B-17 Flying Fortress B-17 42-5470 / Restless Bess

History of
B-17 42-5470 / Restless Bess

B-17 42-5470 / Restless Bess Details

Eyewitness Statement

I was the cameraman aboard ship # 526. We had been under oxygen for several minutes and I was looking out the right window of the radio room. We ran into some overcast and I saw a ship about four or five hundred yards behind us at about five o’clock level. Then I looked over at our wing ship and the overcast had just about covered it. When I looked again at the ship behind it was blazing all over. About two hundred yards above it there was a smoking mass that appeared to be a P-38 but could possibly have been the tail of #470. The B-17 was falling almost vertically and soon disappeared through the clouds. The other burning object followed it through the clouds.

S/Sgt. Leonard Y. Trapp
B-17 #42-29526

I was flying as tail gunner on aircraft number 42-29775. At 12:35 hours our Squadron flew into a cloud bank and aircraft number 42-5470 was about a half mile behind us. When we hit a clear spot in the clouds I saw some P-38’s turn in towards our formation at three o’clock and then head out at a four o’clock angle from our aircraft. One of these P-38’s collided with what I believe to have been aircraft number 42-5470.

It appeared that the P-38 hit this aircraft at the escape hatch. Aircraft number 42-5470 turned over on its back. A piece of wing fell off, and then some objects fell out that may possibly have been three members of the crew. One of the objects appeared to be on fire.

Cpl. James D. Gysan
Tail Gunner B-17 #42-29775

Source: MACR 1820