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.

• Page 1

  INFO Eduard

  FREE e-magazine vol 21 June 2024

  SPECIAL

• Page 2

  © Eduard - Model Accessories, 2024

  This material is for personal use only. No part of the text or graphic presentations

  may be used in another publication, any other media form, or otherwise distributed

  without prior written permission from Eduard - Model Accessories and the authors

  involved.

  Editorial and Graphics - Marketing Department, Eduard - Model Accessories, Ltd.

  INFO Eduard

  FREE e-magazine Vol 23 June 2024

• Page 3

  eduard

  eduard

  SPECIAL JUNE 2024

  CONTENTS

  EDITORIAL

  100TH BGF PRESIDENT’S LETTER

  THE BLOODY HUNDREDTH

  SECTIONS

  THE KIT CONTENTS

  NEW SPRUE X

  historical article

  31 Piccadilly Lily

  35 Alice from Dallas

  38 Sunny II

  44 Rosie's the Riveters

  48 Skipper

  53 Horny II

  57 Hard Luck!

  66 Mugwump

  69 Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk

  73 Mismalovin'

  77 Squawkin Hawk

  4

  5

  6

  7

  13

  31

  Published by Eduard-Model Accessories, spol. s.r.o.

  Mírová 170, Obrnice 435 21

  support@eduard.com www.eduard.com

• Page 4

  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.

  Among the modellers who responded to our

  posts detailing information about this kit, there

  were obviously many people who have not come

  in contact with this line or its concept. These

  people sometimes have unrealistic ideas about

  our ability to correct the mistakes of the original

  kit used, as supplied by other manufacturers.

  It needs to be noted that correcting the mistakes

  of the original kit is not our goal with the LIMITED

  edition series kit projects. In truth, such a goal

  would rarely ever be financially feasible to shoot

  for, so please don't expect it from us. The aim of

  the accessories and conversion parts included

  in the kit is to improve upon the possibilities of

  the original product, offer a higher level of detail

  and offer a greater number of marking options

  while maintaining the best possible success in

  terms of outcome vs goal. In this regard, we feel

  the biggest problem is that the original B-17F

  kit released by HKM, as well as all other kits

  of this type released to date in any scale, only

  had an older version of the nose of the aircraft

  used in the first production blocks of the B-17F.

  Perhaps this was because all manufacturers

  were scrambling to release arguably the most

  famous B-17F, the Memphis Belle, an early-

  series F-10-BO aircraft (production number

  3470, USAAC serial number 41-24485) that had

  this original nose version. However, it was the

  nose of the B-17F, a type of which 3,405 units

  were produced in three factories over more than

  one and a half years, that underwent complex

  and intensive development. Its goal was to

  strengthen the protection of the aircraft from

  the front hemisphere, from which the attacks

  of enemy fighters were concentrated, based on

  combat experience. Various later development

  versions of the nose equipped the aircraft that

  we selected for our kit, as well as machines

  that we want to include in another project in the

  future, ‘The Mighty Eighth, 1943’, which will be

  dedicated to the important contribution made by

  the B-17F to the entire USAAF 8th Air Force.

  An important component of each of our Limited

  Edition kits are the decal sheets that relate

  the tightly bound stories of the machines and

  the crews that flew them. The composition

  and range of options of these, as well as the

  number of options proper, are specific to

  Eduard kits and, I dare say, absolutely unique

  among manufacturers of plastic aircraft kits.

  In this kit, there are seven basic options, that

  is, seven machines, of which four are offered

  in two versions covering different periods

  of service of these aircraft. In addition, kits

  that were pre-ordered prior to the kit's official

  release include four additional bonus options.

  That's a total of fifteen options that you can

  choose from. We have carefully assembled

  this collection of aircraft to document the

  B-17F's period of service with the 100th Bomb

  Group. Each of these birds has a great story

  behind it. The full version of the stories of

  the aircraft and their crews, selected for the

  kit, can be found in today's special newsletter,

  an abbreviated version of the instructions in the

  kit. As you can probably guess, the manual itself

  is a monumental work in the form of a historical

  notebook 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 Flying

  Fortress of the Bloody Hundredth. But it's by

  design! We kept ‘Royal Flush’ out to represent

  the Bloody Hundred in the aforementioned ‘The

  Mighty Eighth, 1943’ kit. We expect to release it

  in about two years, and please note that this is

  the working name of the kit, and that could still

  change to something else.

  As is customary with our LIMITED edition kits,

  this item also includes masks, photoetched

  and resin parts. At the same time, there are

  a number of additional aftermarket kits for this

  kit, available separately as optional upgrades.

  These are ready and are available also

  (naturally) for the original HKM kit. We modified

  these by removing the parts that are included in

  the kit from the new sets, so you don't run the

  risk of buying parts twice when purchasing the

  additionals. Of course, that would cause a very

  annoying redundancy. This mainly concerns the

  set of photoetched for the cockpit and nose of

  the aircraft. We used the spark plug wiring and

  a few small parts for the kit from the original

  engine set photoetched. We did not create a set

  as an aftermarket item for the new kit, as there

  would be very few remaining parts in a modified

  set without the plug wiring. If you absolutely

  want these parts, you can get the original set

  for the HKM kit, but expect to have the wiring

  twice. Another dilemma is with the set of seat

  belts. These are, in their entirety, components

  included in the kit, but are etched in brass.

  At the same time, however, we are releasing

  an additional set, identical in shape and color,

  made of steel. Also missing from the new

  accessory sets are the superchargers and

  exhausts, which are also included in the kit.

  There is no point in you getting the original set

  for this kit.

  ‘The Bloody Hundredth, 1943’ kit is one of the

  most demanding and complex projects that

  we have ever embarked upon in the more than

  thirty-year history of our company. It is a big

  project not only in scope, dimensions of the

  resulting model, the volume of material used

  and extremely complex logistics, but also in the

  effort put in by all of us who participated in it.

  It is a result of cooperation of three entities

  from three continents. In addition to Eduard

  and HKM, a European and Asian company

  respectively, this project could not have been

  implemented without the participation and

  active cooperation of the 100th Bomb Group

  Foundation, whose activities encompass not

  only the United States, but also Great Britain

  and the Czech Republic.

  At this very moment, as you begin reading

  today's special edition of the newsletter, full

  of exciting stories of pilots, aircrews, ground

  crews and other members of the Bloody

  Hundred, our project is far from over. Although

  we have everything done and ready, we are still

  waiting to take delivery of some plastic. A small

  number of them, 300 complete sets of plastic

  and all of the sprues of the new noses, will

  arrive by plane on June 20th, and after the kits

  are 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 sale

  during the IPMS National Convention in Madison,

  Wisconsin. The rest of the plastic is traveling by

  train from China to the Czech Republic. In the

  current international situation and the ongoing

  Russian aggression against Ukraine, it is

  a path full of pitfalls and dangers. The risk and

  our nervousness stemming from it increases

  every day. Nevertheless, we believe that the

  plastic will arrive safe and sound, and as part

  of complete kits, they will become a centerpiece

  of the model collections of all of you who bought

  The Bloody Hundredth, 1943!

  Happy Modelling!

  Vladimir Sulc

  EDITORIAL

  INFO Eduard4

  Říjen 2022

• Page 5

  The 100

  th

  Bomb Group, Inc. is a registered 501[c]3 non-profit organization.

  www.100thBG.com

  The 100

  th

  Bomb Group Foundation is pleased to recognize Eduard Model Accessories as

  our 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 to

  such a variety of B-17F build options that are all tied directly to the service and sacrifice of

  the 100

  th

  Bomb Group (Heavy) of World War II.

  The aircraft that were mutually selected for this series are all important representative

  ships of the famed “Bloody Hundredth.” Each design has been thoroughly researched and

  vetted by our historical teams and complete access to our vast photo archive was given to

  the 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 our

  shared mission to honor and remember those who served and those who sacrificed so

  much.

  You are invited to learn more about the men, missions, and machines of history’s “Bloody

  Hundredth” at 100thBG.com.

  Thank you,

  C.C. (Chip) Culpepper

  President

  100

  th

  Bomb Group Foundation, Inc.

  The 100

  th

  Bomb Group, Inc. is a registered 501[c]3 non-profit organization.

  www.100thBG.com

  The 100

  th

  Bomb Group Foundation is pleased to recognize Eduard Model Accessories as

  our 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 to

  such a variety of B-17F build options that are all tied directly to the service and sacrifice of

  the 100

  th

  Bomb Group (Heavy) of World War II.

  The aircraft that were mutually selected for this series are all important representative

  ships of the famed “Bloody Hundredth.” Each design has been thoroughly researched and

  vetted by our historical teams and complete access to our vast photo archive was given to

  the 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 our

  shared mission to honor and remember those who served and those who sacrificed so

  much.

  You are invited to learn more about the men, missions, and machines of history’s “Bloody

  Hundredth” at 100thBG.com.

  Thank you,

  C.C. (Chip) Culpepper

  President

  100

  th

  Bomb Group Foundation, Inc.

• Page 6

• Page 7

  SPRUE X

  NEW SPRUE X

  CEILING WINDOWS AND

  DOUBLERS SOLUTION

  NOSE CONE VARIANTS

  ASTRODOME

  T2

  N3

  A1

  A2

  N4

  T4d

  (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 N4

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

  7

  June 2024

• Page 8

  SPRUE X

  CHEEK GUN WINDOWS

  VARIANT 1

  VARIANT 2

  VARIANT 4

  (HKM PLASTIC)

  ALL EARLY PRODUCTION

  BLOCKS B-17F

  BLOCKS 15, 20, 25, 30, 35-VE

  ALL LATE PRODUCTION BLOCKS

  B-17F (from 40-VE, (80,85)90-BO,

  45-DL

  (EDUARD/HKM SPRUE X)

  (EDUARD/HKM SPRUE X)

  VARIANT 2 VARIANT 4

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  8

  June 2024

• Page 9

  SPRUE X

  EDUARD/HKM SPRUE X

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

  9

  červen 2024

• Page 10

  SPRUE X

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  10

  June 2024

• Page 11

  SPRUE X

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

  11

  June 2024

• Page 12

  SPRUE X

  N3N4

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  12

  June 2024

• Page 13

  The Hundredth had a reputation for unusual-

  ly heavy losses over several specific missions,

  losses that decimated a large percentage of

  a particular component squadron, all but empty-

  ing the quarters that housed the crews that did

  not return from that mission. Understandably,

  the reasons for the unusual, decimating statis-

  tical fluctuations were investigated, and many of

  the conclusions bordered on fantasy and legend.

  There was talk of poor morale and discipline,

  insufficient training of its original crews, or the

  fact that the Luftwaffe just had the Hundredth in

  focus. Today, armed with the opportunity to look

  at problems from several angles, to put historical

  events into context, there is only one conclusion...

  the unit was too often in the wrong place at the

  wrong time. The Bloody Hundredth was simply

  unlucky and bore a lot of suffering and destruc-

  tion on their shoulders, which did not spread to

  th

  e other units of the 8th Air Force back in the day.

  The members of the Bloody Hundredth were

  similar to those who served in other bomb-

  ing units, not exceptional in their feats, skill or

  courage. The uniqueness of the unit was given by

  a special spirit of mutual reciprocity and deter-

  mination, supported by the approach of several

  outstanding commanders and exceptional per-

  sonalities who were an inspiration to their men

  and became legends that set an example for

  those that followed. They were the legends of the

  Bloody Hundredth, and its ‘D’ in a square mark-

  ing, by which they recognized the planes of their

  comrades on missions. The legends inspired by

  the four-engined B-17s and the roar of their en-

  gines, the echoes of which we can still feel today

  on the overgrown taxiways of their home, Thorpe

  Abbotts Base in East England.

  The 100th Bomb Group was established on June

  1st, 1942 in Orlando, Florida, but we can consider

  the place of its real birth be Boise, Idaho, where

  it had its first personnel attached to it. By order

  No. 300, 254 men were transferred here. Less

  than three weeks later, the unit was officially

  The 100th Bomb Group was one of forty similar units in the 8th Air Force. It has not established any measurable absolute

  dominance over any other groups during its fighting career. The unit wasn’t the first to come to England, it didn’t drop the most

  bombs, 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 still

  is, exceptional in her legacy. After the first months of operation in Europe, it began to be called ‘The Bloody Hundredth’. The unit

  you 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 Zdiarský

  The B-17F, named Swastika Sweater, was one of the

  aircraft used by the unit during training in the US, but

  it did not continue to Europe with the group. Pictured

  from 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)

  HISTORY

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

  13

  June 2024

• Page 14

  activated. Its first commander became Col. Darr

  Alkire. He led the unit for most of the follow-up

  training, until April 26th, 1943, when he was re-

  placed by Col. Howard Turner. The training, which

  primarily focused on group formation flying,

  long-range navigation flights, and bombing prac-

  tice, was conducted primarily at bases in Walla

  Walla, Washington, Wendover Field, Utah, Sioux

  City, Iowa, and Kearney, Nebraska. On May 25th,

  1943, the thirty-five original crew members of

  the unit began moving overseas. They arrived in

  England, at a brand new base near the village of

  Thorpe Abbotts, on June 8th, 1943.

  In Europe

  Several officers who were to see to it that the

  base for the unit was ready had already moved

  to England at the beginning of May. Among

  them was the twenty-eight-year-old Operations

  Officer of the 349th Squadron and the future

  commander of the 418th Squadron, Maj. John C.

  ‘Bucky’ Egan. In addition to fulfilling some basic

  but necessary activities, he managed to fly two

  combat missions as a ‘guest’ of the 305th Bomb

  Group on May 19th and 21st, 1943, during which

  he almost lost his life. He thus became the first

  aviator of the 100th Bomb Group to enter combat.

  After the crews arrived with their B-17s and

  after their ground echelon - technical support

  personnel arrived by sea, the unit was able to

  settle into its permanent location. The command-

  er, Howard Turner, was transferred to 1st Bomb

  Division Headquarters, and the new commander

  of 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 referred

  to as ‘decoys’. A formation of bombers was sent

  out to lure German fighters away from the actual

  attack. Although these were not easy tasks, and

  although they were not without danger, neither

  the airmen nor the unit received combat mission

  credit for them. The first actual bombing mission

  for the Hundredth came on the 25th of June, 1943,

  when the unit hit submarine docks at Bremen.

  Already, this first mission cost three crews. Even

  those of the aviators who had not yet taken the

  war seriously realized that a trip to Europe would

  not 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 Thorpe

  Abbotts, home of the 100th Bomb Group from 1943-45.

  (John Schwarz collection)

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  14

  June 2024

• Page 15

  activated. Its first commander became Col. Darr

  Alkire. He led the unit for most of the follow-up

  training, until April 26th, 1943, when he was re-

  placed by Col. Howard Turner. The training, which

  primarily focused on group formation flying,

  long-range navigation flights, and bombing prac-

  tice, was conducted primarily at bases in Walla

  Walla, Washington, Wendover Field, Utah, Sioux

  City, Iowa, and Kearney, Nebraska. On May 25th,

  1943, the thirty-five original crew members of

  the unit began moving overseas. They arrived in

  England, at a brand new base near the village of

  Thorpe Abbotts, on June 8th, 1943.

  In Europe

  Several officers who were to see to it that the

  base for the unit was ready had already moved

  to England at the beginning of May. Among

  them was the twenty-eight-year-old Operations

  Officer of the 349th Squadron and the future

  commander of the 418th Squadron, Maj. John C.

  ‘Bucky’ Egan. In addition to fulfilling some basic

  but necessary activities, he managed to fly two

  combat missions as a ‘guest’ of the 305th Bomb

  Group on May 19th and 21st, 1943, during which

  he almost lost his life. He thus became the first

  aviator of the 100th Bomb Group to enter combat.

  After the crews arrived with their B-17s and

  after their ground echelon - technical support

  personnel arrived by sea, the unit was able to

  settle into its permanent location. The command-

  er, Howard Turner, was transferred to 1st Bomb

  Division Headquarters, and the new commander

  of 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 referred

  to as ‘decoys’. A formation of bombers was sent

  out to lure German fighters away from the actual

  attack. Although these were not easy tasks, and

  although they were not without danger, neither

  the airmen nor the unit received combat mission

  credit for them. The first actual bombing mission

  for the Hundredth came on the 25th of June, 1943,

  when the unit hit submarine docks at Bremen.

  Already, this first mission cost three crews. Even

  those of the aviators who had not yet taken the

  war seriously realized that a trip to Europe would

  not 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 Thorpe

  Abbotts, home of the 100th Bomb Group from 1943-45.

  (John Schwarz collection)

  ‘It was

  August 17th, 1943…’

  Combat missions quickly continued – LeMans,

  St. Nazaire, Le Bourget, Hamburg, Kassel, Trond-

  heim... Command of the unit was taken over by

  its first ‘permanent’ commander, Neil B. ‘Chick’

  Harding, who then commanded it until March 7th,

  1944. Bad luck seems to have taken a liking to the

  unit pretty soon. Losses ranged from none to one

  aircraft 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 the

  targets were the aircraft factories in Regensburg.

  This was the well-known ‘Double Strike’ mission

  against Schweinfurt and Regensburg, for which

  nearly 400 B-17s from the 8th Air Force took

  off. At that time, the not yet ‘Bloody’ Hundredth

  was placed at the end of the stream of bombers

  heading for Regensburg, with the intention that

  it would continue to North Africa after dropping

  its bombs. The rather unsuccessful logistics of

  the whole operation threw the bombers heading

  for 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 were

  badly damaged. Later, for this mission, the unit

  received its first Distinguished Unit Citation (later

  called the Presidential Unit Citation). At the end

  Thorpe Abbotts base as seen from west to east. The main runway in this direction measured 6167 ft (1 880 m). (100th BG Museum Archives

  418th Bomb Squadron Commander Maj. John C. ‘Bucky’ Egan with the B-17F s/n 42-30184 ‘Muggs’, destroyed after

  the 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 October

  1943. (Gale W. Cleven collection)

  HISTORY

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

  15

  June 2024

• Page 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 350th

  Bomb Squadron (Don Bradley collection)

  Lt. Harry H. Crosby, crew navigator for Lt. John D.

  Brady and later Lt. Everett E. Blakely, became later the

  group’s lead navigator. (Russel W. Heckman collection)

  Col. Neil B. ‘Chick’ Harding was commander of the

  100th Bomb Group during its most difficult period, from

  2 July 1943 to 6 March 1944. (Gale W. Cleven collection)

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  16

  June 2024

• Page 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 350th

  Bomb Squadron (Don Bradley collection)

  Lt. Harry H. Crosby, crew navigator for Lt. John D.

  Brady and later Lt. Everett E. Blakely, became later the

  group’s lead navigator. (Russel W. Heckman collection)

  Col. Neil B. ‘Chick’ Harding was commander of the

  100th Bomb Group during its most difficult period, from

  2 July 1943 to 6 March 1944. (Gale W. Cleven collection)

  Lt. Everett Blakely’s crew in North Africa after the

  mission to Regensburg on 17 August 1944. (Edmund

  G. Fokner collection)

  Both photos on the right: B-17F s/n 42-3393 Just-a-

  Snappin’, flown by crew of Lt. Everett E. Blakely after

  an emergency landing at RAF Ludham on their return

  from Bremen on 8 October 1943. (Edmund G. Fokner

  collection)

  B-17G s/n 42-30725 ‘Aw-r-go’, which was shot down

  on 10 October 1943 with the crew of Capt. Charles B.

  Cruikshank. (100th BG Archives via Volker Urbanski)

  HISTORY

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

  17

  June 2024

• Page 18

  of September, the first crew of the Hundredth

  completed its operational tour of twenty-five

  missions. The average lifespan of B-17 aircrews

  for the Eighth Air Force at the time was eleven

  missions. However, this lucky crew ended up be-

  ing the only one of the original thirty-five who

  came to England to celebrate the milestone!

  Another two dark days for the Hundred came

  on the 8th and 10th of October, 1943, the climactic

  days of Black Week, when it lost 7 and 12 flying

  fortresses in raids on Bremen and Münster, re-

  spectively. During these two missions, the unit

  also lost two of its Squadron Commanders, great

  friends, Maj. Gale W. ‘Buck’ Cleven and Maj. John

  C. ‘Bucky’ Egan. Fortunately, both of them sur-

  vived the destruction of their Fortresses and

  were captured. Others were not so lucky. At the

  same time, a new legend and inspiring personal-

  ity of the Hundredth began to develop, Lt. Robert

  ‘Rosie’ Rosenthal, who brought back his B-17 with

  only two working engines from the second of the

  named 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, and

  later became commander of two squadrons and

  flew 52 combat missions, the most of the entire

  100th 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 taxiing

  on 27 December 1943. (Percyk collection)

  HISTORY

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  of September, the first crew of the Hundredth

  completed its operational tour of twenty-five

  missions. The average lifespan of B-17 aircrews

  for the Eighth Air Force at the time was eleven

  missions. However, this lucky crew ended up be-

  ing the only one of the original thirty-five who

  came to England to celebrate the milestone!

  Another two dark days for the Hundred came

  on the 8th and 10th of October, 1943, the climactic

  days of Black Week, when it lost 7 and 12 flying

  fortresses in raids on Bremen and Münster, re-

  spectively. During these two missions, the unit

  also lost two of its Squadron Commanders, great

  friends, Maj. Gale W. ‘Buck’ Cleven and Maj. John

  C. ‘Bucky’ Egan. Fortunately, both of them sur-

  vived the destruction of their Fortresses and

  were captured. Others were not so lucky. At the

  same time, a new legend and inspiring personal-

  ity of the Hundredth began to develop, Lt. Robert

  ‘Rosie’ Rosenthal, who brought back his B-17 with

  only two working engines from the second of the

  named 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, and

  later became commander of two squadrons and

  flew 52 combat missions, the most of the entire

  100th 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 taxiing

  on 27 December 1943. (Percyk collection)

  Berlin!

  The autumn and winter of 1943/44, often ham-

  pered by bad non-flying weather, were not a walk

  in the park for the unit. However, her losses did

  not deviate from the established averages. The

  turning point came in a trio of attacks on the

  very heart of the Third Reich, Berlin, on March

  3-6, 1944, when the One Hundredth lost first

  three, then one, and then fifteen aircraft. Berlin

  on March 6th, 1944, became the unit’s most trag-

  ic mission during its existence. Despite heavy

  losses, the Squadron managed to accomplish

  the task during these missions and received the

  unit’s second Distinguished (Presidential) Cita-

  tion for its performance.

  Popular Commander “Chick” Harding, who had

  a large part in the overall standing of the unit

  during these months, had to leave his post due

  to illness and was replaced by Col. Robert H. Kel-

  ly, who, however, was shot down during his first

  mission with the One Hundredth on April 28th,

  1944, a week after taking command. Prior to the

  arrival of Col. Kelly, as well as after his being

  downed, the unit was temporarily led by Lt. Col.

  John Bennett, Air Executive and Commander of

  the 349th Squadron.

  Then, at the beginning of May, 1944, came the

  arrival of Col. Thomas S. Jeffrey, who would re-

  main for a significant length of time. Under his

  leadership, the unit participated both in the

  campaign against targets connected with fuel

  One 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 return

  from 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. Heckman

  collection)

  B-17F 42-30796 ‘Sunny II’ with her ground crew. Her first flight crew, under the command of Capt. Glenn Dye, gave

  her the name. Flying Sunny II, they completed a 25-mission operational tour, as the only crew of the unit’s original

  cadre to finish. (Robert Stewart collection)

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  production, the so-called gasoline war, as well

  as in the preparation and support of the Allied

  landings in the western part of the continent and

  the opening of a second front.

  The Battle of Fuel

  On Friday, May 12th, 1944, the unit took part in

  the 8th Air Forces first raid against industrial

  targets in the former Czechoslovakia. The tar-

  get was Most (Brüx) and was the first of many

  attacks on German oil refineries in the Battle

  of Fuel Campaign. During the Allied landings

  in Normandy on June 6th, 1944, The Hundredth

  had 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 would

  end in favor of the Allies with their supremacy

  in the skies over Europe increasingly evident,

  saw several heavy missions and losses… such as

  May 24th, to Berlin, with the loss of nine aircraft;

  July 28th and 29th Merseburg, eleven aircraft

  both days; the 11th of September, 1944, Ruhland,

  thirteen aircraft. The latter mission became the

  second most tragic for the Bloody Hundredth.

  That day she saw a major air battle over the

  Czech-German border, and although the Luft-

  waffe was seemingly out of breath, it was not to

  be the last of the great battles that awaited the

  unit before the end of the war.

  During this period, the Hundredth also flew two

  Russian Shuttle missions under the codename

  Formation 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 flown

  back 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 his

  15 combat missions flown as a command pilot with the 100th Bomb Group to the earlier 12 he flew as a deputy

  commander of the 390th Bomb Group. (Michael Faley, 100th BG archives)

  HISTORY

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  production, the so-called gasoline war, as well

  as in the preparation and support of the Allied

  landings in the western part of the continent and

  the opening of a second front.

  The Battle of Fuel

  On Friday, May 12th, 1944, the unit took part in

  the 8th Air Forces first raid against industrial

  targets in the former Czechoslovakia. The tar-

  get was Most (Brüx) and was the first of many

  attacks on German oil refineries in the Battle

  of Fuel Campaign. During the Allied landings

  in Normandy on June 6th, 1944, The Hundredth

  had 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 would

  end in favor of the Allies with their supremacy

  in the skies over Europe increasingly evident,

  saw several heavy missions and losses… such as

  May 24th, to Berlin, with the loss of nine aircraft;

  July 28th and 29th Merseburg, eleven aircraft

  both days; the 11th of September, 1944, Ruhland,

  thirteen aircraft. The latter mission became the

  second most tragic for the Bloody Hundredth.

  That day she saw a major air battle over the

  Czech-German border, and although the Luft-

  waffe was seemingly out of breath, it was not to

  be the last of the great battles that awaited the

  unit before the end of the war.

  During this period, the Hundredth also flew two

  Russian Shuttle missions under the codename

  Formation 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 flown

  back 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 his

  15 combat missions flown as a command pilot with the 100th Bomb Group to the earlier 12 he flew as a deputy

  commander 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 to

  Frankfurt, when German flak blew off the entire tail gunner compartment of

  B-17G ‘Hang the Expense II’. The tail gunner, Sgt. Roy Ulrich, as it later turned

  out, survived and was captured. The pilot, Lt. ‘Big’ Frank Valesh managed to

  land 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 ‘Lady

  Luck’, Townsend’s crew was shot down a month later, on July 25, 1944, during an attack on

  military targets near Paris. (100th BG archives)

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  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)

  HISTORY

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  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 in

  France on 10 September 1944. (Neal P. Scott collection)

  HISTORY

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  Frantic, where the bombers would land at air-

  fields in Ukraine after completing their mission

  and then return to England via 15th Air Force

  bases in Italy. The first took place from June 21st

  The 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. (Don

  Bradley collection)

  B-17G 43-38514 ‘E

  -

  Z Goin’, with which the crew of Lt. Joe C. Martin returned home after being collided from behind

  by a German Bf 109 fighter. (Joseph A. Ciotola collection)

  to July 5th, 1944, the second between September

  18th and the 22nd. The second Frantic mission

  was aimed at dropping supplies and weapons

  to aid the Warsaw Uprising. It was not the Hun-

  dredth’s first such operation, as the unit had pre-

  viously participated in supplying the resistance

  movement in the south of France.

  The apparent calm during the fall and early

  winter of 1944, when the unit flew another 45

  sorties after the Ruhland mission with combat

  losses of seven aircraft, was shattered by the

  very 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 twelve

  aircraft.

  In the following months, two Berlin missions,

  on February 3rd and March 18th, 1945, were

  among more the memorable for the Bloody Hun-

  dredth with the loss of four aircraft and their

  crews in each of them. With the loss of ‘only’ two

  machines, the mission to Buchen on April 7th,

  1945 also went down in the history of the unit,

  with reasons for the losses being unusual for

  the unit. That day, some formations of Ameri-

  can bombers were met with ramming attacks

  by German fighters. Even the Hundredth did not

  escape these attacks. In addition to two lost

  B-17s, there were also several that suffered se-

  rious damage, which by combination of miracle

  and pilot skill, managed to return home.

  HISTORY

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  Frantic, where the bombers would land at air-

  fields in Ukraine after completing their mission

  and then return to England via 15th Air Force

  bases in Italy. The first took place from June 21st

  The 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. (Don

  Bradley collection)

  B-17G 43-38514 ‘E

  -

  Z Goin’, with which the crew of Lt. Joe C. Martin returned home after being collided from behind

  by a German Bf 109 fighter. (Joseph A. Ciotola collection)

  to July 5th, 1944, the second between September

  18th and the 22nd. The second Frantic mission

  was aimed at dropping supplies and weapons

  to aid the Warsaw Uprising. It was not the Hun-

  dredth’s first such operation, as the unit had pre-

  viously participated in supplying the resistance

  movement in the south of France.

  The apparent calm during the fall and early

  winter of 1944, when the unit flew another 45

  sorties after the Ruhland mission with combat

  losses of seven aircraft, was shattered by the

  very 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 twelve

  aircraft.

  In the following months, two Berlin missions,

  on February 3rd and March 18th, 1945, were

  among more the memorable for the Bloody Hun-

  dredth with the loss of four aircraft and their

  crews in each of them. With the loss of ‘only’ two

  machines, the mission to Buchen on April 7th,

  1945 also went down in the history of the unit,

  with reasons for the losses being unusual for

  the unit. That day, some formations of Ameri-

  can bombers were met with ramming attacks

  by German fighters. Even the Hundredth did not

  escape these attacks. In addition to two lost

  B-17s, there were also several that suffered se-

  rious damage, which by combination of miracle

  and pilot skill, managed to return home.

  Germany Quits

  On February 2nd, Col. Jeffrey was succeeded in

  the capacity of Commanding Officer, by Col. Jack

  Sutterlin. He led the unit until June 23rd, when

  he was succeeded by two more Commanders,

  Col. John Wallace and Col Harry F. Cruver.

  On April 20th 1945, the 100th Bomb Group took

  off 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, hosted

  around 7,000 members of the 100th Bomb Group

  and its support units during the war. In 22 months

  of operation over the European continent, the unit

  lost 229 aircraft, 757 men, some of them remain

  missing to this day, and 923 were captured.

  However, the 100th Bomb Group’s operations in

  Europe 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 of

  the Netherlands was plagued by famine, civilians

  suffering from Nazi tyrrany until the last days of

  the war. The Bloody Hundredth flew over the con-

  tinent several more times. Between May 1st and

  7th, 1945, like other American and British bomber

  units, it flew a total of six Chowhound missions,

  during which its B-17Gs dropped food parcels in

  low-flying aid missions. They flew at low alti-

  tudes over the territory still occupied by German

  troops. However, they were warned in advance

  not to interfere with the bombers carrying food.

  In the weeks following the end of the war in

  Europe, the One Hundredth took part in repatri-

  ation flights for prisoners of war and conscripts

  of Western countries from various parts of Ger-

  many and Austria.

  By the end of June, 1945, almost all aircraft

  were flown out of the base, with the exception of

  some radar pathfinders. Men for whom the war

  was over were returning home. Part of the unit

  moved to Germany, where it participated in the

  administration of the occupation. Some of the

  support units involved in the partial dismantling

  of the base remained at Thorpe Abbotts until late

  1945. It then served until 1956, when it was closed

  and essentially forgotten.

  It was not until many years after the war that

  the thick concrete slabs and asphalt of the run-

  ways and most taxiways and hardstands were

  removed. The landscape returned to something

  resembling its original state. However, the her-

  oism of the men who, many decades previous,

  took off with trepidation from here on missions

  over occupied Europe into horrific air battles

  with the sky soaked with the stench of exploding

  flak shells, burning gasoline, gunpowder, blood,

  sweat and tears, is not forgotten. It remains in

  the legacy of the men and women of the great-

  est generation, so that we can be reminded of

  the 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 seems

  we can never completely overcome it. However,

  the determination and faith of the men of the

  Bloody Hundredth remain an inspiration.

