B-17 Flying Fortress B-17 42-31192

History of
B-17 42-31192

Delivered Cheyenne 30/9/43; Scott Fd 24/10/43; Presque Is 1/11/43; with Roy Parsons force landed Meeeks Fd, Iceland 12/11/43; Assigned 612BS/401BG Deenethorpe 13/11/43; transferred 509BS/351BG [RQ-R] Polebrook 3/12/43; 508th BS [YB-R]; Missing in Action 42m Politz 7/10/44 with crew of 509th BS: Einer Peterson (P), Duane Wilson (CP), Louis Candelaria (TT), J.K. Blake (BT), Robert Crawford (WG), Benjamin Christensen (N), William Rooney (B), Lawrence “Larry” Jensen (RO), Lloyd Best (TG); 7 KIA, 2 survived INT. Missing Air Crew Report 9566.

Last updated: 6. January 2018

B-17 42-31192 Details

On it’s way to target Politz, N Germany (Poland today) lost one supercharger engine 2. Lost speed, altitude and group. Continued for target alone. Hit by flak, lost engine 3 and 4, and most of the fuel. Decided to try to land in Sweden and turned north out over Baltic Sea with only one engine and 110 gallons fuel left. Dropped ammunition over Baltic to loose weight. Cloudy weather, couldn’t see land.

When out of fuel, went through clouds, too low altitude to bail out. Decision to belly land in a potato field, but pilot spotted workers in field and tried to turn and gain altitude and stalled instead.
Crashed in woods nearby at Farabol, southern Sweden.

Jensen, Best, Christensen and Rooney survived, but Christensen and Rooney died in hospital in city of Karlshamn within a few days. Larry Jensen and Lloyd Best were interned in Sweden and later transfered back to England.

Jensen has been interviewed about his experiences, by the veteran project ”The Voices of World War II”.

B-17 42-31192 Crew