717th Squadron (449th BG) Original Aircraft
"LURCHIN' URCHIN"; Delivered to Bruning 28 Oct. '43, assigned to Kury's crew. Demise: Downed over Aviano, Italy, 1/31/44 with Group C. O. Alkire flying as Group Lead with part of Thompson's crew and selected lead crewmen aboard. 3 KIA, 8 POW. Tail #34; serial #41-29223. {Circumstances of Loss. Over Aviano airfield the 449th experienced "intense, accurate, heavy flak." As the formation prepared to rally left after the bomb drop, Lurchin' Urchin' fell victim to the flak. Ship #34 was seen to "go into a steep glide apparently out of control." Nine chutes were seen.}
"CINNSY'S MARGIE"; Delivered to Bruning 20 Oct. '43, assigned to Samuelson's crew. Demise: Made an emergency landing at Tarquina, Italy, on 12 Aug. '44. Crew returned to base. The ship was repaired by a mobile maintenance crew and reassigned to another Bomb Group. Tail #35; serial #42-07723.
"HOLY JOE"; Delivered to Bruning 1 Nov '43, assigned to Fowler's crew. Demise: Crashed on take-off with Ivers' crew aboard 3/29/44. 2 KIA, 8 injured. Tail #36; serial #41-29225. {Circumstances of Loss. On 29 March 1944, the 449th set out to bomb the marshalling yards at Bolzano, Italy. Between 0740 and 0804 hours, 35 B-24s --each carrying ten, 500-pound bombs -- rolled down the runway at a little less than one-minute intervals and struggled into the air. The operations log shows that the 30th aircraft to roll down the runway was ship #36 with Ivers' crew aboard. Just at the instant ship #36 lifted off the runway, one of the four engines suddenly quit. It was the kind of situation which every pilot and crew member feared most -- a fully-fueled, bomb-laden bomber losing an engine at the moment of take-off. Lt. Ivers had no option but to attempt a crash landing. Two of the crew died in the ensuing crash. The other eight were injured.}
"THE TEMPTRESS"; Delivered to Bruning 29 Oct. '43, assigned to Juetter's crew. Demise: Crashed on take-off 2/23/44 due to engine failure with a full bomb load. All 10 members of Juetter's crew KIA when bomb load exploded. Tail #37; serial #42-52107. {Circumstances of Loss. On 23 February 1944, the 449th attacked the ball-bearing plant at Steyr, Austria. Between 0700 and 0800 hours, the 449th aircraft rolled down the runway and began to assemble into formation. Even before the total formation could complete forming-up disaster struck. Ship #37 -- manned by Jeutter's crew -- "crashed to the ground one mile north of Fragagnano, a town about ten miles south of [Grottaglie]." All ten crew members died in the violent crash.}
"RELUCTANT LIZ"; Delivered to Bruning 19 Oct. '43, assigned to Bontley's crew. Demise: Downed 4/4/44 with Bontly's crew aboard. 2 KIA, 8 POW. Tail #38; serial #41-28596. {Circumstances of Loss. "ATTACK BUCHAREST MARSH YARDS" read the operational order for 4 April 1944 which sent the 449th on its most famous, memorable, and costly mission. Twenty-eight ships of the 449th, unescorted and unaccompanied by other groups, attacked the marshalling yards. "Approximately 80 to 100 enemy aircraft attacked the formation" as the 449th departed the target. The ferocious air battle lasted for an hour and a half. At the "tail-end Charlie" position in the high box of the second section, ship #38 "was seen to be mortally hit by enemy aircraft fire just after the target. Ten men reportedly bailed out immediately and the aircraft fell out of control.}
"PEERLESS CLIPPER"; Delivered to Bruning 21 Oct. '43, assigned to Sie's crew. Named for the sponsoring company, Peerless Woolen Mills, Chattanoga, Tennessee. Demise: Lost in a 3-aircraft, mid-air collision over Steyr, Austria, 2 April '44 with Kury's crew aboard. 11 KIA . Tail #39; serial #42-29216. [Other aircraft involved in the mid-air collision were "SUPERSTITIOUS AL-O-WISHUS" (Ship #45, with Starr's crew aboard) and "MISS BEHAVIN" (ship #43 with Geminder's crew aboard). Of the 31 men in the three aircraft, 30 KIA & 1 POW. ] {Circumstances of Loss. Over Steyr, Austria, on 2 April 1944, the 449th was attacked by some 60 to 70 enemy fighters. The enemy fighters aggressively pressed home their attacks with rockets, cannons, and aerial bombs. In the 'B' section of the 449th formation, disaster struck with stunning swiftness. "At 1235, over the target of Steyr, three B-24s collided, one sliding into another sideways. Both