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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.
INFO Eduard
Speciál B-17F / The Bloody Hundredth 1943
80
June 2024