  Former 350th Bomb Squadron Commander Maj. Gale W. ‘Buck’ Cleven (center) returned to the base in April 1944

  after 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 France

  on 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 of

  the occupied Netherlands (1-7 May 1945)

  (100th BG Archives)

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  Post Scriptum:

  The Bloody Hundredth

  Family

  In 1968, a meeting of several former members of

  the One Hundredth took place in the living room

  of Robert and Phillis Rosenthal. Among them

  were Harry Crosby and his wife, Horace Varian,

  Jack Kid and others. The meeting gave rise to the

  idea of starting a veterans’ organization with the

  two goals of starting a magazine and organizing

  a reunion. It was supposed to take place at the

  Rosenthal’s in the garden. It was assumed that

  around 30 people would participate. After the

  first rounds of searching for former comrades

  and invitations, it turned out that there would be

  more than 200 participants, who would not all fit

  into Rosie’s garden. So the meeting took place in

  1969 at Andrews Air Force Base. And so, the 100th

  Bomb Group Association was founded. Since then,

  veterans and their families have been meeting

  every few years. A few years ago, the Associa-

  tion turned into a Foundation. Its mission remains,

  even though most of the original members of the

  Blood Hundredth have left us. The task was tak-

  en over by their children and grandchildren, and

  now even the great-grandchildren of the veter-

  ans, together with unit historians, photo archi-

  vists and other friends of the Hundredth, working

  on a volunteer basis. The foundation maintains its

  core mission in terms of the Bloody Hundredth

  legacy, holding reunions and publishing a jour-

  nal, as planned long ago in the Rosenthals’ living

  room. The foundation also supports a number

  of 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. Defense

  and 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 Mighty

  Eighth Museum, Savannah, GA. (Museum of Air battle

  over the Ore Mountains)

  HISTORY

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  Post Scriptum:

  The Bloody Hundredth

  Family

  In 1968, a meeting of several former members of

  the One Hundredth took place in the living room

  of Robert and Phillis Rosenthal. Among them

  were Harry Crosby and his wife, Horace Varian,

  Jack Kid and others. The meeting gave rise to the

  idea of starting a veterans’ organization with the

  two goals of starting a magazine and organizing

  a reunion. It was supposed to take place at the

  Rosenthal’s in the garden. It was assumed that

  around 30 people would participate. After the

  first rounds of searching for former comrades

  and invitations, it turned out that there would be

  more than 200 participants, who would not all fit

  into Rosie’s garden. So the meeting took place in

  1969 at Andrews Air Force Base. And so, the 100th

  Bomb Group Association was founded. Since then,

  veterans and their families have been meeting

  every few years. A few years ago, the Associa-

  tion turned into a Foundation. Its mission remains,

  even though most of the original members of the

  Blood Hundredth have left us. The task was tak-

  en over by their children and grandchildren, and

  now even the great-grandchildren of the veter-

  ans, together with unit historians, photo archi-

  vists and other friends of the Hundredth, working

  on a volunteer basis. The foundation maintains its

  core mission in terms of the Bloody Hundredth

  legacy, holding reunions and publishing a jour-

  nal, as planned long ago in the Rosenthals’ living

  room. The foundation also supports a number

  of 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. Defense

  and 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 Mighty

  Eighth Museum, Savannah, GA. (Museum of Air battle

  over the Ore Mountains)

  In 1977, Englishman Mike Harvey and a group

  of friends decided to save the still standing, but

  overgrown and neglected original control tower

  at Thorpe Abbotts and rebuild it as a memorial to

  the American airmen who had made a temporary

  home there many years prior. The owner of the

  land, Sir Rupert Mann, was sympathetic to the

  idea and leased the land, including the control

  tower, for 999 years. The long-lasting, demand-

  ing reconstruction and landscaping also included

  clearing the former control tower of the mess left

  by 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 wandering

  the English countryside. However, they were not

  just any tourists. Former members of the Bloody

  Hundredth, who spent several months of their

  youth there in the 1940s, came to see their forgot-

  ten base. Soon, the 100th Bomb Group Memorial

  Museum in Thorpe Abbotts and the 100th Bomb

  Group Association linked up and museum pho-

  tographs, uniforms, equipment, awards, notes,

  and memories began to surface. The museum

  opened in May, 1981. Over the following decades,

  the care of volunteers has made it a truly unique

  memorial to the history of the 100th Bomb Group,

  and it continues to grow. However, it is not just

  a collection of exhibits, but a truly living place

  Top to bottom:

  Forgotten control tower at Thorpe Abbotts, used

  as a pig shelter and straw storage in the 1970s.

  Part of a team of English volunteers who in 1977 began

  building a museum commemorating the activities

  of the 100th Bomb Group at this site. From left: Mike

  Harvey, Paul Meen , Peter Adcock and daughter, John

  Goldsmith, Jim Mole, Ron Batley, with Richard Gibson

  kneeling in front.

  Today the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum is one

  of the finest air war museums in the UK. The core of its

  exhibition is housed in a restored control tower.

  (100th BG Memorial Museum collection)

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  that breathes history and where at every step

  you can meet those tremendous stories that

  were born right there and that today recreate

  the legend and legacy of the Bloody Hundredth.

  In 2022, the museum received the prestigious

  Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service from the

  British 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, 1947

  and decommissioned again on June 27th, 1949.

  It was later reactivated several more times as

  the 100th Bomb Wing (1956-1966, with B-47s), the

  100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (1966–1976,

  U-2s), the 100th Air Refueling Wing (1976–1983,

  KC-135s), followed by seven years on ice, after

  which the One Hundredth was reactivated as

  the 100th Air Division (1990–1991) and then again

  as the 100th Air Refueling Wing (1992–present,

  KC-135R aircraft). The unit is based in the UK at

  RAF Mildenhall, just a few minutes’ flight from

  Thorpe Abbotts, and is the main USAF refueling

  unit for the European area. The members of the

  100th ARW are justifiably proud of their genera-

  tional connection to the 100th Bomb Group, which

  is shown, among other things, by sporting the

  ‘Square D’ on the tails of their giant Stratotankers,

  the designation used by the 100th Bomb Group

  during World War II. The 100th ARW representa-

  tives regularly attend 100th BGF reunions and oc-

  casionally volunteer to help out at the museum at

  Thorpe Abbotts. They faithfully familiarize them-

  selves with the history that preceded their unit

  long before they themselves came into the world.

  Boeing KC-135R s/n 58-0100, due to its last three digits

  of 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 named

  after one of the 100th Bomb Group’s aircraft lost over

  Kovarska on September 11, 1944. (100th ARW & Public

  Domain)

  Meeting of Generations. In addition to the human

  participants, several 100th BG Foundation Reunions

  featured the B-17 ‘The Movie Memphis Belle,’ a flying

  warbird with the 100th Bomb Group designation, and

  a KC-135R from the 100th ARW. This image was taken

  at the 2017 Reunion.

  (Museum of Air battle over the Ore Mountains)

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  28

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• Page 29

  that breathes history and where at every step

  you can meet those tremendous stories that

  were born right there and that today recreate

  the legend and legacy of the Bloody Hundredth.

  In 2022, the museum received the prestigious

  Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service from the

  British 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, 1947

  and decommissioned again on June 27th, 1949.

  It was later reactivated several more times as

  the 100th Bomb Wing (1956-1966, with B-47s), the

  100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (1966–1976,

  U-2s), the 100th Air Refueling Wing (1976–1983,

  KC-135s), followed by seven years on ice, after

  which the One Hundredth was reactivated as

  the 100th Air Division (1990–1991) and then again

  as the 100th Air Refueling Wing (1992–present,

  KC-135R aircraft). The unit is based in the UK at

  RAF Mildenhall, just a few minutes’ flight from

  Thorpe Abbotts, and is the main USAF refueling

  unit for the European area. The members of the

  100th ARW are justifiably proud of their genera-

  tional connection to the 100th Bomb Group, which

  is shown, among other things, by sporting the

  ‘Square D’ on the tails of their giant Stratotankers,

  the designation used by the 100th Bomb Group

  during World War II. The 100th ARW representa-

  tives regularly attend 100th BGF reunions and oc-

  casionally volunteer to help out at the museum at

  Thorpe Abbotts. They faithfully familiarize them-

  selves with the history that preceded their unit

  long before they themselves came into the world.

  Boeing KC-135R s/n 58-0100, due to its last three digits

  of 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 named

  after one of the 100th Bomb Group’s aircraft lost over

  Kovarska on September 11, 1944. (100th ARW & Public

  Domain)

  Meeting of Generations. In addition to the human

  participants, several 100th BG Foundation Reunions

  featured the B-17 ‘The Movie Memphis Belle,’ a flying

  warbird with the 100th Bomb Group designation, and

  a KC-135R from the 100th ARW. This image was taken

  at the 2017 Reunion.

  (Museum of Air battle over the Ore Mountains)

  On Saturday, September 13th, 1997, after many

  years of research, the Museum of the Air Battle

  over the Ore Mountains, September 11, 1944, was

  established at Kovarska, in the Czech Republic.

  It is dedicated to the largest air battle over

  Czechoslovakia and at the same time the sec-

  ond most tragic mission of the Bloody Hundredth.

  It lost thirteen B-17Gs that day. Already after its

  opening, the Museum in Kovarska was recog-

  nized as part of the 100th Bomb Group Associ-

  ation, today Foundation. Together with the three

  entities described in this chapter above, that is,

  the Foundation itself, the museum at Thorpe Ab-

  botts and the 100th ARW USAF, they form, as the

  youngest of them, an informal community called

  the 100th BG Family, or The Bloody Hundredth

  Family. It is thus its only non-Anglo-American

  component and also the only representative of

  the Bloody Hundredth in continental Europe, the

  places where the unit fought in the years 1943-45.

  A large number of books have been written

  about the 100th Bomb Group since the war, most

  of them by the members of the unit themselves,

  and the unit has become the basis of the famous

  film ‘Twelve O’Clock High’ from 1949. Space is

  dedicated to it in many museums in the United

  States 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 Battle

  of the Ore Mountains on September 11th, 1944 in

  Kovarska, Czech Republic. The photo on the right

  shows a detail of the display case dedicated to B-17G

  44-6089 ‘Leading Lady’, shot down that day with crew

  Lt. Lawrence W. Riegel. This plane was several times

  flown also by Maj. Robert Rosenthal, Commander of

  the 350th Bomb Squadron. (Museum of Air battle over

  the Ore Mountains)

  The memorial day commemorating the 70th anniver-

  sary of the air battle over the Ore Mountains, held in

  Kovarska, Czech Republic, in September 2014, was

  attended by representatives of the 100th Bomb Group

  Foundation, the U.S. Air Force, the 100th BG Museum at

  Thorpe Abbotts, and family members of some of the

  airmen of the 100th BG lost that day. (Museum of Air

  battle over the Ore Mountains)

  HISTORY

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

  29

  June 2024

• Page 30

  ries released in January, 2024, called ‘Masters of

  the Air’ from the production team of Gary Goetz-

  man, Kirk Saduski, Tom Hanks and Steven Spiel-

  berg. The series brought the fate of the Bloody

  Hundredth and, through it, other allied air units

  in 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 following

  eleven 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.mil

  The Eduard Model Accessories release of the

  B-17F in 1:48th scale as ‘The Bloody Hundredth

  1943’ Limited Edition model kit, prepared in col-

  laboration with the 100th BG Foundation focusing

  on the early months of the 100th Bomb Group’s

  fighting in Europe, is a significant element in

  the field of plastic modeling which draws on the

  history of the 100th Bomb Group while helping to

  preserve its legacy.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  30

  June 2024

• Page 31

  ries released in January, 2024, called ‘Masters of

  the Air’ from the production team of Gary Goetz-

  man, Kirk Saduski, Tom Hanks and Steven Spiel-

  berg. The series brought the fate of the Bloody

  Hundredth and, through it, other allied air units

  in 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 following

  eleven 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.mil

  The Eduard Model Accessories release of the

  B-17F in 1:48th scale as ‘The Bloody Hundredth

  1943’ Limited Edition model kit, prepared in col-

  laboration with the 100th BG Foundation focusing

  on the early months of the 100th Bomb Group’s

  fighting in Europe, is a significant element in

  the field of plastic modeling which draws on the

  history of the 100th Bomb Group while helping to

  preserve its legacy.

  By the time Waltham’s own Lt. Thomas E. Murphy,

  a former transport pilot, touched down on June

  8th, 1943 with his crew in their new B-17F ‘564’

  at Thorpe Abbots, the 8th Air Force had eleven

  months and 61 bombing missions under its belt.

  Still, at that point, the Bombing offensive against

  Germany was in its infancy and toughest was yet

  to come. And one of its greatest symbols would be

  Murphy, his crew, and their B-17.

  The aircraft was christened ‘Piccadilly Lily’ and

  a pinup nude with a glass in her hand and a halo

  above her head were painted on the right side of

  the nose. The name was inspired not only by the

  well-known song ‘Lily from Piccadilly’, but also

  by girls with big hearts who waited in the streets

  leading from London’s Piccadilly Circus for the

  return of Allied airmen and soldiers, especially

  American, to help them better endure the hard-

  ships of war.

  Two weeks after arriving in England, the 100th

  Bomb Group was fully ready for combat. Piccadilly

  Lily also took part in the first two missions, but

  these were not credited because they were diver-

  sionary rather than bombing tasks. Confirmation

  of participation in these diversionary missions,

  nicknamed ‘Decoy’, later appeared on this aircraft

  in the form of two painted ducks mission mark-

  ings. These missions were intended to lure Ger-

  man fighters over the North Sea, after which the

  main attack force of the 8th Air Force headed for

  the Ruhr region.

  Three days later came an actual bombing mis-

  sion to Bremen. A baptism of fire befitting a unit

  soon to be nicknamed ‘The Bloody Hundredth’.

  Murphy and his crew with Piccadilly Lily played

  their role. The unit paid the price of three B-17Fs.

  On Thursday, August 17, 1943, the 100th Bomb

  Group 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 of

  two Distinguished (Presidential) Unit Citations that

  the 100th BG received. The targets of the famous

  Title photo: Piccadilly Lily at Telergma airfield in North

  Africa after the Regensburg mission on August 17, 1943.

  The crew of Capt. Thomas E. Murphy after landing from

  the mission to Regensburg. Second from the left is

  future author and screenwriter, Lt. Col. Bernie Lay.

  PICCADILLY LILY

  B-17F-30-VE 42-5864 EP

  -

  A

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  Color profiles: Michal Fárek

  Photos: 100th Bomb Group Archives

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

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• Page 32

  “Double strike” mission for the 100th BG were

  the aircraft factories at Regensburg followed by

  a landing in North Africa. It was the 14th mission

  for Murphy’s crew, and Lily’s thirteenth. In an al-

  most last minute decision, the unit’s operations

  officer made a change when a ‘trainee’ observer

  from 8th Air Force Headquarters, Lt.Col. Bernie

  Lay, was reassigned from the crew of ‘Alice from

  Dallas’ to co-pilot ‘Picadilly Lily’. During the mis-

  sion, the 100th BG lost nine aircraft, ninety men.

  ‘Alice from Dallas’ was one of the lost B-17s. Picca-

  dilly Lily was brought safely to Algiers by her pilot

  Thomas Murphy.

  Bernie Lay submitted a report to headquarters

  about the horror experienced and the heroism

  displayed during the battles over Regensburg,

  in which, among other things, he nominated all

  the crew members of the 100th BG participating

  in the Regensburg mission for the DFC and the

  commanding pilot of the low squadron, Maj. Gale

  W. ‘Bucky’ Cleven, for the Medal of Honor.

  Through September 21st, 1943, ‘Lily’ flew only

  two more missions. Among the reasons were

  the difficult repairs to damage that the aircraft

  endured during the course of its missions. Flak

  over Paris on September 15th, 1943 severely im-

  pacted the underside of the aircraft, tearing off

  half of the bomb bay doors. Meanwhile, Thomas

  Murphy’s crew was nearing the end of its opera-

  tional tour. When ‘Lily’ and her ground crew were

  photographed on September 21st, 1943, she was

  painted with fifteen bomb mission markings, two

  ducks and eight swastikas symbolizing downed

  enemy fighters.

  On the afternoon of October 7, 1943, Murphy’s

  crew were notified that they had been removed

  from flight status, although they still had two mis-

  sions left to complete their tour. The officers of the

  crew were notified of their pending promotions,

  evidently being considered for promotion to com-

  mand positions.

  Thomas Murphy was to become the assistant ex-

  ecutive officer of the group, while other officers

  from the crew were to go to the headquarters of

  the 13th Combat Wing or the 3rd Bombardment

  Division.

  Variant 1: Capt. Thomas E. Murphy crew, Lt. Col. Beirne Lay. Jr., 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group,

  Regensburg mission, 17 August 1943, Telergma, Algeria

  Piccadilly Lily in North Africa.

  The 100th BG formation chart for the Regensburg mission on August 17, 1943. Crosses indicate lost

  aircraft.

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  32

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• Page 33

  “Double strike” mission for the 100th BG were

  the aircraft factories at Regensburg followed by

  a landing in North Africa. It was the 14th mission

  for Murphy’s crew, and Lily’s thirteenth. In an al-

  most last minute decision, the unit’s operations

  officer made a change when a ‘trainee’ observer

  from 8th Air Force Headquarters, Lt.Col. Bernie

  Lay, was reassigned from the crew of ‘Alice from

  Dallas’ to co-pilot ‘Picadilly Lily’. During the mis-

  sion, the 100th BG lost nine aircraft, ninety men.

  ‘Alice from Dallas’ was one of the lost B-17s. Picca-

  dilly Lily was brought safely to Algiers by her pilot

  Thomas Murphy.

  Bernie Lay submitted a report to headquarters

  about the horror experienced and the heroism

  displayed during the battles over Regensburg,

  in which, among other things, he nominated all

  the crew members of the 100th BG participating

  in the Regensburg mission for the DFC and the

  commanding pilot of the low squadron, Maj. Gale

  W. ‘Bucky’ Cleven, for the Medal of Honor.

  Through September 21st, 1943, ‘Lily’ flew only

  two more missions. Among the reasons were

  the difficult repairs to damage that the aircraft

  endured during the course of its missions. Flak

  over Paris on September 15th, 1943 severely im-

  pacted the underside of the aircraft, tearing off

  half of the bomb bay doors. Meanwhile, Thomas

  Murphy’s crew was nearing the end of its opera-

  tional tour. When ‘Lily’ and her ground crew were

  photographed on September 21st, 1943, she was

  painted with fifteen bomb mission markings, two

  ducks and eight swastikas symbolizing downed

  enemy fighters.

  On the afternoon of October 7, 1943, Murphy’s

  crew were notified that they had been removed

  from flight status, although they still had two mis-

  sions left to complete their tour. The officers of the

  crew were notified of their pending promotions,

  evidently being considered for promotion to com-

  mand positions.

  Thomas Murphy was to become the assistant ex-

  ecutive officer of the group, while other officers

  from the crew were to go to the headquarters of

  the 13th Combat Wing or the 3rd Bombardment

  Division.

  Variant 1: Capt. Thomas E. Murphy crew, Lt. Col. Beirne Lay. Jr., 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group,

  Regensburg mission, 17 August 1943, Telergma, Algeria

  Piccadilly Lily in North Africa.

  The 100th BG formation chart for the Regensburg mission on August 17, 1943. Crosses indicate lost

  aircraft.

  The next morning the crew were nevertheless

  woken up to quickly replace another, who had

  originally been slated to fly Piccadilly Lily that day,

  despite their being grounded. It was October 8th

  and the destination was, as with Lily’s first mis-

  sion, Bremen.

  Before taxiing to the final take-off point, for an

  unknown reason, Capt. Alvin L. Barker, Operations

  Officer of the 351st Squadron joined the crew as

  its 11th member, despite being medically excluded

  from flying. He sat in the co-pilot’s seat. Lily was

  to be the lead machine of the lower box formation.

  One of the ground crew, Sgt. Ken Lemmons (one

  of the key characters depicted in the Masters of

  the Air series) recollected:

  Murphy leaned out of

  the cockpit window and I saluted him. He motioned

  for me to remove the chocks so that he could be-

  gan to taxi. Smiling his lopsided smile, he saluted

  me and then closed his window and went to work.

  We moved over the flight line as the bombers tax-

  ied into position. As usual, the officers were up on

  the Control Tower to observe take-off. For once,

  the weather was great. The sun shone bright-

  ly and there was only a slight breeze. The pilots

  would take off every thirty seconds and begin the

  intricately choreographed moves required to form

  hundreds of bombers into a coherent group. Spi-

  raling upwards, the squadron would form up first,

  and then the group would assemble…

  About ten minutes after crossing the continen-

  tal coast, the stream of bombers was attacked by

  Luftwaffe fighters. The crews observed distant

  combat of German aircraft with a group of P-47s,

  isolated attacks by Bf 110s and Fw 190s concen-

  trated on the 390th Bomb Group, without inflicting

  major damage.

  Suddenly, however, a group of German fighters

  struck the formation of the 100th Bomb Group

  with enormous force. They attacked from the front,

  slightly to the left. Within moments, after colliding

  with an Fw 190, one B-17 exploded. As her fireball,

  consuming metal and crew, headed for the ground,

  a second ripped at the seams while another left

  the formation with an engine engulfed in flames.

  Many of the remaining B-17s were damaged to one

  extent or another.

  As the formation approached the target, all hell

  broke loose yet again. This time it was a barrage of

  heavy flak. Piccadilly Lily received hits through her

  Variant 1

  Repairing damage to the left side of vertical stabilizer

  of Piccadilly Lily.

  The original appearance of the starboard

  nose, before the mission and aerial victory

  symbols were applied.

  Capt. Thomas E. Murphy in the cockpit of Piccadilly Lily.

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

  33

  June 2024

• Page 34

  front end and the radio operator’s compartment.

  The radio operator and one of the waisy gunners

  were killed by flak shrapnel. The oxygen line was

  damaged. Murphy decided to continue attacking

  the designated target. To leave the safety of the

  formation at this point would have been tempting

  fate way beyond reason. Few crews that found

  themselves alone in such a situation managed to

  return home safely. Just after laying her eggs, Lily

  took another heavy hit. Flames erupted from the

  right inboard engine and the right landing gear ex-

  tended. The plane began to vibrate violently. There

  was nothing left to decide and Murphy began to

  carefully leave the formation. At least the surviv-

  ing crew members who would leave the aircraft

  would be less likely to be endangered by the other

  aircraft still in formation and also, an explosion,

  a good possibility by then, would be less likely to

  damage friendlies. The crew members were more

  or less successful in getting out of the burning

  plane. While Thomas Murphy and Alvin Barker, in

  the position of co-pilot, were trying to hold the

  plane together so that they could eventually bail

  out, the fuel tank near the number three engine

  exploded, killing those who had not yet gotten out

  of the plane.

  Piccadilly Lily went down off Wesermünde, north

  of Bremen, taking with her five crew members.

  One more died after unsuccessfully attempting

  to bail from the stricken aircraft. The 100th Bom-

  bardment Group lost a total of 7 crews and aircraft

  that day.

  Bernie Lay, who flew on Lily to Regensburg on

  August 17th, 1943, built a sort of memorial to her

  and Thomas Murphy when, in the script for the

  famous 1949 film ‘Twelve O’Clock High’, and the

  book 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 Bomb

  Squadron, 100th Bomb, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain,

  21 September 1943

  Variant 2: Capt. Thomas E. Murphy crew351st Bomb Squadron,

  100th Bomb, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain, 21 September 1943

  Capt. Thomas E.

  Murphy was killed

  along with three

  other men of his

  crew in a raid on

  Bremen on Octo-

  ber 8, 1943.

  Capt.

  Alvin L. Barker,

  Operations Officer

  of the 351st BS,

  died as a Com-

  manding Pilot with

  the crew of Capt.

  Murphy.

  Murphy’s crew with Piccadilly Lily in her later form in

  the second half of September 1943.

  Twelve O’Clock High movie poster.

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  34

  June 2024

• Page 35

  front end and the radio operator’s compartment.

  The radio operator and one of the waisy gunners

  were killed by flak shrapnel. The oxygen line was

  damaged. Murphy decided to continue attacking

  the designated target. To leave the safety of the

  formation at this point would have been tempting

  fate way beyond reason. Few crews that found

  themselves alone in such a situation managed to

  return home safely. Just after laying her eggs, Lily

  took another heavy hit. Flames erupted from the

  right inboard engine and the right landing gear ex-

  tended. The plane began to vibrate violently. There

  was nothing left to decide and Murphy began to

  carefully leave the formation. At least the surviv-

  ing crew members who would leave the aircraft

  would be less likely to be endangered by the other

  aircraft still in formation and also, an explosion,

  a good possibility by then, would be less likely to

  damage friendlies. The crew members were more

  or less successful in getting out of the burning

  plane. While Thomas Murphy and Alvin Barker, in

  the position of co-pilot, were trying to hold the

  plane together so that they could eventually bail

  out, the fuel tank near the number three engine

  exploded, killing those who had not yet gotten out

  of the plane.

  Piccadilly Lily went down off Wesermünde, north

  of Bremen, taking with her five crew members.

  One more died after unsuccessfully attempting

  to bail from the stricken aircraft. The 100th Bom-

  bardment Group lost a total of 7 crews and aircraft

  that day.

  Bernie Lay, who flew on Lily to Regensburg on

  August 17th, 1943, built a sort of memorial to her

  and Thomas Murphy when, in the script for the

  famous 1949 film ‘Twelve O’Clock High’, and the

  book 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 Bomb

  Squadron, 100th Bomb, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain,

  21 September 1943

  Variant 2: Capt. Thomas E. Murphy crew351st Bomb Squadron,

  100th Bomb, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain, 21 September 1943

  Capt. Thomas E.

  Murphy was killed

  along with three

  other men of his

  crew in a raid on

  Bremen on Octo-

  ber 8, 1943.

  Capt.

  Alvin L. Barker,

  Operations Officer

  of the 351st BS,

  died as a Com-

  manding Pilot with

  the crew of Capt.

  Murphy.

  Murphy’s crew with Piccadilly Lily in her later form in

  the second half of September 1943.

  Twelve O’Clock High movie poster.

  The story of Alice from Dallas is a prime example

  of how entangled the fates of individual crews and

  their planes can be if they served over the same

  period with the same squadron and also how dif-

  ficult it can be for historians to position all the

  pieces of the puzzle to form a clear and accurate

  picture, telling a story set in the time context with

  events as moving and surreal as were the skies

  over Europe in 1943.

  B-17F Serial Number 42-5867 was one of the

  original B-17s that was delivered to the 100th

  Bomb 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, married

  Alice 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 lettering

  on either side of the front was supposed to bring

  good luck to DeSanders and the remaining nine

  men 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 gremlin

  type figure from the 350th Bomb Squadron em-

  blem, releasing bombs from a chamber pot.

  Alice from Dallas was unusual in her front end

  configuration. 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 of

  the development of the nose gun on the left side of

  the nose. The machine gun was placed in a convex

  semi-bubble in the shape of a teardrop, which was

  supposed to give the navigator, who was tasked

  with its use, a better view of the space between

  9 and 11 o’clock. However, development did not stop

  there and a satisfactory designed was realized

  only by a diagonally raised firing positions, such

  as those found on aircraft from the late produc-

  tion blocks of the F series. Thanks to this, Alice

  from Dallas was quite unusual among the other

  machines of the unit.

  On May 29th, 1943, the crew initiated their move

  to England with their Alice. They arrived at Thorpe

  Abbotts on June 8th and took off together on their

  first combat mission two weeks later. It was not

  yet 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 crews

  to decorate the noses of their aircraft with mis-

  sion markings for those they had flown, and Alice

  was no exception. She was not decorated with

  either bombs or duck symbols indicating partici-

  pation in those decoy missions. Alice suffered her

  first serious fighter inflicted damage during a raid

  on Le Bourget on the 14th of July.

  After a very long and difficult raid on Trondheim,

  Norway, on July 24th, 1943, Bill DeSanders fell ill

  with an unpleasant virus. The following morning,

  his crew flew with a replacement pilot, the 350th

  Bomb Squadron’s Operations Officer, Capt. Rich-

  ard Carey. They flew in a B-17F borrowed from the

  crew 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 flak

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  Color profiles: Michal Fárek

  Photos: 100th Bomb Group Archives

  Title photo: “Alice from Dallas” during a mission

  to Warnemünde on 29 July 1943.

  “Alice from Dallas” with her crew during the final

  phase of the unit’s training in the USA. The original

  name of the aircraft is repainted on the nose,

  and the new name has not yet been applied.

  ALICE FROM DALLAS

  B-17F-30-VE 42-5867 LN

  -

  O

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  hits, the plane crashed into the North Sea. Five

  men from the crew perished. The only one left of

  the original crew besides DeSanders at the base

  was the radio operator, Sgt. Rudden, who also did

  not fly that day. He was soon assigned to another

  crew 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 the

  case on August 17th, 1943, during an attack on Re-

  gensburg. Alice was one of nine 100th Bomb Group

  B-17s lost that day.

  The irony lies in the fact that Roy F. Claytor’s

  crew, who lost their Duration + 6 with the original

  Alice from Dallas crew three weeks earlier, was

  flying Alice that day.

  When the 100th Bomb Group formation on route

  to Regensburg reached the eastern part of Bel-

  gium, a group of German fighters attacked the low

  squadron of the formation, led by Maj. Gale ‘Bucky’

  Cleven. Its rearguard was led by Roy Claytor in

  Alice. And it was on him that the current fighter

  attack focused and sent all three of his planes to

  the ground. At the same time, the fighters shot

  down one of Bucky Cleven’s wingmen, leaving only

  two machines of the six plane formation of the low

  squadron.

  The initial rounds that hit Alice from Dallas were

  very serious. Roy Claytor later testified:

  ‘I had not

  seen any enemy fighters nor had any been called

  out but then I suddenly felt the ship being hit hard…

  I pushed the nose down to get out of formation and

  at the same time saw that the left wing was on fire.

  The ship was trying to go to a spin to the left. I gave

  the order to bail out. I got up, standing between

  the seats, flying the plane, when the nose went up

  and 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 down

  furiously with the landing gear extended, making

  a 360° turn back toward the formation before finally

  spiraling toward the ground in flames. At approxi-

  mately 8,000 feet, her fuel tanks exploded and the

  wreckage crashed near Langerloo, Belgium. What

  was left of Alice from Dallas also buried tail gun-

  ner S/Sgt. Musant, whose parachute opened too

  soon and snagged the horizontal stabilizer. The

  second 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 visible

  in front of the pilot’s window.

  INFO Eduard

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  hits, the plane crashed into the North Sea. Five

  men from the crew perished. The only one left of

  the original crew besides DeSanders at the base

  was the radio operator, Sgt. Rudden, who also did

  not fly that day. He was soon assigned to another

  crew 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 the

  case on August 17th, 1943, during an attack on Re-

  gensburg. Alice was one of nine 100th Bomb Group

  B-17s lost that day.

  The irony lies in the fact that Roy F. Claytor’s

  crew, who lost their Duration + 6 with the original

  Alice from Dallas crew three weeks earlier, was

  flying Alice that day.

  When the 100th Bomb Group formation on route

  to Regensburg reached the eastern part of Bel-

  gium, a group of German fighters attacked the low

  squadron of the formation, led by Maj. Gale ‘Bucky’

  Cleven. Its rearguard was led by Roy Claytor in

  Alice. And it was on him that the current fighter

  attack focused and sent all three of his planes to

  the ground. At the same time, the fighters shot

  down one of Bucky Cleven’s wingmen, leaving only

  two machines of the six plane formation of the low

  squadron.

  The initial rounds that hit Alice from Dallas were

  very serious. Roy Claytor later testified:

  ‘I had not

  seen any enemy fighters nor had any been called

  out but then I suddenly felt the ship being hit hard…

  I pushed the nose down to get out of formation and

  at the same time saw that the left wing was on fire.

  The ship was trying to go to a spin to the left. I gave

  the order to bail out. I got up, standing between

  the seats, flying the plane, when the nose went up

  and 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 down

  furiously with the landing gear extended, making

  a 360° turn back toward the formation before finally

  spiraling toward the ground in flames. At approxi-

  mately 8,000 feet, her fuel tanks exploded and the

  wreckage crashed near Langerloo, Belgium. What

  was left of Alice from Dallas also buried tail gun-

  ner S/Sgt. Musant, whose parachute opened too

  soon and snagged the horizontal stabilizer. The

  second 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 visible

  in front of the pilot’s window.

  ner, S/Sgt. William M. Hinton, who probably did not

  manage to bail out in time.

  Five of the eight surviving airmen managed to

  escape capture with the help of the Belgian and

  French resistance movements.

  Bill DeSanders, who first lost his crew and

  later Alice from Dallas, did not return to combat

  flying until September 3rd, 1943. He flew as a re-

  placement pilot with other crews, and later as

  Commanding Pilot for the 350th BS. As October

  arrived, so did a new B-17G, which inherited the

  code LN

  -

  O from Alice and was named Alice from

  Dallas II. It was with her that Capt. DeSanders flew

  his twenty-fifth and final mission. It was February

  13th, 1944, and the Commanding Pilot for the flight

  was Capt. John C. ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo, who appears

  in this intertwined recounting in connection with

  Sunny II and who, like DeSanders, completed his

  operational 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 Bomb

  Group, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain, August 1943

  John H. Luckadoo, 350th Bomb

  Squadron operations officer, and

  William D. DeSanders completed their

  operational tour together in B-17G

  “Alice from Dallas II” on 13 February

  1944.

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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

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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

  The part of Glenn W. Dye’s crew that did com-

  plete their tour requirement returned to the United

  States after a few days off. After returning to the

  US, Glenn W. Dye was stationed at Smokey Hill Air

  Force Base in Salina, KS, where he participated in

  B-29 testing as a test pilot, instructor, and acci-

  dent investigator until the end of the war.

  Co-pilot ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo had four missions left

  to fly after September 16th, 1943. The deficit was

  created by his gang becoming the lead crew. And

  when the commander of the operation (Command-

  ing Pilot) sometimes flew with them, he usually

  sat in the co-pilot’s seat and the regular co-pilot

  stayed at home. This happened four times between

  June 25th and August 15th, so Lucky had to remain

  on duty and make up those combat missions. This

  was to last quite a long time in the end, as he was

  assigned to the position of Squadron Operations

  Officer and his duties did not allow him to fly very

  often. He completed three of the remaining mis-

  sions in October and November as lead pilot at

  the element or squadron level. After that, he was

  transferred to the 350th Squadron at his own re-

  quest, where he also served as Operations Officer

  Co-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 bore

  the 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 1943

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

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  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. George

  W. Brannan crew, 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb

  Group, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain, 30 December

  1943

  Variant 2

  INFO Eduard

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  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. George

  W. Brannan crew, 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb

  Group, Thorpe Abbotts, Great Britain, 30 December

  1943

  Variant 2

  and on February 13th, 1944, he flew his 25th and

  last mission.

  The fate of Sgt. Dickerson was not as kind.

  For his 25th mission, he was added as a waist

  gunner to the crew of Capt. Thomas Murphy fly-

  ing Piccadilly Lily. Lucky, his original co-pilot, flew

  ‘King Bee’ and led the second element, essentially

  directly behind Lily. It was October 8th, 1943, and

  the target that day was Bremen. Lily didn’t return

  from the mission and Sgt. Dickerson was killed on

  his last, twenty-fifth, mission…

  That fateful mission to Bremen was also under-

  taken by their former Sunny II. Lt. John T. Griffin

  had the controls. This was the third journey over

  enemy territory for his crew in Piccadilly Lily and

  sixth 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 knocked

  him to the floor near the navigator and bombardier

  compartment. He scrambled back into the turret

  with the shattered dome. His gloves, stained with

  blood from his head, froze to the controls of his

  machine guns, but he continued to fight. He was

  later sent back to the United States because of

  his injuries. The co-pilot, Lt. Johnson, after his re-

  covery was transferred to a non-combat role with

  the Group. Rear Gunner Sgt. Pilgrim was hit in the

  right arm. Engine number 3 was disabled and the

  wing and fuselage were punctured by countless

  hits from fighters and flak. Still, Sunny II returned

  from Bremen. Upon returning, the pilot, Lt. Griffin,

  counted hits to four of the twelve propeller blades

  as well.

