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Source:
www.missinginaction.be
Production-block:
B-17F-30-VE: 42-5855 to 42-5904
Manufacturer:
Lockheed/Vega
- Bomb Group:
- 385th Bomb Group
- Bomb Squadron:
- 548th Bomb Squadron
- RCL: GX-D
MACR: 387A
History of
B-17 42-5886 / The Jolly Roger
Delivered Long Beach 21/4/43; Denver 5/3/43; Kearney 30/5/43; Assigned 548BS/385BG [GX-D] Gt Ashfield 24/6/43; Missing in Action Regensburg 17/8/43. Enemy aircraft, crash landed a mile from Woensdrecht a/fd, on the Holl/Bel. Border. Missing Air Crew Report 387A. THE JOLLY ROGER.
Last updated: 11. March 2020
B-17 42-5886 / The Jolly Roger Details
More information about B-17 #42-5886 The Jolly Roger, especially the fate of the tail gunner S/Sgt. Joe Schreppel:
B-17 42-5886 / The Jolly Roger Crew
| Position | Rank | Name | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 2LT | Paul A. Sommers | KIA | - |
| CP | 2LT | Herbert W. Brown | KIA | - |
| NAV | 2LT | Hugh T. McClatchey | KIA | - |
| BOMB | 2LT | Henri S. Walker | POW | - |
| ENG/TT | T/SGT | Bruno M. Gallerani | EVD | - |
| RO | T/SGT | Olin L. Wieneke | KIA | - |
| BT | S/SGT | James H. Brown | POW | - |
| WG | S/SGT | Larry B. Stokes | POW | - |
| WG | S/SGT | Parker F. Crabtree | KIA | - |
| TG | S/SGT | Joe Schreppel | KIA | - |
05. April 2021 access_time 14:09
It was my father (Gust Helsen – member of the Belgian Underground and an escapeline for downed airmen) who did the interrogation of Bruno Gallerani to control his identity. After the positive identification (every airmen had a personal token), he send him into the escape line. Bruno Gallerani passed the Pyrenées and arrived back on his airfield Great Ashfield (385th bomb group). BBC-radio transmitted his safe return with the sentence: Napoleon is in Waterloo.
05. April 2021 access_time 14:11
Wonderful story of your father. Thank you for sharing!
05. October 2022 access_time 20:59
Sir, Bruno is a close dear friend! I am trying to bring him over to visit next year; I am currently in the US Air Force, and did the same job as him on modern aircraft. Please contact me if able, so we could possibly meet if all this works out!
07. October 2022 access_time 13:42
Dear, For more information you may contact me. I received (in the name of my father who passed away in 2004) from the US-Ambassador in Belgium in February 2022 a medal from The White House. I found in my father’s archive also a thankletter from the US Army – detachment MIS-X and the British Army of the Rhine.
08. October 2022 access_time 11:00
I don’t know if my answer was sent correctly yesterday. If you want more information, don’t hesitate to contact me. I received in Feb 2022 in the name of my father a medal of The White House through the US Ambassador in Belgium. In my father’s archive I found a thankletter from the US-Army-detachment MIS-X (one of the most secret organisations of the US-Army during WOII)
10. September 2023 access_time 8:00
Sir,
I am just now seeing this; Today I am on my way to Belgium for the military, and will be in Mechelen & Brussels until the 15th. Perhaps we could meet? Please respond here or email me, and I will hope to meet you.
Nick
24. June 2022 access_time 4:56
Wifes uncle was Joe Schreppel KIA from the JOLLEY ROGER
Look up SGT.JOE SCHREPPEL on line, Its a great story of what happened to the Jolley Roger and 1 crew member.
05. February 2024 access_time 0:49
My wife’s uncle Sgt. Joe Schreppel was the tailgunner on The Jolley Roger B-17 42-5886 out of Ashland field
Shot down on Black Tuesday, Aug 17 1943
He was in one of the first groups headed to Regensburg. shot down over Belguim at approximately 10:10 Am
Shot
05. February 2024 access_time 0:50
Great Ashfield
06. June 2024 access_time 22:31
My mother’s first husband was Hugh McClatchey, the navigator on the Jolly Roger. My mother was pregnant with my sister at the time. As the story goes he swapped missions to be on this flight so he would be home when my sister was born. I believe he was recovered in Holland . A woman sent my mother a ring she fashioned from a piece of the plane. Unfortunately we never connected with Bruno when he was still alive. I appreciate all the information he was able to provide. At one point there was a blog about the history of this flight compiled by a man from Belgium. It seems to be gone. Does anyone know how to access it?
21. June 2024 access_time 3:13
My Uncle Lou was the last pilot of the Jolly Rodger. He wouldn’t talk much about, but I recall him saying” I don’t why it got that name, there wasn’t much Jolly about it”. uncle passed away in 2007. GRHS. He was captured in late 43, spent 19 months in a POW cam. Stalage Lufte #1. In reading the different accounts Uncle Lou story it stacks up. I do recall him saying that they were shot down from flak.. He called the abandonee ship. but kept flying. he managed to turn the plane around, armed the bombs. Basically full of fuel his comment was ” they wanted us out of the skys, I pointed the plane at the flak battery and bailed out. If they wanted us down I sent it right to them” He never knew If they were hit by it. He spent 8 weeks hidden by the underground. 19 months as a POW.