How do people travel around the world with no job? It was a gradual adjustment over about two weeks. While the article on Memphis Belle had included the qualifier first B-17 United States Army Air Force heavy bomber to complete 25 combat missions with her crew intact, which on a factual basis at least made the article correct insofar as it specified that it was the first to 25 missions with her crew intact, but the truth is, while were reasonably knowledgable about WWII lore here, the name Hot Stuff didnt spark any particular recollection in us or among the several other warbird enthusiasts we asked about it, though one fellow we spoke to did remember it as the plane General Andrews lost his life in, but generally there wasnt much recognition. IX bomber completed 213 missions but this aircraft was destroyed in a crash at Calgary Airport in Canada, two days after V-E Day, see . She and her crew were promptly sent home to the United States to join the War Bond selling tours. As the son of one of the Hot Stuff crewmen bumped from the ill fated final flight, I was unaware of the fate of Gen Andrews, his entourage, and remaining crew. The 314th BW needed replacement crews and the 8th AF crews were to absorb experience, which they could later pass on to their fellow crews. Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated. My father Thomas Jack Showers served in the 330th of the 93rd from December 1943 to some time after July 25, 1944, when he completed his last combat mission. I told him he was telling lies. Aero Trader performed. I hope my information is correct. How many missions did B-17 crews fly? The B-17 and B-24 were both great airplanes. The technique of skip bombing scored several sinkings. In 1942, during the first three months of Americas combat flights over Europe the average bomber crew was expected to complete 8-12 missions before being shot down or disabled. Imagine trying to move around? So dangerous was flying heavy bomber combat missions, the USAAF had a policy that when an aircrew wrapped up 25 missions, it was deemed to have completed their tour of duty. The War Department would then bring the bomber and its crew home to conduct nationwide promotional tours to sell war bonds to help fund the war effort. by Richard Mallory Allnutt (Chief Editor) Kermit Weeks Douglas A-26B Invader (41-39401) made its first successful post-restoration flight on February 20th, 2023, making a thirty-minute hop from Chino Airport in Chino, California. MG Carl "Tooey" Spatz assumed command in May 1942 and established a headquarters at Bushy Park about 15 miles west of London on June 25, 1942. God bless all of our heroes in WW2. And I understand the desire behind it perfectly. Suzy-Q nose artthe circled areas highlight combat damage repair. How many missions would it take to complete a WWII bomber mission? All Rights Reserved. On a recent post here at Warbirds News, we reported on the anniversary of milestones in the history of what is perhaps one of the most famous bombers of all time, the Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress, Memphis Belle. Your chances of completing all 25 missions, at least unscathed, were slim to none. Is producer and executive producer the same thing? upper turret > dia. They did get in a few 1000 . So that would be 17,280 airmen on such a mission, and they never managed any 1700 plane raids. A great resource for some of the 8th AF B-24 groups is TEDS TRAVELLING CIRCUS available at Amazon and elsewhere. ANY WAY I HAD FLIGHT EXPERIENCE ON THE B 26 TOWING TARGETS HERE IN THE GOOD OLD USA. Martin Maryland. Have taught English in Germany. In 1943, having flown over France, Belgium, and Germany, the Memphis Belle crew became one of the first to reach that goal. What is the song 'Norwegian Wood' really about? . My dad, Charles R. Toner, was a B-17 pilot who completed his 35 missions in 1944. In fact, it is believed that Memphis Belle was the third to complete 25 successful missions. Therefore, a total of 75,446 airmen (60 percent of operational airmen) were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. 5 How accurate was the movie Memphis Belle? For nearly four months, he flew out of Foggia, Italy, on 50 missions that usually took between 5 and 8 hours each. Employees of the Glenn L. Martin Company rolled the B-26B Marauder that would soon be dubbed Flak-Bait off the Baltimore production line on April 26, 1943. To put this into sobering perspective - the 8th Air Force in Europe lost more men than the entire US Marine Corps did in World War Two - both horrible thoughts to consider. I'm a 'scientist'. The successes of Bomber Command were purchased at terrible cost. The B-17 Hell's Angels became the first to complete the feat one week before the Memphis Belle. The plane crashed into the side of a mountain near the airfield in Iceland. Pilots need to take flash photographs after dropping the bombs otherwise, it might not be included in the required number of missions for a single tour. The bumped crewmembers were told that they were to remain in England to train new crews. My uncle, by marriage, was a waist gunner with the 8th, I believe. I recently found his combat flight records and most interestingly a certificate stipulating the 33 completed combat missions he flew. Five bomber groups of the US 5th Air Force operated B-17 bombers in the Pacific Theater, with a peak of 168 bombers in Sep 1942. Your chances of completing all 25 missions, at least unscathed, were slim to none. To put this into sobering perspective - the 8th Air Force in Europe lost more men than the entire US Marine Corps did in World War Two - both horrible thoughts to consider. Norwegian