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SHIRLEY
JEAN
42-107040
B-17G
91/324
DF-D
91/323
OR-K
 Initially
this
ship
was
assigned
to
the
324th
Squadron
after
its
arrival
at
Bassingbourn
on
1st
April
1944.
After
seven
combat
sorties,
the
aircraft
was
transferred
to
323rd
and
crews
from
that
squadron
flew
it
through
May
to
the
end
of
August
when
it
was
transferred
back
to
the
324th.
Precisely
when
the
plane
was
named
is
not
known
but
it
certainly
carried
the
name
Shirley
Jean
while
serving
with
the
323rd
Squadron
as
a
photograph
of
the
nose
are
shows
the
plane
in
pristine
condition
and
looking
brand
new.
Tony
Starcer
had
selected
as
reference
another
of
Esquire’s
Varga
girls,
this
time
from
the
1944
Calendar
page
for
August.
Shirley
Jean
survived
a
checkered
career
that
involved
a
good
deal
of
damage
sustained
from
many
sources.
Over
Cologne
on
15th
October,
under
the
command
of
Captain
Iver
Tufty,
the
plane
sustained
severe
flak
damage
near
the
IP
and
the
crew
were
ordered
to
prepare
to
bail
out.
Four
of
the
crewmen
misheard
and
bailed
out
of
the
plane
before
Tufty
brought
her
back
under
control
and
managed
to
head
for
home
with
No.
2
engine
knocked
out
and
No.
3
windmilling.
The
badly
damaged
Shirley
Jean
landed
at
Woodbridge
where
repairs
took
until
the
end
of
the
month
to
complete.
The
badly
damaged
Shirley
Jean
landed
at
Woodbridge
where
repairs
took
until
the
end
of
the
month
to
complete.
John
Lindahl's
crew
took
over
the
plane
in
early
October,
after
it
had
passed
back
to
the
324th
Squadron,
and
flew
19
missions
of
their
tour
in
it.
Roughly
halfway
through
their
tour,
the
crew
was
on
board
Shirley
Jean
for
a
bombing
practice
flight
when
the
aircraft
was
caught
in
a
violent
prop
wash
and
thrown
out
of
the
formation.
In
trying
to
regain
its
position,
the
vertical
tail
fin
struck
the
horizontal
stablizer
of
Shure
Shot
44-6151,
and
it
was
bent
almost
double.
Both
planes
recovered
and
landed
safely
in
spite
of
their
severely
damaged
tail
assemblies.
Although
the
damage
was
considerable
it
was
repaired
in
time
for
Lindahl
to
take
the
plane
on
the
mission
to
Stuttgart
four
days
later
on
9th
December.
Two
days
on,
over
Frankfurt,
Lindahl
lost
an
engine
over
the
target
but
luck
was
with
them
and
Shirley
Jean
brought
them
safely
back
to
Bassingbourn.
Shirley
Jean
survived
the
war
assigned
to
the
91st
and
flew
to
Valley
in
Wales
on
8th
June
to
prepare
for
the
trip
back
to
the
USA.
It
had
accrued
more
than
98
missions
in
the
18
months
of
combat
but
towards
the
end
it
had
been
a
tired
ship.
The
last
mission
was
flown
on
4th
March,
six
weeks
before
the
group's
final
sortie.
With
so
many
new
Fortresses
stockpiled
across
England
there
was
no
longer
any
need
to
push
every
combat-weary
ship
to
its
extreme
and
although
Shirley
Jean
flew
practice
missions
there
were
no
more
combat
flights.
"Story
taken
from
Plane
Names
&
Fancy
Noses,
by
Ray
Bowden"
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