not listed here, are the mechanics.They tireless ground crew men who prepared theirairplanes day and night so that the next morningthe flight crews could sit in them and head safelyand confidently to their tasks with equipment theyknew they could count on.One of the standout personalities of this craftwith the 100th Bomb Group was the charismatic,burly M/Sgt. Dewey Ray ‘Chris’ Christopher, oneof the ground crew chiefs with the 351st BombSquadron.Dewey entered the Army at age eighteen onDecember 16th, 1941, just days after the attack onPearl Harbor. He underwent training as a mechan-ic and in less than a year he was part of the 100thBomb Group. He went through training with theunit in Nebraska and Wendover, and continued onto Thorpe Abbotts, England.From an ordinary mechanic, Dewey worked hisway up to the head of the ground crew and underhis care were such machines as Skipper (a B-17F),Skipper II (a B-17G), and Humpty Dumpty (B-17G),among others. With his extraordinary knowledge,skill and dedication to his task, he won the respectnot only of his colleagues, but also of his com-manders.That is also why he was occasionally includedin the flight crew as a flight engineer during theunit’s training in the USA. During demanding nav-igation and training missions around the USA, hetuned engines and ensured optimal fuel consump-tion. He would even take to the air later, duringoperational activity of the 100th Bomb Group inEurope. This was the case, for example, duringthe Frantic VII mission on September 18th, 1944,during which his unit dropped supplies and weap-ons to participants in the Warsaw Uprising. As partof this mission, sometimes referred to as ‘ShuttleMissions’, the bombers landed in Ukraine and thencontinued to bomb Szolnok, Hungary, and into Italy.From there they returned to England. In Italy, atthe bases of the 15th Air Force, some B-17s dam-aged by flak over Hungary needed to be repairedafter the second phase of the mission. So Dew-ey and one other colleague remained in Italy andspent several days putting together the damagedplanes so that they could be flown back to England.As one of very few ground personnel, DeweyChristopher was awarded the Bronze Star. Amonghis unusual honors was also the Krzyż Walec-znych, the Polish War Cross, for his participationin the aforementioned mission in support of theWarsaw Uprising.B-17F 42-3307, named ‘Skipper’, was the firstof several B-17s for which Dewey served as chiefmechanic. Skipper was not among the aircraftwith which the unit moved overseas from the US,although it arrived in England around the sametime. She was flown to Thorpe Abbotts before theHundredth began combat flying. ‘Skipper’ there-fore took part in the second combat mission ofthe unit, on June 26th, 1943, and at the same timebecame the personal machine of the command-er of the 351st BS, Maj. Ollen O. Turner. He wasText: Jan ZdiarskýColor profiles: Michal FárekPhotos: 100th Bomb Group ArchivesSKIPPERB-17F-45-DL 42-3307 EP-NTitle photo: Part of the crew of Lt. Jack R. Swartout at Skipper’s hardstand at Thorpe Abbotts, probably in July1943. The aircraft does not yet bear the symbols of missions flown.T/Sgt. Dewey R. Christopher, Crew Chief, 351st Bomb SquadronPart of Lt. Swartout’s crew withSkipper. On the left side of thegroup are men closely associatedwith this aircraft from the be-ginning of her combat life to theend. Kneeling from left are F/OArch J. Drummond, copilot andlater Skipper’s pilot; Maj. Ollen O.Turner, commander of the 351stBS; and pilot Jack R. Swartout,later commander of the 350th BS.Standing in the rear left is theground crew chief, M/Sgt. DeweyR. Christopher.Skipper with symbols of 9 mis-sions flown. Notable features in-clude the armored glass installedin the cockpit windows, the whitediscs on the main landing gearwheels, and the Type 2 nationalinsignia (round, no stripes)on the underside of the wing.Variant 1: B-17F 42-3307 EP-N ”Skipper“, Maj. Ollen O. Turner. CO of 351st BS, Lt. Jack R. Swartoutcrew, 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, July 1943Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard49June 2024Page 50
Variant 2: B-17F 42-3307 EP-N ”Skipper“,Lt. Archie J. „Four Mile“ Drummond crew, 351st Bomb Squadron,100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, late 1943Skipper in her later form, with her technicians. Standingon the ladder is the ground crew chief, M/Sgt. Dewey R. Christopher.Left: Maj. Ollen O. Turner, com-mander of the 351st Bomb Squadron(according to his wife, the correctname was Olle N. Turner, but the AirForce misspelled it, and Maj. Turnerused this form during the war).Right: Lt. Jack R. Swartout, Skip-per’s pilot, later left the 351st BSto become commander of the 350thBS. He was a respected pilot andrecognized as the leader of thegroup’s combat formations in raidson Germany and occupied Europe.He was one of the few membersof the original 100th BombardmentGroup crews to completethe operational tour.INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194350June 2024Page 51
Variant 2: B-17F 42-3307 EP-N ”Skipper“,Lt. Archie J. „Four Mile“ Drummond crew, 351st Bomb Squadron,100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, late 1943Skipper in her later form, with her technicians. Standingon the ladder is the ground crew chief, M/Sgt. Dewey R. Christopher.Left: Maj. Ollen O. Turner, com-mander of the 351st Bomb Squadron(according to his wife, the correctname was Olle N. Turner, but the AirForce misspelled it, and Maj. Turnerused this form during the war).Right: Lt. Jack R. Swartout, Skip-per’s pilot, later left the 351st BSto become commander of the 350thBS. He was a respected pilot andrecognized as the leader of thegroup’s combat formations in raidson Germany and occupied Europe.He was one of the few membersof the original 100th BombardmentGroup crews to completethe operational tour.nicknamed ‘Skipper’ by some friends from the unit,and so the name also appeared on the nose of theplane. Originally, however, it was a nickname thatMaj. Turner gave his wife.During August and September, Skipper, underthe care of Dewey Christopher and his groundteam, flew several combat missions. As the com-mander’s aircraft, she understandably had fewerof them than other machines over a given peri-od. On October 10th, 1943, she was included in thegroup of bombers designated for a raid on Münster.Yes, the flight from which only Robert Rosenthal inthe B-17F ‘Royal Flush’ returned out of the entireunit. Skipper was saved from certain destructionby a series of breakdowns and a poorly runningNo. 