  The redesignation of the aircraft’s individual letter from K to J was made after repairing extensive damage

  sustained by “Sunny II” in the raid on Bremen on October 8, 1943.

  “Sunny II” after an emergency landing

  at Harlseton, 30 December 1943.

  Variant 2

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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.

  INFO Eduard

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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).

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  True great legends are not born by accident.

  It takes exceptional and strong personalities to

  create 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 the

  first ‘lucky bastards’ of the unit’s original line-up

  were close to completing their 25-mission oper-

  ational tour.

  Robert Rosenthal, nicknamed Rosie, was already

  a twenty-six-year-old officer at the beginning of

  his combat career, a true leader for his crew, who

  respected him for his firmness as well as his

  friendly and kind nature. His path to the combat

  unit was not very direct, but from the beginning

  it bore signs of great determination and a sense

  of justice and responsibility. After graduating from

  Brooklyn Law School, he worked in a law firm in

  Manhattan. On December 8th, 1941, the day after

  Japan attacked the United States, he volunteered

  for the Army Air Force. After completing basic

  training, he worked as a gunnery instructor for

  several 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 completed

  training in mid-August 1943 and moved to Europe.

  B-17F serial number 42-30758,

  of the 418th Squadron, was a re-

  latively modern aircraft from

  the 120th production block from

  Boeing. It arrived in England on

  the last day of August in 1943 and

  was flown to the base at Thorpe

  Abbotts shortly afterwards. Un-

  usually, the aircraft was assigned

  to a newly arriving crew. The For-

  tress was named Rosie’s Riveters

  after her commander. In addition

  to the commander’s name, the ti-

  tle is a play on words and a trib-

  ute to the American women who

  went to the aircraft, shipbuilding,

  and armaments factories to join

  the war effort and were nick-

  named ‘Rosie the Riveter.’

  The mission of October 8th, 1943

  may have been the first and last

  for both B-17F ‘Rosie’s Riveters’

  and Rosenthal’s crew. The term ‘baptism by fire’

  took on a full meaning here. During the raid on

  Bremen, the unit lost seven crews, including the

  commander of the 350th Squadron, Maj. Gale W.

  ‘Bucky’ Cleven. Robert Rosenthal was able to bring

  the seriously damaged aircraft back from his first

  mission, with many hits from flak and fighters.

  And it should have been worse.

  The rookie crew didn’t get much of a chance to

  shake off the shock of their first mission. While

  Rosie’s Riveters was being repaired, the crew con-

  tinued their combat flights the next day and the

  next after that. They replaced their own aircraft

  with a B-17F named ‘Royal Flush’. The target for

  the third mission in three days was Münster on

  October 10th, 1943. If not two days earlier, then

  on this day the legend of Robert Rosenthal was

  certainly born. The 100th Bomb Group flew as

  one of the combat units of the 13th Combat Wing.

  Out of thirteen aircraft from the Hundredth, only

  one returned that day. Royal Flush. With only two

  working engines, countless bullet holes, disabled

  intercom and oxygen systems, wounded on board

  and a large hole from a Wfr.Gr.21 rocket in the right

  half of the wing, the bird limped home. The unit

  lost twelve crews, including Rosenthal’s squadron

  commander, Maj. John C. ‘Bucky’ Egan.

  On board Rosie’s Riveters, the crew flew a large

  number of their operational missions through to

  the end of 1943. She also became a lead aircraft

  during this period, leading a formation of the

  13th Combat Wing five times in addition to lead-

  ing the squadron. This demanded a newer aircraft.

  During January 1944, they received a new, more

  modern B-17G, which they also named ‘Rosie’s

  Riveters’. The original Rosie’s Riveters, a B-17F,

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  Color profiles: Michal Fárek

  Photos: 100th Bomb Group Archives

  ROSIE’S RIVETERS

  B-17F-120-BO 42-30758 LD

  -

  W

  Title photo: A trio of B-17Fs from the 418th Bomb Squadron at Thorpe Abbotts. From left to

  right 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 industry

  to contribute to the common cause in the factories.

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  44

  June 2024

• Page 45

  True great legends are not born by accident.

  It takes exceptional and strong personalities to

  create 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 the

  first ‘lucky bastards’ of the unit’s original line-up

  were close to completing their 25-mission oper-

  ational tour.

  Robert Rosenthal, nicknamed Rosie, was already

  a twenty-six-year-old officer at the beginning of

  his combat career, a true leader for his crew, who

  respected him for his firmness as well as his

  friendly and kind nature. His path to the combat

  unit was not very direct, but from the beginning

  it bore signs of great determination and a sense

  of justice and responsibility. After graduating from

  Brooklyn Law School, he worked in a law firm in

  Manhattan. On December 8th, 1941, the day after

  Japan attacked the United States, he volunteered

  for the Army Air Force. After completing basic

  training, he worked as a gunnery instructor for

  several 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 completed

  training in mid-August 1943 and moved to Europe.

  B-17F serial number 42-30758,

  of the 418th Squadron, was a re-

  latively modern aircraft from

  the 120th production block from

  Boeing. It arrived in England on

  the last day of August in 1943 and

  was flown to the base at Thorpe

  Abbotts shortly afterwards. Un-

  usually, the aircraft was assigned

  to a newly arriving crew. The For-

  tress was named Rosie’s Riveters

  after her commander. In addition

  to the commander’s name, the ti-

  tle is a play on words and a trib-

  ute to the American women who

  went to the aircraft, shipbuilding,

  and armaments factories to join

  the war effort and were nick-

  named ‘Rosie the Riveter.’

  The mission of October 8th, 1943

  may have been the first and last

  for both B-17F ‘Rosie’s Riveters’

  and Rosenthal’s crew. The term ‘baptism by fire’

  took on a full meaning here. During the raid on

  Bremen, the unit lost seven crews, including the

  commander of the 350th Squadron, Maj. Gale W.

  ‘Bucky’ Cleven. Robert Rosenthal was able to bring

  the seriously damaged aircraft back from his first

  mission, with many hits from flak and fighters.

  And it should have been worse.

  The rookie crew didn’t get much of a chance to

  shake off the shock of their first mission. While

  Rosie’s Riveters was being repaired, the crew con-

  tinued their combat flights the next day and the

  next after that. They replaced their own aircraft

  with a B-17F named ‘Royal Flush’. The target for

  the third mission in three days was Münster on

  October 10th, 1943. If not two days earlier, then

  on this day the legend of Robert Rosenthal was

  certainly born. The 100th Bomb Group flew as

  one of the combat units of the 13th Combat Wing.

  Out of thirteen aircraft from the Hundredth, only

  one returned that day. Royal Flush. With only two

  working engines, countless bullet holes, disabled

  intercom and oxygen systems, wounded on board

  and a large hole from a Wfr.Gr.21 rocket in the right

  half of the wing, the bird limped home. The unit

  lost twelve crews, including Rosenthal’s squadron

  commander, Maj. John C. ‘Bucky’ Egan.

  On board Rosie’s Riveters, the crew flew a large

  number of their operational missions through to

  the end of 1943. She also became a lead aircraft

  during this period, leading a formation of the

  13th Combat Wing five times in addition to lead-

  ing the squadron. This demanded a newer aircraft.

  During January 1944, they received a new, more

  modern B-17G, which they also named ‘Rosie’s

  Riveters’. The original Rosie’s Riveters, a B-17F,

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  Color profiles: Michal Fárek

  Photos: 100th Bomb Group Archives

  ROSIE’S RIVETERS

  B-17F-120-BO 42-30758 LD

  -

  W

  Title photo: A trio of B-17Fs from the 418th Bomb Squadron at Thorpe Abbotts. From left to

  right 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 industry

  to 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-17F

  became McPhee’s crew’s ‘own’ plane. They were

  proud of her and together they were shot down

  on February 4th, 1944 during a raid on Frankfurt.

  The aircraft, which had saved Robert Rosenthal’s

  rookie crew on its first combat flight a few months

  earlier, did not disappoint this time either. The for-

  mer Rosie’s Riveters bellied in on a plowed field

  in the middle of Germany and her surviving crew

  were 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, was

  Lt. Robert Rosenthal

  Below: the crew of Robert Rosenthal, fall 1943.

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

  45

  June 2024

• Page 46

  shot down on May 12th, 1944 during a raid on Most

  (Brüx) in Czechoslovakia. The plane exploded

  in the air near St. Goarshausen in Germany. The

  entire crew commanded by Lt. Alexander Kinder

  bailed out and survived.

  At that time, however, Robert Rosenthal was

  no longer flying with the 418th Squadron. He be-

  came the Assistant Group Operations Officer of

  the 100th Bomb Group and later the Commander

  of the 350th Squadron, and now, with the rank of

  Major, he began his voluntary second operational

  tour. He also occasionally flew, mainly as a Com-

  manding Pilot, at the head of his squadron, group

  or the 13th Combat Wing. This was also the case

  on September 10th, 1944, when he led a stream of

  bombers to Nuremberg. Due to heavy flak over the

  target, Rosie was forced to break away from the

  formation and attempt to return with the serious-

  ly damaged aircraft on his own. The subsequent

  crash landing behind the front lines in France

  saved the crew, but also left Robert Rosenthal

  with a broken arm, facial and internal injuries that

  put him in a military hospital. He thus missed the

  mission the following day, when the 100th Bomb

  Group lost thirteen of its aircraft in the air battle

  over the Czech-German Ore Mountains during the

  raid on Ruhland. Not a single one

  of Rosenthal’s 350th Squadron

  planes returned. When he learned

  of this in the hospital, it remind-

  ed him, among other things, of

  October 10th, 1943, when, except

  for his crew, no one from his unit

  made it back…

  After returning from the hospi-

  tal, Rosie Rosenthal was briefly

  involved in the training program

  of the 13th Combat Wing and then,

  on December 1st, 1944, assumed

  command of his original 418th

  Squadron. Due to the demands

  placed on him by command tasks,

  he continued his combat mis-

  sions with less intensity. Even

  so, 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, which

  killed the bombardier and the navigator. In addi-

  tion, a fire broke out on board. Robert Rosenthal

  knew he could not get back to friendly territory, so

  he continued east in an attempt to cross the battle

  lines there. When the conditions were such that

  they threatened an imminent crash or explosion,

  he gave the order to the crew to bail. Then he also

  left the plane. He injured his legs in a hard landing

  in a plowed field in no man’s land. Red Army sol-

  diers discovered him lying on his back. With the

  help of the Soviets, he managed to return to En-

  gland at the end of March, 1945, where he trained

  new crews until the end of May. He returned to the

  United States on June 7th, 1945.

  Here he was to be assigned to B-29 training, but

  on November 30th, he was honorably discharged

  from the Air Force. However, direct contact with

  the horrors of World War II was not to end for

  Robert Rosenthal. His wartime experience, high

  intelligence, legal education, and, let’s assume,

  Jewish ancestry, made him adept at yet another

  unusual service to his country and civilization that

  Rosie believed in. He returned to Europe in 1946 as

  a member of the American prosecution team at

  the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. During

  the 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 and

  raised three children.

  When the 100th Bomb Group Veterans Organiza-

  tion was formed many years after the war, Rosie

  became one of its founders, most active members

  B-17F-120-BO s/n 42-30758 LD

  -

  W ”Rosie’s

  Riveters“, Lt. Robert ”Rosie“ Rosenthal crew,

  418th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group,

  Bremen mission, 8 October 1943

  Maj. Rosenthal, now squadron commander, at a decoration ceremony. He attended countless

  ceremonies, being decorated for his war service with numerous honors: the Distinguished

  Service Cross (for the Berlin mission on Feb 3, 1945), the Silver Star (Munster, Oct 10, 1943) with

  Cluster (Oct 3, 1943 - Sept 10, 1944), the Distinguished Flying Cross (completion of 25 missions

  on March 8, 1944 - Berlin) with Cluster (July 12, 1944 - Munich / Aug 5, 1944 - Magdeburg), the

  Purple Heart with Cluster (Sept 10, 1944 - Nurnberg and Feb 3, 1945 - Berlin), the Air Medal with

  7 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross (British), the Croix de Guerre (French), the

  ETO Ribbon with 4 Battle Stars (Air Offensive Europe, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland),

  the Distinguished (Presidential) Unit Citation, and authorization to wear 3 overseas service

  bars, 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 Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  46

  June 2024

• Page 47

  shot down on May 12th, 1944 during a raid on Most

  (Brüx) in Czechoslovakia. The plane exploded

  in the air near St. Goarshausen in Germany. The

  entire crew commanded by Lt. Alexander Kinder

  bailed out and survived.

  At that time, however, Robert Rosenthal was

  no longer flying with the 418th Squadron. He be-

  came the Assistant Group Operations Officer of

  the 100th Bomb Group and later the Commander

  of the 350th Squadron, and now, with the rank of

  Major, he began his voluntary second operational

  tour. He also occasionally flew, mainly as a Com-

  manding Pilot, at the head of his squadron, group

  or the 13th Combat Wing. This was also the case

  on September 10th, 1944, when he led a stream of

  bombers to Nuremberg. Due to heavy flak over the

  target, Rosie was forced to break away from the

  formation and attempt to return with the serious-

  ly damaged aircraft on his own. The subsequent

  crash landing behind the front lines in France

  saved the crew, but also left Robert Rosenthal

  with a broken arm, facial and internal injuries that

  put him in a military hospital. He thus missed the

  mission the following day, when the 100th Bomb

  Group lost thirteen of its aircraft in the air battle

  over the Czech-German Ore Mountains during the

  raid on Ruhland. Not a single one

  of Rosenthal’s 350th Squadron

  planes returned. When he learned

  of this in the hospital, it remind-

  ed him, among other things, of

  October 10th, 1943, when, except

  for his crew, no one from his unit

  made it back…

  After returning from the hospi-

  tal, Rosie Rosenthal was briefly

  involved in the training program

  of the 13th Combat Wing and then,

  on December 1st, 1944, assumed

  command of his original 418th

  Squadron. Due to the demands

  placed on him by command tasks,

  he continued his combat mis-

  sions with less intensity. Even

  so, 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, which

  killed the bombardier and the navigator. In addi-

  tion, a fire broke out on board. Robert Rosenthal

  knew he could not get back to friendly territory, so

  he continued east in an attempt to cross the battle

  lines there. When the conditions were such that

  they threatened an imminent crash or explosion,

  he gave the order to the crew to bail. Then he also

  left the plane. He injured his legs in a hard landing

  in a plowed field in no man’s land. Red Army sol-

  diers discovered him lying on his back. With the

  help of the Soviets, he managed to return to En-

  gland at the end of March, 1945, where he trained

  new crews until the end of May. He returned to the

  United States on June 7th, 1945.

  Here he was to be assigned to B-29 training, but

  on November 30th, he was honorably discharged

  from the Air Force. However, direct contact with

  the horrors of World War II was not to end for

  Robert Rosenthal. His wartime experience, high

  intelligence, legal education, and, let’s assume,

  Jewish ancestry, made him adept at yet another

  unusual service to his country and civilization that

  Rosie believed in. He returned to Europe in 1946 as

  a member of the American prosecution team at

  the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. During

  the 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 and

  raised three children.

  When the 100th Bomb Group Veterans Organiza-

  tion was formed many years after the war, Rosie

  became one of its founders, most active members

  B-17F-120-BO s/n 42-30758 LD

  -

  W ”Rosie’s

  Riveters“, Lt. Robert ”Rosie“ Rosenthal crew,

  418th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group,

  Bremen mission, 8 October 1943

  Maj. Rosenthal, now squadron commander, at a decoration ceremony. He attended countless

  ceremonies, being decorated for his war service with numerous honors: the Distinguished

  Service Cross (for the Berlin mission on Feb 3, 1945), the Silver Star (Munster, Oct 10, 1943) with

  Cluster (Oct 3, 1943 - Sept 10, 1944), the Distinguished Flying Cross (completion of 25 missions

  on March 8, 1944 - Berlin) with Cluster (July 12, 1944 - Munich / Aug 5, 1944 - Magdeburg), the

  Purple Heart with Cluster (Sept 10, 1944 - Nurnberg and Feb 3, 1945 - Berlin), the Air Medal with

  7 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross (British), the Croix de Guerre (French), the

  ETO Ribbon with 4 Battle Stars (Air Offensive Europe, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland),

  the Distinguished (Presidential) Unit Citation, and authorization to wear 3 overseas service

  bars, 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 remained

  active until his death in 2007. Two years before

  that, he came to the Czech Republic to pay tribute

  to the men of his unit who were shot down in the

  largest 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 the

  100th Bomb Group Foundation was passed on to

  his son, Dan Rosenthal, who was also the founda-

  tion’s President for many years and today serves

  as its Vice President of Philanthropy and a mem-

  ber of the Board of Directors.

  In the Masters of the Air film series, Robert

  Rosenthal is portrayed by actor Nate Mann as

  one of the main characters in the story. A lesser

  known fact is that Rosie’s grandson Sam was cast

  as one of Robert Rosenthal’s crew members on his

  last 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 Reunion

  in San Antonio in 1979. Little did either of these men

  know that 45 years later, they would become charac-

  ters in the spectacular Masters of the Air series that

  would relive their long-ago stories. From left: Harry

  Crosby, Robert Rosenthal, and Everett Blakely.

  B-17G 42-31504 “Rosie’s Riveters II,” with which

  Rosenthal’s crew completed its operational tour

  in March 1944. On May 12, 1944, this aircraft, with

  the crew of Lt. Alexander W. Kinder, was lost

  in a raid on Most (Brüx).

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

  47

  June 2024

• Page 48

  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

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  48

  June 2024

• Page 49

  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

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  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 1943

  Skipper in her later form, with her technicians. Standing

  on 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 correct

  name was Olle N. Turner, but the Air

  Force misspelled it, and Maj. Turner

  used this form during the war).

  Right: Lt. Jack R. Swartout, Skip-

  per’s pilot, later left the 351st BS

  to become commander of the 350th

  BS. He was a respected pilot and

  recognized as the leader of the

  group’s combat formations in raids

  on Germany and occupied Europe.

  He was one of the few members

  of the original 100th Bombardment

  Group crews to complete

  the operational tour.

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  50

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• Page 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 1943

  Skipper in her later form, with her technicians. Standing

  on 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 correct

  name was Olle N. Turner, but the Air

  Force misspelled it, and Maj. Turner

  used this form during the war).

  Right: Lt. Jack R. Swartout, Skip-

  per’s pilot, later left the 351st BS

  to become commander of the 350th

  BS. He was a respected pilot and

  recognized as the leader of the

  group’s combat formations in raids

  on Germany and occupied Europe.

  He was one of the few members

  of the original 100th Bombardment

  Group crews to complete

  the operational tour.

  nicknamed ‘Skipper’ by some friends from the unit,

  and so the name also appeared on the nose of the

  plane. Originally, however, it was a nickname that

  Maj. Turner gave his wife.

  During August and September, Skipper, under

  the care of Dewey Christopher and his ground

  team, flew several combat missions. As the com-

  mander’s aircraft, she understandably had fewer

  of them than other machines over a given peri-

  od. On October 10th, 1943, she was included in the

  group of bombers designated for a raid on Münster.

  Yes, the flight from which only Robert Rosenthal in

  the B-17F ‘Royal Flush’ returned out of the entire

  unit. Skipper was saved from certain destruction

  by a series of breakdowns and a poorly running

  No. 2 engine that forced her crew to abort and turn

  back early. Almost a month later, on November

  5th, Skipper was heavily damaged in an attack on

  Gelsenkirchen.

  After repairs, she continued to fly missions with

  various pilots until the 24th of January, 1944, when

  the 100th Bomb Group went over Frankfurt. That

  day, Skipper was flown by the crew of Lt. Archie

  J. Drummond. Archie “Four Mile” Drummond had

  flown many missions with Skipper before, as

  co-pilot of Jack Swartout’s crew. Swartout later

  became commander of the 350th Squadron, and

  Drummond took over the crew as its pilot. Shortly

  after takeoff, at a height of barely 700 feet above

  the ground (about 210m), the pilots were dazzled

  by 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 gain

  valuable altitude in a climb to the level designated

  for forming up. Since the B-24 pilots evidently did

  not see the B-17 in front of them, Lt. Drummond

  pushed the bomb-laden aircraft towards the

  ground in an attempt to avoid a collision. Skipper

  thus avoided the Liberator in a descending right

  turn, but at the same time got dangerously close

  to the ground. While leveling out, the B-17F’s left

  wing sliced into the roof of a barn about 15 miles

  from base. Gasoline from the punctured tanks

  turned the plane into a burning torch. The machine

  flew through a small wooded area and landed in

  a field behind it. The impact with the ground threw

  the navigator through the plexiglas nose, Lt. Mau-

  rice G. Zetlen, who succumbed to his injuries at

  the 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 of

  a new aircraft, which they named ‘Skipper II’.

  It was an olive drab early B-17G and was destined

  to survive the war with over a hundred missions

  flown. Humpty Dumpty, Humpty Dumpty II (Nasty

  Nan) and others also came later.

  ‘It was having the satisfaction of knowing I was

  giving 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 and

  raise the hood when you’re up in the air!’…

  Dewey

  commented on his work. Although aircrews, if they

  managed to complete an operational tour, usually

  returned home, the men of the ground staff usu-

  ally remained until the end of the war. It was the

  same with Dewey Christopher. As part of the unit’s

  original ‘stateside’ cadre, he served with the 100th

  Bomb Group throughout its combat deployment.

  Dewey stayed true to his profession after leaving

  the military and worked as an aircraft mechanic

  for United Airlines for 41 years.

  Many years after the war, at the 100th Bomb

  Group Reunion in 2011, I listened in awe as he

  F/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 insignia

  and moved fuselage letters.

  B-17G s/n 42-31708 Skipper II, with 111 missions to her

  credit, survived the war and returned to the US.

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  gave an insightful and enthusias-

  tic explanation of the supercharger

  and engine setup as he stood with

  friends under the wing of a flying

  B-17 warbird.

  The 100th Air Refueling Wing,

  based at RAF Mildenhall, England,

  is the successor to the 100th Bomb

  Group. It is also the only USAF unit

  that still uses the markings of its

  predecessor; its four-engine KC-135

  tankers proudly wear a ‘Square D’

  on their rudders, much like the

  100th Bomb Group. In June 2019, the

  unit named one of its components

  focused on training aircraft main-

  tenance specialists the ‘Dewey R.

  Christopher Professional Develop-

  ment Center’. Dewey himself also

  attended the center’s renaming ceremony. He con-

  sidered it a tremendous honor. It was also his last

  visit 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 in

  Colorado Springs. Veterans were already scarce

  at the Reunion that year. It was October 11th and

  in the early evening word had reached us that one

  of our veterans at the reunion hotel had died that

  afternoon. When we got back, we learned it was

  Dewey Christopher. He left unexpectedly, among

  the 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 to

  Reunions for years. Today, Gary is one of the 100th

  Bomb Group Foundation’s Board of Directors.

  After Dewey died, the 100th ARW at Mildenhall

  decided to name one of their KC-135s, aircraft

  s/n 59-1470, ‘Skipper III’ in honor of Dewey Chris-

  topher and other ground and combat crews who

  flew their B-17F Skipper and B-17G Skipper II over

  occupied Europe in 1943-45.

  ‘Dewey’s main concern was doing everything

  possible to ensure his crew and airplane returned

  home safely. He would diligently inspect all the

  B-17s he was responsible for, doing everything

  possible to keep them in top running order. That

  is the very definition of professionalism. We honor

  him today because it’s the proud heritage of his

  generation that will help inspire RAF Mildenhall

  Airmen for years to come.’

  ….said in 2019, at the

  aircraft naming ceremony, Col. Troy Pananon,

  Commander of the 100th ARW.

  Variant 2

  M/Sgt. Dewey Christopher with one of his later B-17Gs,

  s/n 43-38852 (Humpty Dumpty II), which returned from

  a 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 Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  52

  June 2024

• Page 53

  gave an insightful and enthusias-

  tic explanation of the supercharger

  and engine setup as he stood with

  friends under the wing of a flying

  B-17 warbird.

  The 100th Air Refueling Wing,

  based at RAF Mildenhall, England,

  is the successor to the 100th Bomb

  Group. It is also the only USAF unit

  that still uses the markings of its

  predecessor; its four-engine KC-135

  tankers proudly wear a ‘Square D’

  on their rudders, much like the

  100th Bomb Group. In June 2019, the

  unit named one of its components

  focused on training aircraft main-

  tenance specialists the ‘Dewey R.

  Christopher Professional Develop-

  ment Center’. Dewey himself also

  attended the center’s renaming ceremony. He con-

  sidered it a tremendous honor. It was also his last

  visit 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 in

  Colorado Springs. Veterans were already scarce

  at the Reunion that year. It was October 11th and

  in the early evening word had reached us that one

  of our veterans at the reunion hotel had died that

  afternoon. When we got back, we learned it was

  Dewey Christopher. He left unexpectedly, among

  the 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 to

  Reunions for years. Today, Gary is one of the 100th

  Bomb Group Foundation’s Board of Directors.

  After Dewey died, the 100th ARW at Mildenhall

  decided to name one of their KC-135s, aircraft

  s/n 59-1470, ‘Skipper III’ in honor of Dewey Chris-

  topher and other ground and combat crews who

  flew their B-17F Skipper and B-17G Skipper II over

  occupied Europe in 1943-45.

  ‘Dewey’s main concern was doing everything

  possible to ensure his crew and airplane returned

  home safely. He would diligently inspect all the

  B-17s he was responsible for, doing everything

  possible to keep them in top running order. That

  is the very definition of professionalism. We honor

  him today because it’s the proud heritage of his

  generation that will help inspire RAF Mildenhall

  Airmen for years to come.’

  ….said in 2019, at the

  aircraft naming ceremony, Col. Troy Pananon,

  Commander of the 100th ARW.

  Variant 2

  M/Sgt. Dewey Christopher with one of his later B-17Gs,

  s/n 43-38852 (Humpty Dumpty II), which returned from

  a 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’ is

  a 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 the

  song by the trio Voskovec, Werich and Ježek can

  be correlated with the fate of B-17F No. 42-5957

  without much alteration. The aircraft was built in

  the forty F-series production block at Vega’s Bur-

  bank facility. It was taken over by the Air Force

  on May 24th, 1943, and two months and one day

  later she was in England. She was subsequently

  assigned to service with the 349th Bomb Squad-

  ron, 100th Bomb Group.

  The aircraft returned from its first mission on

  September 6th, 1943, with the co-pilot dead and

  the pilot, bombardier and navigator seriously

  wounded. The mission to Stuttgart that day, in

  a B-17 coded XR

  -

  D but as yet unnamed, was flown

  by a crew commanded by Lt. Sumner H. Reeder,

  one of the future commanders of the 349th Bomb

  Squadron. While it was the first mission for the

  plane, it was the thirteenth for Reeder’s crew!

  During a direct flight while sighting the target,

  the group was attacked from the sun and the

  2 o’clock position, almost head-on, by German

  Focke Wulf Fw 190 fighters. Almost immediately,

  Reeder’s plane was hit. Shells from 20mm cannon

  hit the nose and the cockpit, and punctured one

  wing tank. The dorsal gunner, T/Sgt. Harold L. Pope

  managed to hit the attacking aircraft at a distance

  of 400 yards. The ‘190 exploded just in front of the

  B-17 it was attacking, and the debris damaged its

  tail surfaces. But that wasn’t the worst part. One of

  the 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 slumped

  up against the steering wheel, covered in blood.

  Additional shrapnel tore off part of the pilot’s

  seat. 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 obstruct

  the steering. Reeder descended to the lower levels

  of the combat box, where he sought the protection

  of the other aircraft and continued his flight to the

  target. He did not yet know that the bombardier

  and the navigator were also seriously wounded

  and bleeding profusely. Immediately it became

  clear that the oxygen distribution system and the

  radio were damaged. Bombardier, Lt. Peter E. De-

  lao was wounded by shrapnel in the face, legs and

  hands. The navigator, Lt. Russel D. Engel, suffered

  face injuries from the shrapnel and from explosive

  rounds that took one of his eyes. Incredibly, he

  refused a morphine injection to be able to help the

  pilot fly the stricken bomber on behalf of the dy-

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  Color profiles: Michal Fárek

  Photos: 100th Bomb Group Archives

  Title photo: The nose of a B-17F “Horny II”

  on a hardstand at Thorpe Abbotts.

  Damage to the nose after a mission on September

  6, 1943. The small hole in the co-pilot’s side window

  is from the 20mm explosive projectile that killed the

  co-pilot, F/O Harry E. Edeburn (in portrait photo).

  HORNY II

  B-17F-40-VE 42-5957 XR

  -

  D

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

  53

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• Page 54

  ing co-pilot. Sumner Reeder left the formation and

  turned for home. It was necessary to descend to

  a lower altitude where they could operate without

  oxygen. Although they were still attacked by fight-

  ers, no further serious damage was done. The pilot

  shook off the fighters with almost aerobatic eva-

  sive maneuvers, and a couple of still functioning

  machine guns helped in the defense. Finally, the

  plane ducked into some local cloud cover, where

  the pilot changed direction several times so that

  the intercepting fighters could not guess from

  where they may emerge. Several times they flew

  from 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 the

  wounded co-pilot on the floor. However, the latter,

  F/O Edeburn, tried to return to his seat three times

  to help the wounded commander fly the aircraft.

  On the third attempt, he fell on his back into the

  space 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 idea

  where 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 approximate

  course to England. Once they reached the coast,

  they followed it north in order to be over land in

  case they had to make an emergency landing or

  abandon the plane by parachute, since as at least

  one of their two dinghies was destroyed. Several

  times they headed blindly 40-50 miles west over

  the sea, but then always returned to the French

  coast and continued along it. Finally they spotted

  a faint haze in the west. Running low on fuel, they

  tried again, successfully this time. In England they

  started looking around for an airport big enough to

  land on. Finally they saw a bomber on the ground.

  It was an RCAF base where they were taken care

  of. After landing Lt. Reeder climbed out of the

  plane and lay motionless on the grass for several

  minutes. He then telephoned his base and, like his

  comrades, was taken to hospital. He did not return

  to active duty until early January 1944. The bom-

  bardier and navigator were decommissioned due

  to their serious injuries and sent back to the US.

  For his performance on this mission, Lt. Reed-

  er was awarded the DSC (Distinguished Service

  Cross), seriously wounded lieutenants Engel and

  Delao received the DFC (Distinguished Flying

  Cross). This was also posthumously awarded to

  co-pilot F/O Edeburn for his heroism and efforts

  despite serious injuries to assist the also wounded

  pilot in controlling the damaged aircraft.

  With Lt. Reeder on the mend, the rest of the

  crew continued their missions with a new pilot

  and co-pilot. They did not return from a mission

  after a controversial incident - on 5 November,

  most of them had to leave the aircraft over enemy

  territory, while the replacement pilot and co-pi-

  lot flew the B-17 back to England (see Mugwump

  and Squawkin’ Hawk medallions). One of the crew

  was killed when his parachute failed to open, four

  were taken prisoner and three managed to escape

  from the enemy.

  After being discharged from the hospital,

  Sumner Reeder became the Operations Officer for

  the 349th BS and later its commander. He com-

  pleted his operational tour in July of 1944, passed

  on his squadron command and returned to the

  United States. There, he joined the Transport Air

  Force and was killed off the coast of Florida on

  March 19th, 1945 during a training flight in a C-54.

  Aircraft 42-5957 was repaired and returned to

  combat service. It was assigned to the crew of

  Detail 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 the

  damage 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-VE

  block, while the “41” block never existed.

  B-17F 42-5957 after landing at the RCAF base on her

  return from Stuttgart on September 6, 1943. At that

  time, it still had the red-lined Type 3 insignia. The yellow

  object caught on the horizontal tail surfaces is a dinghy,

  a lifeboat that fell out of the storage compartment and

  got caught on the elevator stabilizer.

  Maj. Sumner H. Reeder

  Group Operations Officer, Maj. John B. “Jack” Kidd,

  at the schedule board for the September 3, 1943

  mission. Four of the crews on this list did not return

  that day (Winkleman, Fineup, Floyd, and also the crew

  of Lt. King, who was not yet written on the board at

  the time of the photograph). Fourth from the top, with

  the airplane code letter “D,” the crew of Lt. Henington

  (incorrectly spelled with two “N’s”) lost its first aircraft

  named “Horny” (42-30611) that day when it was “bathed”

  in the English Channel.

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  54

  June 2024

• Page 55

  ing co-pilot. Sumner Reeder left the formation and

  turned for home. It was necessary to descend to

  a lower altitude where they could operate without

  oxygen. Although they were still attacked by fight-

  ers, no further serious damage was done. The pilot

  shook off the fighters with almost aerobatic eva-

  sive maneuvers, and a couple of still functioning

  machine guns helped in the defense. Finally, the

  plane ducked into some local cloud cover, where

  the pilot changed direction several times so that

  the intercepting fighters could not guess from

  where they may emerge. Several times they flew

  from 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 the

  wounded co-pilot on the floor. However, the latter,

  F/O Edeburn, tried to return to his seat three times

  to help the wounded commander fly the aircraft.

  On the third attempt, he fell on his back into the

  space 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 idea

  where 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 approximate

  course to England. Once they reached the coast,

  they followed it north in order to be over land in

  case they had to make an emergency landing or

  abandon the plane by parachute, since as at least

  one of their two dinghies was destroyed. Several

  times they headed blindly 40-50 miles west over

  the sea, but then always returned to the French

  coast and continued along it. Finally they spotted

  a faint haze in the west. Running low on fuel, they

  tried again, successfully this time. In England they

  started looking around for an airport big enough to

  land on. Finally they saw a bomber on the ground.

  It was an RCAF base where they were taken care

  of. After landing Lt. Reeder climbed out of the

  plane and lay motionless on the grass for several

  minutes. He then telephoned his base and, like his

  comrades, was taken to hospital. He did not return

  to active duty until early January 1944. The bom-

  bardier and navigator were decommissioned due

  to their serious injuries and sent back to the US.

