My father was a waist gunner/bombardier on a B-17 with the 490th bomb group.
 
Although he died in 1996, I recently ran over some of his old photographs.
 
Since they picture other planes---planes which I do not believe are from the 490th---I thought I would post them in case anyone finds them of interest.
 
In the photos I can clearly make out the name of one plane, "Huckleberry Duck," although its tail number is blocked. The 'Duck' is discharging ordnance.
 
Behind it is another plane which I believe is 338578 with an S.
 
In the other photo there is a foreground B-17 with tail 337955 and a bar A below it.
 
And two other B-17s with a bar E and bar F with no tail numbers discernable.
 
Anyway, I'm mainly posting them in case others have been looking for photos of these planes. It would be great to know the date of the missions too, but I doubt that is possible. (I have the full resolution scans too, in case anyone wants them. Maybe you can make out details I have missed!)
 
Thanks for looking!
 
_kent
 

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Beautiful Photos!
Thanks for posting them.
 
Andy Mays in Maine

Kent.........looks like they are all 490th; you can see the red tail tip group marking, also the red wing bands in the first photo.
The bar in front of the letters was the 848BS symbol----usually a black rectangle as here. The photos must be post--Aug.1944 as that's when they changed from B-24s to B-17s.         Thanks    Nick

Cadet - # 43-38578 was in 388th BG   Could it be 43-38575? 490th BG 850th Sq.
# 43-37955 was in 305th BG
Mike

Kent,

I also have that same picture of the "Huckleberry Duck".  It was in with some of my father's pictures.  He was the flight engineer on the "Huckleberry" and yes it was a member of the 490th.  According to the note on the back of the picture, that was taken during a bomb run on Jan 10, 1945 on a railroad bridge near Cologne. 

I also have a listing of all of the missions with dates and targets (my father kept pretty good notes).  Email me at richp@fenix-corp.com if you want a complete list.

Hi Kent
I am the current 490th Bg Historian / Archivist
These are all 490th aircraft
I can if you wish give you full details on them all
"Huckleberry Duck" was Ac 43-38143
I would be interested in any and all information on your father either to confirm or add to my data and I am sure I can add to yours
Contact me eric.490thbg@btinternet.com
I look forward to hearing from you
Eric