2 engine that forced her crew to abort and turnback early. Almost a month later, on November5th, Skipper was heavily damaged in an attack onGelsenkirchen.After repairs, she continued to fly missions withvarious pilots until the 24th of January, 1944, whenthe 100th Bomb Group went over Frankfurt. Thatday, Skipper was flown by the crew of Lt. ArchieJ. Drummond. Archie “Four Mile” Drummond hadflown many missions with Skipper before, asco-pilot of Jack Swartout’s crew. Swartout laterbecame commander of the 350th Squadron, andDrummond took over the crew as its pilot. Shortlyafter takeoff, at a height of barely 700 feet abovethe ground (about 210m), the pilots were dazzledby the sharp landing lights of a B-24 aircraft, tak-ing off from another, nearby base and, like Skip-per, cutting through the morning air, trying to gainvaluable altitude in a climb to the level designatedfor forming up. Since the B-24 pilots evidently didnot see the B-17 in front of them, Lt. Drummondpushed the bomb-laden aircraft towards theground in an attempt to avoid a collision. Skipperthus avoided the Liberator in a descending rightturn, but at the same time got dangerously closeto the ground. While leveling out, the B-17F’s leftwing sliced into the roof of a barn about 15 milesfrom base. Gasoline from the punctured tanksturned the plane into a burning torch. The machineflew through a small wooded area and landed ina field behind it. The impact with the ground threwthe navigator through the plexiglas nose, Lt. Mau-rice G. Zetlen, who succumbed to his injuries atthe scene. Miraculously, the rest of the crew man-aged to stagger out of the burning plane. However,Skipper burned up where she had landed.Dewey Christopher and his team took care ofa new aircraft, which they named ‘Skipper II’.It was an olive drab early B-17G and was destinedto survive the war with over a hundred missionsflown. Humpty Dumpty, Humpty Dumpty II (NastyNan) and others also came later.‘It was having the satisfaction of knowing I wasgiving my crew the best airplane I possibly could.You don’t compromise when working on airplanes– you can’t just pull over to the side of the road andraise the hood when you’re up in the air!’…Deweycommented on his work. Although aircrews, if theymanaged to complete an operational tour, usuallyreturned home, the men of the ground staff usu-ally remained until the end of the war. It was thesame with Dewey Christopher. As part of the unit’soriginal ‘stateside’ cadre, he served with the 100thBomb Group throughout its combat deployment.Dewey stayed true to his profession after leavingthe military and worked as an aircraft mechanicfor United Airlines for 41 years.Many years after the war, at the 100th BombGroup Reunion in 2011, I listened in awe as heF/O (later Lt.) Archibald J. “Four Mile” Drummond,Skipper’s last pilot.Skipper after the crash on 24 January 1944.Skipper in her later form with new national insigniaand moved fuselage letters.B-17G s/n 42-31708 Skipper II, with 111 missions to hercredit, survived the war and returned to the US.Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard51June 2024Page 52
gave an insightful and enthusias-tic explanation of the superchargerand engine setup as he stood withfriends under the wing of a flyingB-17 warbird.The 100th Air Refueling Wing,based at RAF Mildenhall, England,is the successor to the 100th BombGroup. It is also the only USAF unitthat still uses the markings of itspredecessor; its four-engine KC-135tankers proudly wear a ‘Square D’on their rudders, much like the100th Bomb Group. In June 2019, theunit named one of its componentsfocused on training aircraft main-tenance specialists the ‘Dewey R.Christopher Professional Develop-ment Center’. Dewey himself alsoattended the center’s renaming ceremony. He con-sidered it a tremendous honor. It was also his lastvisit to Mildenhall, Thorpe Abbotts, and England,ever…We met this crewchief many times at reunions.During one of them, in October, 2019, in Colorado,we spent a day at the US Air Force Academy inColorado Springs. Veterans were already scarceat the Reunion that year. It was October 11th andin the early evening word had reached us that oneof our veterans at the reunion hotel had died thatafternoon. When we got back, we learned it wasDewey Christopher. He left unexpectedly, amongthe people he loved. In his last days, he was sur-rounded by his beloved 100th Bomb Group, veter-ans, their children, grandchildren... He was suc-ceeded by his no less hardworking and charismat-ic son, Gary, who also accompanied his father toReunions for years. Today, Gary is one of the 100thBomb Group Foundation’s Board of Directors.After Dewey died, the 100th ARW at Mildenhalldecided to name one of their KC-135s, aircrafts/n 59-1470, ‘Skipper III’ in honor of Dewey Chris-topher and other ground and combat crews whoflew their B-17F Skipper and B-17G Skipper II overoccupied Europe in 1943-45.‘Dewey’s main concern was doing everythingpossible to ensure his crew and airplane returnedhome safely. He would diligently inspect all theB-17s he was responsible for, doing everythingpossible to keep them in top running order. Thatis the very definition of professionalism. We honorhim today because it’s the proud heritage of hisgeneration that will help inspire RAF MildenhallAirmen for years to come.’….said in 2019, at theaircraft naming ceremony, Col. Troy Pananon,Commander of the 100th ARW.Variant 2M/Sgt. Dewey Christopher with one of his later B-17Gs,s/n 43-38852 (Humpty Dumpty II), which returned froma mission in this condition on March 14, 1945.Dewey Christopher and his son, Gary,at the control tower at Thorpe Abbotts, 2017.Dewey in his joy under the engine nacelle of a B-17, at the 100th Bomb Group Reunion in 2011.INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194352June 2024Page 53
gave an insightful and enthusias-tic explanation of the superchargerand engine setup as he stood withfriends under the wing of a flyingB-17 warbird.The 100th Air Refueling Wing,based at RAF Mildenhall, England,is the successor to the 100th BombGroup. It is also the only USAF unitthat still uses the markings of itspredecessor; its four-engine KC-135tankers proudly wear a ‘Square D’on their rudders, much like the100th Bomb Group. In June 2019, theunit named one of its componentsfocused on training aircraft main-tenance specialists the ‘Dewey R.Christopher Professional Develop-ment Center’. Dewey himself alsoattended the center’s renaming ceremony. He con-sidered it a tremendous honor. It was also his lastvisit to Mildenhall, Thorpe Abbotts, and England,ever…We met this crewchief many times at reunions.During one of them, in October, 2019, in Colorado,we spent a day at the US Air Force Academy inColorado Springs. Veterans were already scarceat the Reunion that year. It was October 11th andin the early evening word had reached us that oneof our veterans at the reunion hotel had died thatafternoon. When we got back, we learned it wasDewey Christopher. He left unexpectedly, amongthe people he loved. In his last days, he was sur-rounded by his beloved 100th Bomb Group, veter-ans, their children, grandchildren... He was suc-ceeded by his no less hardworking and charismat-ic son, Gary, who also accompanied his father toReunions for years. Today, Gary is one of the 100thBomb Group Foundation’s Board of Directors.After Dewey died, the 100th ARW at Mildenhalldecided to name one of their KC-135s, aircrafts/n 59-1470, ‘Skipper III’ in honor of Dewey Chris-topher and other ground and combat crews whoflew their B-17F Skipper and B-17G Skipper II overoccupied Europe in 1943-45.