USAAF Nose Art Research Project


 

Special Delivery
B-17F-5-BO 41-24418

301st Bomb Group, 32nd Bomb Squadron

Appearance

Nose art painted by
Sgt Eugene TOWNSEND
301st Bomb Group, 32nd Bomb Squadron
England, North Africa & Italy

Special Delivery

Assigned to the 352nd Bomb squadron at Westover, this B17F was initially named as "Mickey Finn" and flew eleven missions from Chelveston bearing that name. Lt Walter A Williams flew the Fort on the 301BG's first combat sortie to Rouen on 5th September 1942. When the group redeployed to Tafaraoui in North Africa, #418 was transferred into 32BS and re-named as "Special Delivery II" after the originally named Fort suffered flak damage in mid December and was scrapped.

Sixty-eight more missions were completed before "Special Delivery II" was considered "War Weary" and sent back to the USA proudly sporting at least eight swastikas for fighter kills. Here it was used to train the seemingly endless line of fledgling aircrews at Rapid City AAB, including men destined for service with 398BG. In October 1944, it was worn out and written off.





 
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© Ray Bowden 4 December 2023