We are currently working on a site-wide upgrade which will be completed in September 2022
You will not be able to search, add or edit information in the American Air Museum archive while this takes place.
You can find out more about our plans here
B-17 Flying Fortress
B17 42-38053, Cap'n Crow
The Ralph W Wright Crew, 100th Bomb Group, 349th Squadron Standing, L-R: Bernard Palmquist; Robert Montonado; Pat Madsen; Jack Willburn; George McCleary. Kneeling, L-R: Ralph Wright; Jack Raper; Carl Herrmann; Richard Curran
2 Lt John Winston "Jack" Raper 100th Bomb Group, 349th Bomb Squadron
Delivered Cheyenne 26/11/43; Wendover 20/12/43; Assigned 457BG Glatton 10/2/44; transferred 349BS/100BG [XR-G] Thorpe Abbotts 21/1/44; soon after t/off to Berlin 7/5/44 with Ralph Wright, Co-pilot: Jack Raper, Navigator: Rich Curran, Bombardier: Carl Herman, Waist gunner: Randy Moore (5 Killed in Action); Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Alden Madsen, Radio Operator: Bob Montonado, Ball turret gunner: John Pontzious, Waist gunner: Jack Willburn,Tail gunner: Alf Bridges (5RTD all inj); flares began to explode en route, fire broke out and ship crashed Herringfleet Hall, Lowestoft, Sfk. UK; sal 8/5/44. JENNY LEE aka CAP’N CROW.
(Note) - Given the position of the cheek guns in the two photos (Cap'n Crow and Jenny Lee), I don't believe that they are of the same aircraft. "Jenny Lee" appears in at least one 398th BG crew photo taken stateside, probably at Rapid City.
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...
Group
The 457th Bomb Group began combat operations during the Big Week of 20-25 February when American bombers carried out concentrated raids against German aircraft bases, factories and assembly plants. The air crews' targets on that first mission were...
Squadron
Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 100th Bomb Group
Assigned to 350BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. Van Steenis crew. 23 x combat missions. Killed instantaneously by flak on Berlin mission in B-17 42-38053 'Hard Luck II' Killed in Action (KIA)
Awards: AM (3OLC), PH.
Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner
Lightly wounded in AC#42-38053 'Cap'n Crow' in a form up accident over the base. on 7 May 1944. Target was Berlin. The plane had flares stored in the top turret and for some reason they exploded and the pilot ordered the crew to bail out The pilot...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator
Killed in AC#42-38053 in a form up accident over the base. on 7 May 1944. Target was Berlin. The plane had flares stored in the top turret and for some reason they exploded and the pilot ordered the crew to bail out The pilot Wright and Raper were...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier
Killed in AC#42-38053 in a form up accident over the base. on 7 May 1944. Target was Berlin. The plane had flares stored in the top turret and for some reason they exploded and the pilot ordered the crew to bail out The pilot Wright and Raper were...
Military | Sergeant | Flight Engineer; Top Turret Gunner
Badly wounded by fire in A/C #42-38053 'Cap'n Crow' in a form up accident over the base. on 7 May 1944. Target was Berlin. The plane had flares stored in the top turret and for some reason they exploded and the pilot ordered the crew to bail out. The...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner
LANCASTER, PA. NOC
Military | Private | Radio Operator
Lightly wounded in AC#42-38053 'Cap'n Crow' in a form up accident over the base on 7 May 1944. Target was Berlin. The plane had flares stored in the top turret and for some reason they exploded and the pilot ordered the crew to bail out The pilot...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner
Killed in A/C #42-38053 'Cap'n Crow' in a form up accident over the base on 7 May 1944. Target was Berlin. The plane had flares stored in the top turret and for some reason they exploded and the pilot ordered the crew to bail out The pilot Wright and...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
Assigned to 349BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. 27 x missions including 28-Apr-44 Sottevast (No Ball-V1 flying bomb mission).
Awards: DFC, AM (OLC), PH, WWII Victory, EAME (2 x Battle Stars).
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 100th Bomb Group
Assigned to 349BS, 100BG, 8AF USAAF. Lightly wounded in B-17 42-38053 'Cap'n Crow' in a form up accident over the base on 7-May-44. Baled out RTD
...
Military site : airfield
Glatton, which lay mostly in the parish of Conington, was built by the 809th Engineer Battalion (Aviation) of the U.S. Army in the last months of 1942. Unusually, the base's three runways surrounded Rose Court Farm, which remained a working farm...
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...
Other location
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Delivered | Cheyenne, WY, USA | 26 November 1943 |
| Crashed | Lowestoft, Suffolk, UK | 7 May 1944 |
|
Several dozen flares stored in the top turret suddenly began to explode and set fire to the entire front of the plane. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 15 November 2021 03:33:25 | phil marchese | Changes to production block number, nicknames and markings |
| Sources | ||
See FLYING FORTRESS 1936 - 1945 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 07 July 2020 19:07:33 | Scallywag | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
Harold Becker was not "Killed in B-17G #42-38053 'Hard Luck' in take-off or assembly accident" as stated |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 August 2016 23:42:15 | 466thHistorian | Changes to production block number, manufacturer, nicknames, markings, description, events, unit associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
B-17 Flying Fortress Story - Roger Freeman |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 12 July 2015 22:11:42 | Tom | Changes to nicknames, events and place associations |
| Sources | ||
Added crash site and crash event from caption information and https://100thbg.com/index.php?option=com_bombgrp&view=aircraft&id=10133&... |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 12 July 2015 21:59:13 | Tom | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
Associated crew members from https://100thbg.com/index.php?option=com_bombgrp&view=personnel&Itemid=3... |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 08 May 2015 16:15:43 | usxpat | Changes to person associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
https://100thbg.com |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:40:48 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log |
||
