B-17 Flying Fortress B-17 42-29983 / Gloria Ann aka Iris aka Uncle Sammy

History of
B-17 42-29983 / Gloria Ann aka Iris aka Uncle Sammy

Delivered Cheyenne 20-Mar-43; Dyersburg 31-Mar-43; Presque Isle 10-Apr-43; Dow Field, Bangor, Maine 12-Apr-43; Assigned 338BS/96BG [BX-K] Grafton Underwood 24/4/43 GLORIA ANN; Andrews Field 13-May-43; Snetterton 12-Jun-43; transferred 533BS/381BG [VP-X] Ridgewell 17-Jun-43. Missing in Action 6m Schweinfurt 17-Aug-43 Damaged by flak and abandonded over Kesseling, Germany, five miles SW of Ahrweiler, Germany. UNCLE SAMMY

Last updated: 7. March 2020

B-17 42-29983 / Gloria Ann aka Iris aka Uncle Sammy Details

Missing in Action 6m Schweinfurt 17-Aug-43 Damaged by flak and abandonded over Kesseling, Germany, five miles SW of Ahrweiler, Germany. The entire crew baled out but two crewmen were found dead in dense woods entangled in trees. Record is not clear if they were killed because they landed in the trees or were shot by the German Army or civilians. Missing Air Crew Report 398 – 2KIA 8POW. Named IRIS originally with 381BG for the girlfriend of the pilot, but the pair broke their relationship and the pilot renamed the aircraft UNCLE SAMMY.

MACR 398 seems to be wrong. Because in the MACR 398 the B-17F #42-29963 is listed, which was lost on 30 December 1943. The correct MACR for the #42-29983 cannot be found.

42-29983 (VP-X) in formatoin.

B-17 42-29983 / Gloria Ann aka Iris aka Uncle Sammy Crew