‘Dewey’s main concern was doing everythingpossible to ensure his crew and airplane returnedhome safely. He would diligently inspect all theB-17s he was responsible for, doing everythingpossible to keep them in top running order. Thatis the very definition of professionalism. We honorhim today because it’s the proud heritage of hisgeneration that will help inspire RAF MildenhallAirmen for years to come.’….said in 2019, at theaircraft naming ceremony, Col. Troy Pananon,Commander of the 100th ARW.Variant 2M/Sgt. Dewey Christopher with one of his later B-17Gs,s/n 43-38852 (Humpty Dumpty II), which returned froma mission in this condition on March 14, 1945.Dewey Christopher and his son, Gary,at the control tower at Thorpe Abbotts, 2017.Dewey in his joy under the engine nacelle of a B-17, at the 100th Bomb Group Reunion in 2011.‘One day you’re up, the next you’re down’ isa translation from a well-known Czech song,which is only three years older than the B-17 pro-totype, the Model 299. The opening chorus of thesong by the trio Voskovec, Werich and Ježek canbe correlated with the fate of B-17F No. 42-5957without much alteration. The aircraft was built inthe forty F-series production block at Vega’s Bur-bank facility. It was taken over by the Air Forceon May 24th, 1943, and two months and one daylater she was in England. She was subsequentlyassigned to service with the 349th Bomb Squad-ron, 100th Bomb Group.The aircraft returned from its first mission onSeptember 6th, 1943, with the co-pilot dead andthe pilot, bombardier and navigator seriouslywounded. The mission to Stuttgart that day, ina B-17 coded XR-D but as yet unnamed, was flownby a crew commanded by Lt. Sumner H. Reeder,one of the future commanders of the 349th BombSquadron. While it was the first mission for theplane, it was the thirteenth for Reeder’s crew!During a direct flight while sighting the target,the group was attacked from the sun and the2 o’clock position, almost head-on, by GermanFocke Wulf Fw 190 fighters. Almost immediately,Reeder’s plane was hit. Shells from 20mm cannonhit the nose and the cockpit, and punctured onewing tank. The dorsal gunner, T/Sgt. Harold L. Popemanaged to hit the attacking aircraft at a distanceof 400 yards. The ‘190 exploded just in front of theB-17 it was attacking, and the debris damaged itstail surfaces. But that wasn’t the worst part. One ofthe rounds that hit the cockpit went through co-pi-lot F/O Harry E. Edeburn’s side window and ex-ploded on the armor of his seat. Edeburn slumpedup against the steering wheel, covered in blood.Additional shrapnel tore off part of the pilot’sseat. Tearing into Lt. Reeder’s right arm and leg.The seriously injured co-pilot was able to straight-en himself up in the seat so that he did not obstructthe steering. Reeder descended to the lower levelsof the combat box, where he sought the protectionof the other aircraft and continued his flight to thetarget. He did not yet know that the bombardierand the navigator were also seriously woundedand bleeding profusely. Immediately it becameclear that the oxygen distribution system and theradio were damaged. Bombardier, Lt. Peter E. De-lao was wounded by shrapnel in the face, legs andhands. The navigator, Lt. Russel D. Engel, sufferedface injuries from the shrapnel and from explosiverounds that took one of his eyes. Incredibly, herefused a morphine injection to be able to help thepilot fly the stricken bomber on behalf of the dy-Text: Jan ZdiarskýColor profiles: Michal FárekPhotos: 100th Bomb Group ArchivesTitle photo: The nose of a B-17F “Horny II”on a hardstand at Thorpe Abbotts.Damage to the nose after a mission on September6, 1943. The small hole in the co-pilot’s side windowis from the 20mm explosive projectile that killed theco-pilot, F/O Harry E. Edeburn (in portrait photo).HORNY IIB-17F-40-VE 42-5957 XR-DSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard53June 2024Page 54
ing co-pilot. Sumner Reeder left the formation andturned for home. It was necessary to descend toa lower altitude where they could operate withoutoxygen. Although they were still attacked by fight-ers, no further serious damage was done. The pilotshook off the fighters with almost aerobatic eva-sive maneuvers, and a couple of still functioningmachine guns helped in the defense. Finally, theplane ducked into some local cloud cover, wherethe pilot changed direction several times so thatthe intercepting fighters could not guess fromwhere they may emerge. Several times they flewfrom cloud to cloud, changing their course by 180°and thus confusing the fighters.When there was no immediate danger from en-emy fighters, the top turret gunner, T/Sgt. Pope,dismounted and entered the cockpit to lay thewounded co-pilot on the floor. However, the latter,F/O Edeburn, tried to return to his seat three timesto help the wounded commander fly the aircraft.On the third attempt, he fell on his back into thespace behind the seats and did not get up again.When Reeder managed to shake off the fight-ers, they were low above the terrain, with no ideawhere they were. After some time, despite his in-juries and the loss of navigational aids, the naviga-tor was able to advise the pilot of an approximatecourse to England. Once they reached the coast,they followed it north in order to be over land incase they had to make an emergency landing orabandon the plane by parachute, since as at leastone of their two dinghies was destroyed. Severaltimes they headed blindly 40-50 miles west overthe sea, but then always returned to the Frenchcoast and continued along it. Finally they spotteda faint haze in the west. Running low on fuel, theytried again, successfully this time. In England theystarted looking around for an airport big enough toland on. Finally they saw a bomber on the ground.It was an RCAF base where they were taken careof. After landing Lt. Reeder climbed out of theplane and lay motionless on the grass for severalminutes. He then telephoned his base and, like hiscomrades, was taken to hospital. He did not returnto active duty until early January 1944. The bom-bardier and navigator were decommissioned dueto their serious injuries and sent back to the US.For his performance on this mission, Lt. Reed-er was awarded the DSC (Distinguished ServiceCross), seriously wounded lieutenants Engel andDelao received the DFC (Distinguished FlyingCross). This was also posthumously awarded toco-pilot F/O Edeburn for his heroism and effortsdespite serious injuries