B-17 Flying Fortress B-17 44-8629 / Purty Chili

Geschichte der
B-17 44-8629 / Purty Chili

Delivered Hunter 5 November 1944; Dow Field 27 November 1944; Assigned 391BS/34BG Mendlesham 11 December 1944. Among other pilots, 1st Lt Harold E. Dwyer flew on it on 2 missions : on 30 March 1945 (Aborted – jettisoned bombs) and on the Chowhound mission of 3 May 1945 to drop food to the Dutch population. Returned to the USA Bradley 24 June 1945; South Plains 28 June 1945; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Kingman, Arizona 4 December 1945.

Zuletzt aktualisiert: 5. Mai 2017

B-17 44-8629 / Purty Chili Details

B-17G-75-VE 44-8629 PURTY Chili of the 391st BSI 34th BG, Mendlesham, Spring 1945 Harold E Province was a member of the crew assigned to B-17G 44-8629:

‘I flew most of my 19 missions as a toggelier in PURTY Chili, plus two food-drops to Holland and then back to the US in this aircraft. PURTY Chili had been completed by Boeing on 9 November 1944 and assigned to the 391st SS/34th BG, arriving in early December. It was issued to the Dean Hansen crew, who finished their tour with it, and was then reassigned to the William H Wilcox crew, who flew the bomber until VE-Day, and later back to the USA. Other crews used the bomber when the assigned crew was on pass (leave) or stood down. Of the 68 missions the 34th BG flew after PURTY Chili was assigned, the bomber was involved in 58 of them, including six of the Chowhound missions (dropping food to Dutch civilians). It also flew several POW and displaced-persons flights, in addition to bombing targets in Germany. The source of its name is an enigma! One story claims it was applied in honour of well-endowed Hollywood starlet, Chili Williams, whose photo appeared on many of the crew hut walls, clad in a polka-dotted two-piece bathing suit. The other story is that as the Hansen crew was checking out the aircraft, the co-pilot inquired of each crewman how it was at his position? Reportedly, the tail gunner’s reply was always “Purty Chili back here”! Hence the crew selected PURTY Chili as the name for their aircraft. And the Wilcox crew saw no reason to make a change. I wrote my girl’s name just behind the left cheek gun – we married different people by the way! I painted, with black paint, ILA in letters about three inches high immediately above the P of PURTY Chili. Regardless of the source of the name, in the few months of its life, the bomber had flown the Atlantic twice, delivered tons of bombs, food and people to their destination, and, by December 1945, was in Kingman awaiting destruction. A sad end for such a noble aircraft!’

Quelle: http://www.ww2f.com/threads/b17s-and-their-history.59678/

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