41-9234: A Very Unusual B-17E

[Steve Birdsall]

Jim Dieffenderfer, John Chiles' co-pilot, has positively confirmed to Robert Stitt that the wartime photo was taken after the August 26, 1942 Milne Bay mission. The nine men aboard 41-9234 that day never flew together again.

[b17man@t6b.com]

I would love to get a crack at restoring here. Probalby easier than what I started with. What a waste. Mike

[Steve Birdsall]

Scott's August B-17 News Update features some of the material here and a couple of points merit clarification.

First, the remarkable Janice Olson photo was taken in 1995. Second, Paul Cool sent me a 300 dpi scan of his father's little photograph and I had been working with that and comparing it to detailed photos of the wreck taken by Justin Taylan and Tim Vincent. Somewhat later Robert Stitt obtained a 2400 dpi version of the wartime photo from Paul and it revealed the serial number quite clearly, particularly after a little enhancement. Another "D'oh!" moment for me.



I'll always look back fondly at this 1966 rendition of the "grey ghost" by Richard Ward, because it fired my imagination, but as Scott notes, "the story of the RAF B-17 in the early Pacific war is a bit more explained" now.

Just a minor correction . . . I was going through some old handwritten (!) letters today, and found that Janice Olson told me that she took that photo on March 3, 1993.
Steve Birdsall, June 17, 2011

[Dan Johnson]

So how do we save what's left of this remarkable airplane and story?

Or is it doomed to fade to dust over time?

[gary1954]

Bribes. Lots of Bribes.

[Steve Birdsall]

Just a footnote to this story. This is "The Daylight" Ltd. after Captain Kenneth D. Casper's return to Mareeba on August 26, 1942.

Casper recalled, "We fired a flare when we got inside the airport to indicate that we had a wounded man and we were in a hurry. I am afraid I was a little lax because of my haste. When we landed, the landing gear went down but the flaps wouldn't work, which made us land pretty fast. When I tested the brakes, there was no brake pressure and I couldn't control it. There was an engine that had been shot out on the right and the brakes weren't working. It turned out we had a flat tire on the right too, it obviously had been shot out. The only way I could guide the airplane at all, was by giving a great deal of power on the one outboard engine to keep it straight. Pretty soon the wheel had just disintegrated and broke the strut off. We went down on the wing tip and it spun us around. We were looking at some trees, but we didn't hit them. We counted something over two hundred holes in the airplane, so I think we were pretty fortunate to get back at all."

His waist gunner, Sergeant Leroy Penwarden, was the injured man. The photo comes from Jane Richardson, whose husband Sergeant Arthur L. Richardson was flying as Casper's radio operator that day. More of her photos and memories can be found at Peter Dunn's website http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/26aug42.htm. If you haven't already seen it it's well worth a visit!

[62bravo]

My Uncle Henry (Billy) Bowen was the tailgunner on 41-9234. I have remembered the names and positions of every man that flew on the last mission on 8 Jan 1943. Someday I will tell my grandchildren about them. I had the honor of speaking with co-pilot Donald Hoggan a few years back. He told me what happened on that last mission. I would like to see 41-9234 fly again. It would fly to remember the guys who paid the ransom for our freedom. Some with their lives, or limbs or freedom and all with their youth. I am proud to have sworn the same oath.

[hang the expense]

From what I understand the latest grass fire didnt do her any good.She does fly on (or parts of her) today with the top turret in N3703G belonging to 9234.There is only one guy that could get that bird out and he aint talking..yet.

[arribasa]

Guys: I am completely new at this (both aero vintage sites as well as posting things on the internet), but I just returned from a work trip to PNG (I am a geologist) and was lucky enough to spend several minutes at this crash site. I took about a dozen photos, if they are of interest to you I will upload them. I live in Castle Rock (Colorado) and found out about the remains of another B-17 some miles south of here, which I plan to visit next Spring. Cheers, Antonio

[Second Air Force]

Welcome to the forum, and we'd all LOVE to see your photos!

Scott

[arribasa]

I had to lower the resolution of the files to be able to upload the. I will likely be going back next year.

[arribasa]

I am not sure I am inserting the photos right, they seem to occupy too much space in the screen. I'll add a couple more.

[arribasa]

I have also uploaded a few photos to Panoramio in Google Earth - although they don't show up yet (look for them about 7 miles ESE of Wau)

[arribasa]

Apologies, now I realize that I could upload more than one attachment in the same message (of course...)

[TAdan]

arribasa, thanks for sharing your pictures.

The condition of the aircraft is amazing all things considered. (Crash, weather, fire, etc...)

Sure would be nice to see it recovered.