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.