A B-17F of the 97th Bomb Group; 414th Bomb Squadron. Serial number unknown.
B-17F ‘Sweet Chariot’ Details
A crew at the presentation of the medal by Gen. James H. Doolittle. Two different captions exist for this photo or series of photos, in addition to the original caption:
Major General James H. Doolittle pins the Distinguished Flying Cross on T/Sgt. Potter.
A second photo has the following different captions, depending on the source.
Additional caption #1:
Gen. Jimmy Doolittle awards the Purple Heart to the aircrew of Boeing B-17F Flyng Fortress, ‘Sweet Chariot’ in Italy, February 1944 [via Wikipedia].
Additional caption #2:
James Doolittle awarding the Purple Heart to the crew of B-17E Flying Fortress bomber ‘Sweet Chariot’, Chateau-dun-du-Rhumel Airfield, Algeria, Jul 1943 [via ww2db.com].
And then there is another picture caption. The first one with mention of the unit:
Gen. Jimmy Doolittle awards Tillman and others the Purple Heart. B-17 97th BG 414th BS ‘Sweet Chariot’ [via reddog1944.com].
As you can see, there are different dates when this shot was taken. According to the 97th Bomb Group website, Lt. Hermann Tillman received the Distinguished Flying Cross on 09 February 1944, but no Purple Heart.
A T/Sgt. Potter existed only with the 341st Bomb Squadron. But he did not receive a Purple Heart either. Therefore, the date of February 1944 seems to be relatively certain.
Published: 12. July 2021 / Last updated: 24. July 2021
10. January 2022 access_time 9:12
https://www.reddog1944.com/414th_Squadron_Tillan_Dancey.htm#Tillman_DFC
Lt Tillman was wounded flying a mission to Frascati on 8th September 1943. He was awarded the Purple Heart for this. He was kept in hospital for a few days. The photo of the medal ceremony on Fold3 shows the negative was received on 23rd October 1943. That gives a 5 or 6 week period for when the ceremony took place.
I had a look at B-17F’s that were in the 414th squadron with this nose configuration on these dates and didn’t have many options. I thought 42-5223 or 42-5346 might be candidates but they were named Ther N Back (this nose art is on the right side) and Reluctant Dragon (and there is a photo of this nose art). It’s possible Sweet Chariot was renamed at some point, it looks relatively clean. Maybe it didn’t belong to the 414th squadron and was used for the photo shoot.
30. April 2025 access_time 18:37
After August 1943 the 97th BG had markings added, basically a squadron number under the serial number and a white triangle above the SN. No such markings can be seen in the photo, however, so I’m not sure the photo was taken after July 1943.
30. November 2024 access_time 13:07
this b17 serial number is 42 5263 of the 97th bomb group 340th bomb squadron or 345th bomb squad
18. September 2025 access_time 16:40
the plane is an F-BO no higher than block -70 ( see crown windows present… deleted at block -75). the nose cone is without upper dimples ( deleted at block F-20-BO).
So odds favor blocks 20/70 which fall into three (3) serial number ranges.
23. September 2025 access_time 12:32
Hello Phil, Sweet Chariot’s serial number has been identified as 42-5263.
See: https://b17flyingfortress.de/en/b17/42-5263/