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The fate of the
original 9 B-17s assigned
to the 323rd Bomb Squadron

PANHANDLE DOGGIE
On November 8.1942, pilot Lt. William Anderson and his crew took this B-17 on the 91st BG's second mission to Abbeville. It was the first mission for the 323rd . Although there was meager flak and little fighter opposition, the ship was severely damaged. Navigator, Lt. Everett Clinard, Jr., was seriously wounded. Though the exact damage was not recorded, it was serious enough to cause the B-17 to never fly again. It was declared salvage. This was the first of the nine ships to be lost for combat.

PENNSYLVANIA POLKA
On February 4, 1942, pilot Lt. Bobrow and his crew flew Pennsylvania Polka on the mission with Hamm as the primary target. Because of bad weather, the secondary target, Emden, became the target of choice. The Luftwaffe attacked in force with Me110s and Ju88s. Pennsylvania polka was dragging back behind the formation when attacked by an Fwl9O that delivered a group of shells into its right wing causing engine #3 to explode into flames. Other shells were seen to hit the tail causing debris to be ripped from the aircraft. When last seen, Lt. Bobrow was making a turn into a cloudbank with German fighters following him. Two men bailed out before the B-17 crashed into the Zuider Zee. Two of the original nine crews of the323rd and their B-17s were lost this day. These were the first losses of crews in combat by the 91st Bomb Group.

TEXAS BRONCO
On February 4, 1942, Lt. Ellis and his crew were flying their ship, Texas Bronco, on the same mission on which Pennsylvania Polka was lost. They, too, were attacked by the swarm of German fighter planes and suffered fatal damage. Lt. Ellis was able to crash land Texas Bronco on the beach. Eight members of his crew survived the crash and became Prisoners of War. Two were Killed in Action.

STUPEN-TAKET
On March 4, 1943, the 8th Air Force made the first inland strike on Germany's prized industrial complex in the heavily defended Ruhr Valley. Bad weather caused three of the four Groups composing the bomber stream to turn back and the 91st found itself alone in its attack on Hamm. With sixteen B-17s, they single-handedly took on the German Luftwaffe. Out numbered by five to one, this little group of sixteen aircraft, fought its way 160 miles into Germany and scored direct hits on the marshaling yards at Hamm. Four 91st Bomb Group B-17s were lost that day including Stupentakit of the 323rd flown by Lt. McCarty and his crew. Over the target, a machine gun bullet hit the waist gunner in the neck killing him instantly. Just after the target, Stupentaket was hit directly by a direct flack burst. At debriefing other crewmembers reported seeing the ship drop to 20,000 feet and then explode with only two chutes seen to emerge from the explosion. Eight crew members were Killed in Action. In 1947, after the war, the heroic actions of the 91st on this first mission to the Ruhr were recognized and the Group was awarded its second Unit Citation.

VERTIGO
On May 1, 1943 Lt. Robert Rand and his crew were flying Vertigo on a mission to St. Nazaire, known as 'Flack City,' to bomb the submarine base there. The target was covered by thick clouds and the mission was aborted and no bombs were dropped. On the way back to Bassingbourn, a navigational error caused the bomber stream to fly over the Brest peninsula where there was a high concentration of flak batteries. The Group suffered heavy flak damage. Then German fighters closed in for the kill. Pilot Rand was killed by 20mm cannon shells that exploded in the cockpit on the first pass by the German fighters. Flying in the right seat was Major Maurice Rosener from the 94th Bomb Group who was also badly injured. #2 engine was set on fire and Vertigo fell out of formation with the fire spreading to the cockpit. The intercom was shot out so that Major Rosener was unable to report the situation to the crew. Vertigo headed for the sea barely in his control with the German fighters continuing to fire as it went down killing the waist gunner just before the aircraft ditched in 15 foot waves. Three other crew members died while attempting to get into the deployed life rafts. Five crew members were rescued by the Germans and became Prisoners of war.

