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PENNSYLVANIA
POLKA
41-24544
B-17F-25-BO
91/323-OR-O/L
 An
early
B
17F
model
was
assigned
to
the
group
as
part
of
its
initial
complement
during
September
1942,
at
Dow
Field,
Bangor.
The
ship
was
assigned
to
Lt.
Alan
Bobrow
but
little
has
been
established
about
the
aircraft's
history.
Only
four
definite
sorties
are
known
so
far,
although
1/LT
Bobrow
received
his
Air
Medal
in
late
January
1943,
which
was
awarded
after
flying
five
credited
missions.
A
crew
picture
taken
in
front
of
what
was
believed
to
be
Pennsylvania
Polka
reveals
seven
mission
markers
painted
on
the
plane
at
that
time.
Most
of
the
known
targets
Pennsylvania
Polka
set
out
for
were
in
France,
namely
St
Nazaire,
Lille
and
Romilly,
but
it
was
the
mission
to
Hamm
marshalling
yards
on
the
4th
February
that
proved
to
be
its
last.
On
board
were
1/Lt
Bobrow
and
his
crew
together
with
ten
SOOlb
General
Purpose
bombs.
Bad
weather
over
the
Ruhr
caused
the
formation
to
head
for
Emden
but
the
Luftwaffe
attacked
in
force,
using
MellOs
and
Ju88s
for
the
first
time.
On
the
return,
just
after
12.40hrs,
Pennsylvania
Polka
was
seen
to
be
lagging
behind
the
formation,
under
attack
from
two
enemy
fighters.
A
Fwl90
sent
a
stream
of
shells
into
the
right
wing
and
the
No.3
engine
exploded
into
an
orange
fireball.
Other
hits
and
flying
debris
ripped
through
the
vertical
stabilizer
and
tail
as
the
plane
made
a
gradual
turn
into
a
cloudbank,
closely
followed
by
the
fighters.
It
is
not
known
if
the
crew
bailed
out
but
only
two
men
survived
after
the
plane
crashed
into
the
Zuider
Zee,
engineer
T/Sgt.
Paul
Bass
and
the
ball
gunner
T/Sgt.
Bill
Wheeler.
The
bodies
of
the
pilot
and
the
radio
operator
were
never
found
but
six
other
men
were
recovered
and
buried
by
the
German
Authorities.
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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