Hello,

my father is painting the B 17 G   44-6090, which crash landed E of Pirmasens/Ger, after being attacked by German fighters on 9 aug 1944.
One crew member was wounded, another one was killed later while trying to escape.


As you can see, the painting isn't finished yet.
My question is:
What was the marking of this plane?  XK - ?
Did it have a nose-art?

This would be important to make the painting as realistic as possible.


Thank you for your help

Regards

Attached Image(s)

and here a picture of the crash-place today

Attached Image(s)

 
 
One source, Project Bits & Pieces, lists only the squadron code XK for this aircraft.  They do not show a radio call sign or a name.
 
Hal

It is either XK-H or XK-J - we have a photo of it on the runway before takeoff.
 
I need to look at a better quality photo I have at home.
 
-Chris

Hello pilot05.  My great-uncle, Lt Norman Henderson, was the only KIA on this aircraft and mission, he evaded capture for awhile, and his remains were found in Faulquemont France with a date of death of 14 August 1944.  I met the tail gunner years ago, and he could not recall any nose art, but I do know that the pilot, Lt Lucas Finney, named the airplane "Wheeling Duchess" (I may have that spelled incorrectly).

I have never seen a photo of the aircraft, so I do not know if there was any nose art.  Chrislcoffman, I would love to see the picture you have.

Pilot05, I am curious why you decided to paint this particular aircraft?

Best regards,

Brett Johnson

Hello Brett,

my father paints this aircraft, because there is an eye-witness, who saw this crash-landing. The painting is for him.

Do you know, if the tail gunner is still alive? Or other crew-members?

I have a few copies from the MACR, if s.o. needs them, tell me.

Brett, do you have some pictures of your great-uncle from war? That would be interesting....

I send an up-to-date picture of the painting (attachment), it's nearly finished, the marking and some other aces will be added...

Regards

Attached Image(s)

The number is XK-H.  Sorry I do not have a better photo of it.  It is the plane in the middle.  This website does not allow large jpeg files to be uploaded so I had to shrink it quite a bit to get it to upload and much of the quality is lost but you can read the numbers.  According to Bill Donald's book the call number was XK-H as well.  No known nose art!

Attached Image(s)

Thank you very much, Chris!

I am very happy to see this photo, it confirms the painting, great!

If you have a better quality scan, could cou please send it for me via email?
pilot05@op.pl

My father would like to have it in his documents...

Thanks!

As far as I know, there are no crew members still alive.  My grandmother has photos of her brother, I may be able to get copies.  All crew members bailed out, my great-uncle was the co-pilot and his photograph appears on all of my posts.
 
I would love to hear the story from the eye witness.  Even today, no one knows how my great-uncle survived or how he evaded capture for so long.  When I met the tail gunner in 2000, he was hopeful that I could tell him what had happened to him.
 
If the eye-witness remembers anything about the crash or has photos of the wreckage, anything at all that they would be willing to share, my family would be so grateful.
 
Lt Norman Henderson did not have a wife or children.  His brother also served in the Pacific Theater with the Navy, and he is still alive.  His sister is my grandmother, she is also still alive.
 
Best regards, and the painting looks wonderful.
 
Brett

Chris, I would also like the better quality image via email, this is the only photo I have ever seen of my great-uncle's plane!  kbnjohnson@comcast.net
 
Best regards,
 
Brett

pilot05, I should also tell you that Lt Norman Henderson is buried in the American Cemetery in Luxembourg.  The rest of the crew were captured on the day of the crash and all returned to the U.S. after the war.

I tried to attach a photo of the Finney crew, this is not the exact crew on the 9 August 1944 mission.  Brock and Hewitt (in the photo) were replaced by McCurdy and Herd.  The image is too large to upload (200Kb is not a large file!) so I will email it to you instead.
 
 

Chris:
Why was the Group symbol mounted in such a strange location on the fin of XK-H?

Mark Milliken, Associate Member, 305th BGMA

Brett:
 
I wonder if your great-uncle flew a mission on May 13, 1944.
 
Regards,
Mike
 

Hello Mark,
 
Darn good question about the Group sysbol on the fin.  I wish I knew but I do not.  Did not even catch it until you pointed it out.  Maybe Ian or someone else would know?
 
-Chris

Hi Mark and Chris.. et al..
The triangle fin marking, in the odd position, may be from its original owners. As I'm moving boxes around, I cant check whether this a/c was a transfer from another group? If so, the applcation of the original triangle may be the previous owners doing. The 305th would have over painted the triangle, and reapplied their 'G'. Or, a distant explanation might be, some repair work was done to the fine, requiring the repainting of the fin area, and so having the odd positioning of the symbol as seen.
Its not a constant throughout the operation at Cheveston - some triangles were painted in differing positions, differing sizes slightly, plus the letter style - the 'G' - sometimes is different. Its also as much to do with a. time available to prepare ship (quicker the better to get her into combat) and b. the ability of the ground mechanic given the job of actually painting the symbols on!!
 
Ian W

Ian White - 305th BGMA Hon. Life Associate, UK Contact and Organiser of next years 40th Combat Wing UK Reunion - May 21st-31st 2009

Hello again,

here here the final version of the painting. As you can see, the plane has the marking XK - H   44-6090.
Thank you for your help, without you the painting wouldn't be as realistic than now!




[image]local://15839/D6F2925086544E84853A0D569C334FD9.JPG[/image]

Attached Image(s)

... and here the probable Fw 190 pilot's view - a picture of the crashplace taken yesterday from the air.

Regards
Martin


[image]local://15839/5E8C59876C504E729164466308A30502.JPG[/image]

Attached Image(s)

Martin -
 
That is a great painting!!  The arial photo I find very interesting as well.  Thanks for posting!
 
Andy

I saw your post about the mission of 9 August 1944.  My father who was part of that mission, Nick Salvito, is still alive.  I appreciate the photos that you have posted of the area and the aircraft and have been sharing some of this with my father.