Postal Service to release a postage stamp depicting Black Cat in flight. Surviving members of the 466th Bomb Group petitioned the U.S. Three B-17s (one early 'D' model and two 'E' models) were captured with their top secret Norden bombsights and rebuilt from wrecks to flying status in the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies. Wayside cross Īt the crash site, a wayside cross with a plaque was erected to commemorate the dead. There is one commemorative Liberty Belle on display as of this writing, while another which was airworthy, sadly crashed in 2011. The tail gunner, Albert Seraydarian, and the bombardier, Chris Manners, survived and were liberated from German POW camps within a few weeks. The great name and nose art of this warbird was actually given to a total of four B-17s that flew combat during the war, all of which tragically went down. And the suffix mostly describes the cat’s skill or ability, such as healer or fire. Ten of the crew were killed including the pilot, Richard Farrington. Warrior cat names are made of two words, a prefix (the first part) and a suffix (the second part) The prefix normally describes the cat’s appearance, such as golden or stripes. It was struck by a shell on the left wing causing the aircraft to crash. Īt 20,000 feet above Regensburg, the formation received eight bursts of flak. These days, the Black Jack bomber makes for an incredible dive site. Watch 4 meteorologist Ashley Dougherty takes to the skies in a restored WWII B-17 flying fortress bomber. It was one of the first B-17F Flying Fortress bombers built by Boeing during WWII, delivered to the U.S. Ashley Dougherty has a pet dog named Bubba. This decision was queried by several navigators in the formation because Regensburg was a heavily bombed and defended city: it was home to the Messerschmitt factory which had been the Eighth Air Force's first major bombing target of the war in August 1943. The wreck is the B-17F Black Jack, serial number 41-24521. The lead aircraft flew a return course over Regensburg. Restored footage shows heroism and death in the skies above Nazi Germany. However once the target was reached four hours later, the mission had to be abandoned due to the heavy cloud and thunderstorms covering the area. This New Movie Shows the Hellish Life of a World War II B-17 Bomber Crew. Within the formation, Black Cat led the third squadron. On 21 April 1945 at around 0630 local time 137 B-24 bombers from the 466th Bombardment Group departed from their air force base in Norfolk, England to bomb a railway bridge in Salzburg, Austria. In order to prevent this happening, and because the European strategic air war was over, the Allied air forces tried to prevent the Germans from concentrating remaining men and materials in Bavaria. Included is a photo sent to me by Ray Bowden showing a B-17 with a Black Cat astance on the number 13. Eisenhower and SHAEF were convinced Hitler and other die-hard Nazis were planning to make a last stand in the Alps near Berchtesgaden. B-24s of the 785th Bomb Squadron, 466th Bomb Group, at RAF Attlebridge, England.
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