B-17 Flying Fortress B-17 42-102459 / Little Kenny

History of
B-17 42-102459 / Little Kenny

Delivered Cheyenne 5/3/44; Kearney 5/4/44; Grenier 22/4/44; Assigned: 544BS/384BG [SU-O] Grafton Underwood 3/5/44; trans with group to Istres for mapping duties; Salvaged. 9AF Germany 10/12/45. LITTLE KENNY.

Last updated: 3. September 2020

B-17 42-102459 / Little Kenny Details

Image caption: Hit twice by flak, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress flew all the way back from Germany in spite of a useless rudder and extensive damage to the entire tail assembly, as well as less obvious damage to nose and wing. The pilot, 2nd Lt. Verlin D. Reed, and the co-pilot, 2nd Lt. Howard K. Johnson, both from Boswell, Ind., did not budge the plane from formation. One piece of flak had gone through the left horizontal stabilizer and exploded against the vertical stabilizer, while another was exploding in the nose.

This incident happened on January 22, 1945. The tail gunner Ernest J. Gariepy was wounded.