  For his performance on this mission, Lt. Reed-

  er was awarded the DSC (Distinguished Service

  Cross), seriously wounded lieutenants Engel and

  Delao received the DFC (Distinguished Flying

  Cross). This was also posthumously awarded to

  co-pilot F/O Edeburn for his heroism and efforts

  despite serious injuries to assist the also wounded

  pilot in controlling the damaged aircraft.

  With Lt. Reeder on the mend, the rest of the

  crew continued their missions with a new pilot

  and co-pilot. They did not return from a mission

  after a controversial incident - on 5 November,

  most of them had to leave the aircraft over enemy

  territory, while the replacement pilot and co-pi-

  lot flew the B-17 back to England (see Mugwump

  and Squawkin’ Hawk medallions). One of the crew

  was killed when his parachute failed to open, four

  were taken prisoner and three managed to escape

  from the enemy.

  After being discharged from the hospital,

  Sumner Reeder became the Operations Officer for

  the 349th BS and later its commander. He com-

  pleted his operational tour in July of 1944, passed

  on his squadron command and returned to the

  United States. There, he joined the Transport Air

  Force and was killed off the coast of Florida on

  March 19th, 1945 during a training flight in a C-54.

  Aircraft 42-5957 was repaired and returned to

  combat service. It was assigned to the crew of

  Detail 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 the

  damage 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-VE

  block, while the “41” block never existed.

  B-17F 42-5957 after landing at the RCAF base on her

  return from Stuttgart on September 6, 1943. At that

  time, it still had the red-lined Type 3 insignia. The yellow

  object caught on the horizontal tail surfaces is a dinghy,

  a lifeboat that fell out of the storage compartment and

  got caught on the elevator stabilizer.

  Maj. Sumner H. Reeder

  Group Operations Officer, Maj. John B. “Jack” Kidd,

  at the schedule board for the September 3, 1943

  mission. Four of the crews on this list did not return

  that day (Winkleman, Fineup, Floyd, and also the crew

  of Lt. King, who was not yet written on the board at

  the time of the photograph). Fourth from the top, with

  the airplane code letter “D,” the crew of Lt. Henington

  (incorrectly spelled with two “N’s”) lost its first aircraft

  named “Horny” (42-30611) that day when it was “bathed”

  in the English Channel.

  Lt. Henry M. Henington, who lost their aircraft

  christened ‘Horny’ plane on September 3rd, 1944

  when it was forced to land in the English Channel

  after a raid on Le Roger Airfield near Paris. The

  new aircraft was named ‘Horny II’ and they add-

  ed a drawing of a long-horned Texas bull to the

  name, whose expression more than emphasized

  the name of the aircraft. The date when the very

  first mission of the crew in their new aircraft took

  place (they already had eleven under their belts)

  could give an idea of the content of the following

  from October 8th, 1943, and the destination was

  Bremen.

  With two engines knocked out and fuel tanks

  punctured, they dragged themselves home across

  the North Sea at 4,000 feet. After the previous

  experience, they definitely did not want to end up

  in the drink again! When they landed at Thorpe

  Abbotts, the aircraft ran out of fuel while taxiing.

  Horny II was once again in the care of the ground

  crews, and as a result, neither she nor her crew

  could 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, with

  a large number flown in this aircraft. The last one,

  the twenty-fifth, took place on December 31st of

  that year. The destination was again Paris, and

  once again Henington and Horny II returned to the

  Channel with only two working engines and with

  flat tires. Fortunately, this time it went relatively

  well.

  At the beginning of 1944, the aircraft was rotated

  through several crews. Damage was a constant

  factor but the mission score rose as well. The pilot

  of the last Horny crew was Ferdinand J. Herres,

  who brought the plane successfully back from

  Berlin on May 7th, 1944. It was the 49th mission

  for Horny II bringing her to within just one combat

  flight away from becoming one of the first Eighth

  Lt. 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 1944

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  Air Force B-17 to fly fifty. Two days later, a tragic

  accident caused by a certain degree of careless-

  ness ignited a spark that caused an explosion of

  gasoline vapors and a subsequent fire when the

  airplane was on the apron, as its chief mechanic,

  Sgt. Chris Starr, conducted some cleaning proce-

  dures with gasoline. A proud veteran of almost

  fifty missions, she was destined to not be record-

  ed into the history of the 8th Air Force. However,

  during her forty-nine sorties, despite significant

  damage and dead or wounded on board, Horny II

  was always able to reliably bring her crew back

  home.

  Ground staff member S/Sgt. Ernest M. Lovato,

  author of the “Horny II” nose art. In addition

  to this aircraft, his talents also graced a number

  of other B-17s from the 100th Bombardment

  Group. Here, Ernest Lovato signs his name on

  a B-17F “Squawkin’ Hawk” in the spring of 1944,

  which was to return to the United States after

  completing 50 missions.

  The last crew to fly the “Horny II” were the men of

  Lt. Ferdinand J. Herres. The aircraft “Good Pickin,”

  s/n 42-6153, was used for training in the US and

  never 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 1944

  INFO Eduard

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  Air Force B-17 to fly fifty. Two days later, a tragic

  accident caused by a certain degree of careless-

  ness ignited a spark that caused an explosion of

  gasoline vapors and a subsequent fire when the

  airplane was on the apron, as its chief mechanic,

  Sgt. Chris Starr, conducted some cleaning proce-

  dures with gasoline. A proud veteran of almost

  fifty missions, she was destined to not be record-

  ed into the history of the 8th Air Force. However,

  during her forty-nine sorties, despite significant

  damage and dead or wounded on board, Horny II

  was always able to reliably bring her crew back

  home.

  Ground staff member S/Sgt. Ernest M. Lovato,

  author of the “Horny II” nose art. In addition

  to this aircraft, his talents also graced a number

  of other B-17s from the 100th Bombardment

  Group. Here, Ernest Lovato signs his name on

  a B-17F “Squawkin’ Hawk” in the spring of 1944,

  which was to return to the United States after

  completing 50 missions.

  The last crew to fly the “Horny II” were the men of

  Lt. Ferdinand J. Herres. The aircraft “Good Pickin,”

  s/n 42-6153, was used for training in the US and

  never 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 1944

  The English portion of Loren C. Van Steenis

  crew’s adventure didn’t begin at Thorpe Abbotts

  but in Bury St. Edmunds, with the 94th Bomb Group,

  where they arrived in the early fall of 1943 and

  spent short time in the group’s training program

  before beginning combat missions. The crew was

  ready to begin their combat tour with their unit,

  proudly bearing the letter ‘A’ in a square on their

  aircraft, when a request from command reached

  the unit to transfer some of their crews to Thorpe

  Abbots, as the 100th Bombardment Group she was

  seriously depleted. It was almost the middle of Oc-

  tober and the Hundred had lost twenty crews since

  the beginning of the month. Van Steenis’ men were

  loaded 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 the

  operations office. We had been joking about arriv-

  ing this date on October 13th. We called it a good

  luck omen. When mentioned this to the officer, he

  said ‘you fellas are listed as Crew #13 and the air-

  plane assigned to you is #413, and also this is the

  13th Combat Wing.’ As we were leaving he said as

  an after thought. ‘Oh yes, your airplane is named

  Hard Luck!’ ’

  Perhaps no other B-17F in the 100th Bomb

  Group is as surrounded by so many legends and

  myths as this one. This was exasperated by the

  repeated appearance of the number 13, which has

  always played a certain role in aviation. Some

  of the connections were real, while others were

  exaggerated, but either way, there is no disputing

  that it was an exceptional aircraft. This B-17F had

  a serial number ending in 13, arrived in England

  on August 19, 1943, but legend has it that it was on

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  Color profiles: Michal Fárek

  Photos: 100th Bomb Group Archives

  Title photo: B-17F 42-3413 “Hard Luck” in formation

  during a training flight over England, July 1944.

  The early form of the aircraft’s nose lacks the dark

  background and other color details that were gradu-

  ally added during the nearly 12-month combat career

  of this B-17F.

  HARD LUCK!

  B-17F-55-DL 42-3413 LN

  -

  V

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  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 painted

  bombs corresponding to 36 missions. Both photographs reveal the inscription around the front escape hatch, “Van’s Flying Circus” and “Entrance.” The photo on the left

  shows 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 right

  half of the elevator.

  INFO Eduard

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  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 painted

  bombs corresponding to 36 missions. Both photographs reveal the inscription around the front escape hatch, “Van’s Flying Circus” and “Entrance.” The photo on the left

  shows 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 right

  half of the elevator.

  Friday the 13th with Crew No. 13 commanded by

  Lt. Don Mitchell. That’s not completely true either.

  However, Mitchell’s crew flew this aircraft on their

  first mission and some missions after. Hard Luck’s

  hardstand was supposed to be the one with the

  number 13, and she did actually occupy that spot

  for a time. But it wasn’t the only designated spot,

  as, for example, 29 comes into play as well. And

  the 100th Bomb Group really was part of the 13th

  Combat Wing.

  It would appear that the first mission of this air-

  craft was a raid on factories in Paris on September

  3rd, 1943. At that time, the aircraft did not have

  its name yet. That didn’t come about until a few

  days later. Lt. Mitchell’s bombardier, Earl G. Hafen,

  loved to sing the popular ‘Ode to Bombers’. At the

  end of it he added his

  ‘... and when they mention

  bombardiers, they always add Hard Luck!

  ‘ The

  connotation extrapolates figuratively, of course,

  to ‘bad luck’, but also a hard-earned happiness.

  The first bad luck came during one of the crew’s

  first missions with aircraft 413. However, who

  knows 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 digits

  of the serial number, the idea came quickly and

  the inscription soon appeared on the left side of

  the nose, where the bombs of the missions flown

  and later also the swastikas marking the enemy

  fighters destroyed by the crews of this aircraft

  were added. Mitchell’s crew soon received one of

  the first B-17Gs assigned to the unit and left Hard

  Luck behind. They named their new B-17G s/n

  42-31074 Cahepit and flew most of their missions

  with it.

  Hard Luck was thus inherited by Van Steenis’

  crew mentioned at the beginning and it is the main

  one that is associated with this ship. By February

  25th, 1944, they had flown eighteen missions, most

  of them in Hard Luck, which, despite all sorts of

  close calls, always returned them home safely.

  Van Stenis’ crew parted ways with their aircraft,

  which had a reverent row of mission markings

  painted on her, in March 1944, when they were

  promoted to lead crew. They were then assigned

  a new B-17G s/n 42-31903 coded LN

  -

  T, named

  ‘Hard Luck II’. However, this name never appeared

  on the nose of the aircraft, so finally there were

  two ‘Hard Luck II’s with 350th Squadron. One sort

  of for themselves, named by Van Steenis’ crew, the

  other by the ground crew of the original Hard Luck

  after their worn but still great B-17F was lost. The

  last operational flight of Van Steenis’s crew, on

  May 7th, 1944, was to Berlin. Most of the crew were

  scheduled to complete their combat tour that day.

  At that time, the quota had already been increased

  to thirty missions. For those who had already

  completed part of their original tour commitment

  at the time of the increase, the increase was by

  a proportional amount. For this crew, the figure

  was 28. Over Berlin, the formation ran into a wall

  Variant 1

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  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 1944

  Loren C. Van Steenis sitting on the nose of “Hard Luck.” Under the

  pilot’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 was

  repainted black.

  “Hard Luck’s” proud ground crew.

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  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 1944

  Loren C. Van Steenis sitting on the nose of “Hard Luck.” Under the

  pilot’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 was

  repainted 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 yellow

  background, and the nose bears the symbols of 41 missions.

  Sometime around the 41-mission peri-

  od of this aircraft, an effort was made

  to change the colors of the lettering

  on the nose. The number 413 is dark,

  and some of the letters of the “Hard

  Luck” lettering are also dark. Several

  photographs show this unfinished

  change, but later versions reverted

  to the original color arrangement.

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  of flak and one of the rounds exploded near the

  No. 3 engine. Its shrapnel severely damaged the

  engine and the B-17G began to lose altitude. When

  checking the crew over the intercom, the bombar-

  dier and the navigator did not report. Bombardier,

  Lt. Lester D. Torbett, was found bleeding profusely

  in the radio operator’s station. Navigator Lt. Har-

  old C. Becker was found killed in the nose of the

  plane. Hard Luck II ‘903’ was repaired and later

  lost on the 29th of July, 1944.

  But, getting back to the original Hard Luck, at

  the end of 1943 and beginning of ‘44, other crews

  occasionally flew lucky 413: George H. Gough and

  Randall 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 this

  period, when over Berlin on March 6th, 1944, flak

  damaged the right wing and the left stabilizer.

  Lt. Chadwick and his crew made it home. A few

  missions later, on April 13th, 1944, Lt. John M.

  Shelly made it back from Augsburg with severe

  damage to the left wing and fuel tank. Two days

  later, however, Hard Luck flew on another mis-

  sion, this time with the crew of John

  S. Giles for the first time. Hard Luck

  was assigned more combat missions

  to this crew between April 19th and

  May 8th than she was finally credit-

  ed. Twice before take-off, Hard Luck

  was replaced by a spare aircraft, and

  on May 1st, 1944, she was designated

  as a ‘flying spare’, a plane that took

  off together with the formation and,

  if necessary, replaced an aircraft

  that for one reason or another had

  to abort the mission. Hard Luck was not needed

  that day, so John S. Giles returned to base with

  her and the bomb load. Not long after that, due

  to bad weather, the rest of the group turned back.

  The mission was scrubbed. The last mission with

  Hard Luck was completed by Giles’ crew on May

  8th, 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 new

  glass nose, side window closures, and a new type

  top turret used on later production blocks of the

  B-17G. Above all, however, a general overhaul was

  to take place, possibly replacing all four engines.

  Hard Luck became a record holder in the 8th Air

  Force, after flying a total of 630 hours over the

  course of fifty missions (various sources for this

  period mention 46-50 with the original engines

  and turbo compressors with which she was flown

  in the summer of 1943 across the ocean. One of

  her four Studebaker-built Wright R-1820 Cyclones

  was in good enough shape that technicians reas-

  sembled it. These modifications took the aircraft

  out of service for several weeks. In addition, the

  unit already had a number of more modern B-17Gs,

  and the old Fs were sent on missions much less

  frequently.

  The excellent condition of the engines was due

  to the ground crew, led by twenty-four-year-old

  The 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 some

  upgrading features.

  INFO Eduard

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  of flak and one of the rounds exploded near the

  No. 3 engine. Its shrapnel severely damaged the

  engine and the B-17G began to lose altitude. When

  checking the crew over the intercom, the bombar-

  dier and the navigator did not report. Bombardier,

  Lt. Lester D. Torbett, was found bleeding profusely

  in the radio operator’s station. Navigator Lt. Har-

  old C. Becker was found killed in the nose of the

  plane. Hard Luck II ‘903’ was repaired and later

  lost on the 29th of July, 1944.

  But, getting back to the original Hard Luck, at

  the end of 1943 and beginning of ‘44, other crews

  occasionally flew lucky 413: George H. Gough and

  Randall 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 this

  period, when over Berlin on March 6th, 1944, flak

  damaged the right wing and the left stabilizer.

  Lt. Chadwick and his crew made it home. A few

  missions later, on April 13th, 1944, Lt. John M.

  Shelly made it back from Augsburg with severe

  damage to the left wing and fuel tank. Two days

  later, however, Hard Luck flew on another mis-

  sion, this time with the crew of John

  S. Giles for the first time. Hard Luck

  was assigned more combat missions

  to this crew between April 19th and

  May 8th than she was finally credit-

  ed. Twice before take-off, Hard Luck

  was replaced by a spare aircraft, and

  on May 1st, 1944, she was designated

  as a ‘flying spare’, a plane that took

  off together with the formation and,

  if necessary, replaced an aircraft

  that for one reason or another had

  to abort the mission. Hard Luck was not needed

  that day, so John S. Giles returned to base with

  her and the bomb load. Not long after that, due

  to bad weather, the rest of the group turned back.

  The mission was scrubbed. The last mission with

  Hard Luck was completed by Giles’ crew on May

  8th, 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 new

  glass nose, side window closures, and a new type

  top turret used on later production blocks of the

  B-17G. Above all, however, a general overhaul was

  to take place, possibly replacing all four engines.

  Hard Luck became a record holder in the 8th Air

  Force, after flying a total of 630 hours over the

  course of fifty missions (various sources for this

  period mention 46-50 with the original engines

  and turbo compressors with which she was flown

  in the summer of 1943 across the ocean. One of

  her four Studebaker-built Wright R-1820 Cyclones

  was in good enough shape that technicians reas-

  sembled it. These modifications took the aircraft

  out of service for several weeks. In addition, the

  unit already had a number of more modern B-17Gs,

  and the old Fs were sent on missions much less

  frequently.

  The excellent condition of the engines was due

  to the ground crew, led by twenty-four-year-old

  The 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 some

  upgrading features.

  M/Sgt. Glenn M. ‘Zip’ Myers, who, among other

  things, was said to be very particular about his

  airplanes, and especially of Hard Luck. He resent-

  ed - and tried to prevent - Hard Luck being given

  to inexperienced pilots. He said of Hard Luck:

  ‘she

  looked lean and hungry... she had no nose turret...

  her tail compartment was narrow, cramped, old

  fashioned, with fabric flapping around the twin fif-

  ty stringers – the kind they used a year ago... ... but

  she was still the fastest plane on the line – among

  her newer, shinier, unpainted sister ships... ‘

  The beginning of July, 1944 marked Hard Luck’s

  return to combat duty. The rejuvenated aircraft

  had previously bounced over Berlin on June 22nd

  with 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 until

  July 8th, 1944, when she carried the young crew of

  Lt. Albert E. Trommer, who was on his third com-

  bat sortie. Trommer’s crew became the main crew

  of Hard Luck for the rest of her service. Plane and

  crew flew eight combat missions together. In addi-

  tion to Albert Trommer, piloting duties in July and

  Variant 2: B-17F 42-3413 LN

  -

  V ”Hard Luck“, Lt. Albert E. Trommer crew,

  350th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, July 1944

  Ground Crew Chief M/Sgt. Glenn ‘Zip’ Myers. He was very proud of ‘his’ airplane and it was said that he fought all

  attempts 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 the

  aircraft after partial modernization. The nose glazing is of the new type, but the old top turret remains.

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  August 1944 were also undertaken by Lt. Lawrence

  W. Riegel. Both Riegel and Trommer and their

  crews, as well as Giles and Shelly, (who had flown

  with Hard Luck earlier), were later shot down on

  September 11th 1944 over the Ore Mountains (the

  mission to Ruhland).

  A member of Trommer’s crew, S/Sgt. John C.

  Kluttz firing from the lower ball turret of Hard

  Luck hit an attacking Fw 190 during a mission to

  Merseburg on July 29th, 1944. He was credited

  with a damaged fighter.

  In mid-summer 1944, this aircraft was one of

  the last two B-17Fs in service with the 100th Bomb

  Group (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 her

  62nd 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 and

  left their position in the high squadron of the group

  which they occupied with a wide turn. Even then,

  Hard Luck was friendly to her crew. All nine men

  were able to leave the dying machine and to ‘hit

  the silk’. The limp B-17F, in a steady descent, made

  several circles near the village of Beerfelden near

  Erbach and landed on the farm of Jakob Seip and

  Adam Schmidt. One building was completely de-

  stroyed, another was seriously damaged. Ten peo-

  ple died in the rubble of the houses. The original

  German investigation assumed that some of the

  dead 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.” In

  the lower image, the aircraft has

  a 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, the

  aircraft still has the old tail turret

  installed. This suggests that the

  replacement occurred sometime

  in late June/July 1944.

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  August 1944 were also undertaken by Lt. Lawrence

  W. Riegel. Both Riegel and Trommer and their

  crews, as well as Giles and Shelly, (who had flown

  with Hard Luck earlier), were later shot down on

  September 11th 1944 over the Ore Mountains (the

  mission to Ruhland).

  A member of Trommer’s crew, S/Sgt. John C.

  Kluttz firing from the lower ball turret of Hard

  Luck hit an attacking Fw 190 during a mission to

  Merseburg on July 29th, 1944. He was credited

  with a damaged fighter.

  In mid-summer 1944, this aircraft was one of

  the last two B-17Fs in service with the 100th Bomb

  Group (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 her

  62nd 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 and

  left their position in the high squadron of the group

  which they occupied with a wide turn. Even then,

  Hard Luck was friendly to her crew. All nine men

  were able to leave the dying machine and to ‘hit

  the silk’. The limp B-17F, in a steady descent, made

  several circles near the village of Beerfelden near

  Erbach and landed on the farm of Jakob Seip and

  Adam Schmidt. One building was completely de-

  stroyed, another was seriously damaged. Ten peo-

  ple died in the rubble of the houses. The original

  German investigation assumed that some of the

  dead 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.” In

  the lower image, the aircraft has

  a 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, the

  aircraft still has the old tail turret

  installed. This suggests that the

  replacement occurred sometime

  in late June/July 1944.

  According to official figures, Hard Luck dropped

  113 tons of bombs on targets during its operation-

  al career, and its gunners claimed four Luftwaffe

  fighters. A veteran of 798 hours in the air over

  62 missions flown, she served in the European

  skies for almost one full year…

  After Royal Flush was lost just three days earlier,

  the fabled Hard Luck became the last B-17F to fly

  in combat with the Bloody Hundred.

  Variant 2

  Photo above: One of a series of shots taken

  during a training flight in formation in July

  1944. At this point, “Hard Luck” bears the

  symbols of 48 missions. This corresponds

  to a date between 9 and 12 July 1944. How-

  ever, it is very likely that the number of

  bombs painted did not exactly match the

  number of combat missions flown, which

  was 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, was

  credited with damage to an Fw 190.

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  B-17F, Serial 42-30066, named Mugwump, did

  and did not have a long history. On the one hand,

  it was among the first twenty B-17s that the 100th

  Bomb Group lost, but on the other hand, it was

  probably the last F model that served with the

  Bloody Hundredth to fly a combat mission. I will

  try to explain this apparent contradiction in the

  following paragraphs.

  When the 100th Bomb Group at Kearney, Nebras-

  ka received its aircraft with which it was to move

  to 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 whom

  the aircraft was assigned, was probably the one

  who named the aircraft. Although the meaning of

  the 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 meant

  someone who could stand up to a dispute in such

  a way as not to anger the other side. The idea used

  to be caricatured as a bird sitting on a fence, with

  head on one side, and butt on the other... that this

  was the meaning of the name on the new B-17F

  is evidenced by the drawing of an ostrich, which

  was added to the inscription on the nose before

  the unit moved to Europe. It was certainly not

  the first name given to this aircraft, as the pho-

  tos show a patch of fresher olive paint under the

  Mugwump inscription after the original name had

  been painted over.

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  Color profiles: Michal Fárek

  Photos: 100th Bomb Group Archives

  MUGWUMP

  B-17F-85-BO 42-30066 LD

  -

  U

  Title photo: Cruikshank’s crew with Mugwump at

  Algiers field after the mission to Regensburg,

  17 August 1943. Although no damage is visible

  to the aircraft from this view, her condition

  did not permit an immediate return to England.

  Mugwump before it was painted with a drawing of an

  ostrich on the right side of the nose. Available photo-

  graphs suggest that the drawing on the left side was

  painted while still at the US base before moving to Eu-

  rope, and the one on the right side at Thorpe Abbotts.

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  66

  June 2024

• Page 67

  B-17F, Serial 42-30066, named Mugwump, did

  and did not have a long history. On the one hand,

  it was among the first twenty B-17s that the 100th

  Bomb Group lost, but on the other hand, it was

  probably the last F model that served with the

  Bloody Hundredth to fly a combat mission. I will

  try to explain this apparent contradiction in the

  following paragraphs.

  When the 100th Bomb Group at Kearney, Nebras-

  ka received its aircraft with which it was to move

  to 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 whom

  the aircraft was assigned, was probably the one

  who named the aircraft. Although the meaning of

  the 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 meant

  someone who could stand up to a dispute in such

  a way as not to anger the other side. The idea used

  to be caricatured as a bird sitting on a fence, with

  head on one side, and butt on the other... that this

  was the meaning of the name on the new B-17F

  is evidenced by the drawing of an ostrich, which

  was added to the inscription on the nose before

  the unit moved to Europe. It was certainly not

  the first name given to this aircraft, as the pho-

  tos show a patch of fresher olive paint under the

  Mugwump inscription after the original name had

  been painted over.

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  Color profiles: Michal Fárek

  Photos: 100th Bomb Group Archives

  MUGWUMP

  B-17F-85-BO 42-30066 LD

  -

  U

  Title photo: Cruikshank’s crew with Mugwump at

  Algiers field after the mission to Regensburg,

  17 August 1943. Although no damage is visible

  to the aircraft from this view, her condition

  did not permit an immediate return to England.

  Mugwump before it was painted with a drawing of an

  ostrich on the right side of the nose. Available photo-

  graphs suggest that the drawing on the left side was

  painted while still at the US base before moving to Eu-

  rope, and the one on the right side at Thorpe Abbotts.

  How many Mugwump missions were flown by

  Flesh’s cannot be determined from available re-

  cords. It is certain that there were at least five

  during June and July.

  August 17th, 1943, came and with it the raid

  on Regensburg. Lt. Flesh missed that mission.

  The reasons were… well, understandable given the

  stress the bomber crews were under and the way

  they usually diffused that stress, but neverthe-

  less, difficult to excuse and certainly incompati-

  ble with the duties and responsibilities of a crew

  commander. So his men flew with a replacement

  pilot, Lt. Curtis L. Biddick. He had lost part of his

  crew earlier, during a raid on Le Bourget, and now

  he and his bombardier stepped in for the ‘unavail-

  able’ pilot and bombardier of Flash’s crew. They

  were assigned ‘Escape Kit’ (B-17F serial number

  42-5860), on loan for the day from Lt. Edgar Woor-

  ward, who was in London for the funeral of his

  navigator, killed by flak two days earlier. Escape

  Kit was shot down before reaching Regensburg.

  Four men of the crew, including the pilot and

  co-pilot, were killed. The others were captured,

  many with serious injuries.

  Maj. John C. “Bucky” Egan, 418th Bomb Squadron commander, flew the Regensburg mission

  as a commanding pilot in the cockpit of Mugwump.

  On right: another legendary pilot of the 100th Bombardment

  Group, Lt. Charles B. “Crankshaft” Cruikshank, flew with his

  crew and “Bucky” Egan in Mugwump to Regensburg. Less

  than two months later, during a mission to Münster

  on October 10, 1943, he was shot down and captured.

  B-17F 42-30066 LD

  -

  U ”Mugwump“, Lt. Charles B. „Crankshaft“ Cruikshank crew,

  Maj. John C. „Bucky“ Egan, 418th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group,

  Thorpe Abbotts, Regensburg mission, 17 August 1943

  The crew of Lt. William R. Flesh with Mugwump.

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

  67

  June 2024

• Page 68

  Flesh’s Mugwump was borrowed by Lt. Charles B.

  ‘Crankshaft’ Cruikshank with his crew for the same

  mission. Next to him in the cockpit sat the Com-

  mander of the 418th BS, Maj. John C. ‘Bucky’ Egan.

  They led the second element of the lead squadron

  of the 100th Bomb Group. German fighters shot

  down both planes of Egan’s element flying at his

  sides, prior to reaching the target, namely the al-

  ready mentioned ‘Escape Kit’, flown by Lt. Biddick,

  and also ‘Picklepuss’, flown by Lt. Robert M. Knox.

  Mugwump was also seriously impacted. Her pi-

  lots were able to fly her to planned landing site in

  North Africa. However, damage was so severe that

  she had to be left behind in Algiers.

  Before we get to Mugwump’s next hand that

  was dealt her, let’s go back to her original pilot.

  When Lt. William R. Flesh lost both his plane and

  his crew during the mission to

  Regensburg and served time

  for his crime, he returned to

  combat flying. He acted pri-

  marily as a substitute where

  needed. One of the ‘adopt-

  ed’ crews was the men of Lt.

  Sumner Reeder, who was re-

  cuperating from wounds sus-

  tained in a raid on Stuttgart

  on September 6th, 1943 (see

  Horny II chapter). Flesh also

  flew with Reeder’s crew as

  a pilot on November 5th, 1943

  in B-17F 42-30088 ‘Squawkin

  Hawk’. Also on board that day

  was the lead navigator of the

  group, Capt. Omar Gonzales.

  Serious flak damage over

  Gelsenkirchen, and partial un-

  controllability, made Lt. Flesh

  order the crew to abandon the plane. Only he and

  the co-pilot remained in the B-17. They flew the

  damaged but lightened ‘Squawkin Hawk’ back to

  England at ground level. It is difficult to judge

  today whether it was the calculation of the pilot

  trying to ‘get rid’ of excess load and thus increase

  his chance of return, incorrect judgment and sub-

  sequent decision, or pure concern for the lives of

  others. All these possibilities were the subject of

  whispers at Thorpe Abbotts.

  Whatever led to the series of pilot decisions, the

  incident sparked further controversy at the base,

  and in the case of Lt. Flesh was the final straw,

  leading to his transfer to another group shortly

  after.

  At this time, the 8th Air Force was being rein-

  forced with new units, and the existing bomb

  groups were called upon to supply these new, in-

  experienced units with at least one experienced

  aircrew to assist their integration. It was said to

  be an opportunity for Bomb Group HQs to get rid of

  troublesome members. Lt. Flesh was transferred

  to the 482nd Bombardment Group at Alconbury

  in late November 1943, where he received train-

  ing to fly B-17s equipped with Mickey H2X radars.

  At the end of January 1944, he was transferred

  to the 303rd Bombardment Group, where he re-

  turned to combat flying. It can be said that he used

  the new opportunity to fix everything he had done

  wrong with the 100th Bomb Group. He completed

  his operational tour with the 303rd Group and vol-

  untarily began a second one. He added thirty-two

  more missions to what he had flown with the

  100th Bomb Group. Some of them in the position of

  commanding pilot. He was then transferred again,

  this time to the 305th Bomb Group, and here as

  an experienced pilot and commander he flew an

  undisclosed number of other missions…

  Meanwhile, Mugwump, which Lt. Flesh flew with

  his crew across the ocean in June 1943, was ex-

  periencing a different but no less turbulent fate.

  After the Regensburg mission on August 17th, 1943,

  she sat seriously damaged at Telegerma Base in

  northern Algeria awaiting repairs. After that, the

  B-17 returned to England, but not to the 100th

  Bomb Group.

  In early 1944, the aircraft was assigned to the

  803rd (Provisional) Group at Oulton Base in Nor-

  folk, where it was equipped with electronic war-

  fare equipment (Mandrel and Carpet systems for

  jamming German radars). In July, 1944 she was re-

  assigned again, this time to the 388th Bomb Group

  at Fersfield, where the top secret Aphrodite proj-

  ect was underway. It involved guiding four-engine

  bombers, in the form of explosive-laden drones, to

  hard-to-destroy targets such as submarine docks,

  V-1 and V-2 launch pads, oil refineries, and the like.

  The project was not nearly as successful as it was

  expected to be. There were only nineteen Aphro-

  dite missions between August, 1944 and January,

  1945. Older, but reliable war weary bombers were

  modified into remotely controlled drones (cas-

  tor), with which a two-man crew took off, secured

  a connection in the air for remote control with an-

  other bomber (mother ship), and left the airplane

  using parachutes. The lead aircraft then guided

  the drone to the target and returned. The vast ma-

  jority of Aphrodite missions failed on their way to

  their destination for a variety of reasons. On Oc-

  tober 30th, 1944, five B-17s took off, two drones,

  two mother ships and one escort aircraft, along

  with seven P-47s. The target was the subma-

  rine docks on the coast of Heligoland. One of the

  drones packed with explosives was an unnamed

  B-17F (BQ-7, to be more precise), which once car-

  ried the name ‘Mugwump’ and a drawing on its

  nose of an ostrich. The target could not be found

  due to bad weather, so the drones were directed

  to the Berlin area and their escort, including the

  piloted B-17s, turned back. The first drone crashed

  into the North Sea, while ex-Mugwump veered off

  course after losing contact with its mother ship,

  headed over Sweden and crashed south of the

  town of Trollhättan at around 1600 hours, leaving

  a huge crater. Apart from three engines, found

  a few hundred meters from the impact site, only

  small pieces of debris remained from the aircraft.

  The shock wave shattered windows in homes

  within a radius of more than five kilometers.

  B-17F 42-30066 LD

  -

  U ”Mugwump“, Lt. Charles

  B. „Crankshaft“ Cruikshank crew, Maj. John C.

  „Bucky“ Egan, 418th Bomb Squadron,

  100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts,

  Regensburg mission, 17 August 1943

  A former Mugwump, B-17F s/n 42-30066, in the markings of the 96th Bombardment Group

  at Snetterton Heath. It carries special antennas under the fuselage for electronic warfare.

  Spring 1944. (Joseph Denver Collection, via Dennis Sauter)

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  68

  June 2024

• Page 69

  Flesh’s Mugwump was borrowed by Lt. Charles B.

  ‘Crankshaft’ Cruikshank with his crew for the same

  mission. Next to him in the cockpit sat the Com-

  mander of the 418th BS, Maj. John C. ‘Bucky’ Egan.

  They led the second element of the lead squadron

  of the 100th Bomb Group. German fighters shot

  down both planes of Egan’s element flying at his

  sides, prior to reaching the target, namely the al-

  ready mentioned ‘Escape Kit’, flown by Lt. Biddick,

  and also ‘Picklepuss’, flown by Lt. Robert M. Knox.

  Mugwump was also seriously impacted. Her pi-

  lots were able to fly her to planned landing site in

  North Africa. However, damage was so severe that

  she had to be left behind in Algiers.

  Before we get to Mugwump’s next hand that

  was dealt her, let’s go back to her original pilot.

  When Lt. William R. Flesh lost both his plane and

  his crew during the mission to

  Regensburg and served time

  for his crime, he returned to

  combat flying. He acted pri-

  marily as a substitute where

  needed. One of the ‘adopt-

  ed’ crews was the men of Lt.

