The B-17F named Redmond Annie

[aerovin]

That would be Butler Aviation....one time B-17 tankers, later DC-4 & DC-7 tankers, later C-130 tankers, etc. Located on the north side at the approach end of runway 10.

[Larry Kraus]

Steve,

I just checked what "The Flying Fortress Story" had in reference to "Miss Barbara" (41-24519) that you posted earlier.This is what they say:

41-24519

Delivered Wright Field on 28 July 42

Patterson Field 29 July 42

Wright Mat Com 19 Oct 42

Tinker 25 Apr 43

Vandalia (glider testing) 16 Aug 43

Unusually,that's the end of the information block.They usually list a date that the airplane was written off or ended up in a reclamation center.

[Steve Birdsall]

Larry, thanks for checking through those sources. Redmond Annie could certainly be one of the very early Douglas-built B-17Fs that you mentioned - B-17F-10-DL's 42-2988 or 42-2993 - except for the paintwork and the placement of the stencilled data block, which I believe are peculiar to Boeing Seattle. But I've not seen photos of every aircraft and there could have been exceptions.

Miss Barbara is another interesting one - some books identified her as 305th Bomb Group but she never went overseas.

[Larry Kraus]

Steve,

You're wecome.It's very interesting searching through even very abreviated histories of these airplanes.I have a special feeling for B-17's as I flew around 900 hours in them as air tankers.This isn't directly related to Redmond Annie,but I ran across several unusual references on individual airplanes in "The B-17 Flying Fortress Story".For instance:

42-5375 [from block of airplanes on list as B-17F-50BO]

(YB-40)

Delivered at Tulsa on 29 Oct 42

Biggs AAF 15 Mar 43

Montbrook 31 Mar 43

Presque Is 4 May 43

ass 327BS/92BG [UX-B] Alconbury 4 May 43

MIA 22 Jun 43 w/Bilek,shot down by enemy aircraft

This was the only YB-40 lost in action

Named "Wango Wango"

I remember reading something about this next one in a Martin Caiden B-17 book many years ago:

42-30307 [B-17F-95BO]

Delivered at Cheyenne on 11 May 43

Smokey Hill 25 May 43

Morrison 9 Jun 43

ass 419BS/301BG St Donat 1 Jul 43

Oudna 6 Aug 43

MIA {14 Missions} Terni,Italy on 11 Aug 43 w/Fensel

Shot down by German P-38,Crashed in the Med Sea

6 KIA

3 RTD (Returned to duty,I think)

Named "Bonnie Sue"

I'm sure that you can supply a few more details.

[Steve Birdsall]

Larry, I can't add anything worthwhile on YB-40 42-5735, but you and hopefully others might enjoy the following extract from the 301st Bomb Group history, Who Fears? . . .

On 11 August [1943] the AAF launched seventy-two heavy bombers that dropped 213 tons of bombs on the Terni Railroad Yards in Italy. All forty B-17s launched by the 301st bombed the target, and their crews observed seventeen to twenty-one enemy aircraft, including one hostile P-38. One account notes the P-38 fired a burst behind an Me 109 and then dove through the 301st's formation. Another reports the pilot wiggled the aircraft's wings to show its distinctive twin-boom profile before flying through the bomber formation at high speed. The fighter pilot "walked his rudders", spraying the B-17s with .50-caliber bullets and 20-mm shells, flying so close that some noted his grin (or grimace) and moustache - a "handsome man", recalls one crewmember. The P-38 made at least two or perhaps as many as six passes through the bomber formation, the first without opposition from the B-17s, the second with a few gunners firing, and from then on every gunner cutting loose. Just as the aircrews differ on the number of passes, so too do their descriptions of the Lightning's markings and paint scheme. There is no dispute, however, that this intruder downed First Lieutenant Albert Fensel's bomber, the last Fortress in the formation and the first aircraft lost by the 419th in over one hundred missions. Before the B-17 hit the sea, seven chutes were seen; three crew members were picked up by a Navy Catalina after spending sixty hours in the water.

Maybe truth really is stranger than fiction.

[Larry Kraus]

Steve,

Thanks for the information.I hadn't seen an official report of the P-38 incident.Incidentally,I have some of your books somewhere.I'll have to dig them out.They are always worth reading.

[res6kgcr]

Hi All,

For what it is worth, here is REDMOND ANNIE from the Jeff Ethell collection, looks like the same day and the same crew as in the B & W photo. Maybe they might be more photos of her with a serial number we can read.

Tom

[tulsaboy]

Larry-

For what it's worth, here's 42-5735 on the line in Tulsa, being modified into a YB-40. How bout that?

Does anyone have any combat photos of this aircraft?



kevin

[Chris Brame]

Nearly 16 years later, and we have an answer: Taken at Dalhart, TX but still carrying the Redmond plane code "29".

42-5097 Del Geiger 26/9/42; Redmond 26/12/42; Pueblo 7/2/43; Dalhart 16/5/43; 247 BU Smoky Hill 26/6/43; 4136 BU Tinker 27/6/43; 232 BU Dalhart 26/8/43; 244 BU Harvard 2/9/43; 249 BU Alliance 16/12/43; 519 BU Fort Worth; 244 BU Harvard 20/1/44; 202 BU Galveston 15/2/44; 237 BU Kirtland 25/5/44; RFC Kingman 27/10/45.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/396126669850

[Larry Kraus]

Thanks for that updated information, Chris.

[Steve Birdsall]

Thanks Chris, it's good to finally get the answer on that one.