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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.
‘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
June 2024