Recent inquiry from Herald M. (posted here to help others researching):
I found your site and the numbers of the B17′s. I live in a small village nearby St. Goar and I read, that the B17 with the above number has been shot down at st. goar. My father (died in 2006) told me, that he disassembled some electrical parts out of a B17 that has been shot down. I think that it was the named B17. Are there more information about that bomber ?
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Our Response:
5069 (91st BG, 324th BS, “Our Gang”) shot down by Fw. Heinz
Stover in Fw 190A-4 of JG 11/3 at Sankt Goar, Germany Aug 17, 1943
during Schweinfurt raid. MACR 281. 10 POW.
…with a little help from photoshop 
Tillamook is about one hour from Portland. Recently some loggers discovered a Navy WWII plane.
Read more…
For those of you interested in a how-to.
Here’s a fun video to watch:
http://zenoswarbirdvideos.com/B17.html
Recent correspondence from Charles L. :
My grandfather was the pilot for the B-17 “Flak Shak” (42-97307) until it’s forced landing in Sept. of ’44 in which the plane was no longer flyable. He was also the last to fly Relcutant Lady in which his crew was forced to bail out a couple of weeks later. I know that many crews “shared” B-17s depending on which were flyable.
I have some files from an 8th Historian named Bill Varnedoe (who was also a navigator I believe) that documents crews, their missions, the B-17s they flew and on what dates. I helped Bill piece together Flak Shak’s serial number and also sent him my grandfather’s crew photo for his records. We have some other things from when my grandpa was in POW camp that are pretty interesting including a book in which different men signed, drew, and contributed stories and poems to. Other than that, the pic below is all I’ve ever seen besides a drawing my grandfather did in the aforementioned book of the Flak Shak.
I cross-referenced the date of 8/27/44 with the pilots: My grandfather flew a B-17 that day to Berlin called Texas Bluebonnet…why he would not have flown his plane, I do not know. Ihlenburg was indeed flying Flak Shak. (prior to nose art it would seem) Neat! Three missions later the Flak Shak would make an emergency landing in a recently liberated Belgium. I believe with only one functioning engine (I think they dropped the ball turret to lighten the load too). The next day, the plane would not turn over at all. I think it was at this time he removed the yoke. My father would know more.
This gives me hope that there may be more pictures out there. Keep up the great work with the site. I look forward to seeing it come to fruition!
Yoke from Flak Shak (courtesy of Charles L.)
1.
Finding Your Father’s War by Jonathan Gawne. ”A Practical Guide to Researching and Understanding Service in the World War II US Army”. An appendix on the Army Air Forces. Also much information of the Army in general some of which transfers to the AAF.
2. From the Veterans Museum in Madison, WI. Air Force Historical Studies Office. If you do a Google search, there are several hopeful results for investigation.
3. Air Force – Together We Served website
http://airforce.togetherweserved.com . Great for organizing information and creating a memorial site. Plus there are forums to ask questions and gather information.
4. Non-research books:
and
The first book is about the sons of WW2 veterans and the second is the best book I’ve ever read about dealing with the death of a father.
My father is Edward Waters from Washington DC. He was stationed at Great Ashfield with The 385th Bomb Group. He was assigned to the B-17 serial #42-31237 Alexanders Rag Time Band. On May 8th 1944 the misson he was on was a bombing run on Bremen Germany . Because he wanted to increase his missions to go home he volunteered for the mission with another plane the Jeanne Rickey (Gin Rickey) serial #42-31786. The Ball Turret gunner on this crew was sick and my father was the last minute replacement. My father told us he loaded the plane seconds before taking off and he knew no one on the crew. He asked the crew what the target was but no one told them. The MACR was 4563 that only states that the plane was shot down over Bremen Germany and he was a Pow at Stalag Luft 3 Sagan Silesia Bavaria .I hope you can shine more light on the missing crew members on the May 8th 1944 bombing raid to Bremen
Jim Waters Aka Mudue8
Posted from Scott-
I typed up some of the information found in Ray Bowden’s book about the Wells Cargo. They only flew on the plane for two missions but thought I would write what I found in the book about the plane. Keep hoping I’ll see more in the book about other planes they flew in, but don’t have them all memorized and haven’t noticed any other names that stuck out to write about yet.
I’ll just keep picking at this thing a bit at a time.
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