B-17 Flying Fortress B-17 42-97187 / Miss Umbriago

History of
B-17 42-97187 / Miss Umbriago

Delivered Cheyenne 8/2/44; Gr Island 23/2/44; Presque Is 11/3/44; to Prestwick, UK, slated 447BG, Assigned 360BS/303BG [PU-I] Molesworth 26/3/44; Missing in Action Magdeburg 28/9/44 with Bill Miller, Co-pilot: John Hill, Waist gunner: Tony Zelnio(wia) (3 Prisoner of War); Navigator: Arthur Conn, Bombardier: Teddy Smith, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Leo Waldron, Radio Operator: Frank Posada, Ball turret gunner: Warren Ball,Tail gunner: Calvin Turkington (6 Killed in Action); enemy aircraft KO’d #1 & #2, crashed Wittmar, SE of Wolfenbuttel, Ger; Missing Air Crew Report 9410. MISS UMBRIAGO.

Last updated: 29. August 2017

B-17 42-97187 / Miss Umbriago Details

“When last seen Fortress #42-97187 Miss Umbriago, 360BS, piloted by 2Lt. William F. Miller, was in a dive and six were able to bail out. It crashed near Wittmar, southeast of Wolfenmbuttel. Lt. Miller was flying Miss Umbriago with two substitute crewmen, the tail gunner and the radio operator. His regular Fortress had been in the shops for several weeks for major repairs. After observing one B-17 explode and another leaving the formation, his Nos. 1 and 2 engines were hit. He feathered these engines and noticed that the left wing was badly damaged with a stream of burning gasoline coming out of the ruptured fuel tanks. He personally saw the Bombardier, Navigator and Engineer bail out. They had on parachutes and the bomb bay doors were closed. With the ship flying level Lt. Miller and his co-pilot bailed out of the same front escape hatch and experienced no trouble. The first FW-190 burst badly injured S/Sgt. Calvin G. Turkington, the tail gunner. He crawled out of the tail compartment, asked Sgt. Tony Zelnio to help him, and died. His body was found in the crashed aircraft. Sgt. Frank G. Posada, radio operator, was blown out of the aircraft and was killed. 2Lt. Arthur A. Conn, Jr., Navigator and 1Lt. Teddy A. Smith, Bombardier, made successful bail outs, but were killed on the ground. Sgt. Leo F. Waldron, Engineer, bailed out unhurt, gave first aid to his friend Sgt. Zelnio’s injured legs in a German farmhouse. The Germans then took Sgts. Waldron and Zelnio to a small town jail between Brunswick and Magdeburg. They stayed together there for about an hour. Sgt. Zelnio was placed in a hospital but Sgt. Waldron was dragged away by a bunch of German farmers and was murdered. The body of Sgt. Warren G. Ball was in the crashed B-17. 1Lt. Miller was captured by a German soldier. German civilians tried to kill him, but were prevented from doing so by the German soldier who captured him. 2Lt. John D. Hill, Jr. made a successful parachute jump and was captured. The four survivors were made POWs and were transported to prison camps. Lt. Conn, Sgt. Waldron, Sgt. Ball, and S/Sgt. Turkington are buried in Netherlands American Cemetery, Martgratten, Netherlands.

Lt. Miller years later found out that Miss Umbriago was shot down by Oberleutnant Horst Haase, a flight leader of IV Squadron Jagdeschwader 3. He was flying a Strum FW-190 that was armed with two 12.7mm machine guns, two 20mm cannons, plus a 30mm cannon mounted in a pod under each wing. He had a total of 56 confirmed kills by the time he was killed on 21 November 1944 on a scramble take-off collision with his wingman. Lt. Miller was able to obtain the gun camera films of Oberleutnant Haase which showed him shooting down his Miss Umbriago.”

via http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/248.pdf

More:
http://www.merkki.com/millerbill.htm

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B-17 42-97187 / Miss Umbriago Crew