B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17G serial 44-8218 "Baby Shoes III/Downbeat" (coded 4N-V), a PFF ship assigned to the 833rd Bomb Sq, 486th BG. She flew nine missions with the Group between 30 December 1944 and 8 March 1945. Carrying a single infant's shoe for luck, 1st Lt Edward C Unger [Rear 3rd from Right], 833rd Bomb Sq, 486th BG completed his 28th mission on 13 January 1945 flying this aircraft as Group Lead (with Capt Roy Wilson, Jr) to bomb a rail bridge near Mainz, Germany. [NB caption states these are members of this B-17s "crew," but gentleman at rear far right is one of the 486th BG chaplains - possibly 1st Lt Robert L. Costner.]
Delivered Dallas 14/7/44; Langley 15/8/44; Dow Fd 18/9/44; Assigned PFF 533BS/94BG Rougham 29/9/44; transferred 833BS/486BG [4N-V] Sudbury 12/44; {9m} taxi accident with Stewart Tayler 16/10/45; RetUS, Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Walnut Ridge 5/11/45. BABY SHOE III aka DOWNBEAT.
Military site : airfield
The airfield was purpose-built for American bomb groups and as such had a 2,000 yard main runway that lain in concrete with a tarred and wood-chipped surface. The scale of bases such as this meant that very often the technical, administrative and...
Not yet known
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2014 18:41:56 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log |
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