42-29498 The Dark Horse, a.k.a. Mumsie
Transferred information from image title to caption.
Delivered Cheyenne 26/12/42; Salina 11/1/43; Morrison 14/2/43; Assigned 368BS/306BG [BO-L] Thurleigh 2/3/43; transferred 360BS/303BG [PU-D] Molesworth 25/9/43; 7m Missing in Action Bremen 29/11/43 with Capt Carl Fyler, Co-pilot: Bob Ward, Navigator: George Molner, Bombardier: Jim Petrolino, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Bill Addison, Waist gunner: Martin Stachowiak, Waist gunner: George Fisher later repatriated (7 Prisoner of War); Radio Operator: Ray O’Connellnever found, Ball turret gunner: Ray Ford, Tail gunner: Joseph Robert Sawicki, foto-Nellins Egge (4 Killed in Action); enemy aircraft, crashed Dreiangel-Harpstedt, 15 miles SW of Bremen, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 1657. MUMSIE aka DARK HORSE. From Joe Baugher Database - Accepted by USAAF 21 Dec 42. United Air Lines, Modification Center #10, Cheyenne Municipal Airport, WY 26 Dec 42. Smoky Hill Field, Salina, KS 11 Jan 43. 15th Ferrying Group, Caribbean Wing, Air Transport Command, Morrison Field, West Palm Beach, FL 14Feb43. Ferried from Menara Airport, Marrakech, French Morocco to St Eval (Station 129), Cornwall 1 Mar 43. 368th Bomb Squadron [BO*L], 306th Bomb Group, Thurleigh (Station 111), Bedfordshire 2 Mar 43, named "Dark Horse" aka "Mumsie"– artwork of a flying black horse with a bomb on an heraldic shield. Severely battle damaged during a mission to the Erla GmbH aircraft factory at Mortsel, Antwerp, Belgium 5 Apr '43. The bomber was lead of the mission with Brigadier General Frank Armstrong onboard as an observer. The formation came under attack by German fighters as soon as it crossed the Belgian coast toward the target. The attacks continued until the formation returned over the North Sea. A German fighter nearly rammed the bomber in a head-on attack and a 20mm cannon shell exploded in the nose, hitting a can of 0.50 caliber ammunition which exploded. Shrapnel shattered the leg of the navigator, wounded the co-pilot, destroyed the cockpit oxygen system and set part of the hydraulic system on fire. With the fire extinguished, the bombs were dropped on the target and the plane turned for home. After the mission, the Belgian Ambassador to the U.S. protested about the inaccurate bombing that resulted in many civilian casualties (936 dead, among them hundreds of Belgian factory workers and 209 schoolchildren). Eighth Air Force Service Command 5 Apr '43. Regained by Group 5 May 43. 360th Bomb Squadron [PU*D], 303rd Bomb Group, Molesworth (Station 107), Huntingdonshire 25 Sep '43. Failed to return from a mission to the port area of Bremen, Germany 29 Nov 43 (7 POW:4 KIA). Damaged by flak then shot down by Hptm Walter Koeckner in Fw 190 A-6 of II./JG 1. The aircraft lost the right horizontal stabiliser, part of the right wing and two engines; a third engine caught fire. The crew bailed out and the aircraft crashed near Dreiangel, Harpstedt, fifteen miles southwest of Bremen, Germany.
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16059347 / O-797362
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32457080
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator, Radio Operator Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-738662
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 10601180
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35328181
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
Places
Missions
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Other Failed to Return (FTR) |
Germany | 29 November 1943 |
Revisions
http://www.306bg.us/aircraft/noseart/darkhorse.jpg - Aircraft photo
Mission and timeline details updated with details from Joe Baugher database.
Added a space before the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity.
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 1657 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database