  Sumner Reeder, who was re-

  cuperating from wounds sus-

  tained in a raid on Stuttgart

  on September 6th, 1943 (see

  Horny II chapter). Flesh also

  flew with Reeder’s crew as

  a pilot on November 5th, 1943

  in B-17F 42-30088 ‘Squawkin

  Hawk’. Also on board that day

  was the lead navigator of the

  group, Capt. Omar Gonzales.

  Serious flak damage over

  Gelsenkirchen, and partial un-

  controllability, made Lt. Flesh

  order the crew to abandon the plane. Only he and

  the co-pilot remained in the B-17. They flew the

  damaged but lightened ‘Squawkin Hawk’ back to

  England at ground level. It is difficult to judge

  today whether it was the calculation of the pilot

  trying to ‘get rid’ of excess load and thus increase

  his chance of return, incorrect judgment and sub-

  sequent decision, or pure concern for the lives of

  others. All these possibilities were the subject of

  whispers at Thorpe Abbotts.

  Whatever led to the series of pilot decisions, the

  incident sparked further controversy at the base,

  and in the case of Lt. Flesh was the final straw,

  leading to his transfer to another group shortly

  after.

  At this time, the 8th Air Force was being rein-

  forced with new units, and the existing bomb

  groups were called upon to supply these new, in-

  experienced units with at least one experienced

  aircrew to assist their integration. It was said to

  be an opportunity for Bomb Group HQs to get rid of

  troublesome members. Lt. Flesh was transferred

  to the 482nd Bombardment Group at Alconbury

  in late November 1943, where he received train-

  ing to fly B-17s equipped with Mickey H2X radars.

  At the end of January 1944, he was transferred

  to the 303rd Bombardment Group, where he re-

  turned to combat flying. It can be said that he used

  the new opportunity to fix everything he had done

  wrong with the 100th Bomb Group. He completed

  his operational tour with the 303rd Group and vol-

  untarily began a second one. He added thirty-two

  more missions to what he had flown with the

  100th Bomb Group. Some of them in the position of

  commanding pilot. He was then transferred again,

  this time to the 305th Bomb Group, and here as

  an experienced pilot and commander he flew an

  undisclosed number of other missions…

  Meanwhile, Mugwump, which Lt. Flesh flew with

  his crew across the ocean in June 1943, was ex-

  periencing a different but no less turbulent fate.

  After the Regensburg mission on August 17th, 1943,

  she sat seriously damaged at Telegerma Base in

  northern Algeria awaiting repairs. After that, the

  B-17 returned to England, but not to the 100th

  Bomb Group.

  In early 1944, the aircraft was assigned to the

  803rd (Provisional) Group at Oulton Base in Nor-

  folk, where it was equipped with electronic war-

  fare equipment (Mandrel and Carpet systems for

  jamming German radars). In July, 1944 she was re-

  assigned again, this time to the 388th Bomb Group

  at Fersfield, where the top secret Aphrodite proj-

  ect was underway. It involved guiding four-engine

  bombers, in the form of explosive-laden drones, to

  hard-to-destroy targets such as submarine docks,

  V-1 and V-2 launch pads, oil refineries, and the like.

  The project was not nearly as successful as it was

  expected to be. There were only nineteen Aphro-

  dite missions between August, 1944 and January,

  1945. Older, but reliable war weary bombers were

  modified into remotely controlled drones (cas-

  tor), with which a two-man crew took off, secured

  a connection in the air for remote control with an-

  other bomber (mother ship), and left the airplane

  using parachutes. The lead aircraft then guided

  the drone to the target and returned. The vast ma-

  jority of Aphrodite missions failed on their way to

  their destination for a variety of reasons. On Oc-

  tober 30th, 1944, five B-17s took off, two drones,

  two mother ships and one escort aircraft, along

  with seven P-47s. The target was the subma-

  rine docks on the coast of Heligoland. One of the

  drones packed with explosives was an unnamed

  B-17F (BQ-7, to be more precise), which once car-

  ried the name ‘Mugwump’ and a drawing on its

  nose of an ostrich. The target could not be found

  due to bad weather, so the drones were directed

  to the Berlin area and their escort, including the

  piloted B-17s, turned back. The first drone crashed

  into the North Sea, while ex-Mugwump veered off

  course after losing contact with its mother ship,

  headed over Sweden and crashed south of the

  town of Trollhättan at around 1600 hours, leaving

  a huge crater. Apart from three engines, found

  a few hundred meters from the impact site, only

  small pieces of debris remained from the aircraft.

  The shock wave shattered windows in homes

  within a radius of more than five kilometers.

  B-17F 42-30066 LD

  -

  U ”Mugwump“, Lt. Charles

  B. „Crankshaft“ Cruikshank crew, Maj. John C.

  „Bucky“ Egan, 418th Bomb Squadron,

  100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts,

  Regensburg mission, 17 August 1943

  A former Mugwump, B-17F s/n 42-30066, in the markings of the 96th Bombardment Group

  at Snetterton Heath. It carries special antennas under the fuselage for electronic warfare.

  Spring 1944. (Joseph Denver Collection, via Dennis Sauter)

  Aircraft s/n 42-3271 is certainly one of the most

  attractive B-17Fs flown by the 100th Bomb Group

  with its nose art. This B-17 was not among the

  unit’s original aircraft with which it moved over-

  seas to the European theater. The same can be

  said of her crew, who gave her the name.

  The aircraft served for a month with the

  91st Bomb Group at Bassingbourn and arrived

  at Thorpe Abbotts as reconditioned on the 5th of

  July, 1943. The crew of Lt. Robert L. Hughes arrived

  nine days later and was the first ‘spare’ crew of

  the 351st Bomb Squadron. The plane was assigned

  to them the very next day. Additional training with

  the group and waiting for their first combat mis-

  sion took longer than the young crew would have

  liked, which didn’t happen for a month.

  One of the ground crew members, Cpl. Frank

  Stevens, painted a scantily clad lady in high rid-

  ing boots and an American hat on the nose of the

  airplane, sitting on a bomb with the decorative

  inscription ‘Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk’ below.

  There are two versions of the origin of the name

  of the aircraft and its meaning. The first talks

  about the fact that the ten-member crew under

  Lt. Hughes was made up of nine boys from the

  North (Yanks) and only one from the South (Jerk).

  That was Sgt. Buntin, waist gunner. It came out of

  the friendly teasing among the members of the

  same crew. The other interpretation is that “Jerk”

  meant “dork, dunce, dumb...”. Just exactly where

  the truth lies is difficult to determine. The mem-

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  Color profiles: Michal Fárek

  Photos: 100th Bomb Group Archives

  Title photo: Robert L. Hughes’ crew with Nine Little

  Yanks and a Jerk.

  The B-17F on hardstand at Thorpe Abbotts.

  NINE LITTLE YANKS AND A JERK

  B-17F-40-DL 42-3271 EP

  -

  L

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard

  69

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• Page 70

  bers of Hughes’s crew themselves later down-

  played the reasons by explaining that later the

  ‘jerk’ of the crew was always someone else and

  everyone took turns wearing the title. Once, radio

  operator T/Sgt. Boyle, when he forgot to retract

  the trailing wire antenna and dragged it along the

  ground on landing, and another time, ball turret

  gunner T/Sgt. Horace Barnum forgot to unload the

  guns in the ball turret of the borrowed Piccadilly

  Lily after landing. The crew was playing this inno-

  cent game of seeing who would be the jerk for the

  current mission.

  On October 14th, shortly after the disastrous

  missions to Münster and Bremen, in which the

  100th Bomb Group lost 19 aircrews, the second

  mission to Schweinfurt, known as ‘Black Thursday’

  or ‘the Second Schweinfurt Mission’, took place.

  The weakened Hundredth could contribute only

  eight aircraft and crews. These were incorporated

  into the formations of the other two groups of the

  13th Combat Wing. One of the planes flying with the

  95th Bomb Group was Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk

  with Robert Hughes and his crew. In the IP area,

  the final waypoint before achieving target acquisi-

  tion, the lead aircraft of the 95th Bomb Group was

  hit by flak and disappeared from the formation.

  Immediately afterwards, a B-17F named ‘Heaven

  Can Wait’ was hit as well, flown by Lt. Keel, flying

  right next to Hughes. After several moments, the

  out-of-control aircraft turned sharply towards

  Hughes’ B-17. A quick reaction from the pilots in

  Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk resulted in a sharp

  left turn suppression, creating space for Keel’s

  Fortress. But at the same time, they fell out of

  their formation and found themselves much lower

  and alone. At that moment, the bombardier saw

  the target directly in front of him. Flying over it

  alone was a big risk. Contrary to regulations, the

  crew unanimously agreed to go ahead and attack

  the target. Bombardier Lt. Elliott adjusted his Nor-

  den bombsight a thousand feet lower, the pilot set

  a fixed course, altitude and speed, and the Elliot

  began aiming. The bombs, released at 14:54, hit

  the target, which the pilot and bombardier had

  carefully studied during pre-flight preps, dead

  centre.

  After leaving the target, they took a steep left

  turn to rejoin the 95th Bombardment Group, which

  was still settling into formation after being pelted

  by flak earlier.

  The event had an impact on the headquarters of

  the 3rd Bomb Division. Lt. Hughes and Lt. Elliott

  were called in to General Curtis LeMay. Lt Hughes

  recalled:

  ‘This was to be an experience for me,

  I had never seen so many ‘Eagles’ in one room.

  I had never been out of formation over a target be-

  fore. When all of the representatives from all of the

  groups were assembled, the critique was called to

  order and we had just been seated when General

  B-17F 42-3271 EP

  -

  N „Nine Little Yanks

  and a Jerk“, Capt. Robert L. Hughes

  crew, 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th

  Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, January

  1944

  Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk in flight formation. The left side of the fuselage bears

  marks where the aircraft identification letters were overpainted in their original

  position, necessitated by the change in national insignia from Type 2 to Type 3.

  This change was specified on 29 June 1943 (Specification Number 24102-K,

  Amend #3), but typically not applied until August 1943. The white identification

  stripe on the rudder was later painted over.

  INFO Eduard

  Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943

  70

  June 2024

• Page 71

  bers of Hughes’s crew themselves later down-

  played the reasons by explaining that later the

  ‘jerk’ of the crew was always someone else and

  everyone took turns wearing the title. Once, radio

  operator T/Sgt. Boyle, when he forgot to retract

  the trailing wire antenna and dragged it along the

  ground on landing, and another time, ball turret

  gunner T/Sgt. Horace Barnum forgot to unload the

  guns in the ball turret of the borrowed Piccadilly

  Lily after landing. The crew was playing this inno-

  cent game of seeing who would be the jerk for the

  current mission.

  On October 14th, shortly after the disastrous

  missions to Münster and Bremen, in which the

  100th Bomb Group lost 19 aircrews, the second

  mission to Schweinfurt, known as ‘Black Thursday’

  or ‘the Second Schweinfurt Mission’, took place.

  The weakened Hundredth could contribute only

  eight aircraft and crews. These were incorporated

  into the formations of the other two groups of the

  13th Combat Wing. One of the planes flying with the

  95th Bomb Group was Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk

  with Robert Hughes and his crew. In the IP area,

  the final waypoint before achieving target acquisi-

  tion, the lead aircraft of the 95th Bomb Group was

  hit by flak and disappeared from the formation.

  Immediately afterwards, a B-17F named ‘Heaven

  Can Wait’ was hit as well, flown by Lt. Keel, flying

  right next to Hughes. After several moments, the

  out-of-control aircraft turned sharply towards

  Hughes’ B-17. A quick reaction from the pilots in

  Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk resulted in a sharp

  left turn suppression, creating space for Keel’s

  Fortress. But at the same time, they fell out of

  their formation and found themselves much lower

  and alone. At that moment, the bombardier saw

  the target directly in front of him. Flying over it

  alone was a big risk. Contrary to regulations, the

  crew unanimously agreed to go ahead and attack

  the target. Bombardier Lt. Elliott adjusted his Nor-

  den bombsight a thousand feet lower, the pilot set

  a fixed course, altitude and speed, and the Elliot

  began aiming. The bombs, released at 14:54, hit

  the target, which the pilot and bombardier had

  carefully studied during pre-flight preps, dead

  centre.

  After leaving the target, they took a steep left

  turn to rejoin the 95th Bombardment Group, which

  was still settling into formation after being pelted

  by flak earlier.

  The event had an impact on the headquarters of

  the 3rd Bomb Division. Lt. Hughes and Lt. Elliott

  were called in to General Curtis LeMay. Lt Hughes

  recalled:

  ‘This was to be an experience for me,

  I had never seen so many ‘Eagles’ in one room.

  I had never been out of formation over a target be-

  fore. When all of the representatives from all of the

  groups were assembled, the critique was called to

  order and we had just been seated when General

  B-17F 42-3271 EP

  -

  N „Nine Little Yanks

  and a Jerk“, Capt. Robert L. Hughes

  crew, 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th

  Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, January

  1944

  Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk in flight formation. The left side of the fuselage bears

  marks where the aircraft identification letters were overpainted in their original

  position, necessitated by the change in national insignia from Type 2 to Type 3.

  This change was specified on 29 June 1943 (Specification Number 24102-K,

  Amend #3), but typically not applied until August 1943. The white identification

  stripe on the rudder was later painted over.

  LeMay asked, ‘Will Lt. Hughes from the 100th Bomb

  Group come forward.’ When I stepped upon the

  stage he said, ‘Will you tell this group what you

  did yesterday?’ I related how we had been forced

  to dive for our lives and how that when we recov-

  ered the target upon which we had been briefed,

  lay dead ahead. How all the men volunteered.

  The fact that we had a perfect bomb run and that

  Lt. Elliott pickle-barreled the target. General Le-

  May asked how I knew that we had pickle-bar-

  reled the target, I informed him that I had studied

  the strike photos and the fact that our aircraft,

  ‘Nine Little Yanks and A Jerk’, was designated

  strike photo aircraft for the 100th BGH, to which

  he responded, ‘That is right gentlemen, ten bombs

  MPI. ‘ Stepping up to the strike map he pulled the

  butcher paper away to reveal an enlarged strike

  photo, showing the strike. His next comment was,

  ‘The Lieutenant should have a Commendation.’, to

  which the reply came from the back of the room

  in clearly enunciated words, ‘The SOB should be

  court-martialed for breaking formation!’’

  The one who expressed his opinion in this way was

  Col. Bud Peaslee, who led the mission to Schwein-

  furt. Many years later, Hughes and Peaslee be-

  came very good friends.

  Almost the entire crew was able to complete

  their operational tour. However, one of its mem-

  bers finished their innocent game of ‘jerk’ a little

  earlier. The previously mentioned T/Sgt. Joseph F.

  Boyle claimed two downed Me 410s during a raid

  on the submarine docks at Wilhemshawen on No-

  vember 3rd, 1943. At the same time, he damaged

  the vertical tail surfaces of his own aircraft with

  about 10 rounds, likely bestowing upon him the

  Hughes’s crew flew for the last time in their air-

  craft on January 7th, 1944 to Ludwigshaven. Nine

  little Yanks and a Jerk was damaged many times

  during her service with the 100th Bomb Group and

  spent considerable time in repairs. Therefore, only

  28 missions were flown between July, 1943 and

  January, 1944.

  Lt. Hughes completed his operational tour with

  a raid on Berlin on March 4th, 1944. Most of his

  crew did so less than a month earlier. He flew at

  least 18 of his 25 missions in Nine little Yanks and

  a Jerk.

  After the end of combat flying, Lt. Hughes briefly

  tested and flew the personal planes of President

  Roosevelt and Gen. Curtis LeMay.

  ‘jerk’ label for the day. It could’ve been consider-

  ably worse, and two days later, it was. On a raid to

  Gelsenkirchen, an 88mm flak shell exploded close

  to the aircraft and one small piece of shrapnel

  narrowly licked the edge of his flak vest, pene-

  trating his heart and killing him instantly.

  On November 26th, the commanding pilot of the

  351st Bomb Squadron, Capt. John ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo,

  flew on Nine little Yanks and a Jerk as co-pilot.

  At least one mission with this aircraft was also

  completed by the legendary Lt. Frank E. Valesh.

  On January 4th, 1944, during a raid on Kiel, en-

  gine No. 2 was hit by flak, and the propeller was

  revving the engine above the permissible limit.

  At the same time, fuel consumption increased

  enormously. With what gasoline remained in the

  tanks, Valesh made an emergency landing at the

  base at Leconfield.

  On January 24th, 1944, a young crew borrowed

  the plane for a training flight. During landing, the

  left undercarriage leg retracted spontaneously

  and the aircraft was damaged. Since the unit was

  already receiving new B-17Gs at the time of the

  crash, it was decided that this old ‘F’ would not

  be repaired. She was therefore transported to the

  technical depot of the unit, where she was used

  as a ‘hangar queen’ - a source of spare parts for

  other repaired aircraft, before her remains were

  finally scrapped.

  Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk was one of the few

  B-17Fs serving with the 100th Bomb Group to have

  flat perspex glazing in place of the astrodome.

  It was a remnant of the original service with the

  91st Bomb Group, which had a number of its air-

  craft modified in this way. Three ceiling windows

  in the nose were also unusual for the Hundredth.

  B-17F 42-3271 EP

  -

  N „Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk“, Capt. Robert L. Hughes crew,

  351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, January 1944

  Capt. Robert L. Hughes. “Big” Frank Valesh, one of the 351st Bomb Squadron’s

  legendary pilots, also flew at least one combat mission

  with Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk.

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  A series of photographs documenting the

  crash of Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk on 24

  January 1944, and the subsequent cannibal-

  ization of the damaged B-17F.

  B-17F 42-3271 EP

  -

  N „Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk“, Capt. Robert L. Hughes crew,

  351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, January 1944

  INFO Eduard

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  A series of photographs documenting the

  crash of Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk on 24

  January 1944, and the subsequent cannibal-

  ization of the damaged B-17F.

  B-17F 42-3271 EP

  -

  N „Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk“, Capt. Robert L. Hughes crew,

  351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, January 1944

  The US Army Air Force’s major plans and oper-

  ations in Europe involving heavy bombers usually

  resulted in heavy losses for Allied air assets and

  men in addition to the successes they achieved.

  Operation Argument, more commonly referred to

  as ‘Big Week’, between the 20th and 25th of Febru-

  ary, 1944, was supposed to be the first important

  step in the quest for definitive air supremacy over

  Europe. The strikes by the Allied air forces, both

  the USAAF and the RAF, were therefore aimed

  mainly at the aviation industry and its associated

  infrastructure - logistical targets, air bases and

  many smaller targets of opportunity.

  The Allies lost 357 bombers during the six days

  of ‘Big Week’. One of them, on the last day of the

  operation, was B-17F 42-30788 named Mismalovin’

  of the 350th BS, 100th Bomb Group. Losses of the

  Hundred during these six days, during the attacks

  on Posen, Stettin, Brunswick, Alhorn, Vorden, Ros-

  tock and Regensburg, amounted unusually to ‘just’

  four aircraft.

  Mismalovin’ was assigned to the 100th Bomb

  Group at the beginning of September, 1943.

  The crew commanded by Lt. Stewart A. McClain

  arrived at Thorpe Abbotts a month later. Most of

  their missions, the first of which was completed

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  Color profiles: Michal Fárek

  Photos: 100th Bomb Group Archives

  Title photo: Stewart A. McClain with B-17F Mismalovin’.

  Detail of the Mismalovin’ nose art from the starboard

  side of the nose. The dark background behind the

  painted lady likely remains from a previous attempt at

  nose art that was painted over.

  MISMALOVIN’

  B-17F-120-BO 42-30788 LN

  -

  R

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  on the 1st of November, 1943, were flown in ‘their’

  B-17F, which carried noseart on both sides of the

  nose, unusual for the 100th Bomb Group. While

  the right side was decorated with a scantily clad,

  well...actually completely nude, young lady (which

  was also unusual for the 100th BG) with the name

  of the aircraft, the right, in front of the pilot’s win-

  dows, sported a large gremlin type figure, taken

  from the unit patch of the 350th BS, climbing up

  the plane and releasing bombs from a chamber

  pot. Their number varied. Originally, it could have

  been an unusual record of the number of missions

  flown, which would be evidenced by the fact that

  a small number 13 was placed above one of them.

  Later, however, they became a rather prominent

  drawing across the entire height of the nose, part

  of the noseart, and others were no longer painted.

  On Sunday, November 5th, Mismalovin’ was seri-

  ously damaged by flak over Gelsenkirchen, punc-

  turing engine number 4’s oil tank.

  Lt. McClain, the aircraft’s pilot, later recalled:

  ‘

  We flew a little ways further, still in formation.

  Another burst caught our number two engine. With

  two engines left to get home on, we had to drop

  out of formation.’

  Ground and combat crew (under Lt. Stewart A. McClain) with Mismalovin’

  during her early combat period, likely in late fall 1943.

  B-17F 42-30788 LN

  -

  R Mismalovin‘, Lt. Stewart A. McClain crew,

  350th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts,

  early 1944

  INFO Eduard

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  on the 1st of November, 1943, were flown in ‘their’

  B-17F, which carried noseart on both sides of the

  nose, unusual for the 100th Bomb Group. While

  the right side was decorated with a scantily clad,

  well...actually completely nude, young lady (which

  was also unusual for the 100th BG) with the name

  of the aircraft, the right, in front of the pilot’s win-

  dows, sported a large gremlin type figure, taken

  from the unit patch of the 350th BS, climbing up

  the plane and releasing bombs from a chamber

  pot. Their number varied. Originally, it could have

  been an unusual record of the number of missions

  flown, which would be evidenced by the fact that

  a small number 13 was placed above one of them.

  Later, however, they became a rather prominent

  drawing across the entire height of the nose, part

  of the noseart, and others were no longer painted.

  On Sunday, November 5th, Mismalovin’ was seri-

  ously damaged by flak over Gelsenkirchen, punc-

  turing engine number 4’s oil tank.

  Lt. McClain, the aircraft’s pilot, later recalled:

  ‘

  We flew a little ways further, still in formation.

  Another burst caught our number two engine. With

  two engines left to get home on, we had to drop

  out of formation.’

  Ground and combat crew (under Lt. Stewart A. McClain) with Mismalovin’

  during her early combat period, likely in late fall 1943.

  B-17F 42-30788 LN

  -

  R Mismalovin‘, Lt. Stewart A. McClain crew,

  350th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts,

  early 1944

  A group of Messerschmitts targeted the lonely

  Mismalovin’. They came from behind at a bad time,

  just as the rear gunner, Sgt. Bennett struggled

  with the frosted glass of his gun turret. The top

  turret gunner, Sgt. Walters, was however able

  to answer. He managed to shoot down one of

  the attackers, the others retreated out of range.

  The pilots struggled with the controls as fuel was

  continuously leaking from the punctured fuel

  tanks.

  Co-pilot Lt. McBride added:

  ‘We started back,

  losing altitude all the way. By the time we reached

  England, we were down to six thousand feet.’

  They eventually landed on the runway of their

  own base at Thorpe Abbotts. An Army PR mes-

  sage added:

  ‘The Fortress landed with less gas

  you can get on a A card

  (authors note: during WWII

  a special card/sticker that allowed the car own-

  er to purchase about 4 gallons of gas each week),

  and so full of flak holes that it looked like a mech-

  anized sieve.’

  Mismalovin’ suffered various damage in the fol-

  lowing months as well. Even so, her and McClain’s

  crew’s mission credits were rising.

  There were cities whose names, when uttered

  during briefings at the 100th Bomb Group, sent

  chills down the spine, to say the least. Berlin,

  Schweinfurt, Bremen, Münster, Merseburg, Ruh-

  land… and also Regensburg. Since the legendary

  mission on August 17th, 1943, The Hundredth had

  not been over this target. The return was to come

  at the end of Big Week, February 25th, 1944. Mc-

  Clain’s crew took off again in Mismalovin’, their

  22nd mission. They almost saw themselves on

  their way home…

  Flak over the target knocked out engine num-

  ber 2 on the left shortly after 2 pm Immediately,

  the oil pressure dropped and the entire aircraft

  shook violently. Before the pilots managed to shut

  down the engine and feather the prop, the engine

  appeared to be torn apart. Lt. Delbert S. Pearson,

  a pilot flying a nearby B-17, observed the event:

  ‘A/C #788 was observed to be hit by flak just after

  bombs away over the target. Gasoline immediate-

  ly began to flood back over the wing and the A/C

  began to fall behind.’

  With the engine shut down, the B-17 began to

  rapidly lose altitude. The crew had to leave the

  formation. She had over 800 kilometers to return

  home alone. Most of it through Germany and the

  territories of the occupied continent. It didn’t take

  long for German fighters to pounce on the lonely

  and damaged Mismalovin’.

  A chase began which ended up just above the

  tops of roofs and trees, at a height of 200-300 feet.

  It almost seemed that the situation of November

  5th of the previous year might be repeated. How-

  ever, this was not the case... At low altitude, the

  aircraft became an easy target even for light flak,

  and in addition, fighter attacks did not stop. Their

  rounds inflicted additional damage on the B-17

  and gradually killed the navigator, radio operator

  and co-pilot, and seriously wounded the top turret

  gunner, tail gunner, bombardier, pilot.... Never-

  theless, the plane slowly dragged itself through

  Germany, Belgium, France, while it continued to

  be attacked by fighters. Miraculously, the shot-up

  B-17 stayed in the air. The tail gunner, Sgt. William

  T. Cook recalled the event:

  ‘In spite of the licking

  we were taking, we still managed to give a pret-

  ty good account of ourselves. The engineer shot

  down two fighters, the bombardier had one possi-

  ble, and I shot down two of which I am sure.’

  In the area of Calais, France, the plane came

  over the English Channel. At one point, glimpses

  of England could be made out. At the same time,

  however, the attacks of German fighters inten-

  sified and increased in number. At that moment,

  Sgt. Cook noticed that instead of flying towards

  England, the plane was turning left and slowly

  losing altitude. He tried to call the pilot on the in-

  tercom, but there was no answer. He figured that

  the pilot had been wounded or killed by the last

  rounds. As he had partial experience flying a B-17,

  he decided to go into the cockpit and possibly try

  to fly to England himself. As he climbed out of his

  rear gun position and into the fuselage, he just

  saw one of the airmen parachute out. Howev-

  er, they were only about 50-100 feet above

  the surface and the crew’s replacement,

  waist gunner Sgt. Knudsen, died after

  falling into the water.

  Sgt. Cook continued in his memoirs:

  ‘Out ball turret gunner, S/Sgt. Lawrence

  Bennett, was standing in the door

  ready to jump. I reached for him, pulled

  him back into the plane, and told him to

  take off his chute because we were about to

  crash. He was having some difficulty removing

  his chute and I was assisting him when the plane

  crashed into the English Channel. I was knocked

  unconscious in the crash and woke up floating

  in the Channel. When I regained consciousness, I

  saw one other person, a spare gunner flying with

  us that day, who had survived. We were picked up

  by some German Marines, taken to a hospital in

  Calais, France, where we stayed for about three

  or four days, and I was then moved to an interro-

  gation center in Frankfurt. I spent about 20 days

  in Frankfurt (in solitaire) and was then sent to

  a POW camp.’

  That gunner, whose name Sgt. Cook could not

  remember, was Sgt. Clade Zukowski. Only he and

  Cook survived. Other members of Lt. McClain’s

  crew died either as a result of being hit by Ger-

  man fighters, or by hitting the surface of the water.

  The plane went down about 2 miles off the coast

  near Calais. In addition to the two survivors, Ger-

  man sailors also recovered the bodies of some of

  the crew members.

  Official German reports stated:

  ‘The aircraft

  crashed in the water at Sangatte about 1701h

  during an attempted return flight to England.

  The dead man (Lt. McClain, authors note) was re-

  covered and buried at the cemetery of Marquise

  on February 28th, 1944. Passport papers and

  B-17F 42-30788 LN

  -

  R Mismalovin‘, Lt. Stewart A. McClain crew, 350th Bomb Squadron,

  100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, early 1944

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  identification tags were no longer recognizable.

  The name was determined by two captured mem-

  bers of the same crew.’

  Two of the crew members of the last Mismalo-

  vin’ flight remain missing to this day - navigator

  Lt. Mordkowitz and tail gunner T/Sgt. Fernandez.

  Their bodies rest with the wreckage of Mismalovin’

  at the bottom of the English Channel, not far from

  the French coast.

  Postscriptum: Some of the aircraft names in the

  unit were inherited by newly arriving aircraft. This

  was usually due to the ground crew, who, when

  they lost their aircraft, sometimes named its re-

  placement after it. Sometimes a new aircraft was

  named by the flight crew when their original was

  lost on ‘loan’ or they received a new, more modern

  one. In the 100th Bomb Group, their successors

  were named after original B-17s - Horny II, Skip-

  per II and Skipper III (KC-135R), Rosies’ Riveters II

  (and III, also KC 135R), Alice from Dallas II, Humpty

  Dumpty II, Hard Luck II, Fletchers Castoria II, Holly

  Terror II, King Bee II and more. Among them, the

  legendary machines of Frank Valesh’s crew Hang

  the Expense stand out, which made it to number IV.

  Mismalovin’ also had a successor in a certain

  way, although the transcription was somewhat

  different. The pronunciation and meaning re-

  mained. After the original Mismalovin’ sank in the

  Straits near Calais on February 25th, 1944, a new

  silver B-17G s/n 42-97127 arrived at sister unit

  349th BS. She was named Miss Ma’ Lovin’. After

  several weeks of service, she was shot down on

  May 12th, 1944 in a raid on a synthetics factory in

  Most (Brüx) in the Sudetenland region of Czecho-

  slovakia. A direct flak hit above the target and

  a subsequent explosion in the air killed the ball

  turret gunner. The rest of the ten-member crew

  of Lt Jack C. Moore took to their parachutes. They

  thus became the first airmen of the 8th Air Force

  to be shot down over Czechoslovakia.

  Lieutenant Stewart A. McClain. Died while attempting

  to fly the damaged Mismalovin’ across the English

  Channel.

  Mismalovin’ nose art from

  the port side of the nose,

  shown during two periods

  of its existence. A gremlin

  releasing bombs from

  a potty is the centerpiece

  of the 350th Bomb

  Squadron emblem.

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  identification tags were no longer recognizable.

  The name was determined by two captured mem-

  bers of the same crew.’

  Two of the crew members of the last Mismalo-

  vin’ flight remain missing to this day - navigator

  Lt. Mordkowitz and tail gunner T/Sgt. Fernandez.

  Their bodies rest with the wreckage of Mismalovin’

  at the bottom of the English Channel, not far from

  the French coast.

  Postscriptum: Some of the aircraft names in the

  unit were inherited by newly arriving aircraft. This

  was usually due to the ground crew, who, when

  they lost their aircraft, sometimes named its re-

  placement after it. Sometimes a new aircraft was

  named by the flight crew when their original was

  lost on ‘loan’ or they received a new, more modern

  one. In the 100th Bomb Group, their successors

  were named after original B-17s - Horny II, Skip-

  per II and Skipper III (KC-135R), Rosies’ Riveters II

  (and III, also KC 135R), Alice from Dallas II, Humpty

  Dumpty II, Hard Luck II, Fletchers Castoria II, Holly

  Terror II, King Bee II and more. Among them, the

  legendary machines of Frank Valesh’s crew Hang

  the Expense stand out, which made it to number IV.

  Mismalovin’ also had a successor in a certain

  way, although the transcription was somewhat

  different. The pronunciation and meaning re-

  mained. After the original Mismalovin’ sank in the

  Straits near Calais on February 25th, 1944, a new

  silver B-17G s/n 42-97127 arrived at sister unit

  349th BS. She was named Miss Ma’ Lovin’. After

  several weeks of service, she was shot down on

  May 12th, 1944 in a raid on a synthetics factory in

  Most (Brüx) in the Sudetenland region of Czecho-

  slovakia. A direct flak hit above the target and

  a subsequent explosion in the air killed the ball

  turret gunner. The rest of the ten-member crew

  of Lt Jack C. Moore took to their parachutes. They

  thus became the first airmen of the 8th Air Force

  to be shot down over Czechoslovakia.

  Lieutenant Stewart A. McClain. Died while attempting

  to fly the damaged Mismalovin’ across the English

  Channel.

  Mismalovin’ nose art from

  the port side of the nose,

  shown during two periods

  of its existence. A gremlin

  releasing bombs from

  a potty is the centerpiece

  of the 350th Bomb

  Squadron emblem.

  Of all the pilots who flew B-17F s/n 42-30088

  Squawkin’ Hawk over the continent, the one most

  associated with this aircraft is Maj. Sumner H.

  Reeder, despite flying ‘only’ twelve missions with

  it out of a total of fifty that Squawkin’ Hawk flew.

  If Sumner Reeder’s name sounds familiar, it may

  be because the fate of his crew is part of the story

  of the B-17F named Horny II and Mugwump. The

  mission on September 6th, 1943, completed with

  Horny II, began a run of bad luck for Reeder’s team.

  On the mission to Stuttgart, a German 20 mm shell

  killed the co-pilot and seriously wounded three

  other officers. A few weeks later, on Friday, No-

  vember 5th, 1943, while Sumner Reeder was still

  recovering, most of the NCOs in his crew did not

  return from the attack on Gelsenkirchen. Howev-

  er, their Squawkin’ Hawk, with a backup pilot and

  co-pilot, did, so she could continue to add to her

  number of missions flown. When Sumner Reeder

  returned from treatment, he became the opera-

  tions officer of the 349th Squadron and later its

  commander. There is no recorded Squawkin’ Hawk

  combat mission from this period with Reeder in

  the pilot’s seat. His command duties put him in

  the cockpits of the newer B-17Gs, including radar

  pathfinders. Squawkin’ Hawk continued to fly mis-

  sions with rotating crews - Robert N. Lohof, John

  G. Gossage, Charles A. Brooks…

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  Color profiles: Michal Fárek

  Photos: 100th Bomb Group Archives

  Title photo: Although Squawkin Hawk had completed

  only 10 missions, Captain Reeder’s crew had already

  achieved significant recognition, as evidenced by the

  distinguished ribbons on their uniforms.

