TAKE IT EASY
42-97173
B-17G
91/323 OR

Fred Gardner’s crew was assigned to this newly arrived ship, just two days after it was acquired by the 323rd Squadron, on 9th May 1944. They flew it to bomb the marshalling yards at Konz-Karthaus on the 11th and ten on seven more occasions through the month. As the 91st, together with other 1st Air Division groups, began to soften up the French coastal defenses in preparation for the Normandy landings, Take It Easy was assigned to the crew of Robert Miller. They flew the plane throughout June, adding a further 121 mission markings to the plane’s total.

On 8th July it was Flight Officer James Fore who was at the controls of Take It Easy, on his 25th mission but with a crew on their first. The primary target that day was a ‘Noball’ V-weapon site but the haze thickened over the continent and cloud formations built up rapidly. Many other groups were recalled but the 91st ‘B’ group found targets of opportunity in traffic choke points in the Pas de Calais area. No one saw what happened to Take It Easy but there were reports at the after action debriefing of a Fortress exploding in mid-air from unknown causes.

"Story taken from Plane Names & Fancy Noses, by Ray Bowden"