to assist the also woundedpilot in controlling the damaged aircraft.With Lt. Reeder on the mend, the rest of thecrew continued their missions with a new pilotand co-pilot. They did not return from a missionafter a controversial incident - on 5 November,most of them had to leave the aircraft over enemyterritory, while the replacement pilot and co-pi-lot flew the B-17 back to England (see Mugwumpand Squawkin’ Hawk medallions). One of the crewwas killed when his parachute failed to open, fourwere taken prisoner and three managed to escapefrom the enemy.After being discharged from the hospital,Sumner Reeder became the Operations Officer forthe 349th BS and later its commander. He com-pleted his operational tour in July of 1944, passedon his squadron command and returned to theUnited States. There, he joined the Transport AirForce and was killed off the coast of Florida onMarch 19th, 1945 during a training flight in a C-54.Aircraft 42-5957 was repaired and returned tocombat service. It was assigned to the crew ofDetail of the damage to the front of the aircraft. Lieutenants Engel and Delao, the navigator and bombardier, were seriously wounded here. Right: Another photo of thedamage shows, among other things, a detail of the aircraft’s production description. Note the incorrect designation of the production block “F-41 VE.” In fact, it is the F-40-VEblock, while the “41” block never existed.B-17F 42-5957 after landing at the RCAF base on herreturn from Stuttgart on September 6, 1943. At thattime, it still had the red-lined Type 3 insignia. The yellowobject caught on the horizontal tail surfaces is a dinghy,a lifeboat that fell out of the storage compartment andgot caught on the elevator stabilizer.Maj. Sumner H. ReederGroup Operations Officer, Maj. John B. “Jack” Kidd,at the schedule board for the September 3, 1943mission. Four of the crews on this list did not returnthat day (Winkleman, Fineup, Floyd, and also the crewof Lt. King, who was not yet written on the board atthe time of the photograph). Fourth from the top, withthe airplane code letter “D,” the crew of Lt. Henington(incorrectly spelled with two “N’s”) lost its first aircraftnamed “Horny” (42-30611) that day when it was “bathed”in the English Channel.INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194354June 2024Page 55
ing co-pilot. Sumner Reeder left the formation andturned for home. It was necessary to descend toa lower altitude where they could operate withoutoxygen. Although they were still attacked by fight-ers, no further serious damage was done. The pilotshook off the fighters with almost aerobatic eva-sive maneuvers, and a couple of still functioningmachine guns helped in the defense. Finally, theplane ducked into some local cloud cover, wherethe pilot changed direction several times so thatthe intercepting fighters could not guess fromwhere they may emerge. Several times they flewfrom cloud to cloud, changing their course by 180°and thus confusing the fighters.When there was no immediate danger from en-emy fighters, the top turret gunner, T/Sgt. Pope,dismounted and entered the cockpit to lay thewounded co-pilot on the floor. However, the latter,F/O Edeburn, tried to return to his seat three timesto help the wounded commander fly the aircraft.On the third attempt, he fell on his back into thespace behind the seats and did not get up again.When Reeder managed to shake off the fight-ers, they were low above the terrain, with no ideawhere they were. After some time, despite his in-juries and the loss of navigational aids, the naviga-tor was able to advise the pilot of an approximatecourse to England. Once they reached the coast,they followed it north in order to be over land incase they had to make an emergency landing orabandon the plane by parachute, since as at leastone of their two dinghies was destroyed. Severaltimes they headed blindly 40-50 miles west overthe sea, but then always returned to the Frenchcoast and continued along it. Finally they spotteda faint haze in the west. Running low on fuel, theytried again, successfully this time. In England theystarted looking around for an airport big enough toland on. Finally they saw a bomber on the ground.It was an RCAF base where they were taken careof. After landing Lt. Reeder climbed out of theplane and lay motionless on the grass for severalminutes. He then telephoned his base and, like hiscomrades, was taken to hospital. He did not returnto active duty until early January 1944. The bom-bardier and navigator were decommissioned dueto their serious injuries and sent back to the US.For his performance on this mission, Lt. Reed-er was awarded the DSC (Distinguished ServiceCross), seriously wounded lieutenants Engel andDelao received the DFC (Distinguished FlyingCross). This was also posthumously awarded toco-pilot F/O Edeburn for his heroism and effortsdespite serious injuries to assist the also woundedpilot in controlling the damaged aircraft.With Lt. Reeder on the mend, the rest of thecrew continued their missions with a new pilotand co-pilot. They did not return from a missionafter a controversial incident - on 5 November,most of them had to leave the aircraft over enemyterritory, while the replacement pilot and co-pi-lot flew the B-17 back to England (see Mugwumpand Squawkin’ Hawk medallions). One of the crewwas killed when his parachute failed to open, fourwere taken prisoner and three managed to escapefrom the enemy.After being discharged from the hospital,Sumner Reeder became the Operations Officer forthe 349th BS and later its commander. He com-pleted his operational tour in July of 1944, passedon his squadron command and returned to theUnited States. There, he joined the Transport AirForce and was killed off the coast of Florida onMarch 19th, 1945 during a training flight in a C-54.Aircraft 42-5957 was repaired and returned tocombat service. It was assigned to the crew ofDetail of the damage to the front of the aircraft. Lieutenants Engel and Delao, the navigator and bombardier, were seriously wounded here. Right: Another photo of thedamage shows, among other things, a detail of the aircraft’s production description. Note the incorrect designation of the production block “F-41 VE.” In fact, it is the F-40-VEblock, while the “41” block never existed.B-17F 42-5957 after landing at the RCAF base on herreturn from Stuttgart on September 6, 1943. At thattime, it still had the red-lined Type 3 insignia. The yellowobject caught on the horizontal tail surfaces is a dinghy,a lifeboat that fell out of the storage compartment andgot caught on the elevator stabilizer.Maj. Sumner H. ReederGroup Operations Officer, Maj. John B. “Jack” Kidd,at the schedule board for the September 3, 1943mission. Four of the crews on this list did not returnthat day (Winkleman, Fineup, Floyd, and also the crewof Lt. King, who was not yet written on the board atthe