Warbird Information Exchange

Still hard to say exactly at this point, but counting the B-17Cs and Ds as well, more than 20 and probably less than 30 seems about right.

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Thanks Steve,interesting.

Boeing B-17E 41-2434 at RNZAF Station Ohakea. This aircraft arrived at Ohakea from RAAF Bankstown on 15 July and departed for Sydney on 20 July.

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

That's one of the best photos of those B-17s we've seen. 41-2434 was lost on August 16, 1942 - here's a summary lifted from an article I did for Aviation History a few years ago.

On August 16 Maj. Dean Hoevet, 30th Squadron commander, was testing a new flare delivery method off the Australian coast in 41-2434 when the B-17 caught fire and crashed. Chaplain William Taggart recalled: “The plane was near the beach, its tail end sticking out of the water. It was impossible to move the Flying Fortress so we could look for those who might be imprisoned under the wreck”. Twelve men were aboard but only six bodies were recovered.

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A few years ago Osamu Tagaya very kindly provided me with details of the Japanese records related to the fate of Bessie the J*p Basher, and I thought they might be of interest here.

Sam wrote: "Much of the action involved 4 Type 2 Floatplane Fighters (A6M2-N) Suisen from seaplane carrier Kamikawa Maru. Its Detailed Action Report for 24 Sept. 1942 reads as follows: 'Undertook air patrol over the anchorage from 0800 [JST] to 1630 with a total of 7 Suisen sorties. At 0940, 4 B-17s attacked the anchorage from the southeast at an altitude of 4,000 meters. These planes split up and made individual runs on ships at anchor (mainly Shortland anchorage) under heavy AA fire and withdrew separately to the northeast and southeast. Two Suisen on patrol (FPO 1/c Kawai and F1/c Maruyama) immediately spotted the enemy aircraft upon seeing our AA bursts. The No. 2 [Maruyama] scored effective hits on one plane, causing small fire, which withdrew on a heading of 50 degrees. Two additional Suisen scrambled off the water as the e/a were spotted, and attacked the trailing e/a along with Kawai and Maruyama, together with a force of Observation Planes [i.e. F1M2 Pete] from Sanyo Maru, Sanuki Maru and Chitose. Effective fire from Kawai's plane caused the left undercarriage [of the e/a] to extend, greatly slowing its speed. All aircraft then concentrated their attacks on this plane, pursuing it to a distance of approx. 50 naut. miles southeast of the anchorage. Damage inflicted on the e/a increased greatly, with inboard engines on both the right and left sides stopped. The plane withdrew heading 120 degrees at an altitude of approx. 30 meters and speed estimated at 130 knots. All [our] aircraft expended all ammunition, and although we were unable to shoot down the e/a, all [enemy] personnel aboard their plane, except for the pilot(s), appeared incapacitated. Judging from the great damage inflicted, it is concluded that this plane will definitely crash'".

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One final thing that might be of interest. The other three planes on the September 24, 1942 mission when 41-2420 was lost were all from the 11th Bomb Group's 98th Bomb Squadron – Lucas in 41-9215 Galloping Gus, Durbin in 41-2523 Goonie and Waskowitz in 41-2616, the plane known as “the Blue Goose”.

They reported being attacked on their bomb runs by aircraft they identified as ten Rufes and ten Daves.

The B-17s flown by Waskowitz and Durbin were “slightly” damaged and landed at Henderson Field, Lucas returned to Espiritu Santo. No injuries to any of the three crews.

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Just a bit of trivia on a quiet weekend . . . the pilot who collected and signed for 41-2434 in Seattle on 29 November 1941 was Lt Fred C. Eaton, Jr, who would land 41-2446, the "Swamp Ghost", in the wilds of New Guinea a little less than four months later.

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