Wood is a song about John Lennon's infidelity, John Lennon wrote that song because he wanted to tell his first wife, Cynthia indirectly that he had affair with ot Why won't my daughter let me see my granddaughter? Double credit missions were more about long/latitude vs how hazardous the target was. Now an academic from EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Daytona, Florida has revealed that it was the B-24 named Hot Stuff that was the first bomber to make 25 missions and return home, not the Memphis Belle. IN 1959..FROM THERE BACK TO LOUISIANA WHERE I CHECKED OUT AS ENGINEER IN THE KB-50 AIRCRAFTABOUT 2000 HOURS THERE, THEN TO HUNTER AFB GEORGIA TO FLY THE GREAT C-124. #12: The co-pilot is tasked with contacting other crew members every 15 minutes once they enter enemy territory. It flew in both the ETO and North Africa. No Built - 18,188. Doolittle Raid, (April 18, 1942), during World War II, U.S. Army Air Forces bombing raid on Tokyo and other Japanese cities. B-17F Hell's Angels, tail number 41-24577 and crew. More than 50,000 Airmen lost their lives in the four years of WWII and the majority of those losses were on bomber missions over Nazi Germany in B-17s and B-24s. Hanson . It was an airplane named Hells Angels. The unit used B-17s, according to what I read. Many considered the occupation to be a death sentence. He completed his initial training when he was 17, and was called up to active duty before he graduated from high school. What was the first b17 to complete 25 missions? My father was in a B-24 stationed in Italy and flying up over the Balkans and Germany. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. The B-29 Missions From 3 Feb 1945 to 14 Aug 1945, the 6th Bomb Group officially flew 75 missions. Damage to the "waist-gunner" area of the bomber accounted 21.6 percent of all the hits the plane took. She and her crew were promptly sent home to the United States to join the War Bond selling tours. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Trained for combat with B-17's. Moved to England, Aug-Sep 1942, and assigned to Eighth AF Eighth Air Force in September 1942 Station . great information you have got right here on this For the USAAF it was heavy bombers crews that successfully reached 25 combat mission in defiance of actuarial norms. A claim is made that Gene Roddenberry, screen writer for Star Trek, completed 89 missions in the 324th bomb squadron. Daily life The everyday lives of most aircrew, unlike other servicemen, were a unique mixture of danger and normality. Almost one in five Australian airmen to serve in Britain did not survive the war. World War II - Bombers; World War II - Pursuit . The 25-mission milestone becomes harder to pin down when considering changing crew members due to rotation, death, injury, illness, leave and equipment failures leading to spare planes pressed into service, errant wartime record-keeping, etc. I also have an anecdote, but Im not sure which bomber group he was in. When bomber crews completed 25 missions, they got credit for a combat tour and went home, but in late 1943, the odds were against their doing so. On 23 Dec 1943, the Memphis Belle, having completed its combat assignment with the Eighth Air Force (8 AF), 91st Bombardment Group (91 BG) in Europe, and its subsequent stateside war bond drive, was assigned to MacDill Field, Florida. How accurate was the movie Memphis Belle? Over the years he has been studying the history behind bomber aircraft activity during the war. This in no way denigrates the contribution of the B-24 crews. The average age of the crew of a B-17 was less than 25, with four officers and six enlisted Airmen manning the aircraft. Bomber crews needed to complete 25 missions before they were allowed to go home but that number was almost statistically impossible in Europe. But flying it proved deadly. She was the third. He joked that after WWII, raising six kids was a piece of cake. The B-25 was designed by North American Aviation, Inc., in response to a prewar requirement and was first flown in 1940. Between its initial flight on Dec. 29, 1939, and September 1945, nearly 18,500 Liberators rolled off the production line at five plants. And, although air and ground crews rarely mingled, there was a special bond between crew chief and pilot. I ate 4 eggs and 4 bananas for dinner. Your email address will not be published. Have you ever been punished with corporal punishme budisuryanto001, see what's new and featured for June. , Retired university lecturer in German. Robert Hanson, the last surviving crew member of the famed Memphis Belle B-17 bomber of World War Two, has died of congestive heart failure. Billy Burke Evangelist Wife, Coming it third place was the Memphis Belle, which completed 25 combat missions on May 19, 1943. My brother said it was their 49th mission. It was April 17, 1945, and World War II in Europe was . AFTER THAT I WAS SENT TO KB-29 AIR REFUELING SQ IN LOUISIANA. Discovering the historical discrepancy in 1999 through a friend and fellow Commemorative Air Force member, USAF Major Robert T. Jake Jacobson, who was one of the bumped crew members that fateful night, Jim Lux began seeking to correct what he sees as an injustice perpetrated by history and is working on not only getting Hot Stuff and her crew their place in the history books, but is also working to have a monument erected near the site of the crash, enlisting the US Ambassador to Iceland, Luis E. Arreaga as a liaison to the Republic of Iceland and has gained the support of a growing number of other Air Force retirees who after seeing the documentation, agree that the crew of Hot Stuff is getting short shrift.