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Sunny II was in need of demanding repairs and
therefore, like Rosie’s Riveters and other aircraft
seriously damaged from the mission to Bremen,
did not take part in the even more tragic operation
two 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, Sunny
II was given the available code letter, the same as
the original Sunny, forming the code EP
-
J.
Even before the mission to Bremen, the yellow
inscription ‘Sunny II’ was bordered in black, the
aircraft carried mission markers, but it did not
yet carry any swastikas denoting downed enemy
fighters.
Other known photos show the aircraft at the end
of December 1943, when it carried thirteen bombs
on both sides of the nose, every fifth one red, and
five swastikas. On December 30th, 1943, the crew
of Lt. George W. Brannan climbed aboard this air-
craft. The target was a chemical factory in Lud-
wigshafen. Assigned to the crew as a replacement
was Sgt. Henry A. Markowski. It was to be his first
and at the same time last combat mission. They
lost two engines over the target and with further
damage 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 form
of RAF Spitfires to escort them home. With Thorpe
Abbots almost in sight, just four miles from home
base, the crew had to make an emergency landing
in a field at Starston. Three men were seriously
injured. Sgt. Markowski underwent lengthy treat-
ment for an injured leg and did not take part in
further combat missions. As he himself recalled:
‘We were shot up badly - lost two engines and just
made the English coast where we crash landed.
We were MIA for a while’.
John H. “Lucky” Luckadoo with friend and 100th BG Foundation
member Karl Hauffe at the 2019 reunion in Colorado Springs.
Officials had gone so far in this error as to send
out telegrams to the families of the airmen of this
crew informing them that they are MIA, had not
returned from a mission over Germany.
When the technical team from Thorpe Abbotts
arrived 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, when
they were shot down during a raid on Berlin.
At the Masters of the Air series premiere
ceremony. 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 Eduard
43
June 2024