Help needed to find any information about my Father's B17

I posted this request in the 97th BS forum with not luck so I will try here and maybe some kind soul can help me out.
I am the son of Bob B Carey. My Dad was a Tail Gunner who flew 35 Missions between Sept 1944 and April 1945 in the 97th BG 342 BS. Dad passed away in Jan. 1983 and I have been collecting all his WW2 items since. Like most from that time, he didn't speak of his time overseas much and I don't have a lot of information but I would like to share what I have.  
I will start with his plane and crew just before they shipped out: 
B17G "Bitter Bitch" 
Crew #6283 at HQ 223RD AAF Base Unit (CCTS (H)) AAF, Dyersburg, Tennessee   20 June 1944 
Pilot:  Donald L Dupertuis 
CP:     Richard J Austin 
B:       Grayson F Fice 
AEG:   Warren C Vance 
ROG:   George E Gardiner 
AG:     Randolph R Nyquist 
SBG:   Fred B Crockett 
SUG:   Eugene R James 
TG:      Bobbie B Carey  
This information is from his "Special orders Number 172   20 June 1944"  It has crews # 6267 through #6322 with their rank and serial #s. Marked RESTRICTED 
Below is a picture of dads crew with their names listed on the photo, also a picture of him before his last mission standing by the tail of his plane. The name of the plane he flew on was "The Bitter Bitch" which was shot down in Dec. 1944 over Yugoslavia. His crew survived and was picked up by the Partisans and safely hidden till they could be flown back to their base. I have checked the research page here to no avail and have been checking any books and internet sites I can find for years. I am at a dead end and hope there is someone here that can help.
Take care, 
Bob 
I did find out the plane below 2671 was most likely a Training plane at Dyersburg, Tennessee. The second picture is my Dad outside his tent with a sign with the image of the Bitter Bitch. Third was last mission 4/12/1945.

Bob,
 
Not sure I can be very much help either as you already appear to have a good deal of information.
 
The full aircraft designator I believe to be B-17G-60-DL-44-6724, although not listed by Joe Baugher this fits the range of B-17G production.
Long Beach C/N 22947
Source: http://www.abcdlist.nl/douglas_longbeach_03.html
 
I have not been able to find a MACR for this incident in Yugoslavia December 1944 on fold3 or elsewhere.
 
It would appear from this link that information on the 97^th BG is slim http://www.reddog1944.com/97th_BG_Comments_and_Corrections.htm
 
Good hunting,
Scott

Bob...FYI...There were many names assigned to aircraft, and there is a problem...in order for the name to be recognized, the name or nose art HAS to be in a photo of the nose art/name with the DAIA information that is stenciled below the LEFT pilot's sliding window or nearby...Most nose art/names are shown of the RIGHT side of the nose. The other requirement is that the tail number appear in the photo.
Consequently, there are MANY names/nose art that cannot be positively ID'd to a tail number.
 
I have a copy of DickDrain's 5thWing History that lists ALL 5th Wing B-17s and where applicable also lists the aircraft name (If it had one)...also many aircraft HAD no name or nose art.
 
Also there is no mention in Dick Drain's book of the refereneced crew, and, there in addition, neither is there any mention of a 97th BG B-17 being lost in December 1944, that lists your crew, in the 97th BG Hsistolry book VENIT HORA, on any date in December 1944.
 
Jim :-)

Bob....Drain lists 44-6724 as assigned 6 Mar 45, and says aircraft salvaged oversea 22 March 1946.
 
Jim :-)

Hi, My father was Richard J. Austin, the copilot of the crew listed in your post.  You seem to know a lot more than I do, but maybe I can help you out with the story my father told (one of the few he would tell) about the Dec. 12, 1944 mission on which they "got lost."  On that day, as my father told it, there was a new navigator to the crew.  At some point early on, my father noticed that by following the navigator's directions, they peeled off from the rest of the squadron.  They were really quite young, you know, and my father decided to "initiate" the new navigator by not saying anything about it.  On and on they flew and never came to their target (surprise, surprise).  They also did not fly over any secondary target, so they decided to drop their propaganda "bombs" and go home.  The propaganda bombs were filled with the "christmas cards" from one of your other posts. Later they worked over the the navigator's data and figured out that they had dropped the propaganda on the Eagle's Nest as in your father's diary.
 
My father passed in 2004, but my mother lives near you in Oakhurst.  If you would like I will ask her if she is willing to let you contact her.  She has photos and may have some information you would be interested in.  Please send my a private message if you are interested.
 
 

Sarah     ex-Luftwaffe personnel have always denied that captured B-17s were deliberately used to confuse or infiltrate US formations ; the list are those I've found to be flown by KG.200 on special operations, as you see they were marked with either the Wing's "A3" code or factory 4-letter codes (Stammkennzeichen) and they certainly had German insignia. They flew night missions with the undersides re-painted black and they would have been very obvious in daylight.
P.W. Stahl in his history "KG.200 the true story" ( he is an ex-pilot in the Wing) makes this clear ; eg. a B-17G flew a night ferry flight on 16 Jan. 1945 to Finsterwalde between 1010 and12.05 with markings A3--BB.
There is no doubt though that B-17s ( and 24s) were seen to behave in a suspicious way in daylight and Me.109s were encountered in British or US markings ( including D-Day stripes).
The captured B-17swere given the cover designation "Dornier 200" and the Zirkus Rosarius unit ( 2./Versuchsverband Ob.d.L.) which demonstrated captured Allied aircraft also had German insignia ,"T9" codes and prominent yellow markings so no question of any deception.
"OLGA" was one of the detachments operating away from the main KG.200 base.
As seen some KG.200 codes as applied are confusing . 42-5714 may have been for spares only and the squadron code LL--S as quoted sometimes must be wrong if she served with 322 and 323 BSs; the "DR" code was also carried by ex-French NAA.64s at the Goppingen Flying School A/B 116.
 
Nick