B-17 Flying Fortress B-17 42-29659 / Liberty Bell

History of
B-17 42-29659 / Liberty Bell

Delivered Denver 28/1/43; Salina 9/2/43; Assigned 324BS/91BG Bassingbourn 15/3/43; Missing in Action 1m Wilhelmshafen 22/3/43 with Capt Hascall McClellan, Co-pilot: Glenn Brooks, Navigator: Claud Green, Bombardier: Clarry Buckman, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Sam Williams, Radio Operator: Ed Trelawney-Ansell, Ball turret gunner: Felix Makela, Waist gunner: Ben Billingsley, Waist gunner: Chas Shapiro,Tail gunner: Wallace Roberts (10 Killed in Action). A/c hit by rocket from Me 109 above, crashed in North Sea 20 miles W of Heligoland. (only McLelland, Williams & Billingsley were 91BG, rest 92BG) Missing Air Crew Report 16291. LIBERTY BELL.

Last updated: 27. July 2021

B-17 42-29659 / Liberty Bell Details

Just seven short days after arrival, on a mission over Wilhelmshafen the aircraft was hit by bomb dropped from above by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Me 109) flown by Oberleutnant Heinz Knoke, and crashed into the North Sea 20 miles west of Heligoland with all ten crewman killed in action (KIA). In this action, Knoke thus became the first of only a few fighter pilots to successfully destroy an enemy aircraft by “bombing the bombers” (an experiental tactic that was soon abandoned by the Luftwaffe). [11]

Source: Liberty Belle (aircraft), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Liberty_Belle_(aircraft)&oldid=780448901 (last visited Sept. 17, 2017).

B-17 42-29659 / Liberty Bell Crew