Warbird Information Exchange

Boeing B-17F-80-BO Fortress 42-30026 BK*J 534th BS 381st BG "Battle Wagon".
Link to "Battlewagon" and the Silver Discs story: https://thearrowheadclub.com/2016/08/24 ... ver-discs/

Aboard "Battle Wagon" on Black Thursday:

Squadron Commander George Warren Harris, Jr.
Pilot Philip Morris Algar
Navigator Frank A. Celentano
Bombardier James Clifton McClanahan
Radio Operator Francis Gerow
Engineer/Top Turret Gunner Roland B. Laviolette
Ball Turret Gunner Kenneth Mitchell McKay, Jr.
Tail Gunner Richard Vance Wolf*
Flexible Gunner Casmer Robert Majewski
Flexible Gunner John Francis Schimenek

30026 MSN 5140) Accepted by USAAF 27Mar43. United Air Lines, Modification Center #10, Cheyenne Municipal Airport, WY 1Apr43. 534th Bomb Squadron, 381st Bomb Group. Sioux City AAB, IA 13Apr43.
Departed to Kearney Field, NB for overseas processing 3May43. Staging Base, 21st Bomb Wing, Kearney Field, NB.
Departed 19May43 en route to Grafton Underwood, England via North Atlantic route. North Atlantic Wing, Air Transport Command, Dow Field, Bangor, ME 20May43.
Departed 21May43 to RCAF Gander, Newfoundland; delayed at Gander waiting for good weather. Ferried to RAF Prestwick, Ayr, Scotland 27/28May43. 381st BG, 534rd BS, named "Battle Wagon" transferred to 384th BG, 546th BS May 30,1943, Grafton Underwood (Station 106), Northamptonshire 29May43 {first combat mission 22Jun43}.
Battle damaged on a mission to a synthetic fuel hydrogenation plant at Gelsenkirchen, Germany 12Aug43. Two flak hits pierced the right wing spar. Repaired and back in commission 22Aug43.
Fitted with Gee-H radio navigation system equipment.
Battle damaged on a mission to the Arado Flugzeugwerke aircraft factory, Anklam, Prussia 9Oct43. The formation was attacked by a large force of Luftwaffe fighters soon after it crossed the coast. Damaged by flak and enemy fighter cannon fire, the pilot was unable to continue to the target and returned to England. Landed away at Kingscliffe (Station 367), Northamptonshire. No.2 propeller was damaged by flak and empty cannon shell casings were found trapped in No.3 engine.
Incident during a mission to the ball bearing factories at Schweinfurt, Germany 14Oct43. En route to the target area, the bomber formation was repeatedly attacked by a large number of Luftwaffe fighters. After the target, the Group turned and headed westward for England. German fighters, having landed and refueled, attacked again until, finally, the bombers reached the coastline of western Europe and relative safety. The pilots and top-turret gunners, as well as several crewmen in the Plexiglas noses of the bombers, reported a cluster of discs in the path of the 384th Bomb Group’s formation. The discs in the cluster were agreed upon as being silver-colored, about one inch thick and three inches in diameter. #026 closed rapidly with a cluster of discs. The pilot jinked the aircraft violently, attempting to evade an imminent collision with the discs. The pilot reported at the intelligence debriefing that the right wing went directly through a cluster with absolutely no effect on engines or plane surface. He stated further that one of the discs was heard to strike the tail assembly of the airplane. Neither the pilot, nor any member of the crew that heard the disc striking the tail, felt or witnessed an explosion of any kind. The pilot explained further that about twenty feet from the discs – a report confirmed by other pilots and crew members – they watched a mass of black debris of varying sizes, in clusters of three by four feet, floating past their aircraft. It is recorded in the official histories of the Air Force…”as one of the most baffling incidents of World War II, and an enigma that to this day defies all explanation”.
Participated in practice ‘Grapefruit’ missions to drop practice GB-1 glide bombs over the Isle of Man 7-15Nov43.
Damaged by flak during a mission to the port area of Bremen, Germany 29Nov43. Repaired with new wing section and fuel tank and back in commission 19Dec43.
Accident departing for a mission to the Messerschmitt aircraft factory at Augsburg, Germany 25Feb44. The bomber ran off the perimeter track delaying other aircraft waiting to takeoff. Pulled out but developed an oxygen leak and did not participate in the mission. {33 missions}.
Transferred to 390th Bomb Group, Framlingham (Station 153), Suffolk 24Apr44.
Returned to USA Jul 13, 1944. 4100th Base Unit (Fairfield Air Technical Service Command), Patterson Field, Dayton, OH 31Jul44. 4000th Base Unit, Air Materiel Command, Wright Field, Dayton, OH 5Dec44. 326th Base Unit (Combat Crew Training Station), MacDill Field, Tampa, FL 15May45. 4006th Base Unit (Area Command), Miami Air Technical Service Command, Miami, FL 28Jun45. 4000th Base Unit, Air Materiel Command, Wright Field, Dayton, OH 9Sep45. 4117th Base Unit (Warner Robins Air Technical Service Command), Robins Field, Warner Robins, GA 12Sep45. Sixth Air Force Caribbean 27Sep45. Reclaim complete 7Mar48.