  Squawkin Hawk after completing 44 missions.

  SQUAWKIN’ HAWK

  B-17F-80-BO 42-30088 XR

  -

  D

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  Part of Sumner H. Reeder’s crew with Squawkin Hawk in the fall of 1943. By this time, the aircraft had flown less than a third of her total

  missions. This photo was taken when navigator Lt. Engel briefly returned to Thorpe Abbotts while receiving treatment for injuries

  sustained on September 6, 1943.

  Damage to the tail surfaces during the mission

  to Regensburg on February 25, 1944.

  Also visible in this photo, Squawkin Hawk displays 44 mission markers.

  INFO Eduard

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  Part of Sumner H. Reeder’s crew with Squawkin Hawk in the fall of 1943. By this time, the aircraft had flown less than a third of her total

  missions. This photo was taken when navigator Lt. Engel briefly returned to Thorpe Abbotts while receiving treatment for injuries

  sustained on September 6, 1943.

  Damage to the tail surfaces during the mission

  to Regensburg on February 25, 1944.

  Also visible in this photo, Squawkin Hawk displays 44 mission markers.

  This photograph, taken in April 1944, portrays what appears to be a gathering of future protagonists

  from the Masters of the Air series. Many of them started as inexperienced beginners in the summer

  and autumn of 1943, but by spring 1944, they had become seasoned warriors in leadership positions

  within the 100th Bombardment Group. Those whose names are marked with an asterisk were depict-

  ed as characters in the Masters of the Air series. Left to right: *Captain Douglas (Group Bombardier),

  Lieutenant Ken Welty (Navigator, POW on Ruhland mission), *Lieutenant Colonel John Bennett (349th

  CO and Air Executive), *Colonel Neil B. “Chick” Harding (Group CO), *Major John B. “Jack” Kidd (351st

  CO and Group Operations), *Major Harry Crosby (Group Navigator), *Lieutenant Robert “Rosie” Rosen-

  thal (future 350th and 418th BS commander).

  On right: In addition to skilled flight crews and fortu-

  nate circumstances, Squawkin Hawk owed her suc-

  cess in no small part to her dedicated ground crew,

  who took great pride in maintaining the aircraft.

  B-17F 42-30088 XR

  -

  D Squawkin‘ Hawk,

  Lt. Sumner H. Reeder crew, 349th Bomb Squadron,

  100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, April 1944

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  In early 1944, Squawkin’ Hawk suffered some

  serious damage - on January 21st over St. Omer

  and on February 25th during the mission to Re-

  gensburg – just another mission that could have

  again proven fateful for this aircraft. A nearby

  burst of flak severely lacerated the vertical tail

  surfaces and damaged the steering. Lt. Gossage

  considered turning the damaged plane towards

  Switzerland. He had already had one unpleasant

  incident on board this plane - he was the co-pi-

  lot who returned in November of the previous

  year with pilot Lt. Flesh, and an otherwise empty

  Squawkin’ Hawk, from Gelsenkirchen. Gossage

  thought carefully. But since most of the men in

  his crew were nearing the completion of their

  operational tour, they decided to try to return.

  After completing 50 missions,

  Squawkin Hawk became

  a popular subject for

  photography.

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  In early 1944, Squawkin’ Hawk suffered some

  serious damage - on January 21st over St. Omer

  and on February 25th during the mission to Re-

  gensburg – just another mission that could have

  again proven fateful for this aircraft. A nearby

  burst of flak severely lacerated the vertical tail

  surfaces and damaged the steering. Lt. Gossage

  considered turning the damaged plane towards

  Switzerland. He had already had one unpleasant

  incident on board this plane - he was the co-pi-

  lot who returned in November of the previous

  year with pilot Lt. Flesh, and an otherwise empty

  Squawkin’ Hawk, from Gelsenkirchen. Gossage

  thought carefully. But since most of the men in

  his crew were nearing the completion of their

  operational tour, they decided to try to return.

  After completing 50 missions,

  Squawkin Hawk became

  a popular subject for

  photography.

  Soon, Squawkin Hawk was adorned with countless autographs and messages from both local

  and visiting personnel.

  T/Sgt. Donald W. “Duck” Bradley, from the 350th Bomb Squadron

  photo lab, flew 29 combat missions as an aerial photographer.

  Here he is pictured standing on the wing of Squawkin Hawk near

  his signature (“Duck Bradley” next to his left hand).

  Squawkin Hawk, adorned with hundreds of signatures,

  became a major attraction for local children from

  surrounding farms and villages, who often visited the

  base both secretly and openly. It’s possible that they

  even added their own messages for the journey back

  to the USA. Left is Neville Slade, Right is John Bartram.

  B-17F 42-30088 XR

  -

  D Squawkin‘ Hawk,

  Lt. Sumner H. Reeder crew, 349th Bomb Squadron,

  100th Bomb Group, Thorpe Abbotts, April 1944

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  Although they did not land on their home field,

  home is where they did make it.

  During the subsequent repair, a large part of the

  rudder and its stabilizer were replaced, as evi-

  denced by the differently positioned ‘D’ and a dif-

  ferent style of serial number than before. During

  repairs, the ‘D’ in the white square was painted

  black, as was the case with B-17Gs, common at

  the time. In doing so, the ‘D’ on the wing was also

  repainted. This sets Squawkin’ Hawk apart from

  the unit’s regular B-17Fs, which had the ‘D’ in dark

  blue.

  By early spring 1944, her score was approaching

  fifty missions. One of the biggest rivals in the race

  for this title was Horny II from the same squadron.

  Just short of the finish line, Horny was knocked

  out of the race by an accident that caused her

  destruction, and on 10 April 1944 Squawkin’ Hawk

  became the first B-17 from the 100th Bomb Group

  to fly fifty missions. Celebrations, lots of photog-

  raphy, and above all autographs followed. Some

  of the members of the unit started signing even

  before the fiftieth bomb was painted on the nose.

  And then the proverbial floodgates opened. Almost

  every free space on the plane was written over,

  mostly in white, by countless members of the Hun-

  dredth and its support units. Well wishes appeared

  on the fuselage, the wing, the rudder, the insig-

  nia and even the tires... Perhaps everyone with-

  in range of Squawkin’ Hawk wanted to add their

  name to the others and send a salute home when

  this B-17 took off on a tour of the US to support the

  war bond drive. And last but not least, this B-17F

  was supposed to show that the Bloody Hundred is

  no longer just an unlucky unit from which almost

  no one comes home, but that there are also sto-

  ries with happy endings associated with it. How-

  ever, Army PR was understandably silent about

  some periods of the life of this aircraft and the

  crews associated with her. Or at least smoothed

  them out somewhat with kindness to the nation.

  All those who signed wanted to express their

  participation in the success of this aircraft. And

  in truth - everyone had a part in it. On the verti-

  cal tail, under the serial number on the right side,

  someone also wrote a list of the original Squawkin’

  Hawk crew - Capt. Sumner H. Reeder and his men,

  although some of them were no longer alive, had

  been sent to the United States for treatment of in-

  juries, or had been stuck behind the barbed wire of

  German prison camps for half a year. Their squad-

  ron mates, celebrating the success achieved by

  old 42-30088, did not forget them…

  Sgt. Jim Anderson.

  The names of the original Reeder crew and the name

  of the ground crew chief on the Squawkin Hawk’s tail...

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• Page 83

  Although they did not land on their home field,

  home is where they did make it.

  During the subsequent repair, a large part of the

  rudder and its stabilizer were replaced, as evi-

  denced by the differently positioned ‘D’ and a dif-

  ferent style of serial number than before. During

  repairs, the ‘D’ in the white square was painted

  black, as was the case with B-17Gs, common at

  the time. In doing so, the ‘D’ on the wing was also

  repainted. This sets Squawkin’ Hawk apart from

  the unit’s regular B-17Fs, which had the ‘D’ in dark

  blue.

  By early spring 1944, her score was approaching

  fifty missions. One of the biggest rivals in the race

  for this title was Horny II from the same squadron.

  Just short of the finish line, Horny was knocked

  out of the race by an accident that caused her

  destruction, and on 10 April 1944 Squawkin’ Hawk

  became the first B-17 from the 100th Bomb Group

  to fly fifty missions. Celebrations, lots of photog-

  raphy, and above all autographs followed. Some

  of the members of the unit started signing even

  before the fiftieth bomb was painted on the nose.

  And then the proverbial floodgates opened. Almost

  every free space on the plane was written over,

  mostly in white, by countless members of the Hun-

  dredth and its support units. Well wishes appeared

  on the fuselage, the wing, the rudder, the insig-

  nia and even the tires... Perhaps everyone with-

  in range of Squawkin’ Hawk wanted to add their

  name to the others and send a salute home when

  this B-17 took off on a tour of the US to support the

  war bond drive. And last but not least, this B-17F

  was supposed to show that the Bloody Hundred is

  no longer just an unlucky unit from which almost

  no one comes home, but that there are also sto-

  ries with happy endings associated with it. How-

  ever, Army PR was understandably silent about

  some periods of the life of this aircraft and the

  crews associated with her. Or at least smoothed

  them out somewhat with kindness to the nation.

  All those who signed wanted to express their

  participation in the success of this aircraft. And

  in truth - everyone had a part in it. On the verti-

  cal tail, under the serial number on the right side,

  someone also wrote a list of the original Squawkin’

  Hawk crew - Capt. Sumner H. Reeder and his men,

  although some of them were no longer alive, had

  been sent to the United States for treatment of in-

  juries, or had been stuck behind the barbed wire of

  German prison camps for half a year. Their squad-

  ron mates, celebrating the success achieved by

  old 42-30088, did not forget them…

  Sgt. Jim Anderson.

  The names of the original Reeder crew and the name

  of the ground crew chief on the Squawkin Hawk’s tail...

  Major Sumner H. Reeder, commander of the 349th

  Bomb Squadron and original pilot of Squawkin Hawk.

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• Piccadilly Lily

  
  

  By the time Waltham’s own Lt. Thomas E. Murphy, a former transport pilot, touched down on June 8th, 1943 with his crew in their new B-17F ‘564’ at Thorpe Abbots, the 8th Air Force had eleven months and 61 bombing missions under its belt. Still, at that point, the Bombing offensive against Germany was in its infancy and toughest was yet to come. And one of its greatest symbols would be Murphy, his crew, and their B-17.

  The aircraft was christened ‘Piccadilly Lily’ and a pinup nude with a glass in her hand and a halo above her head were painted on the right side of the nose. The name was inspired not only by the well-known song ‘Lily from Piccadilly’, but also by girls with big hearts who waited in the streets leading from London's Piccadilly Circus for the return of Allied airmen and soldiers, especially American, to help them better endure the hardships of war.

  Two weeks after arriving in England, the 100th Bomb Group was fully ready for combat. Piccadilly Lily also took part in the first two missions, but these were not credited because they were diversionary rather than bombing tasks. Confirmation of participation in these diversionary missions, nicknamed ‘Decoy’, later appeared on this aircraft in the form of two painted ducks mission markings. These missions were intended to lure German fighters over the North Sea, after which the main attack force of the 8th Air Force headed for the Ruhr region.

  Three days later came an actual bombing mission to Bremen. A baptism of fire befitting a unit soon to be nicknamed ‘The Bloody Hundredth’. Murphy and his crew with Piccadilly Lily played their role. The unit paid the price of three B-17Fs.

  On Thursday, August 17, 1943, the 100th Bomb Group took off on its 16th mission that was become the first milestone in the ill-fated unit's reputation, as well as the reason for the unit's first of two Distinguished (Presidential) Unit Citations that the 100th BG received. The targets of the famous "Double strike" mission for the 100th BG were the aircraft factories at Regensburg followed by a landing in North Africa. It was the 14th mission for Murphy's crew, and Lily’s thirteenth. In an almost last minute decision, the unit's operations officer made a change when a ‘trainee’ observer from 8th Air Force Headquarters, Lt.Col. Bernie Lay, was reassigned from the crew of ‘Alice from Dallas’ to co-pilot ‘Picadilly Lily’. During the mission, the 100th BG lost nine aircraft, ninety men. ‘Alice from Dallas’ was one of the lost B-17s. Piccadilly Lily was brought safely to Algiers by her pilot Thomas Murphy.

  Bernie Lay submitted a report to headquarters about the horror experienced and the heroism displayed during the battles over Regensburg, in which, among other things, he nominated all the crew members of the 100th BG participating in the Regensburg mission for the DFC and the commanding pilot of the low squadron, Maj. Gale W. ‘Bucky’ Cleven, for the Medal of Honor.

  Through September 21st, 1943, ‘Lily’ flew only two more missions. Among the reasons were the difficult repairs to damage that the aircraft endured during the course of its missions. Flak over Paris on September 15th, 1943 severely impacted the underside of the aircraft, tearing off half of the bomb bay doors. Meanwhile, Thomas Murphy's crew was nearing the end of its operational tour. When ‘Lily’ and her ground crew were photographed on September 21st, 1943, she was painted with fifteen bomb mission markings, two ducks and eight swastikas symbolizing downed enemy fighters.

  On the afternoon of October 7, 1943, Murphy's crew were notified that they had been removed from flight status, although they still had two missions left to complete their tour. The officers of the crew were notified of their pending promotions, evidently being considered for promotion to command positions.

  Thomas Murphy was to become the assistant executive officer of the group, while other officers from the crew were to go to the headquarters of the 13th Combat Wing or the 3rd Bombardment Division.

  The next morning the crew were nevertheless woken up to quickly replace another, who had originally been slated to fly Piccadilly Lily that day, despite their being grounded. It was October 8th and the destination was, as with Lily's first mission, Bremen.

  Before taxiing to the final take-off point, for an unknown reason, Capt. Alvin L. Barker, Operations Officer of the 351st Squadron joined the crew as its 11th member, despite being medically excluded from flying. He sat in the co-pilot's seat. Lily was to be the lead machine of the lower box formation.

  One of the ground crew, Sgt. Ken Lemmons (one of the key characters depicted in the Masters of the Air series) recollected:

  Murphy leaned out of the cockpit window and I saluted him. He motioned for me to remove the chocks so that he could began to taxi. Smiling his lopsided smile, he saluted me and then closed his window and went to work. We moved over the flight line as the bombers taxied into position. As usual, the officers were up on the Control Tower to observe take-off. For once, the weather was great. The sun shone brightly and there was only a slight breeze. The pilots would take off every thirty seconds and begin the intricately choreographed moves required to form hundreds of bombers into a coherent group. Spiraling upwards, the squadron would form up first, and then the group would assemble…

  About ten minutes after crossing the continental coast, the stream of bombers was attacked by Luftwaffe fighters. The crews observed distant combat of German aircraft with a group of P-47s, isolated attacks by Bf 110s and Fw 190s concentrated on the 390th Bomb Group, without inflicting major damage.

  Suddenly, however, a group of German fighters struck the formation of the 100th Bomb Group with enormous force. They attacked from the front, slightly to the left. Within moments, after colliding with an Fw 190, one B-17 exploded. As her fireball, consuming metal and crew, headed for the ground, a second ripped at the seams while another left the formation with an engine engulfed in flames. Many of the remaining B-17s were damaged to one extent or another.

  As the formation approached the target, all hell broke loose yet again. This time it was a barrage of heavy flak. Piccadilly Lily received hits through her front end and the radio operator's compartment. The radio operator and one of the waisy gunners were killed by flak shrapnel. The oxygen line was damaged. Murphy decided to continue attacking the designated target. To leave the safety of the formation at this point would have been tempting fate way beyond reason. Few crews that found themselves alone in such a situation managed to return home safely. Just after laying her eggs, Lily took another heavy hit. Flames erupted from the right inboard engine and the right landing gear extended. The plane began to vibrate violently. There was nothing left to decide and Murphy began to carefully leave the formation. At least the surviving crew members who would leave the aircraft would be less likely to be endangered by the other aircraft still in formation and also, an explosion, a good possibility by then, would be less likely to damage friendlies. The crew members were more or less successful in getting out of the burning plane. While Thomas Murphy and Alvin Barker, in the position of co-pilot, were trying to hold the plane together so that they could eventually bail out, the fuel tank near the number three engine exploded, killing those who had not yet gotten out of the plane.

  Piccadilly Lily went down off Wesermünde, north of Bremen, taking with her five crew members. One more died after unsuccessfully attempting to bail from the stricken aircraft. The 100th Bombardment Group lost a total of 7 crews and aircraft that day.

  Bernie Lay, who flew on Lily to Regensburg on August 17th, 1943, built a sort of memorial to her and Thomas Murphy when, in the script for the famous 1949 film ‘Twelve O'Clock High’, and the book of the same title, he named the central plane, piloted in the film by Gregory Peck, Piccadilly Lily.

• Alice from Dallas

  
  

  The story of Alice from Dallas is a prime example of how entangled the fates of individual crews and their planes can be if they served over the same period with the same squadron and also how difficult it can be for historians to position all the pieces of the puzzle to form a clear and accurate picture, telling a story set in the time context with events as moving and surreal as were the skies over Europe in 1943.

  B-17F Serial Number 42-5867 was one of the original B-17s that was delivered to the 100th Bomb Group in April, 1943, to Kearney Air Base, Nebraska. She was assigned to crew No. 17, commanded by Lt. William D. DeSanders of Dallas, Texas. Twenty-two-year-old Bill, a 1940 graduate of the New Mexico Military Institute, married Alice 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 lettering on either side of the front was supposed to bring good luck to DeSanders and the remaining nine men of his crew. Later, on both sides of the nose, just in front of the pilot's and co-pilot's side windows, there appeared a white drawing of a gremlin type figure from the 350th Bomb Squadron emblem, releasing bombs from a chamber pot.

  Alice from Dallas was unusual in her front end configuration. As an aircraft built in the 30 F-series production block at the Vega factories in Burbank, it carried one of the evolutionary stages of the development of the nose gun on the left side of the nose. The machine gun was placed in a convex semi-bubble in the shape of a teardrop, which was supposed to give the navigator, who was tasked with its use, a better view of the space between 9 and 11 o'clock. However, development did not stop there and a satisfactory designed was realized only by a diagonally raised firing positions, such as those found on aircraft from the late production blocks of the F series. Thanks to this, Alice from Dallas was quite unusual among the other machines of the unit.

  On May 29th, 1943, the crew initiated their move to England with their Alice. They arrived at Thorpe Abbotts on June 8th and took off together on their first combat mission two weeks later. It was not yet a bombing attack against German military targets, but a decoy mission to lure German fighters. It was not a rule for 350th Squadron ground crews to decorate the noses of their aircraft with mission markings for those they had flown, and Alice was no exception. She was not decorated with either bombs or duck symbols indicating participation in those decoy missions. Alice suffered her first serious fighter inflicted damage during a raid on Le Bourget on the 14th of July.

  After a very long and difficult raid on Trondheim, Norway, on July 24th, 1943, Bill DeSanders fell ill with an unpleasant virus. The following morning, his crew flew with a replacement pilot, the 350th  Squadron's Operations Officer, Capt. Richard Carey. They flew in a B-17F borrowed from the crew of Lt. Roy F. Claytor with the name ‘Duration + 6’. DeSanders' men never returned from the mission to the port of Warnemünde. After heavy flak hits, the plane crashed into the North Sea. Five men from the crew perished. The only one left of the original crew besides DeSanders at the base was the radio operator, Sgt. Rudden, who also did not fly that day. He was soon assigned to another crew as a substitute.

  Alice from Dallas and Bill DeSanders were orphaned. Because he was not yet in good health, his Alice was flown by others. This was also the case on August 17th, 1943, during an attack on Regensburg. Alice was one of nine 100th Bomb Group B-17s lost that day.

  The irony lies in the fact that Roy F. Claytor's crew, who lost their Duration + 6 with the original Alice from Dallas crew three weeks earlier, was flying Alice that day.

  When the 100th Bomb Group formation on route to Regensburg reached the eastern part of Belgium, a group of German fighters attacked the low squadron of the formation, led by Maj. Gale ‘Bucky’ Cleven. Its rearguard was led by Roy Claytor in Alice. And it was on him that the current fighter attack focused and sent all three of his planes to the ground. At the same time, the fighters shot down one of Bucky Cleven's wingmen, leaving only two machines of the six plane formation of the low squadron.

  The initial rounds that hit Alice from Dallas were very serious. Roy Claytor later testified: ‘I had not seen any enemy fighters nor had any been called out but then I suddenly felt the ship being hit hard… I pushed the nose down to get out of formation and at the same time saw that the left wing was on fire. The ship was trying to go to a spin to the left. I gave the order to bail out. I got up, standing between the seats, flying the plane, when the nose went up and I was thrown to the accessory compartment. From there I worked my way out of the nose escape hatch…’

  As more parachutes appeared behind the plane, the burning Alice from Dallas pitched up and down furiously with the landing gear extended, making a 360° turn back toward the formation before finally spiraling toward the ground in flames. At approximately 8,000 feet, her fuel tanks exploded and the wreckage crashed near Langerloo, Belgium. What was left of Alice from Dallas also buried tail gunner S/Sgt. Musant, whose parachute opened too soon and snagged the horizontal stabilizer. The second crewman to fall was the ball turret gunner, S/Sgt. William M. Hinton, who probably did not manage to bail out in time.

  Five of the eight surviving airmen managed to escape capture with the help of the Belgian and French resistance movements.

  Bill DeSanders, who first lost his crew and later Alice from Dallas, did not return to combat flying until September 3rd, 1943. He flew as a replacement pilot with other crews, and later as Commanding Pilot for the 350th BS. As October arrived, so did a new B-17G, which inherited the code LN-O from Alice and was named Alice from Dallas II. It was with her that Capt. DeSanders flew his twenty-fifth and final mission. It was February 13th, 1944, and the Commanding Pilot for the flight was Capt. John C. ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo, who appears in this intertwined recounting in connection with Sunny II and who, like DeSanders, completed his operational tour that day.

  Bill DeSanders lived in Dallas with his wife Alice, his ‘Alice from Dallas’, until his death in 1983.

• SUNNY II

  
  

  B-17F, Serial Number 42-30796, arrived in England at the end of August, 1943 and less than a week later was ready at Thorpe Abbots for service 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 displayed 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 photographed in front of the aircraft, which at the time displayed two mission markings.

  This aircraft and this crew certainly flew together 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 missions. 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 morning, 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 probably 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. Dickerson and Lt. John H. ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo, co-pilot.

  The part of Glenn W. Dye's crew that did complete their tour requirement returned to the United States after a few days off. After returning to the US, Glenn W. Dye was stationed at Smokey Hill Air Force Base in Salina, KS, where he participated in B-29 testing as a test pilot, instructor, and accident investigator until the end of the war.

  Co-pilot ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo had four missions left to fly after September 16th, 1943. The deficit was created by his gang becoming the lead crew. And when the commander of the operation (Commanding Pilot) sometimes flew with them, he usually sat in the co-pilot's seat and the regular co-pilot stayed at home. This happened four times between June 25th and August 15th, so Lucky had to remain on duty and make up those combat missions. This was to last quite a long time in the end, as he was assigned to the position of Squadron Operations Officer and his duties did not allow him to fly very often. He completed three of the remaining missions in October and November as lead pilot at the element or squadron level. After that, he was transferred to the 350th Squadron at his own request, where he also served as Operations Officer and on February 13th, 1944, he flew his 25th and last mission.

  The fate of Sgt. Dickerson was not as kind. For his 25th mission, he was added as a waist gunner to the crew of Capt. Thomas Murphy flying Piccadilly Lily. Lucky, his original co-pilot, flew ‘King Bee’ and led the second element, essentially directly behind Lily. It was October 8th, 1943, and the target that day was Bremen. Lily didn't return from the mission and Sgt. Dickerson was killed on his last, twenty-fifth, mission…

  That fateful mission to Bremen was also undertaken by their former Sunny II. Lt. John T. Griffin had the controls. This was the third journey over enemy territory for his crew in Piccadilly Lily and sixth mission overall.

  Sunny II returned badly damaged. The top turret cupola was completely destroyed after being hit by a fighter, seriously injuring the gunner, Sgt. Harjo. The explosion of the projectile knocked him to the floor near the navigator and bombardier compartment. He scrambled back into the turret with the shattered dome. His gloves, stained with blood from his head, froze to the controls of his machine guns, but he continued to fight. He was later sent back to the United States because of his injuries. The co-pilot, Lt. Johnson, after his recovery was transferred to a non-combat role with the Group. Rear Gunner Sgt. Pilgrim was hit in the right arm. Engine number 3 was disabled and the wing and fuselage were punctured by countless hits from fighters and flak. Still, Sunny II returned from Bremen. Upon returning, the pilot, Lt. Griffin, counted hits to four of the twelve propeller blades as well.

  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 aircraft. The target was a chemical factory in Ludwigshafen. 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 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 treatment 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’.

  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 irreparably damaged. That was the end for Sunny II, but not yet for the crew of Lt. Brannan. They continued their missions until March 6th, 1944, when they were shot down during a raid on Berlin.

• Rosie’s Riveters

  
  

  True great legends are not born by accident. It takes exceptional and strong personalities to create them. One such person was Robert Rosenthal. When his young crew arrived at Thorpe Abbots in late September, 1943, the 100th Bombardment Group had completed thirty missions and the first 'lucky bastards' of the unit's original line-up were close to completing their 25-mission operational tour.

  Robert Rosenthal, nicknamed Rosie, was already a twenty-six-year-old officer at the beginning of his combat career, a true leader for his crew, who respected him for his firmness as well as his friendly and kind nature. His path to the combat unit was not very direct, but from the beginning it bore signs of great determination and a sense of justice and responsibility. After graduating from Brooklyn Law School, he worked in a law firm in Manhattan. On December 8th, 1941, the day after Japan attacked the United States, he volunteered for the Army Air Force. After completing basic training, he worked as a gunnery instructor for several months. But he wanted to fight. Especially against Nazi. Therefore, on February 1st, 1943, he left for further training as a B-17 bomber pilot. After his crew was assembled, he completed training in mid-August 1943 and moved to Europe.

  B-17F serial number 42-30758, of the 418th Squadron, was a relatively modern aircraft from the 120th  production block from Boeing. It arrived in England on the last day of August in 1943 and was flown to the base at Thorpe Abbotts shortly afterwards. Unusually, the aircraft was assigned to a newly arriving crew. The Fortress was named Rosie's Riveters after her commander. In addition to the commander's name, the title is a play on words and a tribute to the American women who went to the aircraft, shipbuilding, and armaments factories to join the war effort and were nicknamed ‘Rosie the Riveter.’

  The mission of October 8th, 1943 may have been the first and last for both B-17F ‘Rosie's Riveters’ and Rosenthal's crew. The term ‘baptism by fire’ took on a full meaning here. During the raid on Bremen, the unit lost seven crews, including the commander of the 350th Squadron, Maj. Gale W. ‘Bucky’ Cleven. Robert Rosenthal was able to bring the seriously damaged aircraft back from his first mission, with many hits from flak and fighters. And it should have been worse.

  The rookie crew didn't get much of a chance to shake off the shock of their first mission. While Rosie's Riveters was being repaired, the crew continued their combat flights the next day and the next after that. They replaced their own aircraft with a B-17F named ‘Royal Flush’. The target for the third mission in three days was Münster on October 10th, 1943. If not two days earlier, then on this day the legend of Robert Rosenthal was certainly born. The 100th Bomb Group flew as one of the combat units of the 13th Combat Wing. Out of thirteen aircraft from the Hundredth, only one returned that day. Royal Flush. With only two working engines, countless bullet holes, disabled intercom and oxygen systems, wounded on board and a large hole from a Wfr.Gr.21 rocket in the right half of the wing, the bird limped home. The unit lost twelve crews, including Rosenthal's squadron commander, Maj. John C. ‘Bucky’ Egan.

  On board Rosie's Riveters, the crew flew a large number of their operational missions through to the end of 1943. She also became a lead aircraft during this period, leading a formation of the 13th Combat Wing five times in addition to leading the squadron. This demanded a newer aircraft. During January 1944, they received a new, more modern B-17G, which they also named ‘Rosie's Riveters’. The original Rosie's Riveters, a B-17F, 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-17F became McPhee's crew's ‘own’ plane. They were proud of her and together they were shot down on February 4th, 1944 during a raid on Frankfurt. The aircraft, which had saved Robert Rosenthal's rookie crew on its first combat flight a few months earlier, did not disappoint this time either. The former Rosie's Riveters bellied in on a plowed field in the middle of Germany and her surviving crew were captured.

  It is certainly worth noting the fact that the second Rosie Riveters, the B-17G with which Rosenthal's crew completed their operational tour, was shot down on May 12th, 1944 during a raid on Most (Brüx) in Czechoslovakia. The plane exploded in the air near St. Goarshausen in Germany. The entire crew commanded by Lt. Alexander Kinder bailed out and survived.

  At that time, however, Robert Rosenthal was no longer flying with the 418th Squadron. He became the Assistant Group Operations Officer of the 100th Bomb Group and later the Commander of the 350th Squadron, and now, with the rank of Major, he began his voluntary second operational tour. He also occasionally flew, mainly as a Commanding Pilot, at the head of his squadron, group or the 13th Combat Wing. This was also the case on September 10th, 1944, when he led a stream of bombers to Nuremberg. Due to heavy flak over the target, Rosie was forced to break away from the formation and attempt to return with the seriously damaged aircraft on his own. The subsequent crash landing behind the front lines in France saved the crew, but also left Robert Rosenthal with a broken arm, facial and internal injuries that put him in a military hospital. He thus missed the mission the following day, when the 100th Bomb Group lost thirteen of its aircraft in the air battle over the Czech-German Ore Mountains during the raid on Ruhland. Not a single one of Rosenthal's 350th Squadron planes returned. When he learned of this in the hospital, it reminded him, among other things, of October 10th, 1943, when, except for his crew, no one from his unit made it back…

  After returning from the hospital, Rosie Rosenthal was briefly involved in the training program of the 13th Combat Wing and then, on December 1st, 1944, assumed command of his original 418th Squadron. Due to the demands placed on him by command tasks, he continued his combat missions with less intensity. Even so, he completed a second operational tour and began his third. He was on his 52nd combat mission when he led the 3rd  Air (formerly Bomb) Division to Berlin on March 3rd , 1945. Above the target, their aircraft was severely damaged by flak, which killed the bombardier and the navigator. In addition, a fire broke out on board. Robert Rosenthal knew he could not get back to friendly territory, so he continued east in an attempt to cross the battle lines there. When the conditions were such that they threatened an imminent crash or explosion, he gave the order to the crew to bail. Then he also left the plane. He injured his legs in a hard landing in a plowed field in no man's land. Red Army soldiers discovered him lying on his back. With the help of the Soviets, he managed to return to England at the end of March, 1945, where he trained new crews until the end of May. He returned to the United States on June 7th, 1945.

  Here he was to be assigned to B-29 training, but on November 30th, he was honorably discharged from the Air Force. However, direct contact with the horrors of World War II was not to end for Robert Rosenthal. His wartime experience, high intelligence, legal education, and, let's assume, Jewish ancestry, made him adept at yet another unusual service to his country and civilization that Rosie believed in. He returned to Europe in 1946 as a member of the American prosecution team at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. During the 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 and raised three children.

  When the 100th Bomb Group Veterans Organization was formed many years after the war, Rosie became one of its founders, most active members and for several years its President. He remained active until his death in 2007. Two years before that, he came to the Czech Republic to pay tribute to the men of his unit who were shot down in the largest air battle over Czechoslovakia on September 11th, 1944, at the Ore Mountain Air Battle Museum in Kovarska.

  After Rosie's passing, his father's baton at the 100th Bomb Group Foundation was passed on to his son, Dan Rosenthal, who was also the foundation's President for many years and today serves as its Vice President of Philanthropy and a member of the Board of Directors.

  In the Masters of the Air film series, Robert Rosenthal is portrayed by actor Nate Mann as one of the main characters in the story. A lesser known fact is that Rosie's grandson Sam was cast as one of Robert Rosenthal's crew members on his last mission to Berlin.

• SKIPPER

  
  

  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 bombers 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 mechanic 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 commanders.

  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 navigation and training missions around the USA, he tuned engines and ensured optimal fuel consumption. 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 weapons 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 damaged by flak over Hungary needed to be repaired after the second phase of the mission. So Dewey 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 Walecznych, 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’ therefore 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 commander of the 351st BS, Maj. Ollen O. Turner. He was nicknamed ‘Skipper’ by some friends from the unit, and so the name also appeared on the nose of the plane. Originally, however, it was a nickname that Maj. Turner gave his wife.

  During August and September, Skipper, under the care of Dewey Christopher and his ground team, flew several combat missions. As the commander's aircraft, she understandably had fewer of them than other machines over a given period. On October 10th, 1943, she was included in the group of bombers designated for a raid on Münster. Yes, the flight from which only Robert Rosenthal in the B-17F ‘Royal Flush’ returned out of the entire unit. Skipper was saved from certain destruction by a series of breakdowns and a poorly running No. 2 engine that forced her crew to abort and turn back early. Almost a month later, on November 5th, Skipper was heavily damaged in an attack on Gelsenkirchen.

  After repairs, she continued to fly missions with various pilots until the 24th of January, 1944, when the 100th Bomb Group went over Frankfurt. That day, Skipper was flown by the crew of Lt. Archie J. Drummond. Archie "Four Mile" Drummond had flown many missions with Skipper before, as co-pilot of Jack Swartout's crew. Swartout later became commander of the 350th Squadron, and Drummond took over the crew as its pilot. Shortly after takeoff, at a height of barely 700 feet above the ground (about 210m), the pilots were dazzled by the sharp landing lights of a B-24 aircraft, taking off from another, nearby base and, like Skipper, cutting through the morning air, trying to gain valuable altitude in a climb to the level designated for forming up. Since the B-24 pilots evidently did not see the B-17 in front of them, Lt. Drummond pushed the bomb-laden aircraft towards the ground in an attempt to avoid a collision. Skipper thus avoided the Liberator in a descending right turn, but at the same time got dangerously close to the ground. While leveling out, the B-17F’s left wing sliced into the roof of a barn about 15 miles from base. Gasoline from the punctured tanks turned the plane into a burning torch. The machine flew through a small wooded area and landed in a field behind it. The impact with the ground threw the navigator through the plexiglas nose, Lt. Maurice G. Zetlen, who succumbed to his injuries at the scene. Miraculously, the rest of the crew managed to stagger out of the burning plane. However, Skipper burned up where she had landed.

