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The figures behind the great stories of America’s
involvement in the air war over Europe in 1943 are
not just about the pilots who guided their bomb-
ers over occupied territory and fought their way
through barrages of flak and 20mm rounds from
enemy fighters, nor the Lightning and Thunderbolt
pilots who conquered piece by piece the German
sky, nor the commanders, developing strategic
plans and routes of individual missions... Among
those great personalities, among many others
that I have not listed here, are the mechanics.
They tireless ground crew men who prepared their
airplanes day and night so that the next morning
the flight crews could sit in them and head safely
and confidently to their tasks with equipment they
knew they could count on.
One of the standout personalities of this craft
with the 100th Bomb Group was the charismatic,
burly M/Sgt. Dewey Ray ‘Chris’ Christopher, one
of the ground crew chiefs with the 351st Bomb
Squadron.
Dewey entered the Army at age eighteen on
December 16th, 1941, just days after the attack on
Pearl Harbor. He underwent training as a mechan-
ic and in less than a year he was part of the 100th
Bomb Group. He went through training with the
unit in Nebraska and Wendover, and continued on
to Thorpe Abbotts, England.
From an ordinary mechanic, Dewey worked his
way up to the head of the ground crew and under
his 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 respect
not only of his colleagues, but also of his com-
manders.
That is also why he was occasionally included
in the flight crew as a flight engineer during the
unit’s training in the USA. During demanding nav-
igation and training missions around the USA, he
tuned engines and ensured optimal fuel consump-
tion. He would even take to the air later, during
operational activity of the 100th Bomb Group in
Europe. This was the case, for example, during
the Frantic VII mission on September 18th, 1944,
during which his unit dropped supplies and weap-
ons to participants in the Warsaw Uprising. As part
of this mission, sometimes referred to as ‘Shuttle
Missions’, the bombers landed in Ukraine and then
continued to bomb Szolnok, Hungary, and into Italy.
From there they returned to England. In Italy, at
the bases of the 15th Air Force, some B-17s dam-
aged by flak over Hungary needed to be repaired
after the second phase of the mission. So Dew-
ey and one other colleague remained in Italy and
spent several days putting together the damaged
planes so that they could be flown back to England.
As one of very few ground personnel, Dewey
Christopher was awarded the Bronze Star. Among
his unusual honors was also the Krzyż Walec-
znych, the Polish War Cross, for his participation
in the aforementioned mission in support of the
Warsaw Uprising.
B-17F 42-3307, named ‘Skipper’, was the first
of several B-17s for which Dewey served as chief
mechanic. Skipper was not among the aircraft
with which the unit moved overseas from the US,
although it arrived in England around the same
time. She was flown to Thorpe Abbotts before the
Hundredth began combat flying. ‘Skipper’ there-
fore took part in the second combat mission of
the unit, on June 26th, 1943, and at the same time
became the personal machine of the command-
er of the 351st BS, Maj. Ollen O. Turner. He was
Text: Jan Zdiarský
Color profiles: Michal Fárek
Photos: 100th Bomb Group Archives
SKIPPER
B-17F-45-DL 42-3307 EP
-
N
Title photo: Part of the crew of Lt. Jack R. Swartout at Skipper’s hardstand at Thorpe Abbotts, probably in July
1943. The aircraft does not yet bear the symbols of missions flown.
T/Sgt. Dewey R. Christopher, Crew Chief, 351st Bomb Squadron
Part of Lt. Swartout’s crew with
Skipper. On the left side of the
group are men closely associated
with this aircraft from the be-
ginning of her combat life to the
end. Kneeling from left are F/O
Arch J. Drummond, copilot and
later Skipper’s pilot; Maj. Ollen O.
Turner, commander of the 351st
BS; and pilot Jack R. Swartout,
later commander of the 350th BS.
Standing in the rear left is the
ground crew chief, M/Sgt. Dewey
R. Christopher.
Skipper with symbols of 9 mis-
sions flown. Notable features in-
clude the armored glass installed
in the cockpit windows, the white
discs on the main landing gear
wheels, and the Type 2 national
insignia (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. Swartout
crew, 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, July 1943
Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard
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June 2024