time of the photograph). Fourth from the top, withthe airplane code letter “D,” the crew of Lt. Henington(incorrectly spelled with two “N’s”) lost its first aircraftnamed “Horny” (42-30611) that day when it was “bathed”in the English Channel.Lt. Henry M. Henington, who lost their aircraftchristened ‘Horny’ plane on September 3rd, 1944when it was forced to land in the English Channelafter a raid on Le Roger Airfield near Paris. Thenew aircraft was named ‘Horny II’ and they add-ed a drawing of a long-horned Texas bull to thename, whose expression more than emphasizedthe name of the aircraft. The date when the veryfirst mission of the crew in their new aircraft tookplace (they already had eleven under their belts)could give an idea of the content of the followingfrom October 8th, 1943, and the destination wasBremen.With two engines knocked out and fuel tankspunctured, they dragged themselves home acrossthe North Sea at 4,000 feet. After the previousexperience, they definitely did not want to end upin the drink again! When they landed at ThorpeAbbotts, the aircraft ran out of fuel while taxiing.Horny II was once again in the care of the groundcrews, and as a result, neither she nor her crewcould take part in the disastrous mission to Mün-ster two days later.Henington’s crew completed their operation-al tour of twenty-five missions in late 1943, witha large number flown in this aircraft. The last one,the twenty-fifth, took place on December 31st ofthat year. The destination was again Paris, andonce again Henington and Horny II returned to theChannel with only two working engines and withflat tires. Fortunately, this time it went relativelywell.At the beginning of 1944, the aircraft was rotatedthrough several crews. Damage was a constantfactor but the mission score rose as well. The pilotof the last Horny crew was Ferdinand J. Herres,who brought the plane successfully back fromBerlin on May 7th, 1944. It was the 49th missionfor Horny II bringing her to within just one combatflight away from becoming one of the first EighthLt. Henry M. Heningron.Henington’s crew and “Horny II,” fall 1943.B-17F 42-5957 XR-D ”Horny II“, crews of Lt. Sumner Reeder, Lt. Henry M.Henington, 349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts,early 1944Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard55June 2024Page 56
Air Force B-17 to fly fifty. Two days later, a tragicaccident caused by a certain degree of careless-ness ignited a spark that caused an explosion ofgasoline vapors and a subsequent fire when theairplane was on the apron, as its chief mechanic,Sgt. Chris Starr, conducted some cleaning proce-dures with gasoline. A proud veteran of almostfifty missions, she was destined to not be record-ed into the history of the 8th Air Force. However,during her forty-nine sorties, despite significantdamage and dead or wounded on board, Horny IIwas always able to reliably bring her crew backhome.Ground staff member S/Sgt. Ernest M. Lovato,author of the “Horny II” nose art. In additionto this aircraft, his talents also graced a numberof other B-17s from the 100th BombardmentGroup. Here, Ernest Lovato signs his name ona B-17F “Squawkin’ Hawk” in the spring of 1944,which was to return to the United States aftercompleting 50 missions.The last crew to fly the “Horny II” were the men ofLt. Ferdinand J. Herres. The aircraft “Good Pickin,”s/n 42-6153, was used for training in the US andnever made it to the battlefield.Removing the wreckage of “Horny II”after the accident on May 9, 1944.B-17F 42-5957 XR-D ”Horny II“, crews of Lt. Sumner Reeder,Lt. Henry M. Henington, 349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group,Thorpe Abbotts, early 1944INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194356June 2024Page 57
Air Force B-17 to fly fifty. Two days later, a tragicaccident caused by a certain degree of careless-ness ignited a spark that caused an explosion ofgasoline vapors and a subsequent fire when theairplane was on the apron, as its chief mechanic,Sgt. Chris Starr, conducted some cleaning proce-dures with gasoline. A proud veteran of almostfifty missions, she was destined to not be record-ed into the history of the 8th Air Force. However,during her forty-nine sorties, despite significantdamage and dead or wounded on board, Horny IIwas always able to reliably bring her crew backhome.Ground staff member S/Sgt. Ernest M. Lovato,author of the “Horny II” nose art. In additionto this aircraft, his talents also graced a numberof other B-17s from the 100th BombardmentGroup. Here, Ernest Lovato signs his name ona B-17F “Squawkin’ Hawk” in the spring of 1944,which was to return to the United States aftercompleting 50 missions.The last crew to fly the “Horny II” were the men ofLt. Ferdinand J. Herres. The aircraft “Good Pickin,”s/n 42-6153, was used for training in the US andnever made it to the battlefield.Removing the wreckage of “Horny II”after the accident on May 9, 1944.B-17F 42-5957 XR-D ”Horny II“, crews of Lt. Sumner Reeder,Lt. Henry M. Henington, 349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group,Thorpe Abbotts, early 1944The English portion of Loren C. Van Steeniscrew’s adventure didn’t begin at Thorpe Abbottsbut in Bury St. Edmunds, with the 94th Bomb Group,where they arrived in the early fall of 1943 andspent short time in the group’s training programbefore beginning combat missions. The crew wasready to begin their combat tour with their unit,proudly bearing the letter ‘A’ in a square on theiraircraft, when a request from command reachedthe unit to transfer some of their crews to ThorpeAbbots, as the 100th Bombardment Group she wasseriously depleted. It was almost the middle of Oc-tober and the Hundred had lost twenty crews sincethe beginning of the month. Van Steenis’ men wereloaded onto a truck and taken to Thorpe Abbotts.T/Sgt. Earl V. Benham recalled that day:‘… an of-ficer of the 100th welcomed us and we entered theoperations office. We had been joking about arriv-ing this date on October 13th. We called it a goodluck omen. When mentioned this to the officer, hesaid ‘you fellas are listed as Crew #13 and the air-plane assigned to you is #413, and also this is the13th Combat Wing.’ As we were leaving he said asan after thought. ‘Oh yes, your airplane is namedHard Luck!’ ’Perhaps no other B-17F in the 100th BombGroup is as surrounded by so many legends andmyths as this one. This was exasperated by therepeated appearance of the number 13, which hasalways played a certain role in aviation. Someof the connections were real, while others wereexaggerated, but either way, there is no disputingthat it was an exceptional aircraft. This B-17F hada serial number ending in 13, arrived in Englandon August 19, 1943, but legend has it that it was onText: Jan ZdiarskýColor profiles: Michal FárekPhotos: 100th Bomb Group ArchivesTitle photo: B-17F 42-3413 “Hard Luck” in formationduring a training flight over England, July 1944.The early form of the aircraft’s nose lacks the darkbackground and other color details that were gradu-ally added during the nearly 12-month combat careerof this B-17F.HARD LUCK!B-17F-55-DL 42-3413 LN-VSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard57June 2024Page 58
