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THE
EAGLES WRATH
41-24524 B-17F
91/323 OR-O
 One
of the 91st. original complement of
aircraft assigned at Dow Field, Bangor,
Maine, during September 1942.
She was named at Dow Field by Lt.
Charles Giauque when his crew took
over the ship in early October and
his choice of name was not universally
appreciated by his and other crews.
"I
do recall, with some shame and embarrassment
now" wrote Chuck Giauque, that
the process of arriving a the name
The Eagles Wrath was not very democratic.
In fact, the process probably was
more so the old military system RHIP-rank
has its privileges! The name was my
idea. My upbringing was in a pretty
religious household in which even
minor vulgarities were unacceptable
and I feared having to send home pictures
of 'my airplane' adorned with anything
approaching indecency." "I
have changed!" noted Chuck. Anyway,
a helluva good bunch of guys put aside
their ideas and unanimously proclaimed
our plane as "The Eagle's Wrath."
 The
name and the eagle were painted on
the nose by a young lady on the maintenance
staff at Dow Field. "The name
brought forth some number of catcalls
and considerable ribbing, Chuck continued,
but all had to agree it was distinctive!
Interestingly, the plane was selected
on the occasion of visits, particularly
by the fairer sex, when the authorities
were reluctant to show-off other planes
with more earthy names and graphics.
No doubt this was in mind when C.E.
Turner selected The Eagle's Wrath
as the subject for an oil painting
which was reproduced as a double spread
in the 'Illustrated London News,'
August
1943. The plane was also one of those
deemed suitable for presentation to
the King and Queen on the occasion
of their visit to Bassingbourn. Several
other named and painted Fortresses
had to be kept well and truly out
of sight of the VIP visitors.
 The
bombardier on Giauque's crew, Tex
Butler, added his wife's name "Trixie"
outside the side window and at some
time later the Lt. Giauque's nickname
"Shorty", was painted just
below the cockpit side window. As
the plane accrued its combat tally
the bomb symbols were stenciled along
the side in yellow by the crew chief
Sgt Walter Hughes. Above these was
a row of swastikas denoting fighter
kills claimed by the crew. Seven of
these had been acquired when the plane
had completed 16 missions; also added
by that time was the name 'Zero1,
Lt. Ott's nickname, above the navigator's
window.
 1/Lt
Anthony Arcaro's crew were on their
fifth mission when The Eagle's Wrath
was claimed as one of the victims
in the low element on the costly Schweinfurt
mission on 17th.August 1943. Under
constant attack from Antwerp to Frankfurt,
four enemy fighters from JG51/2 struck
from 11 o'clock high and shells ripped
into the oxygen bottles stored below
the co-pilot's seat starting a devastating
fire. The ball gunner S/Sgt Harold
Michaud was hit twice, in the chest
and head, and could not be freed from
his position. A waist gunner also
died in the hail of bullets and the
navigator was wounded. As the ship
dropped from formation 20 km east
of Frankfurt it went into violent
maneuvers ending in a spin and a tight
spiral into the ground at Gelnhausen,
near Harxheim, taking four of the
crew to their death.
This
is one of the original Nine B-17 Flying
Fortresses that formed the 323rd Bomb
Squadron of the 91st Bomb Group.
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