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Source:
www.fold3.com
Production-block:
B-17G-10-DL: 42-37721 to 42-37803
Manufacturer:
Douglas
- Bomb Group:
- 401st Bomb Group
- 91st Bomb Group
- Bomb Squadron:
- 324th Bomb Squadron
- RCL: DF-B
Fate:
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History of
B-17 42-37779 / Pistol Packin’ Mama
Delivered Denver 25/8/43; Scott 23/10/43; Assigned 401BG Deenethorpe 14/11/43; transferred 324BS/91BG [DF-B] Bassingbourn 20/11/43; then AFSC 3/5/44; retUS 8STA Homestead 11/6/45; 4136 BU Tinker 14/8/45; 3017 BU Hobbs 1/9/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Walnut Ridge 3/1/46. PIST’L PACKIN’ MAMA.
Last updated: 30. March 2024
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B-17 42-37779 / Pistol Packin’ Mama Details
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13. January 2023 access_time 2:23
B-17G DF-B (42-37779, Pist’l Packin’ Mama) was my father’s aircraft that he flew out of Bassingborn UK. My dad, Capt. Charles A. Holman Jr. flew 31 missions between 12/1/1943 and 4/26/1944 (including his 17th mission over Schweinfurt on 2/24/1944) while in the 324th Bomber Squadron or the 91st Bomb Group (Heavy).
13. January 2026 access_time 9:18
starboard side on B-17 Nose Art, Dec/Jan, 25/26 shows spelling as in your synopsis (Osborne?) and mission tally. Your title needs correction. Unit is shown as /A\, 91st BG. your 401st BG is actually the Bomb Squadron. Starboard side also adds Belle above nickname.
13. January 2026 access_time 12:53
42-37779 never belonged to the 401st Bomb Squadron. It was only ever assigned to the 324th Bomb Squadron while it was with the 91st Bomb Group, though it was loaned to the 401st Bomb Squadron for one mission on 22nd March 1944.
15. January 2026 access_time 14:23
Hello, back in the fall of 2017, I visited NARA at College Park, Maryland as part of a more detailed study into the 91st BG, with a focus on the 324th Bomb Squadron’s activities as a dedicated Pathfinder unit between May and June 1944, as this time period isn’t covered in detail in the current edition of Ray Bowden’s “Plane Names & Fancy Noses”. Prior to being issued new H2X Radar Equipped B-17Gs, the 324th’s standard B-17s were dispersed to the other 3 squadron’s of the 91st and reassigned on the 28th April 1944. “Standard” is a bit misleading, as the surviving early B-17Fs had already been withdrawn to the US for training, and the remaining aircraft were included early B-17Gs with Hydraulicly operated Turbo Supercharger controls, and both Camoflaged and Natural Metal Finish B-17Gs with electrically operated turbo supercharger controls. 42-37779 “Pistol Packin’ Mama” was assigned to the 401st Bomb Squadron as LL-Q on this date for the mission to Avord France, though crew reassignments took place later. She’s then listed again as LL-Q as a 401st ground spare for the 29th April 1944 mission to Berlin. After the early B-17Fs that lacked Tokyo Tanks in the outer wings were withdrawn from combat were withdrawn from combat and returned to the US for training, it then became the turn of the surviving early B-17Gs with Hydraulically operated Turbo Supercharger controls to be withdrawn, so 42-37779, along with the 323rd’s 42-39774 OR-O “Demo Darling” (not OR-R as listed on this website) were withdrawn on the 5th May 44. The 322nd’s 42-31070 LG-M ” Dame Satan II” would also follow for the same reason while 42-37736 DF-G “Duke of Paducah” would instead be relegated to radio relay duties for the 67th Fighter wing, though we suspect it continued to be maintained by the 324th at Bassingbourn . So 42-37779’s actual assignment to the 401st BS as LL-Q lasted a mere 8 days before withdrawal from combat, and so is easily missed by researchers. Finally, one interesting mistake for researchers and transcribers to be wary of, the 381st BG’s famous 42-39997 “Big Mike / Frenchie’s Folly” is listed in the master list of 91st BG Aircraft at the back of Ray Bowden’s “Plane Names and Fancy Noses”, though theres no evidence of it flying with the 91st. However, if you get the 7s and 9s the wrong way round, 42-37779 ” Pistol Packin’ Mama” suddenly becomes 42-39997 “Big Mike / Frenchie’s Folly” in your records. Good Luck.
15. January 2026 access_time 15:38
This is just another example of how the Osbourn Freeman Flying Fortress Story Fortlog, while being an incredible resource to begin research from, is not a totally bullet-proof stand alone record, and cross referencing with other research sources such as NARA records, published texts and individual bomb group websites is vital to provide a better picture. Though recently as I read in one 34th BG B-17 pilot’s combat stories, if the initial resource is inaccurate, then when that resource is quoted in further texts it compounds the inaccuracy to the point where individual researchers can no longer, despite proof, argue with the armchair majority against an inaccuracy.
16. January 2026 access_time 0:26
Thanks for the information Phil. I usually rely on the 91st Dailies that I luckily downloaded, as the website has disappeared.