  Dewey Christopher and his team took care of a new aircraft, which they named ‘Skipper II’. It was an olive drab early B-17G and was destined to survive the war with over a hundred missions flown. Humpty Dumpty, Humpty Dumpty II (Nasty Nan) and others also came later.

  ‘It was having the satisfaction of knowing I was giving 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 and raise the hood when you’re up in the air!’… Dewey commented on his work. Although aircrews, if they managed to complete an operational tour, usually returned home, the men of the ground staff usually remained until the end of the war. It was the same with Dewey Christopher. As part of the unit's original ‘stateside’ cadre, he served with the 100th Bomb Group throughout its combat deployment.

  Dewey stayed true to his profession after leaving the military and worked as an aircraft mechanic for United Airlines for 41 years.

  Many years after the war, at the 100th Bomb Group Reunion in 2011, I listened in awe as he gave an insightful and enthusiastic explanation of the supercharger and engine setup as he stood with friends under the wing of a flying B-17 warbird.

  The 100th Air Refueling Wing, based at RAF Mildenhall, England, is the successor to the 100th Bomb Group. It is also the only USAF unit that still uses the markings of its predecessor; its four-engine KC-135 tankers proudly wear a ‘Square D’ on their rudders, much like the 100th Bomb Group. In June 2019, the unit named one of its components focused on training aircraft maintenance specialists the ‘Dewey R. Christopher Professional Development Center’. Dewey himself also attended the center's renaming ceremony. He considered it a tremendous honor. It was also his last visit 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 in Colorado Springs. Veterans were already scarce at the Reunion that year. It was October 11th and in the early evening word had reached us that one of our veterans at the reunion hotel had died that afternoon. When we got back, we learned it was Dewey Christopher. He left unexpectedly, among the people he loved. In his last days, he was surrounded by his beloved 100th Bomb Group, veterans, their children, grandchildren... He was succeeded by his no less hardworking and charismatic son, Gary, who also accompanied his father to Reunions for years. Today, Gary is one of the 100th Bomb Group Foundation's Board of Directors.

  After Dewey died, the 100th ARW at Mildenhall decided to name one of their KC-135s, aircraft s/n 59-1470, ‘Skipper III’ in honor of Dewey Christopher and other ground and combat crews who flew their B-17F Skipper and B-17G Skipper II over occupied Europe in 1943-45.

  ‘Dewey’s main concern was doing everything possible to ensure his crew and airplane returned home safely. He would diligently inspect all the B-17s he was responsible for, doing everything possible to keep them in top running order. That is the very definition of professionalism. We honor him today because it’s the proud heritage of his generation that will help inspire RAF Mildenhall Airmen for years to come.’ ….said in 2019, at the aircraft naming ceremony, Col. Troy Pananon, Commander of the 100th ARW.

• Horny II

  
  

  ‘One day you’re up, the next you’re down’ is a translation from a well-known Czech song, which is only three years older than the B-17 prototype, the Model 299. The opening chorus of the song by the trio Voskovec, Werich and Ježek can be correlated with the fate of B-17F No. 42-5957 without much alteration. The aircraft was built in the forty F-series production block at Vega's Burbank facility. It was taken over by the Air Force on May 24th, 1943, and two months and one day later she was in England. She was subsequently assigned to service with the 349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group.

  The aircraft returned from its first mission on September 6th, 1943, with the co-pilot dead and the pilot, bombardier and navigator seriously wounded. The mission to Stuttgart that day, in a B-17 coded XR-D but as yet unnamed, was flown by a crew commanded by Lt. Sumner H. Reeder, one of the future commanders of the 349th Bomb Squadron. While it was the first mission for the plane, it was the thirteenth for Reeder's crew!

  During a direct flight while sighting the target, the group was attacked from the sun and the 2 o'clock position, almost head-on, by German Focke Wulf Fw 190 fighters. Almost immediately, Reeder's plane was hit. Shells from 20mm cannon hit the nose and the cockpit, and punctured one wing tank. The dorsal gunner, T/Sgt. Harold L. Pope managed to hit the attacking aircraft at a distance of 400 yards. The ‘190 exploded just in front of the B-17 it was attacking, and the debris damaged its tail surfaces. But that wasn't the worst part. One of the rounds that hit the cockpit went through co-pilot F/O Harry E. Edeburn's side window and exploded on the armor of his seat. Edeburn slumped up against the steering wheel, covered in blood. Additional shrapnel tore off part of the pilot's seat. Tearing into Lt. Reeder's right arm and leg. The seriously injured co-pilot was able to straighten himself up in the seat so that he did not obstruct the steering. Reeder descended to the lower levels of the combat box, where he sought the protection of the other aircraft and continued his flight to the target. He did not yet know that the bombardier and the navigator were also seriously wounded and bleeding profusely. Immediately it became clear that the oxygen distribution system and the radio were damaged. Bombardier, Lt. Peter E. Delao was wounded by shrapnel in the face, legs and hands. The navigator, Lt. Russel D. Engel, suffered face injuries from the shrapnel and from explosive rounds that took one of his eyes.  Incredibly, he refused a morphine injection to be able to help the pilot fly the stricken bomber on behalf of the dying co-pilot. Sumner Reeder left the formation and turned for home. It was necessary to descend to a lower altitude where they could operate without oxygen. Although they were still attacked by fighters, no further serious damage was done. The pilot shook off the fighters with almost aerobatic evasive maneuvers, and a couple of still functioning machine guns helped in the defense. Finally, the plane ducked into some local cloud cover, where the pilot changed direction several times so that the intercepting fighters could not guess from where they may emerge. Several times they flew from cloud to cloud, changing their course by 180° and thus confusing the fighters.

  When there was no immediate danger from enemy fighters, the top turret gunner, T/Sgt. Pope, dismounted and entered the cockpit to lay the wounded co-pilot on the floor. However, the latter, F/O Edeburn, tried to return to his seat three times to help the wounded commander fly the aircraft. On the third attempt, he fell on his back into the space behind the seats and did not get up again.

   

  When Reeder managed to shake off the fighters, they were low above the terrain, with no idea where they were. After some time, despite his injuries and the loss of navigational aids, the navigator was able to advise the pilot of an approximate course to England. Once they reached the coast, they followed it north in order to be over land in case they had to make an emergency landing or abandon the plane by parachute, since as at least one of their two dinghies was destroyed. Several times they headed blindly 40-50 miles west over the sea, but then always returned to the French coast and continued along it. Finally they spotted a faint haze in the west. Running low on fuel, they tried again, successfully this time. In England they started looking around for an airport big enough to land on. Finally they saw a bomber on the ground. It was an RCAF base where they were taken care of. After landing Lt. Reeder climbed out of the plane and lay motionless on the grass for several minutes. He then telephoned his base and, like his comrades, was taken to hospital. He did not return to active duty until early January 1944. The bombardier and navigator were decommissioned due to their serious injuries and sent back to the US.

  For his performance on this mission, Lt. Reeder was awarded the DSC (Distinguished Service Cross), seriously wounded lieutenants Engel and Delao received the DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross). This was also posthumously awarded to co-pilot F/O Edeburn for his heroism and efforts despite serious injuries to assist the also wounded pilot in controlling the damaged aircraft.

  With Lt. Reeder on the mend, the rest of the crew continued their missions with a new pilot and co-pilot. They did not return from a mission after a controversial incident - on 5 November, most of them had to leave the aircraft over enemy territory, while the replacement pilot and co-pilot flew the B-17  back to England (see Mugwump and Squawkin’ Hawk medallions). One of the crew was killed when his parachute failed to open, four were taken prisoner and three managed to escape from the enemy.

  After being discharged from the hospital, Sumner Reeder became the Operations Officer for the 349th  BS and later its commander. He completed his operational tour in July of 1944, passed on his squadron command and returned to the United States. There, he joined the Transport Air Force and was killed off the coast of Florida on March 19th, 1945 during a training flight in a C-54.

  Aircraft 42-5957 was repaired and returned to combat service. It was assigned to the crew of Lt. Henry M. Henington, who lost their aircraft christened ‘Horny’ plane on September 3rd, 1944 when it was forced to land in the English Channel after a raid on Le Roger Airfield near Paris. The new aircraft was named ‘Horny II’ and they added a drawing of a long-horned Texas bull to the name, whose expression more than emphasized the name of the aircraft. The date when the very first mission of the crew in their new aircraft took place (they already had eleven under their belts) could give an idea of ​​the content of the following from October 8th, 1943, and the destination was Bremen.

  With two engines knocked out and fuel tanks punctured, they dragged themselves home across the North Sea at 4,000 feet. After the previous experience, they definitely did not want to end up in the drink again! When they landed at Thorpe Abbotts, the aircraft ran out of fuel while taxiing.

  Horny II was once again in the care of the ground crews, and as a result, neither she nor her crew could take part in the disastrous mission to Münster two days later.

  Henington's crew completed their operational tour of twenty-five missions in late 1943, with a large number flown in this aircraft. The last one, the twenty-fifth, took place on December 31st of that year. The destination was again Paris, and once again Henington and Horny II returned to the Channel with only two working engines and with flat tires. Fortunately, this time it went relatively well.

  At the beginning of 1944, the aircraft was rotated through several crews. Damage was a constant factor but the mission score rose as well. The pilot of the last Horny crew was Ferdinand J. Herres, who brought the plane successfully back from Berlin on May 7th, 1944. It was the 49th mission for Horny II bringing her to within just one combat flight away from becoming one of the first Eighth Air Force B-17 to fly fifty. Two days later, a tragic accident caused by a certain degree of carelessness ignited a spark that caused an explosion of gasoline vapors and a subsequent fire when the airplane was on the apron, as its chief mechanic, Sgt. Chris Starr, conducted some cleaning procedures with gasoline. A proud veteran of almost fifty missions, she was destined to not be recorded into the history of the 8th Air Force. However, during her forty-nine sorties, despite significant damage and dead or wounded on board, Horny II was always able to reliably bring her crew back home.

• HARD LUCK

  
  

  The English portion of Loren C. Van Steenis crew’s adventure didn’t begin at Thorpe Abbotts but in Bury St. Edmunds, with the 94th Bomb Group, where they arrived in the early fall of 1943 and spent short time in the group's training program before beginning combat missions. The crew was ready to begin their combat tour with their unit, proudly bearing the letter 'A' in a square on their aircraft, when a request from command reached the unit to transfer some of their crews to Thorpe Abbots, as the 100th Bombardment Group she was seriously depleted. It was almost the middle of October and the Hundred had lost twenty crews since the beginning of the month. Van Steenis' men were loaded onto a truck and taken to Thorpe Abbotts.

  T/Sgt. Earl V. Benham recalled that day: ‘… an officer of the 100th welcomed us and we entered the operations office. We had been joking about arriving this date on October 13th. We called it a good luck omen. When mentioned this to the officer, he said ‘you fellas are listed as Crew #13 and the airplane assigned to you is #413, and also this is the 13th Combat Wing.’ As we were leaving he said as an after thought. ‘Oh yes, your airplane is named Hard Luck!’ ’

  Perhaps no other B-17F in the 100th Bomb Group is as surrounded by so many legends and myths as this one. This was exasperated by the repeated appearance of the number 13, which has always played a certain role in aviation. Some of the connections were real, while others were exaggerated, but either way, there is no disputing that it was an exceptional aircraft. This B-17F had a serial number ending in 13, arrived in England on August 19, 1943, but legend has it that it was on Friday the 13th with Crew No. 13 commanded by Lt. Don Mitchell. That's not completely true either. However, Mitchell's crew flew this aircraft on their first mission and some missions after. Hard Luck's hardstand was supposed to be the one with the number 13, and she did actually occupy that spot for a time. But it wasn’t the only designated spot, as, for example, 29 comes into play as well. And the 100th Bomb Group really was part of the 13th Combat Wing.

  It would appear that the first mission of this aircraft was a raid on factories in Paris on September 3rd, 1943. At that time, the aircraft did not have its name yet. That didn't come about until a few days later. Lt. Mitchell’s bombardier, Earl G. Hafen, loved to sing the popular ‘Ode to Bombers’. At the end of it he added his ‘... and when they mention bombardiers, they always add Hard Luck! ‘ The connotation extrapolates figuratively, of course, to ‘bad luck’,  but also a hard-earned happiness. The first bad luck came during one of the crew's first missions with aircraft 413. However, who knows if it was actually the fickle finger of fate... The crew had to return to base early from the mission due to a malfunction and someone declared ‘That's hard luck!’. In conjunction with the bombardier's song and the number 13, the last two digits of the serial number, the idea came quickly and the inscription soon appeared on the left side of the nose, where the bombs of the missions flown and later also the swastikas marking the enemy fighters destroyed by the crews of this aircraft were added. Mitchell's crew soon received one of the first B-17Gs assigned to the unit and left Hard Luck behind. They named their new B-17G s/n 42-31074 Cahepit and flew most of their missions with it.

  Hard Luck was thus inherited by Van Steenis' crew mentioned at the beginning and it is the main one that is associated with this ship. By February 25th, 1944, they had flown eighteen missions, most of them in Hard Luck, which, despite all sorts of close calls, always returned them home safely. Van Stenis' crew parted ways with their aircraft, which had a reverent row of mission markings painted on her, in March 1944, when they were promoted to lead crew. They were then assigned a new B-17G s/n 42-31903 coded LN-T, named ‘Hard Luck II’. However, this name never appeared on the nose of the aircraft, so finally there were two ‘Hard Luck II's with 350th Squadron. One sort of for themselves, named by Van Steenis' crew, the other by the ground crew of the original Hard Luck after their worn but still great B-17F was lost. The last operational flight of Van Steenis's crew, on May 7th, 1944, was to Berlin. Most of the crew were scheduled to complete their combat tour that day. At that time, the quota had already been increased to thirty missions. For those who had already completed part of their original tour commitment at the time of the increase, the increase was by a proportional amount. For this crew, the figure was 28. Over Berlin, the formation ran into a wall of flak and one of the rounds exploded near the No. 3 engine. Its shrapnel severely damaged the engine and the B-17G began to lose altitude. When checking the crew over the intercom, the bombardier and the navigator did not report. Bombardier, Lt. Lester D. Torbett, was found bleeding profusely in the radio operator's station. Navigator Lt. Harold C. Becker was found killed in the nose of the plane. Hard Luck II ‘903’ was repaired and later lost on the 29th of July, 1944.

  But, getting back to the original Hard Luck, at the end of 1943 and beginning of ‘44, other crews occasionally flew lucky 413: George H. Gough and Randall T. Chadwick in the early spring of 1944, and then John M. Shelly (three missions) and notably, John S. Giles (eight missions).

  The aircraft had several near misses during this period, when over Berlin on March 6th, 1944, flak damaged the right wing and the left stabilizer. Lt. Chadwick and his crew made it home. A few missions later, on April 13th, 1944, Lt. John M. Shelly made it back from Augsburg with severe damage to the left wing and fuel tank. Two days later, however, Hard Luck flew on another mission, this time with the crew of John S. Giles for the first time. Hard Luck was assigned more combat missions to this crew between April 19th and May 8th than she was finally credited. Twice before take-off, Hard Luck was replaced by a spare aircraft, and on May 1st, 1944, she was designated as a ‘flying spare’, a plane that took off together with the formation and, if necessary, replaced an aircraft that for one reason or another had to abort the mission. Hard Luck was not needed that day, so John S. Giles returned to base with her and the bomb load. Not long after that, due to bad weather, the rest of the group turned back. The mission was scrubbed. The last mission with Hard Luck was completed by Giles' crew on May 8th, 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 new glass nose, side window closures, and a new type top turret used on later production blocks of the B-17G. Above all, however, a general overhaul was to take place, possibly replacing all four engines.

  Hard Luck became a record holder in the 8th Air Force, after flying a total of 630 hours over the course of fifty missions (various sources for this period mention 46-50 with the original engines and turbo compressors with which she was flown in the summer of 1943 across the ocean. One of her four Studebaker-built Wright R-1820 Cyclones was in good enough shape that technicians reassembled it. These modifications took the aircraft out of service for several weeks. In addition, the unit already had a number of more modern B-17Gs, and the old Fs were sent on missions much less frequently.

  The excellent condition of the engines was due to the ground crew, led by twenty-four-year-old M/Sgt. Glenn M. ‘Zip’ Myers, who, among other things, was said to be very particular about his airplanes, and especially of Hard Luck. He resented - and tried to prevent - Hard Luck being given to inexperienced pilots. He said of Hard Luck: ‘she looked lean and hungry... she had no nose turret... her tail compartment was narrow, cramped, old fashioned, with fabric flapping around the twin fifty stringers – the kind they used a year ago... ... but she was still the fastest plane on the line – among her newer, shinier, unpainted sister ships... ‘

  The beginning of July, 1944 marked Hard Luck's return to combat duty. The rejuvenated aircraft had previously bounced over Berlin on June 22nd with 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 until July 8th, 1944, when she carried the young crew of Lt. Albert E. Trommer, who was on his third combat sortie. Trommer's crew became the main crew of Hard Luck for the rest of her service. Plane and crew flew eight combat missions together. In addition to Albert Trommer, piloting duties in July and August 1944 were also undertaken by Lt. Lawrence W. Riegel. Both Riegel and Trommer and their crews, as well as Giles and Shelly, (who had flown with Hard Luck earlier), were later shot down on September 11th 1944 over the Ore Mountains (the mission to Ruhland).

  A member of Trommer's crew, S/Sgt. John C. Kluttz firing from the lower ball turret of Hard Luck hit an attacking Fw 190 during a mission to Merseburg on July 29th, 1944. He was credited with a damaged fighter.

  In mid-summer 1944, this aircraft was one of the last two B-17Fs in service with the 100th Bomb Group (the other being the famous Royal Flush), and its well worn coat stood out amongst the formation of mostly shiny B-17Gs.

  On August 14th, 1944, Hard Luck took off on her 62nd mission. Lt. Donald E. Cielewich sat in the pilot’s seat. Near Ludwigshafen, the aircraft was fatally hit by flak. The crew dropped their bombs and left their position in the high squadron of the group which they occupied with a wide turn. Even then, Hard Luck was friendly to her crew. All nine men were able to leave the dying machine and to ‘hit the silk’. The limp B-17F, in a steady descent, made several circles near the village of Beerfelden near Erbach and landed on the farm of Jakob Seip and Adam Schmidt. One building was completely destroyed, another was seriously damaged. Ten people died in the rubble of the houses. The original German investigation assumed that some of the dead were members of the bomber's crew. However, they were all residents of the house or agricultural workers.

  According to official figures, Hard Luck dropped 113 tons of bombs on targets during its operational career, and its gunners claimed four Luftwaffe fighters. A veteran of 798 hours in the air over 62 missions flown, she served in the European skies for almost one full year…

  After Royal Flush was lost just three days earlier, the fabled Hard Luck became the last B-17F to fly in combat with the Bloody Hundred.

• Mugwump

  
  

  B-17F, Serial 42-30066, named Mugwump, did and did not have a long history. On the one hand, it was among the first twenty B-17s that the 100th Bomb Group lost, but on the other hand, it was probably the last F model that served with the Bloody Hundredth to fly a combat mission. I will try to explain this apparent contradiction in the following paragraphs.

  When the 100th Bomb Group at Kearney, Nebraska received its aircraft with which it was to move to Europe after training, 066 was among them, built in Block 85 as an F-series by Boeing in Seattle. Crew commander Lt. William Flesh, to whom the aircraft was assigned, was probably the one who named the aircraft. Although the meaning of the word Mugwump, which dates back to the vocabulary of the native inhabitants of North America, is ambiguous, in slang at the time it meant someone who could stand up to a dispute in such a way as not to anger the other side. The idea used to be caricatured as a bird sitting on a fence, with head on one side, and butt on the other... that this was the meaning of the name on the new B-17F is evidenced by the drawing of an ostrich, which was added to the inscription on the nose before the unit moved to Europe. It was certainly not the first name given to this aircraft, as the photos show a patch of fresher olive paint under the Mugwump inscription after the original name had been painted over.

  How many Mugwump missions were flown by Flesh's cannot be determined from available records. It is certain that there were at least five during June and July.

  August 17th, 1943, came and with it the raid on Regensburg. Lt. Flesh missed that mission. The reasons were… well, understandable given the stress the bomber crews were under and the way they usually diffused that stress, but nevertheless, difficult to excuse and certainly incompatible with the duties and responsibilities of a crew commander. So his men flew with a replacement pilot, Lt. Curtis L. Biddick. He had lost part of his crew earlier, during a raid on Le Bourget, and now he and his bombardier stepped in for the ‘unavailable’ pilot and bombardier of Flash's crew. They were assigned ‘Escape Kit’ (B-17F serial number 42-5860), on loan for the day from Lt. Edgar Woorward, who was in London for the funeral of his navigator, killed by flak two days earlier. Escape Kit was shot down before reaching Regensburg. Four men of the crew, including the pilot and co-pilot, were killed. The others were captured, many with serious injuries.

  Flesh's Mugwump was borrowed by Lt. Charles B. ‘Crankshaft’ Cruikshank with his crew for the same mission. Next to him in the cockpit sat the Commander of the 418th BS, Maj. John C. ‘Bucky’ Egan. They led the second element of the lead squadron of the 100th Bomb Group. German fighters shot down both planes of Egan's element flying at his sides, prior to reaching the target, namely the already mentioned ‘Escape Kit’, flown by Lt. Biddick, and also ‘Picklepuss’, flown by Lt. Robert M. Knox. Mugwump was also seriously impacted. Her pilots were able to fly her to planned landing site in North Africa. However, damage was so severe that she had to be left behind in Algiers.

  Before we get to Mugwump's next hand that was dealt her, let's go back to her original pilot. When Lt. William R. Flesh lost both his plane and his crew during the mission to Regensburg and served time for his crime, he returned to combat flying. He acted primarily as a substitute where needed. One of the ‘adopted’ crews was the men of Lt. Sumner Reeder, who was recuperating from wounds sustained in a raid on Stuttgart on September 6th, 1943 (see Horny II chapter). Flesh also flew with Reeder's crew as a pilot on November 5th, 1943 in B-17F 42-30088 ‘Squawkin Hawk’. Also on board that day was the lead navigator of the group, Capt. Omar Gonzales. Serious flak damage over Gelsenkirchen, and partial uncontrollability, made Lt. Flesh order the crew to abandon the plane. Only he and the co-pilot remained in the B-17. They flew the damaged but lightened ‘Squawkin Hawk’ back to England at ground level. It is difficult to judge today whether it was the calculation of the pilot trying to ‘get rid’ of excess load and thus increase his chance of return, incorrect judgment and subsequent decision, or pure concern for the lives of others. All these possibilities were the subject of whispers at Thorpe Abbotts.

  Whatever led to the series of pilot decisions, the incident sparked further controversy at the base, and in the case of Lt. Flesh was the final straw, leading to his transfer to another group shortly after.

  At this time, the 8th Air Force was being reinforced with new units, and the existing bomb groups were called upon to supply these new, inexperienced units with at least one experienced aircrew to assist their integration. It was said to be an opportunity for Bomb Group HQs to get rid of troublesome members. Lt. Flesh was transferred to the 482nd Bombardment Group at Alconbury in late November 1943, where he received training to fly B-17s equipped with Mickey H2X radars. At the end of January 1944, he was transferred to the 303rd Bombardment Group, where he returned to combat flying. It can be said that he used the new opportunity to fix everything he had done wrong with the 100th Bomb Group. He completed his operational tour with the 303rd Group and voluntarily began a second one. He added thirty-two more missions to what he had flown with the 100th Bomb Group. Some of them in the position of commanding pilot. He was then transferred again, this time to the 305th Bomb Group, and here as an experienced pilot and commander he flew an undisclosed number of other missions…

  Meanwhile, Mugwump, which Lt. Flesh flew with his crew across the ocean in June 1943, was experiencing a different but no less turbulent fate. After the Regensburg mission on August 17th, 1943, she sat seriously damaged at Telegerma Base in northern Algeria awaiting repairs. After that, the B-17 returned to England, but not to the 100th Bomb Group.

  In early 1944, the aircraft was assigned to the 803rd (Provisional) Group at Oulton Base in Norfolk, where it was equipped with electronic warfare equipment (Mandrel and Carpet systems for jamming German radars). In July, 1944 she was reassigned again, this time to the 388th Bomb Group at Fersfield, where the top secret Aphrodite project was underway. It involved guiding four-engine bombers, in the form of explosive-laden drones, to hard-to-destroy targets such as submarine docks, V-1 and V-2 launch pads, oil refineries, and the like. The project was not nearly as successful as it was expected to be. There were only nineteen Aphrodite missions between August, 1944 and January, 1945. Older, but reliable war weary bombers were modified into remotely controlled drones (castor), with which a two-man crew took off, secured a connection in the air for remote control with another bomber (mother ship), and left the airplane using parachutes. The lead aircraft then guided the drone to the target and returned. The vast majority of Aphrodite missions failed on their way to their destination for a variety of reasons. On October 30th, 1944, five B-17s took off, two drones, two mother ships and one escort aircraft, along with seven P-47s. The target was the submarine docks on the coast of Heligoland. One of the drones packed with explosives was an unnamed B-17F (BQ-7, to be more precise), which once carried the name ‘Mugwump’ and a drawing on its nose of an ostrich. The target could not be found due to bad weather, so the drones were directed to the Berlin area and their escort, including the piloted B-17s, turned back. The first drone crashed into the North Sea, while ex-Mugwump veered off course after losing contact with its mother ship, headed over Sweden and crashed south of the town of Trollhättan at around 1600 hours, leaving a huge crater. Apart from three engines, found a few hundred meters from the impact site, only small pieces of debris remained from the aircraft. The shock wave shattered windows in homes within a radius of more than five kilometers.

• NINE LITTLE YANKS AND A JERK

  
  

  Aircraft s/n 42-3271 is certainly one of the most attractive B-17Fs flown by the 100th Bomb Group with its nose art. This B-17 was not among the unit's original aircraft with which it moved overseas to the European theater. The same can be said of her crew, who gave her the name.

  The aircraft served for a month with the 91st Bomb Group at Bassingbourn and arrived at Thorpe Abbotts as reconditioned on the 5th of July, 1943. The crew of Lt. Robert L. Hughes arrived nine days later and was the first ‘spare’ crew of the 351st Bomb Squadron. The plane was assigned to them the very next day. Additional training with the group and waiting for their first combat mission took longer than the young crew would have liked, which didn’t happen for a month.

  One of the ground crew members, Cpl. Frank Stevens, painted a scantily clad lady in high riding boots and an American hat on the nose of the airplane, sitting on a bomb with the decorative inscription ‘Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk’ below. There are two versions of the origin of the name of the aircraft and its meaning. The first talks about the fact that the ten-member crew under Lt. Hughes was made up of nine boys from the North (Yanks) and only one from the South (Jerk). That was Sgt. Buntin, waist gunner. It came out of the friendly teasing among the members of the same crew. The other interpretation is that "Jerk" meant "dork, dunce, dumb...". Just exactly where the truth lies is difficult to determine. The members of Hughes's crew themselves later downplayed the reasons by explaining that later the ‘jerk’ of the crew was always someone else and everyone took turns wearing the title. Once, radio operator T/Sgt. Boyle, when he forgot to retract the trailing wire antenna and dragged it along the ground on landing, and another time, ball turret gunner T/Sgt. Horace Barnum forgot to unload the guns in the ball turret of the borrowed Piccadilly Lily after landing. The crew was playing this innocent game of seeing who would be the jerk for the current mission.

  On October 14th, shortly after the disastrous missions to Münster and Bremen, in which the 100th Bomb Group lost 19 aircrews, the second mission to Schweinfurt, known as ‘Black Thursday’ or ‘the Second Schweinfurt Mission’, took place. The weakened Hundredth could contribute only eight aircraft and crews. These were incorporated into the formations of the other two groups of the 13th Combat Wing. One of the planes flying with the 95th Bomb Group was Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk with Robert Hughes and his crew. In the IP area, the final waypoint before achieving target acquisition, the lead aircraft of the 95th Bomb Group was hit by flak and disappeared from the formation. Immediately afterwards, a B-17F named ‘Heaven Can Wait’ was hit as well, flown by Lt. Keel, flying right next to Hughes. After several moments, the out-of-control aircraft turned sharply towards Hughes' B-17. A quick reaction from the pilots in Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk resulted in a sharp left turn suppression, creating space for Keel's Fortress. But at the same time, they fell out of their formation and found themselves much lower and alone. At that moment, the bombardier saw the target directly in front of him. Flying over it alone was a big risk. Contrary to regulations, the crew unanimously agreed to go ahead and attack the target. Bombardier Lt. Elliott adjusted his Norden bombsight a thousand feet lower, the pilot set a fixed course, altitude and speed, and the Elliot began aiming. The bombs, released at 14:54, hit the target, which the pilot and bombardier had carefully studied during pre-flight preps, dead centre.

   

  After leaving the target, they took a steep left turn to rejoin the 95th Bombardment Group, which was still settling into formation after being pelted by flak earlier.

  The event had an impact on the headquarters of the 3rd Bomb Division. Lt. Hughes and Lt. Elliott were called in to General Curtis LeMay. Lt Hughes recalled: ‘This was to be an experience for me, I had never seen so many ‘Eagles’ in one room. I had never been out of formation over a target before. When all of the representatives from all of the groups were assembled, the critique was called to order and we had just been seated when General LeMay asked, ‘Will Lt. Hughes from the 100th Bomb Group come forward.’  When I stepped upon the stage he said, ‘Will you tell this group what you did yesterday?’ I related how we had been forced to dive for our lives and how that when we recovered the target upon which we had been briefed, lay dead ahead. How all the men volunteered. The fact that we had a perfect bomb run and that Lt. Elliott pickle-barreled the target. General LeMay asked how I knew that we had pickle-barreled the target, I informed him that I had studied the strike photos and the fact that our aircraft, ‘Nine Little Yanks and A Jerk’, was designated strike photo aircraft for the 100th BGH, to which he responded, ‘That is right gentlemen, ten bombs MPI. ‘ Stepping up to the strike map he pulled the butcher paper away to reveal an enlarged strike photo, showing the strike. His next comment was, ‘The Lieutenant should have a Commendation.’, to which the reply came from the back of the room in clearly enunciated words, ‘The SOB should be court-martialed for breaking formation!’’

  The one who expressed his opinion in this way was Col. Bud Peaslee, who led the mission to Schweinfurt. Many years later, Hughes and Peaslee became very good friends. 

  Almost the entire crew was able to complete their operational tour. However, one of its members finished their innocent game of ‘jerk’ a little earlier. The previously mentioned T/Sgt. Joseph F. Boyle claimed two downed Me 410s during a raid on the submarine docks at Wilhemshawen on November 3rd, 1943. At the same time, he damaged the vertical tail surfaces of his own aircraft with about 10 rounds, likely bestowing upon him the ‘jerk’ label for the day. It could’ve been considerably worse, and two days later, it was. On a raid to Gelsenkirchen, an 88mm flak shell exploded close to the aircraft and one small piece of shrapnel narrowly licked the edge of his flak vest, penetrating his heart and killing him instantly.

  On November 26th, the commanding pilot of the 351st Bomb Squadron, Capt. John ‘Lucky’ Luckadoo, flew on Nine little Yanks and a Jerk as co-pilot.

  At least one mission with this aircraft was also completed by the legendary Lt. Frank E. Valesh. On January 4th, 1944, during a raid on Kiel, engine No. 2 was hit by flak, and the propeller was revving the engine above the permissible limit. At the same time, fuel consumption increased enormously. With what gasoline remained in the tanks, Valesh made an emergency landing at the base at Leconfield.

  Hughes's crew flew for the last time in their aircraft on January 7th, 1944 to Ludwigshaven. Nine little Yanks and a Jerk was damaged many times during her service with the 100th Bomb Group and spent considerable time in repairs. Therefore, only 28 missions were flown between July, 1943 and January, 1944.

  On January 24th, 1944, a young crew borrowed the plane for a training flight. During landing, the left undercarriage leg retracted spontaneously and the aircraft was damaged. Since the unit was already receiving new B-17Gs at the time of the crash, it was decided that this old ‘F’ would not be repaired. She was therefore transported to the technical depot of the unit, where she was used as a ‘hangar queen’ - a source of spare parts for other repaired aircraft, before her remains were finally scrapped.

  Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk was one of the few B-17Fs serving with the 100th Bomb Group to have flat perspex glazing in place of the astrodome. It was a remnant of the original service with the 91st Bomb Group, which had a number of its aircraft modified in this way. Three ceiling windows in the nose were also unusual for the Hundredth.

  Lt. Hughes completed his operational tour with a raid on Berlin on March 4th, 1944. Most of his crew did so less than a month earlier. He flew at least 18 of his 25 missions in Nine little Yanks and a Jerk.

  After the end of combat flying, Lt. Hughes briefly tested and flew the personal planes of President Roosevelt and Gen. Curtis LeMay.

• MISMALOVIN’

  
  

  The US Army Air Force’s major plans and operations in Europe involving heavy bombers usually resulted in heavy losses for Allied air assets and men in addition to the successes they achieved. Operation Argument, more commonly referred to as ‘Big Week’, between the 20th and 25th of February, 1944, was supposed to be the first important step in the quest for definitive air supremacy over Europe. The strikes by the Allied air forces, both the USAAF and the RAF, were therefore aimed mainly at the aviation industry and its associated infrastructure - logistical targets, air bases and many smaller targets of opportunity.

  The Allies lost 357 bombers during the six days of ‘Big Week’. One of them, on the last day of the operation, was B-17F 42-30788 named Mismalovin' of the 350th BS, 100th Bomb Group. Losses of the Hundred during these six days, during the attacks on Posen, Stettin, Brunswick, Alhorn, Vorden, Rostock and Regensburg, amounted unusually to ‘just’ four aircraft.

