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TONDELAYO
42-29740
B-17F
91/323 OR-P
Although
not arriving at Bassingbourn until 21st September 1943,
this B-17F had originally been recorded in at Alconbury
on 13th April. It was one of the 95th Bomb Group’s
original complement of aircraft and flew four operational
sorties with that group during May. It was not the Luftwaffe
that interrupted its career on 19th May but a gunner from
the 95th who shot up and severely damaged the plane’s
horizontal stabilizer. Such occurrences were not uncommon
in the heat of an aerial battle and were a consequence
of the tight formations that the Fortresses flew for protection.
As desperate gunners swung their weapons round trying
to follow the paths of fighters sweeping through their
formation at high speed, unfortunate colleagues sometimes
found themselves on the receiving end of fire from friend
and foe alike.
Tondelayo was painted while with the 95th Bomb Group and
the name originated from the sexy character portrayed
by Hedy Lamar in the movie ‘White Cargo’. After
receiving the damage from friendly fire, the ship was
transferred to the Air Force Service Command for repairs
and it is believed to have then served for a time with
the 96th Bomb Group at Snetterton before being transferred
into the 91st. Although no photograph has yet been located
showing the plane in 91st markings, it is believed that
the Tondelayo nose art still remained in place.
Only four successful missions were completed by Tondelayo
in the 91st’s 323rd squadron. The first being to
Meulan on 26th September. On the 2nd, 4th and 8th October,
the ship was taken to Emden, Frankfurt and Bremen respectively
but the following day the target was Anklam and Tondelayo
did not return. The mission plan called for both the 1st
and 41st Combat Wings to draw away the enemy’s attention
from other strike forces heading further east. It was
an effective plan but reaped a terrible price, which included
18 Fortresses missing and another 51 damaged, from the
1st Air Division’s formations. Morris Gutta and his
crew were aboard the ship and went over the target with
the formation. As the group made its way back, the Luftwaffe
appeared in strength and pressed home furious attacks
that included firing rockets into the tightly flying Forts.
These rocket attacks had some success and may have been
responsible for the loss of Tondelayo. In all, the 91st
lost five Fortresses and had another eight ships damaged
in the ensuing melee. Lt. Gutta and four of his crew managed
to extricate themselves from the plane as it went down
but another five men died.
"Story taken from Plane Names & Fancy Noses,
by Ray Bowden"
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