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TOWER OF LONDON
44-8471
B-17G
91/323 OR-C
 This
radar-equipped ship joined the group soon after the
start of the New Year and began its combat career by
leading the high group formation to Cologne on 14th
January 1945. It was to be the first of 22 missions
in which the plane would take the lead of the group,
combat wing or 1st Air Division. On all its other recorded
sorties it flew as the deputy lead aircraft. The plane
flew half of these missions unnamed and did not receive
its title and nose art until about one month from the
end of the air war, in late March.
On the 25th March 1945, Bassingbourn played host to
yet more VIP visitors, which included the Lord Mayor
of London, Sir Frank Alexander. Accompanying him were
General Gross, Colonel Terry and Lt. Col. Cahill together
with the High Sherrif and the Junior High Sherrif. As
a publicity event, one of the functions the Lord Mayor
performed was to christen this B-17 as Tower of London.
Tony Starcer had painted a bird’s eye view of the
Tower on both sides of the nose with Old English Script
titling curving over the top of the design.
By the end of the war Tower of London had completed
at least 26 combat missions and was transferred to the
306th Bomb Group in May. This group had been selected
for occupational duty in Germany and many of its aircraft
were later engaged in an aerial mapping project code-named
‘Casey Jones’. In early 1946, the 306th moved
with its aircraft to Istres in France and absorbed remnants
of the 384th and 92nd Bomb Groups before moving back
to Germany in August. By this time it had virtually
ceased to exist as a flying unit and most of its aircraft
had been scrapped or returned to the USA.
"Story
taken from Plane Names & Fancy Noses, by Ray Bowden"
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