The two photographs at the top of this double-page spread show the later appearance of the aircraft, with one swastika painted on the nose and the number of paintedbombs corresponding to 36 missions. Both photographs reveal the inscription around the front escape hatch, “Van’s Flying Circus” and “Entrance.” The photo on the leftshows M/Sgt. Glenn M. “Zip” Myers, ground crew chief.Warming up the engines of “Hard Luck” on the hardstand.Ground crew members seated on the righthalf of the elevator.INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194358June 2024Page 59
The two photographs at the top of this double-page spread show the later appearance of the aircraft, with one swastika painted on the nose and the number of paintedbombs corresponding to 36 missions. Both photographs reveal the inscription around the front escape hatch, “Van’s Flying Circus” and “Entrance.” The photo on the leftshows M/Sgt. Glenn M. “Zip” Myers, ground crew chief.Warming up the engines of “Hard Luck” on the hardstand.Ground crew members seated on the righthalf of the elevator.Friday the 13th with Crew No. 13 commanded byLt. Don Mitchell. That’s not completely true either.However, Mitchell’s crew flew this aircraft on theirfirst mission and some missions after. Hard Luck’shardstand was supposed to be the one with thenumber 13, and she did actually occupy that spotfor a time. But it wasn’t the only designated spot,as, for example, 29 comes into play as well. Andthe 100th Bomb Group really was part of the 13thCombat Wing.It would appear that the first mission of this air-craft was a raid on factories in Paris on September3rd, 1943. At that time, the aircraft did not haveits name yet. That didn’t come about until a fewdays later. Lt. Mitchell’s bombardier, Earl G. Hafen,loved to sing the popular ‘Ode to Bombers’. At theend of it he added his‘... and when they mentionbombardiers, they always add Hard Luck!‘ Theconnotation extrapolates figuratively, of course,to ‘bad luck’, but also a hard-earned happiness.The first bad luck came during one of the crew’sfirst missions with aircraft 413. However, whoknows if it was actually the fickle finger of fate...The crew had to return to base early from the mis-sion due to a malfunction and someone declared‘That’s hard luck!’.In conjunction with the bombar-dier’s song and the number 13, the last two digitsof the serial number, the idea came quickly andthe inscription soon appeared on the left side ofthe nose, where the bombs of the missions flownand later also the swastikas marking the enemyfighters destroyed by the crews of this aircraftwere added. Mitchell’s crew soon received one ofthe first B-17Gs assigned to the unit and left HardLuck behind. They named their new B-17G s/n42-31074 Cahepit and flew most of their missionswith it.Hard Luck was thus inherited by Van Steenis’crew mentioned at the beginning and it is the mainone that is associated with this ship. By February25th, 1944, they had flown eighteen missions, mostof them in Hard Luck, which, despite all sorts ofclose calls, always returned them home safely.Van Stenis’ crew parted ways with their aircraft,which had a reverent row of mission markingspainted on her, in March 1944, when they werepromoted to lead crew. They were then assigneda new B-17G s/n 42-31903 coded LN-T, named‘Hard Luck II’. However, this name never appearedon the nose of the aircraft, so finally there weretwo ‘Hard Luck II’s with 350th Squadron. One sortof for themselves, named by Van Steenis’ crew, theother by the ground crew of the original Hard Luckafter their worn but still great B-17F was lost. Thelast operational flight of Van Steenis’s crew, onMay 7th, 1944, was to Berlin. Most of the crew werescheduled to complete their combat tour that day.At that time, the quota had already been increasedto thirty missions. For those who had alreadycompleted part of their original tour commitmentat the time of the increase, the increase was bya proportional amount. For this crew, the figurewas 28. Over Berlin, the formation ran into a wallVariant 1Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard59June 2024Page 60
Variant 1: B-17F 42-3413 LN-V ”Hard Luck“, crews of Lt. Loren C. Van Steenis and Lt. John S. Giles, Jr,350th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, April 1944Loren C. Van Steenis sitting on the nose of “Hard Luck.” Under thepilot’s side window is written one of his nicknames, “Freckle Puss.”The ‘D’ on the tail was originally dark blue on a white background.It wasn’t until a thorough overhaul in the spring of 1944 that it wasrepainted black.“Hard Luck’s” proud ground crew.INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194360June 2024Page 61
Variant 1: B-17F 42-3413 LN-V ”Hard Luck“, crews of Lt. Loren C. Van Steenis and Lt. John S. Giles, Jr,350th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, April 1944Loren C. Van Steenis sitting on the nose of “Hard Luck.” Under thepilot’s side window is written one of his nicknames, “Freckle Puss.”The ‘D’ on the tail was originally dark blue on a white background.It wasn’t until a thorough overhaul in the spring of 1944 that it wasrepainted black.“Hard Luck’s” proud ground crew.The combat crew of Capt. Loren C. Van Steenis and the ground crew of M/Sgt. Glenn C. “Zip” Myers. The aircraft is in a newer form; the three swastikas are on a yellowbackground, and the nose bears the symbols of 41 missions.Sometime around the 41-mission peri-od of this aircraft, an effort was madeto change the colors of the letteringon the nose. The number 413 is dark,and some of the letters of the “HardLuck” lettering are also dark. Severalphotographs show this unfinishedchange, but later versions revertedto the original color arrangement.Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard61June 2024Page 62