DELTA REBEL No.2
June 29, 1943 Lt. Birdsong and his crew, including Steve Perri, completed their tour of duty in Delta Rebel No.2. Then a series of other crews flew it until it had flown thirty-two missions. On its thirty-third mission, August 12, 1943, Lt. Robert Thompson and his crew flew Delta Rebel No.2 to Gelsenkirken. On the way to the target the 91st Bomb Group was heavily attacked by German Fighters after it had passed out of the range of protective cover by P47s. The attack continued to the target and back to where the P-47s again could provide cover. During this air battle the Group lost four aircraft, one being Vertigo that had a portion of its tail shot away and was set on fire by 20 MM cannon shells. Three of the crew were killed by these shells prior to the rest of the crew's bailing out. The tail gunners chute caught fire upon bailing out and he was KIA. The other six crew members survived and became Prisoners of War. Delta Rebel No.2 met its final fate crashing to earth near Dortmund.

EAGLE'S WRATH
August 17, 1943 After Lt. Giauque and his crew completed their tour of duty, Eagle's Wrath was flown by a number of crews up until August 1943. It had survived ten months of combat service when Lt. Anthony Arcaro and his crew flew it on the deadly Schweinfurt mission of August 17. Flying in the low squadron, Eagle's Wrath was attacked by four German fighters. Their 20MM cannon shells blasted the oxygen bottles beneath the copilots seat which caused an uncontrollable fire. The ball turret gunner who had been hit in the chest and head found his turret jammed and the crew was unable to free him. The waist gunner was also killed in the vicious attack. Eagle's Wrath went out of control ending in a tight spiral towards the ground. Six crew members were able to bail out before the aircraft crashed to the earth near Harxheim, Germany.

LIL AUDREY
August 31, 1943 Lil Audrey, whose name had been changed to Snooks, was one of the last two original nine B-17s assigned to the 323rd Squadron still flying toward the end of August, 1943. On August 31,Lt. Richard Rodman and his crew were flying the ship on the 91st Bomb Groups 69th combat mission to bomb an airstrip at Amiens when Eagle's Wrath collided with another B-17 over the Sussex coast and crashed into the sea. Six crew members became Prisoners of War while four were Killed in Action.

CAREFUL VIRGIN
Spring, 1944 The Careful Virgin was truly careful of the crews she took on fifty strategic bombing missions of the Nazi held continent. She brought each of the crews back safely to Bassingbourn. She had served as lead ship on at least thirteen of these missions and had eleven Swastikas painted on her nose in recognition of the German aircraft the crews had shoot down. She had been the first bomber in the group which used the Automatic Flight Control Equipment (AFCE) which permitted the bombardier to control the aircraft on the bomb run.. She with stood terrible damage on the May 21 mission to Emden where she was peppered with 20 MM shells which wounded the bombardier and navigator and shot away her hydraulic system which left the pilot with no brakes causing him to hit another B-17 upon landing. She was now a war weary and asked to give her all in a final death ride as part of the top secret 'Aphrodite' program. Her cockpit was cut away and an open windscreen took its place. Then she was packed with 20,000 pounds of the high explosive, Torpex. Her last journey was as a radio controlled guided missile dispatched to wipe out a V-weapons site at Mimoyecques, France. A crew consisting of a pilot and copilot took her off on this final mission and then bailed out with the pilot being badly injured in the process. From here, another B-17 used radio control to send her on her death dive. She hit just short of the target blowing into thousands of pieces and leaving no clue for the Germans to determine her secret mission. As you recall, President Kennedy's brother was killed as a pilot taking off one of the war weary B-17s that were a part of the 'Aphrodite' program. Thus ended in glory the last of the original nine B-17 of the 323rd Bomb Squadron.

The original nine B-17s of the 323rd were identified by a historic document from Steve Perri.

Written and researched by Mike Banta for the exclusive use of the 91st BG
E-mail Ring and the 323rd Bomb Squadron WebSite

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