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B-17F, Serial Number 42-30796, arrived in En-
gland at the end of August, 1943 and less than
a week later was ready at Thorpe Abbots for ser-
vice with 351st Squadron. On her sides, members
of the ground crew sprayed in light gray the code
EP
-
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 lost
with another crew on September 3rd, 1943. This
new B-17F 796 became ‘Sunny II’. The name dis-
played in decorative lettering on the noses of both
aircraft was derived from the nickname the crew
commander, Glenn W. Dye, gave to his young son.
It is not clear from surviving historical records
whether the first three missions of this aircraft
were flown by the crew of Glenn Dye, but at least
one of them was (and probably all three), because
on September 7th or 8th, 1943, this crew was pho-
tographed in front of the aircraft, which at the time
displayed two mission markings.
This aircraft and this crew certainly flew togeth-
er on the 15th and 16th of September, 1943, when
the majority of the crew, the first of the 100th
Bomb 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, and
she was the center of attention, along with the
crew of Cpt. Dye. These airmen were able to fly
their 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 hold
no flying.
The completion of twenty-five missions was
a great success and also a boost for the young
crews who were just starting their combat duties.
Likewise for the more seasoned peers who still
had a few of those missions left to go through.
At least on the level of morale and encouragement,
the milestone counterbalanced the inexorable
statistics. However, the celebration would proba-
bly not have been so joyful if its participants had
known that the Dye crew would end up being the
only one from the original 100th Bomb Group, of
the teams that moved to England as a whole after
training, 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 one
of 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 Zdiarský
Color profiles: Michal Fárek
Photos: 100th Bomb Group Archives
Title photo: Glenn W. Dye in early September 1943,
when “Sunny II” had her first two combat missions
under her belt.
“Sunny II” on a hardstand at Thorpe Abbotts,
probably in late September 1943.
SUNNY II
B-17F-120-BO 42-30796 EP
-
K/J
INFO Eduard
Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943
38
June 2024