Jack Gaffney's pride and joy was "Destiny's Child" for he was its crew chief and he lavished much care and attention on the plane. Destined to fly a total of 53 combat sorties over Occupied Europe this Fortress was taken by as many as 15 different crews between 22nd February and 20th July 1944. Every one of those 53 sorties was without a single abort due to mechanical faults. "I was very proud of that", said Jack. "Sure hated to lose it."
The plane was named by radio man Gene Letalien on Howard Weber's crew and the character painted on by Jack Gaffney was based upon the popular cartoon character Little Uncle Rafe. The excellent care given to the plane by crew chief Gaffney won him a Bronze Star for meritorius achievement due to its completing 44 missions on its original engines.
On 20th July 1944, while attacking the airfield at Mockau near Leipzig, "Destiny's Child" was caught by waves of Fw190s and Me109s, sixty strong, which sliced through the formation and left the aircraft burning in #4 engine with wings and elevators badly damaged. The crew of Charles Van Ausdell abandoned the aircraft but only five men survived.
