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DELTA
REBEL,No.2
42-5077 B-17F-30-BO
91/323- OR-T
 One
of the most famous nose art pictures of
all must surely be that of film star Clark
Gable alongside Delta Rebel No2. The publicity
photos were taken while Gable was visiting
Bassingbourn during his filming sessions
of ground sequences for the documentary
that was to become 'Combat America'. Most
of the 16mm footage that was shot by Gable's
crew was of the 351st Bomb Group at Polebrook,
following its fortunes from the USA into
combat over Europe, with a special emphasis
on the aerial gunners. Gable himself would
actually complete five combat missions,
on two of which he filmed aerial combat
footage,and gained his Air Medal. In the
summer of 1943 his entourage visited Bassingbourn
and filmed several sequences and took the
famous publicity shots. Quite why this sequence
of shots had to be filmed at Bassingbourn
rather than Polebrook is not entirely clear
but it probably had a great deal to do with
inter-group rivalry, a generous  dash
of politics, combined with giving a morale
boost to the members of the 91st. Not to
mention the very persuasive powers of the
group's Public Relations Officer Major Brechler.
The plane was named by Lt Birdsong's crew
while they waited at Gander prior to deployment
to the UK in October 1942. It is not clear
if the entire nose art was actually painted
on at that time but a photograph dated January
1943 does reveal the complete painting including
the famous Rebel Colonel seen later with
Clark Gable.
When flying across the North Atlantic to
England, Delta Rebel No 2 left Gander in
a snowstorm and the pilot, Lt. Birdsong,
elected to climb as the aircraft began to
ice up severely. He was followed by a Fortress
leading the 303rd Bomb Group, also deploying
to the UK. It seemed that Delta Rebel No2
was leading the lead ship for the 303rd
Group whose Colonel, upon landing at Prestwick,
was less than polite when he realized he
had been following a mere Lieutenant. Even
More so when he discovered that the remainder
of his group had elected to descend and
fly under the overcast rather than over
it and had thus avoided the icing. George
Birdsong's crew continued to fly Delta Rebel
No2 and it proved to be a lucky ship for
them. So much  so
that when the Birdsong crew completed their
combat tour other crews were reluctant to
take the plane, saying that
all its luck had been used up. Birdsong
himself was so proud of his ship that other
publicity photos show him "awarding"
it a giant DFC medal in recognition of its
service.
Considerable
controversy ha surrounded Delta Rebel No2
ever since Memphis Belle was claimed as
the first Fortress to complete 25 missions
over Europe. There is some suggestion that
after detailed study of the combat records
of Delta Rebel No2, the plane may have completed
its 25th sortie as early as 1st May, two
weeks before Memphis Belle flew her well-publicized
25th mission. The evidence is contradictory
however and there are other claims that
the date was 15th May or 17th May. It was,
in any case, a close run thing among several
91st aircraft and in the event it may well
have been down to the film maker's preference
for the nose art of Memphis Belle that decided
which plane would be immortalized on film.
 On
12th August, after Captain Birdsong and
his crew had completed their tour, Delta
Rebel No2, went to Gelsenkirchen under the
command of the new crew of 2Lt.Robert Thompson.
It was the plane's 33rd trip over enemy
territory and most of the crew were on their
fourth mission. The group lost four of their
Fortresses to intense enemy fighter attacks
which started about an hour after crossing
the coast and continued until the P-47 escorts
joined the formation on the route out.
 The
first enemy fighter attacks caught Delta
Rebel No2 and the plane was badly hit. Eight
inches of the stabilizer was shot away and
the aircraft caught fire. German eyewitnesses,
presumably on the ground, reported seeing
the plane catch fire and peel away from
the formation before three chutes emerged.
Inside the plane it was a shambles of torn
metal and severed cables. Both waist gunners
were hit by 20mm shells and slumped to the
floor wounded. Other crew members struggled
to give them first aid as another fighter
pass roared through the formation and slammed
more 20mm shells into the fuselage killing
Sgt Zeinicki as he tended the wounded men.
The tail gunner managed to extricate himself
from his cramped position and tumble from
the plane but his chute burst into a deep
red flame and he dropped like a rock. Six
men reached the ground alive as the wreckage
of Delta Rebel No.2 plunged to earth at
Brunninghausen near Dortmund.
This
was one of the Original Nine B-17 Flying
Fortresses that formed the 323rd Bomb Squadron
of the 91st Bomb Group.
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