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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
Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943
74
June 2024