Following recent government announcements the museum is currently closed, there is plenty to explore in our online archive.
The American Air Museum is a charity - Find out how you can support us
B-17 Flying Fortress
The B-17E Hangar Queen (41-9021) 8/17/42 Crew Listing -- 414th Bomb Squadron at Grafton-Underwood Field (RAF Station #106): 92nd BG conducted theater orientation training with the B-17E exchanged with the 97th BG for the formers F series before the latter deployed to the 12th Air Force in North Africa. This image and name suggests the 92nd BG assignment. Osborne: 41-9021; 327th BS, 92nd BG . Pilot ........................... Lt. Claire M. Smartt Copilot ....................... Lt. Godfrey Engil Navigator ................... Lt. Harry C. Nuessle Bombardier ................ Lt. Ralph Burbridge Engineer/TTG ............ Sgt. Ermando P. Roviaro Radio Operator/WG... Sgt. Allen O. Williams Waist Gunner ............ Sgt. Robert J. Nichols Ball Turret Gunner ..... Sgt. James M. Abbott Tail Gunner ............... Sgt. Henry Wojciechowski
Boeing B-17E
41-9021
The Big Bitch (97BG)/Hangar Queen (390BG)
Polebook, England (414BS/97BG) – March 1942
Framlingham, England (390BG) – 27 June 1942
Bovingdon, England (327BS/92BG) – 24 August 1942
VIII Air Force Service Command – 9 October 1942
Salvaged – 31 May 1945
Part of strike force on VIII Bomber Command Mission 1 (17 August 1942).
Suffered first casualties for 92BG (6 September 1942).
Training aircraft and hack for 390BG.
Group
The 390th Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Framlingham, Suffolk, between July 1943 and the end of the war in Europe. The Group was engaged in strategic missions until the invasion of Europe when its role became more of a tactical one. This...
Group
The 92nd Group sometime after arrivial in the UK converted to the role of in-theater combat crew indocrination and training. For this role, the Group traded its B-17F complement and obtained the B-17E, mostly from the 97th BG which was departing for...
Group
The 97th Bomb Group flew the Eighth Air Force's first heavy bomber mission from the UK when they bombed a marshalling yard at Rouen on 17 August 1942. Just a month later though the Group were reassigned to the Twelfth Air Force and left England for the...
Squadron
Squadron
Military | Corporal | Tail Gunner | 92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few
Killed in Action (KIA) 8 Sep 42 Fighers attacked B-17 41-9021 for the first casualties for the 92nd BG
Military | Major | Bombardier | 97th Bomb Group
Flew on the B-17 'All-American' Plane - a picture of it was one of the most famous of WW II where the German fighter almost cut it in half.
...
Military | Corporal | Waist Gunner | 92nd Bomb Group Fame's Favoured Few
Killed in Action (KIA) 8 Sep 42 Fighers attacked B-17 41-9021 for the first casualties for the 92nd BG. Crowell died of the injures inflicted 9/6/42
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Navigator | 97th Bomb Group
Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars
Prisoner of War (POW). Shot down by FW 190's on 17 April 1943. B-17 #4229574 'Sky Wolf II' turned over and crashed at Fiebing, 10 miles south of Aurich, Germany while on a mission to Bremen. This was a 92nd BG crew flying with the 91st. Prisoner of War...
17 August 1942
The US 8AF launches its first strategic bombing raid of the war, sending 12 Boeing B-17Es of the 97BG on a strike against the railyards of Sotteville-lès-Rouen, France, while another six fly a diversionary route. The attacking force is split into two...
6 September 1942
15BS despatches 12 DB-7 A-20 Boston IIIs to attack the German airfield of Drucat at Abbeville, France; 92BG & 97BG together despatach 51 B-17s to bomb the Avion Portez aircraft factory ar Meaulte, France; 301BG despatches 13 B-17s to attack German...
Military site : airfield
Bovingdon, in Hertfordshire (often confused with Bovington, Dorset), was built in 1941-42 as a bomber station but was never developed into a fully-fledged heavy bomber airfield as it did not have the required 2,000 yard runway.
...
Military site : airfield
Built for the Eighth Air Force from 1942 to 43, Framlingham was home first to the 95th Bomb Group, before that unit moved to RAF Alconbury. From 1943 to 1945, it was operated by the 390th Bomb Group. The airfield was handed back to the RAF in 1945, and...
Military site : airfield
Polebrook was laid down for RAF Bomber Command use in 1940-1941. Built by George Wimpey and Co. Ltd, it had short runways which were lengthened for USAAF heavy bomber use. The RAF used the base for operational trials - including of B-17 Flying...
Not yet known
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 29 May 2017 10:46:24 | GBlume | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 29 May 2017 10:38:47 | GBlume | Changes to markings |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 29 May 2017 09:33:47 | GBlume | Changes to nicknames |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 29 May 2017 08:17:50 | GBlume | Changes to description, unit associations, person associations, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 20 October 2014 22:07:27 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to production block number, manufacturer, nicknames, description, unit associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 20-Oct-2014 "Mighty Eighth War Diary" Roger A. Freeman |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:06 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log |
||
