B-17 Flying Fortress B-17 42-102580

History of
B-17 42-102580

Delivered Cheyenne 16/3/44; Gr Island 1/4/44; Dow Fd 8/4/44; Assigned 613BS/401BG [IN-Q] Deenethorpe 3/5/45; Missing in Action Dessau 28/5/44 with Bill Protz, Ball turret gunner: Frank Bartak, Waist gunner: Alby Reinhardt, Waist gunner: Glenn Cliff,Tail gunner: Jim Appleby (5 Prisoner of War); Co-pilot: Dick Barnett, Navigator: Alvin Stiegel, Bombardier: Sam Bennett, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Jim Morrow, Radio Operator: Wayne Wicks (5 Killed in Action); direct flak hit in radio room, causing fire and explosion, crashed four miles E of Aken, three miles W of Dessau, Ger; MACR 5307.

Last updated: 8. February 2020

B-17 42-102580 Details

We were on a bombing mission 28 May 1944, target being just outside of Dessau, Germany. We were flying a B-17 Bomber. Between 1130 and 1200 hours (English time) we received a direct hit by flak in the Radio Compartment, causing a fire and explosion. The plane broke in half, burning furiously. We had not dropped the bombs. A crew of ten men were aboard.

T/Sgt. Wayne W. Wicks was in the Radio Compartment at the time the airplane was hit by the flak. This Compartment immediately became a mass of flames. An explosion followed, which I believe was from the gasoline. We had not dropped the bombs, but I do not believe they exploded at that time. It is my opinion that Wicks was killed instantly, as I do not believe it was possible for him to have gotton out.

T/Sgt. Altbert P. Reinhardt
17 October 1945

B-17 42-102580 Crew