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Nose art research help requested


30-30remchester
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30-30remchester

Hello folks. I have been a member for a decade or so but seldom do anything but view the forums. I seldom have anything to add. I am now having time to try to locate some information about my father-in-laws aircraft he flew in during the war. He was a ball turret gunner on a B-17 with the 15th AAC. I have made feeble attempts to find out the nose art and name of his B-17. I have the planes serial number and have checked out the 15th's website but I cant get into their site. Since there is 2' of snow on the ground at my house, I feel it is time to give it a good effort. Can anyone point me in a direction to start?

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30-30remchester

He was attached to the 5th wing-97th group-342 squadron. On the front of his records folder is a hand written note that said "plane no 6374". He served starting in August 1944 and had a total of 51 missions.

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I have a record of the planes that were used by the 5th Wing, which included the 97th BG. Only one plane is listed that has 6374 in its serial number and that is 44-6374 named "Tuff Titty" that was assigned to the 2nd BG, 49th BS. It is possible 6374 was a plane he flew training in or possibly his crew flew 44-6374 overseas but it ended up assigned to the 2nd BG while his crew went to the 97th BG.

 

In any event, he would not have flown all of his missions on just one plane. In the roughly 35 sorties he flew, he could have flown on a dozen or more planes, but at least 5 or 6 minimum. Note in the 5th Wing, by 1944 some targets were given double mission credit, such as Ploesti or targets in Austria or Germany. So in general crews had to fly around 35 sorties to earn the 50 mission credits they needed.

 

If you tell me his name I can also try and spot him in the book for the 97th BG called Venit Hora. Unfortunately the book does not have a glossary so finding a ball turret gunner listed will be tough.

 

Also, the 97th BG was the first from the 5th Wing to have its historical society be disbanded and I have never found anyone who had been a member of the group who had access to any records from the group.

 

Marty

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30-30remchester

Thanks for all the help guys. His last name was Ketterman. I checked his diary and he flew with a LT. Bird and LT. Brady and LT. Wolf and a few others from what I can decipher. He flew 31 times. His first flight was on August 16, 1944 and his last on December 18, 1944.

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It looks like my 5th Wing info was not totally accurate. Do a web search for the terms "B-17" and "Tuff Titty" and you will find a photo of the plane on the reddog1944 website. It was indeed a 97th BG plane at least at some point.

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30-30remchester

Thank you guys. 5THWINGMARTY, I have searched before and had not found the plane assigned to the 97th. I appreciate your help. From what I can remember, my father-in-law once mentioned that his plane went down after he left. I heard this just once about 35 years ago.

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Glad to help. I learned a bit of new info too the revise my data. It is possible to order record cards for specific planes that show their assignments were from manufacture to final disposition. I don't have the info on where to order them but I am sure someone here can provide that. It would be interesting to see if it was documented that the plane went from the 97th to the 2nd after being repaired at the depot. That happened quite a bit in the 5th Wing.

 

Marty

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