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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.
Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943 INFO Eduard
65
June 2024