Source:
www.fold3.com
| General | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | Boeing |
| Production-Block: | , Boeing B-17E: 41-9011 to 41-9245 |
| Operational History | |
|---|---|
| Bomb Group: | , 379th Bomb Group, 92nd Bomb Group, 97th Bomb Group |
| Bomb Squadron: | , 414th Bomb Squadron, 525th Bomb Squadron |
| Fate: | |
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History of
B-17 41-9100 / Birmingham Blitzkrieg
Assigned: 414BS/97BG Polebrook 11/4/42 BIRMINGHAM BLITZKREIG; on first 8AF mission 17/8/42; Transferred: 92BG Bovingdon 24/8/42; CCRC 1/43; 525BS/379BG Kimbolton, UK as formation aircraft, complete with bright paint scheme; RAF Clunto, NI. 8/2/44; Salvaged. 18/6/45.
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B-17 41-9100 / Birmingham Blitzkrieg Details
Part of strike force on VIII Bomber Command Mission #1 on 17 August 1942.
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This page was last updated on 25 January 2020
03. December 2017 access_time 15:49
Out of the 500+ Airmen I have spoken to none remembered a red and white Aircraft at Kimbolton and only one said he remembered her but said it was like a Green and White Barber’s Pole. Only two said they remember it being used to form up on during formation practice. No one remembered it as an assembly ship. Most of the Vets said they assembled on a Lead Ship using flares and light signals from the Lead Ship’s Tail Gun position. Also I have spoken to children from that area during the war and they all remembered her being OD Green and White
03. December 2017 access_time 15:53
Thank you Richard!
08. October 2024 access_time 1:13
UPDATE: This was found on the old 379th BG Association website. It is communications from two airmen who saw and flew on 41-9100: New found data confirms Aircraft coloration and modifications as of 25 June 1944.
On 25 June 1944 Mission #153 for the 379th BG to Toulouse/Francazal
2nd Lt. Billy Drake -Pilot was flying 42-31822 and was forced to ditch.
Billy said that they were rescued by a private ship and taken to a place called Lyme, England and put ashore. While being attended by one of the boats crewman he told Billy that the Captain of this vessel had heard their SOS signal beacon and had set their sails to follow the signal. He also said that the Captain was named P. Guinness of the Guinness fortune. The town folk of Lyme met them at the docks and treated them like Royalty. The next day they took the crew to the US Naval Station at Exeter.
The next day they were told an aircraft from the 379th BG had been dispatched to fly them back to Kimbolton, When she arrived Lt Drake described the aircraft as having “White bands around the Nacelles and white stripes the length of the fuselage.”
No mention of red stripes as of 25 June 1944.
According to Lt Harry S. Hurlburt Jr (Bombardier of the Drake Crew). The aircraft had been well modified with individual seating which were very comfortable He also said (Having never seen this ship before) that when questioned an Officer of the crew said it was only used by permanent personnel for anything deemed appropriate and some occasional “Booze Runs”. He further stated that he had no knowledge of it ever being used as a Formation Aircraft but it would make sense to have one easily identifiable to form up on. Lt Hurlburt also, quickly stated that the mission they just went on had two ships miss the rendezvous in time to be dispatched.
29. April 2025 access_time 21:15
In the ball turret of “Birmingham Blitzkrieg” (the Tail-end Charlie of the formation) of the 414th BS/97th BG, flown by Tom Borders, was SSgt Kent R. West who fired on an Fw 190A-3 (Wk Nr 4332) of 3./JG 2, flown by Leutnant Herbet Horn. West told a newspaper after the raid, “Just after leaving the target, an Fw 190 started climbing up on us from underneath. I got him in my sights and gave him a burst of twenty rounds from 800ft. He went down smoking.” The short burst did the job, because Horn was killed when his plane crashed. Kent was given credit for a kill as confirmed by others, but it was later downgraded to a probable kill and lastly just “damaged.” Still, Ira Eaker asked for the two turret machine guns to hang up in his headquarters at High Wycombe. West was killed a day after Christmas over Tunisia when the plane went down to flak.