media-23690.jpeg UPL 23690 Westrope Crew, 708th Squadron, 447th Bomb Group. Photo taken at Rattlesden. Standing in front of B-17 "Satchel Lass" (42-31185). Judging from the mission marks on the plane, this was taken after April-May 1944; probably autumn 1944. Satchel Lass crash-landed near Honington, England on September 9, 1944 and was repaired at Rattlesden and returned to combat duty. The presence of Sgt. Robert Orlosky, the crew chief for "Milk Wagon" (43-37756), which the Westrope crew flew for the last third of their combat tour, suggests that the photo was taken at the end of that tour in late October, 1944. Satchel Lass was simply a convenient backdrop.

Back Row: Otto Moreland, Robert Westrope, Harold Motz, Warren Callahan, Oscar Flores; Front Row: Joseph Pfeiffer, Robert Orlosky, Edwin Wells, Harold Woods. Missing from photo and thus probably the photographer, Willard "Bill" Lawrence.

As far as has been determined, this crew never actually flew this aircraft. It is interesting that in contrast to the official crew photo taken before the Westrope crew left the US for England in which officers and enlisted men are in separate rows, in this photo officers and enlisted men are mixed together.

Timothy Motz