Source:
www.fold3.com
| General | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | Douglas |
| Production-Block: | , B-17G-10-DL: 42-37721 to 42-37803 |
| Operational History | |
|---|---|
| Bomb Group: | , 401st Bomb Group, 91st Bomb Group |
| Bomb Squadron: | , 324th Bomb Squadron |
| RCL | DF-B |
| Fate: |
, Returned to the USA (11 June 1945) |
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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.
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B-17 42-37779 / Pistol Packin’ Mama Details
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This page was last updated on 30 March 2024
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.
16. January 2026 access_time 14:56
Hi Ross,
So I worked my way through the transcribed 91st Bomb Group Dailies off http://www.91stbombgroup.com back in 2013, but when cross referencing The Osbourne / Freeman Flying Fortress, and published books such as Ray Bowden’s “Plane Names & Fancy Noses”, Cliff Bishops “Fortresses of the Big Triangle First” and Marlon Havelaar’s ” The Ragged Irregulars of Bassingbourn” I noticed a few clashes when it came to aircraft Radio Call Letters.
A lot of the information in Osborne / Freeman, which is the primary reference source, comes from Missing Air Crew reports, and the layout of the report form asks for the squadron the crew belong to and the individual radio call letter of the aircraft, but not the squadron the aircraft belonged to. Confusion can arise when, for example, the missing crew were flying an aircraft from another squadron, the crew were on detached service from another group (for example when the 324th were a dedicated pathfinder unit in Summer 1944), a pathfinder aircraft is lost leading another group, or when two aircraft in the same group have the same “last three” digits of their serial number (for example the 322nd’s 43-37626 LG-M and the 324th’s DF-Q 42-97626).
This lead to me spending several days at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland in the fall of 2017, looking over 91st Bomb Group mission reports (and 457th Bomb Group mission reports for 324th PFF Crews) , studying formation diagrams to build a clearer picture of aircraft assignments and transfers between squadrons. I’m sure your familiar with the 324th Dailies, my principle aim was the period they spent on Pathfinder Duties during May-June 1944, but I worked my way out from that date and built up a picture of aircraft assignments covering the later part of 91st BG operations from December 1943 to May 1945.
It does appear that when the 324th Dailies were transcribed, a couple of record boxes were missed. The return to normal operations from Pathfinder Duties was actually quite a long process for the 324th that wasn’t really completed until the beginning of September 1944, and the activities of the remaining Pathfinder aircraft on hand with the 324th (42-97562 DF-D, 42-97630 DF-H, 42-97632 DF-R and 42-97754 DF-N) through July and August 1944 aren’t featured in the Dailies as the 324th were still recording pathfinder duties seperately, until the end of August 1944 when aircraft were traded between squadrons to give each Squadron one H2X radar equipped ship. Ray Bowden aludes to this with his article on 42-97562 “Evening Folks, How y’all ?”s missing missions.
Similarly, another box containing the reports for several missions in November was also missed, which included the 26th November 1944 mission loss of 42-31515 “The Wild Hare”, 42-38128 “Dear Becky” and 44-8311 “Terry’s TIger”.
While I’m a 91st Bomb Group Memorial association life member, I came off of Facebook during Covid Lockdown as the advertising became too much, so I’m no longer part of the 91st BG facebook page but still get the email newsletters. I don’t know what happened to the 91st Bomb Group website, but I also downloaded the dailies so I had them on hand for research. One day I will sit down and create some Cliff Bishop style Bar graphs / Spreadsheets to chart the aircraft assignments and transfers between squadrons, but I don’t want to have to point out to people who quote the Osborne / Freeman Fortlog compared to the official Formation Diagrams in the mission reports held at the National Archives.
Good Luck.
17. January 2026 access_time 0:52
Thanks once again Phil. I used the 91st Dailies, along with ORB records and formation charts generously supplied by Jim Szpajcher, in my study of William Wylers Outtake Reels. Combining all these has allowed me to date most of the 91st Bomb Group portions of the reels.
The footage of the 305th Bomb Group has proven a little trickier, but I have been applying to NARA for copies of 305th mission reports. Hopefully I can eventually date the most of 305th footage.
18. January 2026 access_time 22:43
Hi Ross, its good to hear your working with Jim Szpajcher, he’s brilliant and helped me out with a couple of 91st BG formation diagrams that I didn’t have time to request on my three day visit to NARA in 2017.
I’m sorry I can’t help with the 305th. the published texts I’ve read on the group are focused on Schweinfurt, though Cliff Bishop’s “Fortresses of the Big Triangle 1st” would be a starting point for aircraft assignments for the 1942-43 pioneer period. Researching the 305th BG seems a very interesting task, especially with General LeMay’s formation innovations in the early stages of the air war, and the night leafleting activities, and I wish you every success with your progress.
I am going from England to Los Angeles in May this year, where I’m planning to take in Planes of Fame in Chino for the 91st and March Field Air Museum, for which I”ll submit a research request especially with the Museum’s connections with General Curtiss LeMay and the 305th, but my research focus would be on the period from March to September 1944 when the 422nd BS was operating as a pathfinder squadron for the 1st Air Division. That may progress to another visit to Washington DC and the national archives, but that is at least 4 years away for me. Best of Luck.