42-29553 / Arkie II | B-17 Bomber Flying Fortress

Production-block:
B-17F-60-BO: 42-29532 to 42-29631

Manufacturer:
Boeing

Bomb Group:
305th Bomb Group

Bomb Squadron:
366th Bomb Squadron

RCL: KY-D

Fate:

MACR: 252

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History of
B-17 42-29553 / Arkie II

Delivered Denver 3/1/43; Salina 9/1/43; Homestead 18/2/43; Assigned 366BS/305BG [KY-D] Chelveston 4/3/43; Missing in Action Gelsenkirchen 12/8/43 with Wright Gerke, Co-pilot: Tom Reade, Navigator: Joe Costa, Bombardier: Jack Little, Ball turret gunner: Ed Keesling, Waist gunner: Joe Rowlison, Waist gunner: Herb Kalwa,Tail gunner: Joe Hall (8 Killed in Action); Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Harry Fullerton, Radio Operator: Jim Chalker (2 Prisoner of War); flak & enemy aircraft, crashed near Munchen-Gladbach, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 252. ARKIE II.

Source: The B-17 Flying Fortress Story (Affiliate-Link/CommissionsEarned)

Last updated: 19. June 2021

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B-17 42-29553 / Arkie II Details

Knocked out of formation by flak, and immediately attacked by five or six E/A. Seen to go down in flames but under control.

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B-17 42-29553 / Arkie II Crew

Position	Rank	Name	Status	Note
P	2LT	Wright E. Gerke	KIA	-
CP	2LT	Thomas Read	KIA	-
NAV	2LT	Joseph S. Costa	KIA	-
BOMB	2LT	Jack J. Little	KIA	-
ENG/TT	T/SGT	Harry L. Fullerton	POW	-
RO	S/SGT	James L. Chalker, Jr.	POW	-
BT	S/SGT	Edward F. Keesling	KIA	-
WG	SGT	Joe W. Rowlison	KIA	-
WG	S/SGT	Herbert A. Kalwa	KIA	-
TG	S/SGT	Joseph J. Hall	KIA	-

Wayne MacDowell
26. April 2019 22:30

B-17 42-29553 was my uncle-godfather’s plane…ARKIE II. 1st Lt Wright Ellis Gerke – Pilot. He is buried in The Netherlands-American Military Cemetery in Margroten, Netherlands…Holland Plot O Row 6 Grave 6. I have visited his grave from the USA 23 times to date. In his last letter, mailed that fateful morning of August 12th 1943…he told of how proud he was to have just become a Daddy.