Originally posted by XtrmeJ I always watch the Hist. chan, rarely do I see footage of dogfights. Don't have discovery wings tho. Need to upgrade to digital tv or satelite hehe.
According to a visitor (Patrick), this is a B17G (build by Lockeed Vega in California) 42-39988 QJ-A from the 96th BG, called "The Iron Ass", flown by 1st Lt Paul Herring. She was damaged by FW190 during a mission to Brunswick on the 21st February 1944. The crew member near the hole is Charles (Chuck) Haywood, the tail gunner of this plane. He was shot down four days later, flying with another crew. The Herring crew was shot down eight days later, flying B17F 42-30412 QJ-B "Mischief Maker"; they were on their 15th mission.
A rocket fired by an enemy fighter inflicted this damage on The Sack, a B-17 of the 379th Group. A 14-inch fragment of the rocket tore the pants off of the turret gunner without hurting him
What happened here? Duel For the Sky (by Herbert Molloy Mason, Jr.) states that an Me-262's heavy cannon tore open the side of this Fortress, but according to the Mighty Eighth War Diary (by Roger A. Freeman) the B-17 was hit by an 88mm shell , blasting a special radio operator and the ball turret gunner in his turret out of the aircraft.
A rocket attack blasted open the radio room of B-17 #42-31968 LN:D on the Lechfeld mission of March 18, 1944. Despite this damage the aircraft was brought back safely and landed at Raydon.
365th Bomb. Sqn. (of the 305th Group) B-17F "Old Bill" suffered serious damage in numerous head-on attacks by enemy fighters on May 15th, 1943. Only two of the eleven men on Old Bill (a photographer was on board) escaped injury. Here we see ground men working on the wrecked nose, with a flight jacket covering the then-secret Norden bomb sight.
