This olive drab B17F is believed to have been the replacement for Memphis Belle, after that Fortress was sent back to the States on a War Bond Drive having starred in the famous wartime movie. Lady Luck served with the 91BG for eleven months before being transferred to Air Force Service Command (AFSC) as part of a reorganisation plan.

The plane flew its first combat mission on 28th June1943 to St Nazaire (flak city) with Capt Richard Weitzenfeld in command. Lt Fred Peterman's crew were assigned to the ship and completed twelve missions in it, including group leads. On 32rd September 1943, the squadron record notes: "Lt Vickery (bombardier) did a remarkably fine job of bombing." In addition to its yellow scripted titling on both sides of the nose, Peterman had the nickname of his wife "Toots" painted below the cockpit window on the left side. Four swastikas were also added above the lengthening row of mission bombs to denote the fighter claims by various gunners on his and other crews.

Lady Luck's finest hour probably came during the punishing mission to Schweinfurt on 17th August 1943. 1Lt Parker's crew were accompanied that day by the Air Division Commander, Brigadier General Williams, and led the 2nd task Force's Composite group. This costly mission was an attempt to destroy the ball-bearing production facilities that were described in the briefing as "probably the most vital air targets in all Germany ... their destruction would strike a greater blow at the German military machine as a whole than could be achieved in any other single air operation."

Lady Luck returned from Schweinfurt with flak damage but was back in the air again by the end of the month. The flak defences over Germany caught the plane on at least eight later raids causing Cat A damage over Nantes, Frankfurt, Anklam, Oschersleben, Cognac and other tough targets. Fighter's also peppered the ship on several other occasions and by the end of February it was a a veteran of some 32 successful missions.

When the 8AF reorganised in the Spring of 1944, the lack of long-range 'tokyo' tanks in Lady Luck meant it was no longer able to complete the raids which were now stretching deeper and deeper into the German heartland. It was withdrawn from combat and assigned to AFSC. It is believed to have flown to the Mediterranean and was possibly based there for a short while. However, it was still listed on 91BG's inventory on 6th April 1944 as "On detached service here from AFSC" presumably used by the 91BG as a group 'hack' for ferrying, transport and other non-combat assignments. In mid-June 1944, Lady Luck returned to the USA, landing at Tinker AAB. In February 1945, it was recorded at Patterson AAB and on 27th July 1945 was sent to Searcy Field for scrapping. It was still listed as part of the inventory at Searcy Field (now Stillwater) in February 1946.

   
 

   
 

Read more about this aircraft:

Plane Names & Fancy Noses

Known Mission List

Date	Pilot	Target	Notes
28 Jun 1943	Capt R W Weitzenfeld	St Nazaire	?
29 Jun 1943	Lt Fred Peterman	Tricqueville	?
4 Jul 1943	Lt Fred Peterman	Le Mans	?
10 Jul 1943	Lt Fred Peterman	Caen (abortive)	Cat A BD - flak
14 Jul 1943	Lt Anderson	Amiens/Glisy	?
17 Jul 1943	Lt Fred Peterman	Targets of Opportunity	?
24 Jul 1943	Lt Fred Peterman	Heroya	?
25 Jul 1943	Lt Fred Peterman	Hamburg	Minor damage
30 Jul 1943	Lt Fred Peterman	Kassel	Minor damage
12 Aug 1943	Lt Fred Peterman	Ruhr (Bochum, Gelsinkirchen)	?
15 Aug 1943	Lt Fred Peterman	Vlissengen	Cat A BD - flak
16 Aug 1943	Lt Fred Peterman	Le Bourget	Slight damage
17 Aug 1943	Maj R W Weitzenfeld / Lt V A Parker	Schweinfurt	Lead a/c - Cat A BD - flak
31 Aug 1943	Lt Maurice A Berg	Amiens / Glisy airfield	?
16 Sep 1943	Lt S L Evans	Nantes	Cat A BD - flak
23 Sep 1943	Maj R W Weitzenfeld / Lt Fred Peterman	Nantes	Group lead a/c - Cat A BD - flak
4 Oct 1943	Capt Fred Peterman	Frankfurt	Group lead a/c - Cat A BD - flak
9 Oct 1943	Capt Ronald M Nichols	Anklam	Cat A BD - flak + shellcases
10 Oct 1943	Capt Ronald M Nichols	Munster	Aborted - oxygen fire. Non sortie
5 Nov 1943	Capt Ronald M Nichols	Gelsenkirchen	Cat A BD - shell cases
7 Nov 1943	Lt John D Davis	Wesel	?
16 Nov 1943	Lt Marco DeMara	Knaben -abortive	Aborted - crewman sick
26 Nov 1943	1Lt Fewer McGee	Bremen	?
11 Dec 1943	2Lt Harvey G Hesse	Emden	Cat A BD - flak
20 Dec 1943	2Lt Fred Knight	Bremen	Cat A BD - flak (major)
22 Dec 1943	2Lt Fred Knight	Osnabruck rail yards	?
30 Dec 1943	2Lt Edwin F Close / Maj R W Weitzenfeld	Ludwigshaven	Group lead a/c
31 Dec 1943	Lt Harvey G Hesse	Cognac airfield	Cat A BD - flak + mg
4 Jan 1944	2Lt Fred Knight	Kiel	?
5 Jan 1944	1Lt Fewer McGee	Tours / Parcay airfield	Cat B BD - mg (serious)
11 Jan 1944	Lt John Klotz	Oschersleben	Cat A BD - flak - landed Deopham Green
21 Jan 1944	1Lt Marco DeMara	La Glacerie V-weapon site	Aborted - #3 engine on fire
4 Feb 1944	1Lt Harvey G Hesse	Frankfurt	Aborted - minor damage
5 Feb 1944	1Lt Harvey G Hesse	Avord airfield	?
21 Feb 1944	Capt Kenneth V Kerr	Achmer airfield	Pilot completed tour
25 Feb 1944	1Lt John Klotz	Augsburg	Aborted
6 Apr 1944	Detached service at Bassingbourn from AFSC

 

You May Also Be Interested In

Winnie The Pooh B-17F-55-DL 42-3422 100th Bomb Group

Bad Egg B-17F-10-BO 41-24484 91st Bomb Group, 401st Bomb Squadron Nose art painted by Jack GAFFNEY

Oklahoma Okie B-17F-75-BO 42-29921 91st Bomb Group, 324th Bomb Squadron

© Ray Bowden 2 December 2023

 

Information Update for Readers of "Plane Names & Fancy Noses - 91st Bomb Group (Heavy)"