Produktionsblock:
B-17F-5-BO: 41-24390 bis 41-24439
Hersteller:
Boeing
- Bomber-Gruppe:
- 92nd Bomb Group
- 97th Bomb Group
- Bomber-Staffel:
- 341st Bomb Squadron
Einsätze: 100
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Geschichte der
B-17 41-24437 / Thunderbird
Assigned 92BG Bangor 1/8/42; 341BS/97BG Polebrook 19/8/42; Maison Blanche 13/11/42; Tafaraoui 22/11/42; Biskra 25/12/42; Chateau-du-Rhumel 8/2/43; Pont-du-Fahs 1/8/43; Depienne 15/8/43; Cerignola 20/12/43; Amendola 16/1/44; Salvaged 9/11/44 {100m}. THUNDERBIRD.
Zuletzt aktualisiert: 7. Oktober 2017
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30. November 2021 access_time 1:35
This B-17 is the one flown by pilot Lt. John Cronkhite and co pilot Lt. Dana F Dudley on a mission to bomb the aerodrome at Castel Benito on January 12, 1943. Two engines were knocked out on the right side just as their bombs dropped. For nearly 80 miles they fought enemy fighters during the return from the target. With three men wounded, the crew shot down six enemy aircraft, a record at the time. Landing two hours behind the other B-17s in their group, they had to fly through a mountain chain so low that the Thunderbirds wings were less than five feet from the ground. The Thunderbird story was immortalized by Ernie Pyle in newsprint that month and later in his book Here is Your War. It also spawned the song On a Wing and Prayer. This same airplane brought back its crew again on two engines on June 18, 1943 and made the news again in America. It flew over 100 missions before being scrapped for parts.
02. Dezember 2021 access_time 3:15
Corrections. The Pyle book is This is Your War first published in 1943 and the song title is Comin In on a Wing and a Prayer recorded by the Song Spinners in July 1943.