HISTORY
An Unplanned Research Project
First, it was clear even in these small, low-definition images that the B-17 was not camouflaged,
but silver or in Natural Metal Finish (NMF). In the
long shot the top of the vertical stabilizer appeared to be a dark color with what appeared to
be the top of the letter A in a triangle that was
darker than the stabilizer. In this image much of
the aft fuselage was masked by the left wing. But,
aft of the national insignia were the letters LG D.
The close in image of the left nose showed a long
line of bomb mission markings and three mission
markings on a second line below that. And the
very seductive young lady painted on the nose
next to the name “My Baby” painted on a decorative background. Now I had two research projects
to work on at the NASM.
I had already become a bother to the very patient, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic NASM Archives staff in researching my thesis. They nonetheless guided me to every source in my search
for information on “My Baby.” Roger A. Freeman’s The Mighty Eighth was my first reference.
The large letter A in a black triangle painted on a
red vertical stabilizer was the Group identifier for
the 91st Bomb Group (BG) stationed at Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire in the English Midlands.
The letters on the side of the fuselage identified
the aircraft as belonging to the 322nd Bomb
Squadron (BS). So, one might ask, what was
a B-17 from the 91st BG stationed in the English
Midlands doing flying in and out of a 9th Air Force
base in the very south of England on August 10,
1944? Wasn’t there a war on and didn’t “Mac” and
his B-17 have bigger fish to fry?
With the information I now had, NASM Archives staff advised me that they had in their
records, and very conveniently in their Reading
Room, files of all of the Eighth Air Force Nose
Art and names sorted by BG (this collection is
now in the files of the National Archives in College Park, Md.). It took me five minutes to find
a small proof image of “My Baby” in the 91st BG
file. The image is an official 91st BG photo of the
aircraft and its crew. Two things jumped out at
me. One of the nine crewmen pictured was the
same “Mac” in my father’s small photos. And the
official photo showed the same number of bomb
mission markings as those shown in my dad’s
photos. Could this photo have been taken on the
same day that “My Baby” flew down to southern
England to offer two Army officers a “joy ride”
around the English countryside? I ordered an
8” X 10” copy of this photo.
Roger A. Freeman, an Englishman famous for
his documenting of all things Eighth Air Force
in WW-II, also wrote The Mighty Eighth War Diary. It has more photos and anecdotal stories
of the men, aircraft, and missions of the Eighth.
It is also an operational diary, a day by day record, of the missions and activities of the Eighth
Air Force. It is an education in the organization
of the Eighth. The primary unit of any BG is the
squadron consisting of 12 aircraft. Normally,
a BG has four squadrons. Above the Eighth’s BGs
were three Air Divisions, each consisting of 16 to
18 BGs. The 91st BG was a part of the First Air
Division. Turning to Freeman’s War Diary and
searching for August 10, 1944, one discovers that
the First Air Division stood down on this date – no
mission was assigned to the 91st. So “Mac” and
Two Natural Metal Finish (NMF) B-17Gs of the 324th BS. On the left is “Lorraine”, Serial No. 44-8651. In the background is “Mah Ideel”, Serial No. 43-37993, DF-N for Nan. Note the Olive Drab replacement rudder. “Mah Ideel”
flew the mission to Ludwigshafen on September 8, 1944. Both aircraft survived the war. [Evers via Kelley]
“Yankee Belle,” a B-17G, Ser. No. 42-32085, DF-K from the 324th BS that was also on the same mission
to Ludwigshafen, September 8, 1944, the day David McCarty was lost in “Roxy’s Special.” “Yankee Belle”
displays the same Natural Metal Finish (NMF) and Group markings as both “My Baby” and “Roxy’s Special.”
[Evers via Kelley]
Another image of “Mah Ideel,” DF-N for Nan. [Evers via Kelley]
November 2023
INFO Eduard
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