The Arnett crew was assembled in September 1943 at the assignment center in Salt Lake City, Utah. They immediately proceeded by rail to Tucson, Arizona, to the 32nd CCTS (Combat Crew Training School) at Davis-Monthan Air Field. They were designated as CCTS crew 1158. On 9 Jan 44 they were transferred to the 492nd BG in Alamogordo, New Mexico, where they were assigned to the 857th BS and designated as Crew 717.

Lt Arnett signed out for B-24J 44-40171 which was named the BOOMERANG by the crew. No nose art was ever painted. In April 1944, they flew the Boomerang to North Pickenham, England, via the southern route. Lt Byrne, the Squadron Operations Officer, accompanied them, thus bumping Sgt Oakes onto the Queen Elizabeth. 

They were the last crew to arrive at North Pickenham, on 30 April 44. After they touched down, they were met with excitement as their arrival meant that the 492nd had become the first bomb group in history to fly over without losing any planes.

As the crew was approaching their target over Brunswick, Germany, they were caught without fighter protection and were shot up by the GAF. They were forced to drop out of formation and try to return to England. The two engines they had lost couldn't be feathered, making the trip to base more difficult. Just as soon as they entered the channel, they lost a third engine, forcing them to return to the German occupied Dutch coast for an emergency landing, during which Sgt Robertson was killed. The rest of the crew were quickly taken prisoner. The officers were taken to Stalag Luft III, while the enlisted men all went to Stalag Luft IV.

Local German forces took photos of the Boomerang wreckage, which was not at all uncommon. What is unusual, though, is that these photos were soon stolen by members of the Dutch Resistance from a German soldier in a local pub. Fifty years later the photos were given to Charles Arnett, the pilot of the Boomerang.

The Arnett crew 717 was replaced by the Kuecker Crew, replacement crew number 7 for the 492nd.