of flak and one of the rounds exploded near theNo. 3 engine. Its shrapnel severely damaged theengine and the B-17G began to lose altitude. Whenchecking the crew over the intercom, the bombar-dier and the navigator did not report. Bombardier,Lt. Lester D. Torbett, was found bleeding profuselyin the radio operator’s station. Navigator Lt. Har-old C. Becker was found killed in the nose of theplane. Hard Luck II ‘903’ was repaired and laterlost on the 29th of July, 1944.But, getting back to the original Hard Luck, atthe end of 1943 and beginning of ‘44, other crewsoccasionally flew lucky 413: George H. Gough andRandall T. Chadwick in the early spring of 1944,and then John M. Shelly (three missions) and no-tably, John S. Giles (eight missions).The aircraft had several near misses during thisperiod, when over Berlin on March 6th, 1944, flakdamaged the right wing and the left stabilizer.Lt. Chadwick and his crew made it home. A fewmissions later, on April 13th, 1944, Lt. John M.Shelly made it back from Augsburg with severedamage to the left wing and fuel tank. Two dayslater, however, Hard Luck flew on another mis-sion, this time with the crew of JohnS. Giles for the first time. Hard Luckwas assigned more combat missionsto this crew between April 19th andMay 8th than she was finally credit-ed. Twice before take-off, Hard Luckwas replaced by a spare aircraft, andon May 1st, 1944, she was designatedas a ‘flying spare’, a plane that tookoff together with the formation and,if necessary, replaced an aircraftthat for one reason or another hadto abort the mission. Hard Luck was not neededthat day, so John S. Giles returned to base withher and the bomb load. Not long after that, dueto bad weather, the rest of the group turned back.The mission was scrubbed. The last mission withHard Luck was completed by Giles’ crew on May8th, 1944. After that, the aircraft had a long break,during which it underwent significant overhaul.From other aircraft serving as hangar queens –a source of spare parts, Hard Luck received a newglass nose, side window closures, and a new typetop turret used on later production blocks of theB-17G. Above all, however, a general overhaul wasto take place, possibly replacing all four engines.Hard Luck became a record holder in the 8th AirForce, after flying a total of 630 hours over thecourse of fifty missions (various sources for thisperiod mention 46-50 with the original enginesand turbo compressors with which she was flownin the summer of 1943 across the ocean. One ofher four Studebaker-built Wright R-1820 Cycloneswas in good enough shape that technicians reas-sembled it. These modifications took the aircraftout of service for several weeks. In addition, theunit already had a number of more modern B-17Gs,and the old Fs were sent on missions much lessfrequently.The excellent condition of the engines was dueto the ground crew, led by twenty-four-year-oldThe crew of Lt. John S. Giles flew “Hard Luck” in the second half of April and early May 1944. At this time, the aircraft bears the symbols of 47 missions.The crew was later shot down during a mission to Ruhland in an air battle over the Ore Mountains on Monday, September 11, 1944.During May and June 1944, “Hard Luck”underwent thorough maintenance,during which it also received someupgrading features.INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194362June 2024Page 63
of flak and one of the rounds exploded near theNo. 3 engine. Its shrapnel severely damaged theengine and the B-17G began to lose altitude. Whenchecking the crew over the intercom, the bombar-dier and the navigator did not report. Bombardier,Lt. Lester D. Torbett, was found bleeding profuselyin the radio operator’s station. Navigator Lt. Har-old C. Becker was found killed in the nose of theplane. Hard Luck II ‘903’ was repaired and laterlost on the 29th of July, 1944.But, getting back to the original Hard Luck, atthe end of 1943 and beginning of ‘44, other crewsoccasionally flew lucky 413: George H. Gough andRandall T. Chadwick in the early spring of 1944,and then John M. Shelly (three missions) and no-tably, John S. Giles (eight missions).The aircraft had several near misses during thisperiod, when over Berlin on March 6th, 1944, flakdamaged the right wing and the left stabilizer.Lt. Chadwick and his crew made it home. A fewmissions later, on April 13th, 1944, Lt. John M.Shelly made it back from Augsburg with severedamage to the left wing and fuel tank. Two dayslater, however, Hard Luck flew on another mis-sion, this time with the crew of JohnS. Giles for the first time. Hard Luckwas assigned more combat missionsto this crew between April 19th andMay 8th than she was finally credit-ed. Twice before take-off, Hard Luckwas replaced by a spare aircraft, andon May 1st, 1944, she was designatedas a ‘flying spare’, a plane that tookoff together with the formation and,if necessary, replaced an aircraftthat for one reason or another hadto abort the mission. Hard Luck was not neededthat day, so John S. Giles returned to base withher and the bomb load. Not long after that, dueto bad weather, the rest of the group turned back.The mission was scrubbed. The last mission withHard Luck was completed by Giles’ crew on May8th, 1944. After that, the aircraft had a long break,during which it underwent significant overhaul.From other aircraft serving as hangar queens –a source of spare parts, Hard Luck received a newglass nose, side window closures, and a new typetop turret used on later production blocks of theB-17G. Above all, however, a general overhaul wasto take place, possibly replacing all four engines.Hard Luck became a record holder in the 8th AirForce, after flying a total of 630 hours over thecourse of fifty missions (various sources for thisperiod mention 46-50 with the original enginesand turbo compressors with which she was flownin the summer of 1943 across the ocean. One ofher four Studebaker-built Wright R-1820 Cycloneswas in good enough shape that technicians reas-sembled it. These modifications took the aircraftout of service for several weeks. In addition, theunit already had a number of more modern B-17Gs,and the old Fs were sent on missions much lessfrequently.The excellent condition of the engines was dueto the ground crew, led by twenty-four-year-oldThe crew of Lt. John S. Giles flew “Hard Luck” in the second half of April and early May 1944. At this time, the aircraft bears the symbols of 47 missions.The crew was later shot down during a mission to Ruhland in an air battle over the Ore Mountains on Monday, September 11, 1944.During May and June 1944, “Hard Luck”underwent thorough maintenance,during which it also received someupgrading features.M/Sgt. Glenn M. ‘Zip’ Myers, who, among otherthings, was said to be very particular about hisairplanes, and especially of Hard Luck. He resent-ed - and tried to prevent - Hard Luck being givento inexperienced pilots. He said of Hard Luck:‘shelooked lean and hungry... she had no nose turret...her tail compartment was narrow, cramped, oldfashioned, with fabric flapping around the twin fif-ty stringers – the kind they used a year ago... ... butshe was still the fastest plane on the line – amongher newer, shinier, unpainted sister ships... ‘The beginning of July, 1944 marked Hard Luck’sreturn to combat duty. The rejuvenated aircrafthad previously bounced over Berlin on June 22ndwith a crew under the command of Marquard J.Anderson and returned with extensive damage.So, more fixes followed.So the next combat mission did not come untilJuly 8th, 1944, when she carried the young crew ofLt. Albert E. Trommer, who was on his third com-bat sortie. Trommer’s crew became the main crewof Hard Luck for the rest of her service. Plane andcrew flew eight combat missions together. In addi-tion to Albert Trommer, piloting duties in July andVariant 2: B-17F 42-3413 LN-V ”Hard Luck“, Lt. Albert E. Trommer crew,350th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, July 1944Ground Crew Chief M/Sgt. Glenn ‘Zip’ Myers. He was very proud of ‘his’ airplane and it was said that he fought allattempts to keep her off the hands of inexperienced pilots.Engine test on a hardstand close to one of the two T2 hangars at Thorpe Abbotts. The picture shows theaircraft after partial modernization. The nose glazing is of the new type, but the old top turret remains.Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard63June 2024Page 64