hit the front of a third plane and tore off the nose right in back of [the] pilot seat." Two of the ships "broke in pieces and fell down, no chutes being seen." The crew of the third ship began bailing out. Seven chutes (one on fire) were reportedly seen and the ship crashed five miles south of the target. By at least one account, the aircraft which intially lost control "sliding into another sideways" was struck by an aerial bomb dropped from an enemy aircraft above the 449th formation. This was never confirmed. Regardless of what started this chain reaction of aircraft crashing into each other, ship #45, ship #39, and ship #43 were gone in less time than it takes to read about it.}
"THUNDER BAY BABE"; Delivered to Bruning 15 Oct. '43, assigned to Ridgeway's crew. Demise: Lost over Yugoslavia, 3/23/44 with Ridgeway's crew aboard. 6 KIA, 4 POW. Tail #40; serial #42-07623. {Circumstances of Loss. On 23 March 1944, the 449th set out in the early morning to attack the fighter production plant at Steyr, Austria. However, some 30 miles south of Zagreb, Yugoslavia, an impenetrable weather front was encountered. As the formation maneuvered in an attempt to go around and over this weather front, Fees' crew aboard ship #44 observed that ship #40 -- Thunder Bay Babe -- was "behaving erratically, but under control". Unable to overcome the "impossible weather conditions", the decision was made to abort the mission. As the Group began the long sweeping turn to reverse course, ship #40 was observed "falling out of formation and disappearing into the undercast. It did not complete the turn-back, and no chutes were seen.}
"OLD IRONSIDES"; Delivered to Bruning 10 Nov. '43, assigned to McInvale's crew. Demise: Downed by flak near Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 5/18/44 with McInvale's crew aboard. All 9 crew evaded. Tail #40; serial #42-52170. {Circumstances of Loss. On 18 May 1944, the 449th set out to attack the marshalling yards at Ploesti. However, after encountering impassable weather near the Yugoslavian coast, the 449th diverted to the alternate target of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. As the formation pressed across Yugoslavia, ship #47 -- Old Ironsides -- was seen lagging behind the main formation. Well before the IP was reached, ship #47 called on the command frequency requesting the course heading back to base. Shortly thereafter, all contact was lost with ship #47. It was later learned that McInvale's crew had been forced to bail out over Yugoslavia.}
"SHACK HAPPY"; Delivered to Bruning 19 Oct. '43, assigned to Morton's crew. Demise: Downed 5/5/44 on Ploesti mission with Morton's crew aboard. 4 KIA, 6 POW. Tail #41; serial #42-07744. {Circumstances of Loss. "Today we went on a big one. The boys knew it was a 'double-credit' from the moment they walked into the briefing room for there was that long string leading straight to Ploesti." "Beginning at target area and continuing for period of about 12 minutes approximately 25 to 30 enemy aircraft attacked the formation." The agressive, frontal attacks wreaked havoc as the German fighters flashed through the 449th formation. While the 449th was rallying to the left coming off the target, ship #41 turned right, away from the formation, calling on the radio that the control cables were shot away by the flak over the target. "He was not out of control and was last seen in a big sweeping turn just south of the target." The copilot, bombardier, ball-turret, and waist gunner were killed in the ensuing action as the German fighters pounced on the crippled B-24. As ship #41 went down in flames, the remaining crew members bailed out.}
"DRAGON LADY"; Delivered to Bruning 17 Nov. '43, assigned to Olson's crew. Demise: Overshot landing 2/22/44 due to combat damage and hit a stone wall with Morton's crew aboard. No injuries. Ship was salvaged. Tail #42; serial #42-52134. {Circumstances of Loss. On 22 February 1944, the 449th attacked the Obertraubling Aircraft Factory at Regensburg, Germany. They met stiff resistance in the form of both fighters and flak. The fighters scored direct hits on ship #42. However, Morton's crew managed to keep the damaged aircraft airborne all the way back to southern Italy. The damaged aircraft overshot landing and hit a stone wall.}
