B-17 Flying Fortress
Nose art of B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-30080) nicknamed "High Life" of the 100th Bomb Group
A B-17 Flying Fortress of the 100th Bomb Group " HIGH LIFE" piloted by Lt Oakes that has crash-landed in Switzerland 17 August 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: '17/8/43. 100BG. Switzerland.'
A2 flying jacket of Lt. Joseph C. Harper, at the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum.
B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-30080) nicknamed "High Life" after belly landing in Switzerland.
Delivered Cheyenne 7/4/43; Kearney 16/4/43; Westover 3/5/43; Wendover 16/5/43; Kearney 23/5/43; Dow Fd 22/5/43; Assigned 351BS/100BG [EP-F] Thorpe Abbotts 9/6/43; Missing in Action Regensburg 17/8/43 with Don Oakes, Co-pilot: Joe Harper, Navigator: Hiram Harris, Bombardier: Lloyd Hammarlund, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: George Elder, Radio Operator: Jim Scott, Ball turret gunner: Les Nadeau, Waist gunner: Vince McGrath, Waist gunner: Nolan Stevens, Tail gunner: Leon Goyer (10 INT); enemy aircraft KO’d #3, then #2 lost oil pressure and crash landed Dubendorf, near Zurich, Switz, where it was dismantled and taken to Kloten for storage, was eventually scrapped (1st US aircraft interned); Missing Air Crew Report 683. HIGH LIFE.
Group
"The Bloody Hundredth", so-called because of a reputation for losing a high number aircraft and crews, flew B-17s from Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk. Their losses were not the highest of any Eighth Air Force Group but on several occasions the Group lost many...
Squadron
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30080 'High Life'. Crashed in Switzerland. Interned.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30080 'High Life'. Crashed in Switzerland. Interned.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 100th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30080 'High Life'. Crashed in Switzerland. Interned (INT).
Military | Flight Officer | Co-Pilot
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30080 'High Life'. Crashed in Switzerland. Interned.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 100th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30080 'High Life'. Crashed in Switzerland. Interned (INT).
Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30080 'High Life'. Crashed in Switzerland. Interned.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30080 'High Life'. Crashed in Switzerland. Interned.
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 100th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30080 'High Life'. Crashed in Switzerland. Interned.
Post war Donald was the owner of Oakes Lumber ||Co. in Hesperia Calif. He died June 25th 1991 of respiratory failure.
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 100th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 42-30080 'High Life. ' Crashed in Switzerland. Interned.
...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 #42-30080 'High Life'. Crashed in Switzerland. Interned (INT). (100th Bomb Group Foundation Directory, 2000 - 2001 lists Prisoner of War (POW). )
17 August 1943
The mission flown on 17-Aug-43, the 1st anniversary of the 1st mission flown by the 8th Air Force, is probably the most written about mission of the war. This is the famous Schweinfurt/Regensburg mission on which 60 B-17s are lost. It has been dubbed ...
Military site : airfield
Home of the 'Bloody Hundredth’, a Bomb Group with a reputation for high casualty rates, Thorpe Abbotts was under USAAF control from June 1943 to the end of the war. Some of the airfield survives today, and the control tower houses the 100th Bomb Group...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Failed to Return (FTR) | Germany | 17 August 1943 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 26 March 2021 11:54:50 | Snautzer | Changes to nicknames and markings |
| Sources | ||
https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/boeing-b-17-flying-fortress.41935/... |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 23 August 2020 22:12:24 | jmoore43 | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Added a space before the words "Tail gunner" in the A/C “Description” to aid clarity. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 10 January 2020 19:08:22 | jmoore43 | Changes to unit associations |
| Sources | ||
Added a connection to 8th AF. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 14 October 2018 09:19:53 | apollo11 | Changes to nicknames |
| Sources | ||
Information gathered after visiting the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:26 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log / MACR 683 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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