B-17G 42-31098 "Penny's Thunderhead" at Lindholme airfield.
On 11th December 1943 the crew of this USAAF aircraft took off from their airfield of Deenethorpe, near Corby, Northamptonshire to undertake an operational flight to bomb Emden. The crew and aircraft were members of the 614th Bomber Squadron, part of 401st Bomber Group, USAAF. On the return leg of the flight at 13.12hrs just over the Dutch border the aircraft was struck by flak and No.3 engine damaged and stopped. The propeller on this engine could not be feathered so windmilled which vibrated the aircraft severely. No.1 engine was then damaged and further flak damage sustained to the bomb bay doors and nose of the aircraft. It was also attacked by enemy fighters who also damaged the B17. The aircraft began to loose height and believing that control was going to be lost the pilot ordered the crew to bale out over what they thought was the land part of Holland but by the time they started to abandon the aircraft they were pretty much over the coast. The aircraft appears to have been still at altitude, probably around 18,000 feet when the crew started to bale out. The enemy fighter pilots probably saw eight airman leave the aircraft did not attack again thinking the crew had all left and it was flying on auto pilot. In total eight of the ten on board baled out with six of the eight drowning. The two survivors who baled out appear to have delayed pulling their parachute release until much lower than the height the aircraft was flying at, these two landed much closer to land and were rescued but then became PoWs. The six others who baled out appear to have drifted some distance out to sea and sadly all drowned with the bodies of some taking many months to drift to shore while others were never found. After these first eight had left the aircraft the next who was about to leave was the bombardier but he had struggled to fit his parachute alone so the pilot had put the aircraft on auto-pilot and was attempting to help secure the straps. Before the bombardier could leave the aircraft the windmilling propeller then seized and the vibrating stopped so the two still on board stayed with the aircraft and opted to try and fly it back to the UK. The aircraft eventually landed at Lindholme airfield in Yorkshire. Both airmen were awarded the American DFC for their actions on this flight. Because of the landing being made at Lindholme I assume that the aircraft had flown many miles off course on the return flight and way out into the North Sea after leaving the Dutch Coast. The bombardier would have had to try his hand at navigating. They must have completely missing the whole of Kent and East Anglia and the airmen realised that as land was not on their track they then eventually changed heading to fly west there-by picking up landfall around the mouth of The Humber and locating Lindholme purely from a visual identification of an airfield. For those on the ground at Lindholme during the day seeing a very battle damaged B-17 with only two engines working coming for an approach to land must have been quite a sight. The aircraft was later repaired and was damaged again following a fire at Deenethorpe airfield in March 1944.
Pilot - 1Lt Richard Herbert Kaufman USAAF (O-802121). Uninjured.
Bombardier - 2Lt Robert Grover Fitzgerald USAAF (O-679459). Uninjured.
Co-Pilot - 2Lt Frederick Brownell Robinson USAAF (O-684556), aged 19, of Austin, Texas, USA. Washed ashore at Oosterbierum, Holland on 9-3-44, initially buried Pietersbierum. Buried Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.
Engineer (/top turret gunner) - S/Sgt Howard Alexander Shaw USAAF (33253277), aged 23, of West Decatur, Pennsylvania, USA. Washed ashore Terschelling Island 22-6-44, initially buried Terschelling. Buried Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.
Left Waist Gunner - S/Sgt Tage Ragner Nielsen USAAF (37434765), aged 26, of Coon Township, Iowa, USA. Missing. Commemorated Cambridge Madingley Cemetery, UK.
Right Waist Gunner - S/Sgt Henry Leonard Bargfrede USAAF (37228695), aged 21, of Lafayette, Missouri, USA. Washed ashore on 14-6-44, initially buried Ameland. Buried Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.
Ball Turret Gunner - S/Sgt Forrest Ray Cope USAAF (35680079), aged 21, of Oklahoma, USA. Missing. Commemorated Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, Netherlands.
Tail Gunner - S/Sgt Edward Warren Masterman USAAF (39196860), aged 21, of Selah, Washington, USA. Missing. Commemorated Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, Netherlands.
Navigator - 2Lt John Aloysius Barrett USAAF (O-683892). Landed in sea and rescued, became PoW.
Radio Operator - S/Sgt Donald Hall Carlson USAAF (39329973). Landed in sea and rescued, became PoW.
The crew of B17 42-31098. Left to right Back Row.. Kaufman, Robinson, Fitzgerald, Barrett.
Front Row.. Cope, Shaw, Carlson, Nielson, Bangfrede, Masterman.