  Mismalovin' was assigned to the 100th Bomb Group at the beginning of September, 1943. The crew commanded by Lt. Stewart A. McClain arrived at Thorpe Abbotts a month later. Most of their missions, the first of which was completed on the 1st of November, 1943, were flown in ‘their’ B-17F, which carried noseart on both sides of the nose, unusual for the 100th Bomb Group. While the right side was decorated with a scantily clad, well...actually completely nude, young lady (which was also unusual for the 100th BG) with the name of the aircraft, the left, in front of the pilot's windows, sported a large gremlin type figure, taken from the unit patch of the 350th BS, climbing up the plane and releasing bombs from a chamber pot. Their number varied. Originally, it could have been an unusual record of the number of missions flown, which would be evidenced by the fact that a small number 13 was placed above one of them. Later, however, they became a rather prominent drawing across the entire height of the nose, part of the noseart, and others were no longer painted.

  On Sunday, November 5th, Mismalovin' was seriously damaged by flak over Gelsenkirchen , puncturing engine number 4’s oil tank.

  Lt. McClain, the aircraft’s pilot, later recalled: ‘We flew a little ways further, still in formation. Another burst caught our number two engine. With two engines left to get home on, we had to drop out of formation.’

  A group of Messerschmitts targeted the lonely Mismalovin'. They came from behind at a bad time, just as the rear gunner, Sgt. Bennett struggled with the frosted glass of his gun turret. The top turret gunner, Sgt. Walters, was however able to answer. He managed to shoot down one of the attackers, the others retreated out of range. The pilots struggled with the controls as fuel was continuously leaking from the punctured fuel tanks.

   

  Co-pilot Lt. McBride added: ‘We started back, losing altitude all the way. By the time we reached England, we were down to six thousand feet.’

  They eventually landed on the runway of their own base at Thorpe Abbotts. An Army PR message added: ‘The Fortress landed with less gas you can get on a A card (authors note: during WWII a special card/sticker that allowed the car owner to purchase about 4 gallons of gas each week), and so full of flak holes that it looked like a mechanized sieve.’

  Mismalovin' suffered various damage in the following months as well. Even so, her and McClain's crew's mission credits were rising.

  There were cities whose names, when uttered during briefings at the 100th Bomb Group, sent chills down the spine, to say the least. Berlin, Schweinfurt, Bremen, Münster, Merseburg, Ruhland… and also Regensburg. Since the legendary mission on August 17th, 1943, The Hundredth had not been over this target. The return was to come at the end of Big Week, February 25th, 1944. McClain's crew took off again in Mismalovin', their 22nd mission. They almost saw themselves on their way home…

  Flak over the target knocked out engine number 2 on the left shortly after 2 pm Immediately, the oil pressure dropped and the entire aircraft shook violently. Before the pilots managed to shut down the engine and feather the prop, the engine appeared to be torn apart. Lt. Delbert S. Pearson, a pilot flying a nearby B-17, observed the event: ‘A/C #788 was observed to be hit by flak just after bombs away over the target. Gasoline immediately began to flood back over the wing and the A/C began to fall behind.’

  With the engine shut down, the B-17 began to rapidly lose altitude. The crew had to leave the formation. She had over 800 kilometers to return home alone. Most of it through Germany and the territories of the occupied continent. It didn't take long for German fighters to pounce on the lonely and damaged Mismalovin'.

  A chase began which ended up just above the tops of roofs and trees, at a height of 200-300 feet. It almost seemed that the situation of November 5th of the previous year might be repeated. However, this was not the case... At low altitude, the aircraft became an easy target even for light flak, and in addition, fighter attacks did not stop. Their rounds inflicted additional damage on the B-17 and gradually killed the navigator, radio operator and co-pilot, and seriously wounded the top turret gunner, tail gunner, bombardier, pilot.... Nevertheless, the plane slowly dragged itself through Germany, Belgium, France, while it continued to be attacked by fighters. Miraculously, the shot-up B-17 stayed in the air. The tail gunner, Sgt. William T. Cook recalled the event: ‘In spite of the licking we were taking, we still managed to give a pretty good account of ourselves. The engineer shot down two fighters, the bombardier had one possible, and I shot down two of which I am sure.’

   

  In the area of ​​Calais, France, the plane came over the English Channel. At one point, glimpses of England could be made out. At the same time, however, the attacks of German fighters intensified and increased in number. At that moment, Sgt. Cook noticed that instead of flying towards England, the plane was turning left and slowly losing altitude. He tried to call the pilot on the intercom, but there was no answer. He figured that the pilot had been wounded or killed by the last rounds. As he had partial experience flying a B-17, he decided to go into the cockpit and possibly try to fly to England himself. As he climbed out of his rear gun position and into the fuselage, he just saw one of the airmen parachute out. However, they were only about 50-100 feet above the surface and the crew's replacement, waist gunner Sgt. Knudsen, died after falling into the water.

  Sgt. Cook continued in his memoirs: ‘Out ball turret gunner, S/Sgt. Lawrence Bennett, was standing in the door ready to jump. I reached for him, pulled him back into the plane, and told him to take off his chute because we were about to crash. He was having some difficulty removing his chute and I was assisting him when the plane crashed into the English Channel. I was knocked unconscious in the crash and woke up floating in the Channel. When I regained consciousness, I saw one other person, a spare gunner flying with us that day, who had survived. We were picked up by some German Marines, taken to a hospital in Calais, France, where we stayed for about three or four days, and I was then moved to an interrogation center in Frankfurt. I spent about 20 days in Frankfurt (in solitaire) and was then sent to a POW camp.’

  That gunner, whose name Sgt. Cook could not remember, was Sgt. Clade Zukowski. Only he and Cook survived. Other members of Lt. McClain’s crew died either as a result of being hit by German fighters, or by hitting the surface of the water. The plane went down about 2 miles off the coast near Calais. In addition to the two survivors, German sailors also recovered the bodies of some of the crew members.

  Official German reports stated: ‘The aircraft crashed in the water at Sangatte about 1701h during an attempted return flight to England. The dead man (Lt. McClain, authors note) was recovered and buried at the cemetery of Marquise on February 28th, 1944. Passport papers and identification tags were no longer recognizable. The name was determined by two captured members of the same crew.’

  Two of the crew members of the last Mismalovin' flight remain missing to this day - navigator Lt. Mordkowitz and tail gunner T/Sgt. Fernandez. Their bodies rest with the wreckage of Mismalovin’ at the bottom of the English Channel, not far from the French coast.

  Postscriptum: Some of the aircraft names in the unit were inherited by newly arriving aircraft. This was usually due to the ground crew, who, when they lost their aircraft, sometimes named its replacement after it. Sometimes a new aircraft was named by the flight crew when their original was lost on ‘loan’ or they received a new, more modern one. In the 100th Bomb Group, their successors were named after original B-17s - Horny II, Skipper II and Skipper III (KC-135R), Rosies' Riveters II (and III, also KC 135R), Alice from Dallas II, Humpty Dumpty II, Hard Luck II, Fletchers Castoria II, Holly Terror II, King Bee II and more. Among them, the legendary machines of Frank Valesh's crew Hang the Expense stand out, which made it to number IV.

  Mismalovin' also had a successor in a certain way, although the transcription was somewhat different. The pronunciation and meaning remained. After the original Mismalovin' sank in the Straits near Calais on February 25th, 1944, a new silver B-17G s/n 42-97127 arrived at sister unit 349th BS. She was named Miss Ma' Lovin'. After several weeks of service, she was shot down on May 12th, 1944 in a raid on a synthetics factory in Most (Brüx) in the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. A direct flak hit above the target and a subsequent explosion in the air killed the ball turret gunner. The rest of the ten-member crew of Lt Jack C. Moore took to their parachutes. They thus became the first airmen of the 8th Air Force to be shot down over Czechoslovakia.
  

• SQUWAKIN’ HAWK

  
  

  Of all the pilots who flew B-17F s/n 42-30088 Squawkin' Hawk over the continent, the one most associated with this aircraft is Maj. Sumner H. Reeder, despite flying ‘only’ twelve missions with it out of a total of fifty that Squawkin' Hawk flew. If Sumner Reeder's name sounds familiar, it may be because the fate of his crew is part of the story of the B-17F named Horny II and Mugwump. The mission on September 6th, 1943, completed with Horny II, began a run of bad luck for Reeder's team. On the mission to Stuttgart, a German 20 mm shell killed the co-pilot and seriously wounded three other officers. A few weeks later, on Friday, November 5th, 1943, while Sumner Reeder was still recovering, most of the NCOs in his crew did not return from the attack on Gelsenkirchen. However, their Squawkin’ Hawk, with a backup pilot and co-pilot, did, so she could continue to add to her number of missions flown. When Sumner Reeder returned from treatment, he became the operations officer of the 349th Squadron and later its commander. There is no recorded Squawkin' Hawk combat mission from this period with Reeder in the pilot’s seat. His command duties put him in the cockpits of the newer B-17Gs, including radar pathfinders. Squawkin' Hawk continued to fly missions with rotating crews - Robert N. Lohof, John G. Gossage, Charles A. Brooks…

  In early 1944, Squawkin' Hawk suffered some serious damage - on January 21st over St. Omer and on February 25th during the mission to Regensburg – just another mission that could have again proven fateful for this aircraft. A nearby burst of flak severely lacerated the vertical tail surfaces and damaged the steering. Lt. Gossage considered turning the damaged plane towards Switzerland. He had already had one unpleasant incident on board this plane - he was the co-pilot who returned in November of the previous year with pilot Lt. Flesh, and an otherwise empty Squawkin' Hawk, from Gelsenkirchen. Gossage thought carefully. But since most of the men in his crew were nearing the completion of their operational tour, they decided to try to return. Although they did not land on their home field, home is where they did make it.

  During the subsequent repair, a large part of the rudder and its stabilizer were replaced, as evidenced by the differently positioned ‘D’ and a different style of serial number than before. During repairs, the ‘D’ in the white square was painted black, as was the case with B-17Gs, common at the time. In doing so, the ‘D’ on the wing was also repainted. This sets Squawkin' Hawk apart from the unit's regular B-17Fs, which had the ‘D’ in dark blue.

  By early spring 1944, her score was approaching fifty missions. One of the biggest rivals in the race for this title was Horny II from the same squadron. Just short of the finish line, Horny was knocked out of the race by an accident that caused her destruction, and on 10 April 1944 Squawkin' Hawk became the first B-17 from the 100th Bomb Group to fly fifty missions. Celebrations, lots of photography, and above all autographs followed. Some of the members of the unit started signing even before the fiftieth bomb was painted on the nose. And then the proverbial floodgates opened. Almost every free space on the plane was written over, mostly in white, by countless members of the Hundredth and its support units. Well wishes appeared on the fuselage, the wing, the rudder, the insignia and even the tires... Perhaps everyone within range of Squawkin' Hawk wanted to add their name to the others and send a salute home when this B-17 took off on a tour of the US to support the war bond drive. And last but not least, this B-17F was supposed to show that the Bloody Hundred is no longer just an unlucky unit from which almost no one comes home, but that there are also stories with happy endings associated with it. However, Army PR was understandably silent about some periods of the life of this aircraft and the crews associated with her. Or at least smoothed them out somewhat with kindness to the nation.

  All those who signed wanted to express their participation in the success of this aircraft. And in truth - everyone had a part in it. On the vertical tail, under the serial number on the right side, someone also wrote a list of the original Squawkin' Hawk crew - Capt. Sumner H. Reeder and his men, although some of them were no longer alive, had been sent to the United States for treatment of injuries, or had been stuck behind the barbed wire of German prison camps for half a year. Their squadron mates, celebrating the success achieved by old 42-30088, did not forget them…
  

• editorial

  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.

   

  Among the modellers who responded to our posts detailing information about this kit, there were obviously many people who have not come in contact with this line or its concept. These people sometimes have unrealistic ideas about our ability to correct the mistakes of the original kit used, as supplied by other manufacturers. It needs to be noted that correcting the mistakes of the original kit is not our goal with the LIMITED edition series kit projects. In truth, such a goal would rarely ever be financially feasible to shoot for, so please don't expect it from us. The aim of the accessories and conversion parts included in the kit is to improve upon the possibilities of the original product, offer a higher level of detail and offer a greater number of marking options while maintaining the best possible success in terms of outcome vs goal. In this regard, we feel the biggest problem is that the original B-17F kit released by HKM, as well as all other kits of this type released to date in any scale, only had an older version of the nose of the aircraft used in the first production blocks of the B-17F. Perhaps this was because all manufacturers were scrambling to release arguably the most famous B-17F, the Memphis Belle, an early-series F-10-BO aircraft (production number 3470, USAAC serial number 41-24485) that had this original nose version. However, it was the nose of the B-17F, a type of which 3,405 units were produced in three factories over more than one and a half years, that underwent complex and intensive development. Its goal was to strengthen the protection of the aircraft from the front hemisphere, from which the attacks of enemy fighters were concentrated, based on combat experience. Various later development versions of the nose equipped the aircraft that we selected for our kit, as well as machines that we want to include in another project in the future, ‘The Mighty Eighth, 1943’, which will be dedicated to the important contribution made by the B-17F to the entire USAAF 8th Air Force.

   

  An important component of each of our Limited Edition kits are the decal sheets that relate the tightly bound stories of the machines and the crews that flew them. The composition and range of options of these, as well as the number of options proper, are specific to Eduard kits and, I dare say, absolutely unique among manufacturers of plastic aircraft kits. In this kit, there are seven basic options, that is, seven machines, of which four are offered in two versions covering different periods of service of these aircraft. In addition, kits that were pre-ordered prior to the kit's official release include four additional bonus options. That's a total of fifteen options that you can choose from. We have carefully assembled this collection of aircraft to document the B-17F's period of service with the 100th Bomb Group. Each of these birds has a great story behind it. The full version of the stories of the aircraft and their crews, selected for the kit, can be found in today's special newsletter, an abbreviated version of the instructions in the kit. As you can probably guess, the manual itself is a monumental work in the form of a historical notebook 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 Flying Fortress of the Bloody Hundredth. But it's by design! We kept ‘Royal Flush’ out to represent the Bloody Hundred in the aforementioned ‘The Mighty Eighth, 1943’ kit. We expect to release it in about two years, and please note that this is the working name of the kit, and that could still change to something else.

   

  As is customary with our LIMITED edition kits, this item also includes masks, photoetched and resin parts. At the same time, there are a number of additional aftermarket kits for this kit, available separately as optional upgrades. These are ready and are available also (naturally) for the original HKM kit. We modified these by removing the parts that are included in the kit from the new sets, so you don't run the risk of buying parts twice when purchasing the additionals. Of course, that would cause a very annoying redundancy. This mainly concerns the set of photoetched for the cockpit and nose of the aircraft. We used the spark plug wiring and a few small parts for the kit from the original engine set photoetched. We did not create a set as an aftermarket item for the new kit, as there would be very few remaining parts in a modified set without the plug wiring. If you absolutely want these parts, you can get the original set for the HKM kit, but expect to have the wiring twice. Another dilemma is with the set of seat belts. These are, in their entirety, components included in the kit, but are etched in brass. At the same time, however, we are releasing an additional set, identical in shape and color, made of steel. Also missing from the new accessory sets are the superchargers and exhausts, which are also included in the kit. There is no point in you getting the original set for this kit.

   

  ‘The Bloody Hundredth, 1943’ kit is one of the most demanding and complex projects that we have ever embarked upon in the more than thirty-year history of our company. It is a big project not only in scope, dimensions of the resulting model, the volume of material used and extremely complex logistics, but also in the effort put in by all of us who participated in it. It is a result of cooperation of three entities from three continents. In addition to Eduard and HKM, a European and Asian company respectively, this project could not have been implemented without the participation and active cooperation of the 100th Bomb Group Foundation, whose activities encompass not only the United States, but also Great Britain and the Czech Republic.

   

  At this very moment, as you begin reading today's special edition of the newsletter, full of exciting stories of pilots, aircrews, ground crews and other members of the Bloody Hundred, our project is far from over. Although we have everything done and ready, we are still waiting to take delivery of some plastic. A small number of them, 300 complete sets of plastic and all of the sprues of the new noses, will arrive by plane on June 20th, and after the kits are 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 sale during the IPMS National Convention in Madison, Wisconsin. The rest of the plastic is traveling by train from China to the Czech Republic. In the current international situation and the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine, it is a path full of pitfalls and dangers. The risk and our nervousness stemming from it increases every day. Nevertheless, we believe that the plastic will arrive safe and sound, and as part of complete kits, they will become a centerpiece of the model collections of all of you who bought The Bloody Hundredth, 1943!

   

  Happy Modelling!

  Vladimir Sulc

   

• The Bloody Hundredth

  
  

  Jan Zdiarský,
  100th BG Foundation

  
  

  The 100th Bomb Group was one of forty similar units in the 8th Air Force. It has not established any measurable absolute dominance over any other groups during its fighting career. The unit wasn't the first to come to England, it didn't drop the most bombs, 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 still is, exceptional in her legacy. After the first months of operation in Europe, it began to be called ‘The Bloody Hundredth’. The unit you 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.

   

  The Hundredth had a reputation for unusually heavy losses over several specific missions, losses that decimated a large percentage of a particular component squadron, all but emptying the quarters that housed the crews that did not return from that mission. Understandably, the reasons for the unusual, decimating statistical fluctuations were investigated, and many of the conclusions bordered on fantasy and legend. There was talk of poor morale and discipline, insufficient training of its original crews, or the fact that the Luftwaffe just had the Hundredth in focus. Today, armed with the opportunity to look at problems from several angles, to put historical events into context, there is only one conclusion...the unit was too often in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Bloody Hundredth was simply unlucky and bore a lot of suffering and destruction on their shoulders, which did not spread to the other units of the 8th Air Force back in the day.

   

  The members of the Bloody Hundredth were similar to those who served in other bombing units, not exceptional in their feats, skill or courage. The uniqueness of the unit was given by a special spirit of mutual reciprocity and determination, supported by the approach of several outstanding commanders and exceptional personalities who were an inspiration to their men and became legends that set an example for those that followed. They were the legends of the Bloody Hundredth, and its ‘D’ in a square marking, by which they recognized the planes of their comrades on missions. The legends inspired by the four-engined B-17s and the roar of their engines, the echoes of which we can still feel today on the overgrown taxiways of their home, Thorpe Abbotts Base in East England.

   

  The 100th Bomb Group was established on June 1st, 1942 in Orlando, Florida, but we can consider the place of its real birth be Boise, Idaho, where it had its first personnel attached to it. By order No. 300, 254 men were transferred here. Less than three weeks later, the unit was officially activated. Its first commander became Col. Darr Alkire. He led the unit for most of the follow-up training, until April 26th, 1943, when he was replaced by Col. Howard Turner. The training, which primarily focused on group formation flying, long-range navigation flights, and bombing practice, was conducted primarily at bases in Walla Walla, Washington, Wendover Field, Utah, Sioux City, Iowa, and Kearney, Nebraska. On May 25th, 1943, the thirty-five original crew members of the unit began moving overseas. They arrived in England, at a brand new base near the village of Thorpe Abbotts, on June 8th, 1943.

   

  In Europe

   

  Several officers who were to see to it that the base for the unit was ready had already moved to England at the beginning of May. Among them was the twenty-eight-year-old Operations Officer of the 349th Squadron and the future commander of the 418th Squadron, Maj. John C. ‘Bucky’ Egan. In addition to fulfilling some basic but necessary activities, he managed to fly two combat missions as a ‘guest’ of the 305th Bomb Group on May 19th and 21st, 1943, during which he almost lost his life. He thus became the first aviator of the 100th Bomb Group to enter combat.

   

  After the crews arrived with their B-17s and after their ground echelon - technical support personnel arrived by sea, the unit was able to settle into its permanent location. The commander, Howard Turner, was transferred to 1st Bomb Division Headquarters, and the new commander of the Hundredth became Col. Harold O. Huglin, with the goal of transitioning the unit into operational activity within three weeks.

   

  The first two operational flights were referred to as ‘decoys’. A formation of bombers was sent out to lure German fighters away from the actual attack. Although these were not easy tasks, and although they were not without danger, neither the airmen nor the unit received combat mission credit for them. The first actual bombing mission for the Hundredth came on the 25th of June, 1943, when the unit hit submarine docks at Bremen. Already, this first mission cost three crews. Even those of the aviators who had not yet taken the war seriously realized that a trip to Europe would not be just frivolous entertainment.

   

  ‘It was Tuesday, August 17th, 1943…’

   

  Combat missions quickly continued – LeMans, St. Nazaire, Le Bourget, Hamburg, Kassel, Trondheim... Command of the unit was taken over by its first ‘permanent’ commander, Neil B. ‘Chick’ Harding, who then commanded it until March 7th, 1944. Bad luck seems to have taken a liking to the unit pretty soon. Losses ranged from none to one aircraft per mission, with most of the unit returning unscathed. But then came the unit's 16th mission. It was Tuesday, August 17th, 1943, and the targets were the aircraft factories in Regensburg. This was the well-known ‘Double Strike’ mission against Schweinfurt and Regensburg, for which nearly 400 B-17s from the 8th Air Force took off. At that time, the not yet ‘Bloody’ Hundredth was placed at the end of the stream of bombers heading for Regensburg, with the intention that it would continue to North Africa after dropping its bombs. The rather unsuccessful logistics of the whole operation threw the bombers heading for Regensburg ahead of the Luftwaffe fighters. The 100th Bomb Group was punished for this severely. She lost nine crews and aircraft that day. Many of the machines that landed in Algiers were badly damaged. Later, for this mission, the unit received its first Distinguished Unit Citation (later called the Presidential Unit Citation). At the end of September, the first crew of the Hundredth completed its operational tour of twenty-five missions. The average lifespan of B-17 aircrews for the Eighth Air Force at the time was eleven missions. However, this lucky crew ended up being the only one of the original thirty-five who came to England to celebrate the milestone!

   

  Another two dark days for the Hundred came on the 8th and 10th of October, 1943, the climactic days of Black Week, when it lost 7 and 12 flying fortresses in raids on Bremen and Münster, respectively. During these two missions, the unit also lost two of its Squadron Commanders, great friends, Maj. Gale W. ‘Buck’ Cleven and Maj. John C. ‘Bucky’ Egan. Fortunately, both of them survived the destruction of their Fortresses and were captured. Others were not so lucky. At the same time, a new legend and inspiring personality of the Hundredth began to develop, Lt. Robert ‘Rosie’ Rosenthal, who brought back his B-17 with only two working engines from the second of the named missions, making his the only crew to return from the mission. He was awarded the Silver Star for this, only his third combat flight, and later became commander of two squadrons and flew 52 combat missions, the most of the entire 100th Bomb Group.

   

  Berlin!

   

  The autumn and winter of 1943/44, often hampered by bad non-flying weather, were not a walk in the park for the unit. However, her losses did not deviate from the established averages. The turning point came in a trio of attacks on the very heart of the Third Reich, Berlin, on March 3-6, 1944, when the One Hundredth lost first three, then one, and then fifteen aircraft. Berlin on March 6th, 1944, became the unit's most tragic mission during its existence. Despite heavy losses, the Squadron managed to accomplish the task during these missions and received the unit's second Distinguished (Presidential) Citation for its performance.

   

  Popular Commander "Chick" Harding, who had a large part in the overall standing of the unit during these months, had to leave his post due to illness and was replaced by Col. Robert H. Kelly, who, however, was shot down during his first mission with the One Hundredth on April 28th, 1944, a week after taking command. Prior to the arrival of Col. Kelly, as well as after his being downed, the unit was temporarily led by Lt. Col. John Bennett, Air Executive and Commander of the 349th Squadron.

   

  Then, at the beginning of May, 1944, came the arrival of Col. Thomas S. Jeffrey, who would remain for a significant length of time. Under his leadership, the unit participated both in the campaign against targets connected with fuel production, the so-called gasoline war, as well as in the preparation and support of the Allied landings in the western part of the continent and the opening of a second front.

   

  The Battle of Fuel

   

  On Friday, May 12th, 1944, the unit took part in the 8th Air Forces first raid against industrial targets in the former Czechoslovakia. The target was Most (Brüx) and was the first of many attacks on German oil refineries in the Battle of Fuel Campaign. During the Allied landings in Normandy on June 6th, 1944, The Hundredth had two combat missions to her credit that day. The third – the middle one of the day – was canceled by bad weather.

   

  Also, the beautiful spring and summer of 1944, by when it was already clear that the war would end in favor of the Allies with their supremacy in the skies over Europe increasingly evident, saw several heavy missions and losses… such as May 24th, to Berlin, with the loss of nine aircraft; July 28th and 29th Merseburg, eleven aircraft both days; the 11th of September, 1944, Ruhland, thirteen aircraft. The latter mission became the second most tragic for the Bloody Hundredth. That day she saw a major air battle over the Czech-German border, and although the Luftwaffe was seemingly out of breath, it was not to be the last of the great battles that awaited the unit before the end of the war.

   

  During this period, the Hundredth also flew two Russian Shuttle missions under the codename Frantic, where the bombers would land at airfields in Ukraine after completing their mission and then return to England via 15th Air Force bases in Italy. The first took place from June 21st to July 5th, 1944, the second between September 18th and the 22nd. The second Frantic mission was aimed at dropping supplies and weapons to aid the Warsaw Uprising. It was not the Hundredth’s first such operation, as the unit had previously participated in supplying the resistance movement in the south of France.

   

  The apparent calm during the fall and early winter of 1944, when the unit flew another 45 sorties after the Ruhland mission with combat losses of seven aircraft, was shattered by the very end of the year with a raid on the refineries in Hamburg. On Sunday, December 31st, 1944, The Hundredth’s statistics were to fluctuate considerably again. The unexpected ferocity of Luftwaffe fighters and flak meant the loss of twelve aircraft.

   

  In the following months, two Berlin missions, on February 3rd and March 18th, 1945, were among more the memorable for the Bloody Hundredth with the loss of four aircraft and their crews in each of them. With the loss of ‘only’ two machines, the mission to Buchen on April 7th, 1945 also went down in the history of the unit, with reasons for the losses being unusual for the unit. That day, some formations of American bombers were met with suicide attacks by German fighters. Even the Hundredth did not escape these attacks. In addition to two lost B-17s, there were also several that suffered serious damage, which by combination of miracle and pilot skill, managed to return home.

   

  Germany Quits

   

  On February 2nd, Col. Jeffrey was succeeded in the capacity of Commanding Officer, by Col. Jack Sutterlin. He led the unit until June 23rd, when he was succeeded by two more Commanders, Col. John Wallace and Col Harry F. Cruver.

   

  On April 20th 1945, the 100th Bomb Group took off on its last bombing mission designated number 306. The target was Oranienburg railway station, and all returned home without loss.

   

  Base No. 139, Thorpe Abbotts in Norfolk, hosted around 7,000 members of the 100th Bomb Group and its support units during the war. In 22 months of operation over the European continent, the unit lost 229 aircraft, 757 men, some of them remain missing to this day, and 923 were captured.

   

  However, the 100th Bomb Group's operations in Europe 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 of the Netherlands was plagued by famine, civilians suffering from Nazi tyrrany until the last days of the war. The Bloody Hundredth flew over the continent several more times. Between May 1st and 7th, 1945, like other American and British bomber units, it flew a total of six Chowhound missions, during which its B-17Gs dropped food parcels in low-flying aid missions. They flew at low altitudes over the territory still occupied by German troops. However, they were warned in advance not to interfere with the bombers carrying food.

   

  In the weeks following the end of the war in Europe, the One Hundredth took part in repatriation flights for prisoners of war and conscripts of Western countries from various parts of Germany and Austria.

   

  By the end of June, 1945, almost all aircraft were flown out of the base, with the exception of some radar pathfinders. Men for whom the war was over were returning home. Part of the unit moved to Germany, where it participated in the administration of the occupation. Some of the support units involved in the partial dismantling of the base remained at Thorpe Abbotts until late 1945. It then served until 1956, when it was closed and essentially forgotten.

   

  It was not until many years after the war that the thick concrete slabs and asphalt of the runways and most taxiways and hardstands were removed. The landscape returned to something resembling its original state. However, the heroism of the men who, many decades previous, took off with trepidation from here on missions over occupied Europe into horrific air battles with the sky soaked with the stench of exploding flak shells, burning gasoline, gunpowder, blood, sweat and tears, is not forgotten. It remains in the legacy of the men and women of the greatest generation, so that we can be reminded of the value of our freedom, and how much it cost. Freedom of individuals and nations. And how important it is to fight evil, even though it seems we can never completely overcome it. However, the determination and faith of the men of the Bloody Hundredth remain an inspiration.

   

  Post Scriptum: The Bloody Hundredth Family

   

  In 1968, a meeting of several former members of the One Hundredth took place in the living room of Robert and Phillis Rosenthal. Among them were Harry Crosby and his wife, Horace Varian, Jack Kid and others. The meeting gave rise to the idea of ​​starting a veterans' organization with the two goals of starting a magazine and organizing a reunion. It was supposed to take place at the Rosenthal's in the garden. It was assumed that around 30 people would participate. After the first rounds of searching for former comrades and invitations, it turned out that there would be more than 200 participants, who would not all fit into Rosie’s garden. So the meeting took place in 1969 at Andrews Air Force Base. And so, the 100th Bomb Group Association was founded. Since then, veterans and their families have been meeting every few years. A few years ago, the Association turned into a Foundation. Its mission remains, even though most of the original members of the Blood Hundredth have left us. The task was taken over by their children and grandchildren, and now even the great-grandchildren of the veterans, together with unit historians, photo archivists and other friends of the Hundredth, working on a volunteer basis. The foundation maintains its core mission in terms of the Bloody Hundredth legacy, holding reunions and publishing a journal, as planned long ago in the Rosenthals' living room. The foundation also supports a number of educational and museum projects.

   

  In 1977, Englishman Mike Harvey and a group of friends decided to save the still standing, but overgrown and neglected original control tower at Thorpe Abbotts and rebuild it as a memorial to the American airmen who had made a temporary home there many years prior. The owner of the land, Sir Rupert Mann, was sympathetic to the idea and leased the land, including the control tower, for 999 years. The long-lasting, demanding reconstruction and landscaping also included clearing the former control tower of the mess left by the wild pigs that lived there in the 50s and 60s. Already in the early days of the repair of the control tower, and the reconstruction of other buildings, strange visitors occasionally came around. They were curious American tourists wandering the English countryside. However, they were not just any tourists. Former members of the Bloody Hundredth, who spent several months of their youth there in the 1940s, came to see their forgotten base. Soon, the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum in Thorpe Abbotts and the 100th Bomb Group Association linked up and museum photographs, uniforms, equipment, awards, notes, and memories began to surface. The museum opened in May, 1981. Over the following decades, the care of volunteers has made it a truly unique memorial to the history of the 100th Bomb Group, and it continues to grow. However, it is not just a collection of exhibits, but a truly living place that breathes history and where at every step you can meet those tremendous stories that were born right there and that today recreate the legend and legacy of the Bloody Hundredth. In 2022, the museum received the prestigious Queen's Award for Voluntary Service from the British Queen.

   

  The 100th Bomb Group was formally deactivated on the 21st of December, 1945. It was reactivated as a training unit with B-29s on May 29th, 1947 and decommissioned again on June 27th, 1949. It was later reactivated several more times as the 100th Bomb Wing (1956-1966, with B-47s), the 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (1966–1976, U-2s), the 100th Air Refueling Wing (1976–1983, KC-135s), followed by seven years on ice, after which the One Hundredth was reactivated as the 100th Air Division (1990–1991) and then again as the 100th Air Refueling Wing (1992–present, KC-135R aircraft). The unit is based in the UK at RAF Mildenhall, just a few minutes' flight from Thorpe Abbotts, and is the main USAF refueling unit for the European area. The members of the 100th ARW are justifiably proud of their generational connection to the 100th Bomb Group, which is shown, among other things, by sporting the ‘Square D’ on the tails of their giant Stratotankers, the designation used by the 100th Bomb Group during World War II. The 100th ARW representatives regularly attend 100th BGF reunions and occasionally volunteer to help out at the museum at Thorpe Abbotts. They faithfully familiarize themselves with the history that preceded their unit long before they themselves came into the world.

   

  On Saturday, September 13th, 1997, after many years of research, the Museum of the Air Battle over the Ore Mountains, September 11, 1944, was established at Kovarska, in the Czech Republic. It is dedicated to the largest air battle over Czechoslovakia and at the same time the second most tragic mission of the Bloody Hundredth. It lost thirteen B-17Gs that day. Already after its opening, the Museum in Kovarska was recognized as part of the 100th Bomb Group Association, today Foundation. Together with the three entities described in this chapter above, that is, the Foundation itself, the museum at Thorpe Abbotts and the 100th ARW USAF, they form, as the youngest of them, an informal community called the 100th BG Family, or The Bloody Hundredth Family. It is thus its only non-Anglo-American component and also the only representative of the Bloody Hundredth in continental Europe, the places where the unit fought in the years 1943-45.

   

  A large number of books have been written about the 100th Bomb Group since the war, most of them by the members of the unit themselves, and the unit has become the basis of the famous film ‘Twelve O'Clock High’ from 1949. Space is dedicated to it in many museums in the United States and Europe, and, more recently, has inspired a book by Don Miller, leading to a miniseries released in January, 2024, called ‘Masters of the Air’ from the production team of Gary Goetzman, Kirk Saduski, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. The series brought the fate of the Bloody Hundredth and, through it, other allied air units in World War II to a very wide audience.

   

  The Eduard Model Accessories release of the B-17F in 1:48th scale as ‘The Bloody Hundredth 1943’ Limited Edition model kit, prepared in collaboration with the 100th BG Foundation focusing on the early months of the 100th Bomb Group's fighting in Europe, is a significant element in the field of plastic modeling which draws on the history of the 100th Bomb Group while helping to preserve its legacy.

    

  Sources (common for this article, also as for the following eleven 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 article, 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.100bgmus.org.uk

  - www.100thbg.com

  - www.mildenhall.af.mil