"MISS BEHAVIN"; Delivered to Bruning 31 Oct. '43, assigned to Loughran's crew. Demise: Lost in a 3-aircraft, mid-air collision over Steyr, Austria, 2 April '44 with Geminder's crew aboard. All 10 crew KIA . Tail #43; serial #42-52086. [Other aircraft involved in the mid-air collision were "SUPERSTITIOUS AL-O-WISHUS" (Ship #45, with Starr's crew aboard) and "PEERLESS CLIPPER" (ship #39 with Kury's crew aboard). Of the 31 men in the three aircraft, 30 KIA & 1 POW. ] {Circumstances of Loss. Over Steyr, Austria, on 2 April 1944, the 449th was attacked by some 60 to 70 enemy fighters. The enemy fighters aggressively pressed home their attacks with rockets, cannons, and aerial bombs. In the 'B' section of the 449th formation, disaster struck with stunning swiftness. "At 1235, over the target of Steyr, three B-24s collided, one sliding into another sideways. Both hit the front of a third plane and tore off the nose right in back of [the] pilot seat." Two of the ships "broke in pieces and fell down, no chutes being seen." The crew of the third ship began bailing out. Seven chutes (one on fire) were reportedly seen and the ship crashed five miles south of the target. By at least one account, the aircraft which intially lost control "sliding into another sideways" was struck by an aerial bomb dropped from an enemy aircraft above the 449th formation. This was never confirmed. Regardless of what started this chain reaction of aircraft crashing into each other, ship #45, ship #39, and ship #43 were gone in less time than it takes to read about it.}
"THINGS IS ROUGH"; Delivered to Bruning 20 Oct. '43, assigned to Fees' crew. Demise: Transferred to the 15th AF Depot for major maintenance. Subsequently transferred to another Bomb Group. Post-war salvage, 8/13/45. One of the few 449th original ships to survive the war. Tail #44; serial #42-52091.
"SUPERSTITIOUS AL-O-WISHUS"; Delivered to Bruning 27 Oct. '43, assigned to Starr's crew. Demise: Lost in a 3-aircraft, mid-air collision over Steyr, Austria, 2 April '44 with Starr's crew aboard. All 10 crew KIA . Tail #45; serial #42-52136. [Other aircraft involved in the mid-air collision were "MISS BEHAVIN" (Ship #43 with Geminder's crew aboard) and "PEERLESS CLIPPER" (ship #39 with Kury's crew aboard). Of the 31 men in the three aircraft, 30 KIA & 1 POW. ] {Circumstances of Loss. Over Steyr, Austria, on 2 April 1944, the 449th was attacked by some 60 to 70 enemy fighters. The enemy fighters aggressively pressed home their attacks with rockets, cannons, and aerial bombs. In the 'B' section of the 449th formation, disaster struck with stunning swiftness. "At 1235, over the target of Steyr, three B-24s collided, one sliding into another sideways. Both hit the front of a third plane and tore off the nose right in back of [the] pilot seat." Two of the ships "broke in pieces and fell down, no chutes being seen." The crew of the third ship began bailing out. Seven chutes (one on fire) were reportedly seen and the ship crashed five miles south of the target. By at least one account, the aircraft which intially lost control "sliding into another sideways" was struck by an aerial bomb dropped from an enemy aircraft above the 449th formation. This was never confirmed. Regardless of what started this chain reaction of aircraft crashing into each other, ship #45, ship #39, and ship #43 were gone in less time than it takes to read about it.}
"MIASIS DRAGON"; Delivered to Bruning 9 Nov. '43, assigned to Gray's crew. Demise: Downed 4/4/44 with Tyler's crew aboard. 10 KIA. Tail #46; serial #42-52172. {Circumstances of Loss. "ATTACK BUCHAREST MARSH YARDS" read the operational order for 4 April 1944 which sent the 449th on its most famous, memorable, and costly mission. Twenty-eight ships of the 449th, unescorted and unaccompanied by other groups, attacked the marshalling yards. "Approximately 80 to 100 enemy aircraft attacked the formation" as the 449th departed the target. The ferocious air battle lasted for an hour and a half. Ship #46 -- Tyler's crew -- "was seen to be mortally hit by enemy aircraft fire and burst into flame just after the target."}
"CLASSY CHASSY"; Delivered to Bruning 9 Nov. '43, assigned to Geminder's crew. First 449th ship to complete 50 missions without an early return. Demise: Downed by flak 11/22/44 with Ludtke's crew aboard. 2 KIA, 7 POW, 1 evaded. Tail #33 and #48; serial #42-52157.