August 1944 were also undertaken by Lt. LawrenceW. Riegel. Both Riegel and Trommer and theircrews, as well as Giles and Shelly, (who had flownwith Hard Luck earlier), were later shot down onSeptember 11th 1944 over the Ore Mountains (themission to Ruhland).A member of Trommer’s crew, S/Sgt. John C.Kluttz firing from the lower ball turret of HardLuck hit an attacking Fw 190 during a mission toMerseburg on July 29th, 1944. He was creditedwith a damaged fighter.In mid-summer 1944, this aircraft was one ofthe last two B-17Fs in service with the 100th BombGroup (the other being the famous Royal Flush),and its well worn coat stood out amongst the for-mation of mostly shiny B-17Gs.On August 14th, 1944, Hard Luck took off on her62nd mission. Lt. Donald E. Cielewich sat in the pi-lot’s seat. Near Ludwigshafen, the aircraft was fa-tally hit by flak. The crew dropped their bombs andleft their position in the high squadron of the groupwhich they occupied with a wide turn. Even then,Hard Luck was friendly to her crew. All nine menwere able to leave the dying machine and to ‘hitthe silk’. The limp B-17F, in a steady descent, madeseveral circles near the village of Beerfelden nearErbach and landed on the farm of Jakob Seip andAdam Schmidt. One building was completely de-stroyed, another was seriously damaged. Ten peo-ple died in the rubble of the houses. The originalGerman investigation assumed that some of thedead were members of the bomber’s crew. How-ever, they were all residents of the house or agri-cultural workers.Both images show the last docu-mented shape of “Hard Luck.” Inthe lower image, the aircraft hasa new top turret, nose glazing,and propeller hubs painted white.The bomb symbols in both pho-tos correspond to 47 missions.However, in the top photo, theaircraft still has the old tail turretinstalled. This suggests that thereplacement occurred sometimein late June/July 1944.INFO EduardSpeciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 194364June 2024Page 65
August 1944 were also undertaken by Lt. LawrenceW. Riegel. Both Riegel and Trommer and theircrews, as well as Giles and Shelly, (who had flownwith Hard Luck earlier), were later shot down onSeptember 11th 1944 over the Ore Mountains (themission to Ruhland).A member of Trommer’s crew, S/Sgt. John C.Kluttz firing from the lower ball turret of HardLuck hit an attacking Fw 190 during a mission toMerseburg on July 29th, 1944. He was creditedwith a damaged fighter.In mid-summer 1944, this aircraft was one ofthe last two B-17Fs in service with the 100th BombGroup (the other being the famous Royal Flush),and its well worn coat stood out amongst the for-mation of mostly shiny B-17Gs.On August 14th, 1944, Hard Luck took off on her62nd mission. Lt. Donald E. Cielewich sat in the pi-lot’s seat. Near Ludwigshafen, the aircraft was fa-tally hit by flak. The crew dropped their bombs andleft their position in the high squadron of the groupwhich they occupied with a wide turn. Even then,Hard Luck was friendly to her crew. All nine menwere able to leave the dying machine and to ‘hitthe silk’. The limp B-17F, in a steady descent, madeseveral circles near the village of Beerfelden nearErbach and landed on the farm of Jakob Seip andAdam Schmidt. One building was completely de-stroyed, another was seriously damaged. Ten peo-ple died in the rubble of the houses. The originalGerman investigation assumed that some of thedead were members of the bomber’s crew. How-ever, they were all residents of the house or agri-cultural workers.Both images show the last docu-mented shape of “Hard Luck.” Inthe lower image, the aircraft hasa new top turret, nose glazing,and propeller hubs painted white.The bomb symbols in both pho-tos correspond to 47 missions.However, in the top photo, theaircraft still has the old tail turretinstalled. This suggests that thereplacement occurred sometimein late June/July 1944.According to official figures, Hard Luck dropped113 tons of bombs on targets during its operation-al career, and its gunners claimed four Luftwaffefighters. A veteran of 798 hours in the air over62 missions flown, she served in the Europeanskies for almost one full year…After Royal Flush was lost just three days earlier,the fabled Hard Luck became the last B-17F to flyin combat with the Bloody Hundred.Variant 2Photo above: One of a series of shots takenduring a training flight in formation in July1944. At this point, “Hard Luck” bears thesymbols of 48 missions. This correspondsto a date between 9 and 12 July 1944. How-ever, it is very likely that the number ofbombs painted did not exactly match thenumber of combat missions flown, whichwas slightly more during that period.Encounter Report for combat on July 29,1944, for which the ball turret gunner of“Hard Luck,” S/Sgt. John C. Klutz, wascredited with damage to an Fw 190.Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard65June 2024Page 66
B-17F, Serial 42-30066, named Mugwump, didand did not have a long history. On the one hand,it was among the first twenty B-17s that the 100thBomb Group lost, but on the other hand, it wasprobably the last F model that served with theBloody Hundredth to fly a combat mission. I willtry to explain this apparent contradiction in thefollowing paragraphs.When the 100th Bomb Group at Kearney, Nebras-ka received its aircraft with which it was to moveto Europe after training, 066 was among them,built in Block 85 as an F-series by Boeing in Se-attle. Crew commander Lt. William Flesh, to whomthe aircraft was assigned, was probably the onewho named the aircraft. Although the meaning ofthe word Mugwump, which dates back to the vo-cabulary of the native inhabitants of North Amer-ica, is ambiguous, in slang at the time it meantsomeone who could stand up to a dispute in sucha way as not to anger the other side. The idea usedto be caricatured as a bird sitting on a fence, withhead on one side, and butt on the other... that thiswas the meaning of the name on the new B-17Fis evidenced by the drawing of an ostrich, whichwas added to the inscription on the nose beforethe unit moved to Europe. It was certainly not