Assigned 92BG Bangor 2/8/42; 340BS/97BG Polebrook 24/8/42 THE RED GREMLIN; took Gen Eisenhower to Gibraltar (1st B-17 to Gib) with Paul Tibbets; Maison Blanche 13/11/42; Tafaraoui 22/11/42; Biskra 25/12/42; Chateau-du-Rhumel 8/2/43; Pont-du-Fahs 1/8/43; Depienne 15/8/43; Cerignola 20/12/43; Amendola 16/1/44; Returned to the USA 13/7/44; Salvaged 19/6/46. SUPERMAN.



1. It was assigned to the 92nd Bombardment Group (Heavy), at Bangor Army Air Field, Maine, on 2 August, 1942.

2. It was re-assigned to the 340th Bomb Squadron (BS) (H), 97th Bomb Group (BG) (H), at Polebrook, England, on 24 August 1942, at which time it was named The Red Gremlin.

3. On an unspecified date, with Paul Tibbets as pilot, it ferried General Dwight Eisenhower to Gibraltar, becoming the first B-17 ever to land there.

4. On 13 November 1942, it flew to Maison Blanche Airfield, in Algiers, Algeria.

5. Beginning on 22 November 1942, it was based at Tafraoui Air Base, at Oran, Algeria.

6. On 25 December 1942, it relocated to Biskra Airfield, at Biskra, Algeria.

7. On 8 February 1943, it relocated to Châteaudun-du-Rhumel Airfield, near Chelghoum el Aid, Algeria.

8. On 1 August 1943, it relocated to Pont-du-Fahs Airfield, at El Fahs, Tunisia.

9. From El Fahs, it transferred the short distance to Depienne Airfield, some 12 kilometers northeast of El Fahs, on 15 August 1943.

10. On 20 December 1943, it flew to Cerignola Army Air Field, Italy, which was part of the huge complex of air bases around Foggia.

11. On 16 January 1944, it transferred to Amendola Army Air Field, Italy, which was another base within the Foggia complex.

12. On 13 July 1944, 41-24444 returned to the United States.

13. On 19 June 1946, it was “salvaged” (which Freeman and Osborne define as “destroyed/scrapped beyond economical repair”, p. 71). At the time of its demise, it bore the name Superman, though Freeman and Osborne (in their book, The B-17 Flying Fortress Story ((London: Arms & Armour, a Cassell imprint, 1999)), p. 83) do not state when the name was changed from The Red Gremlin. Forman (op cit.) confirms that, in addition to The Red Gremlin, 41-24444 also carried the name, Superman, though does not say when the name was changed, either (p. 82).