Not often during the war did Allied heavy bombers get caught on the ground and destroyed by enemy bombing and straffing raids, but it did occur a few times. Here's a series of photos that show operations to and from Soviet airfields (Ukraine) along with photos of several destroyed B-17's from the 21 June 1944 German raid. Photos Fold3 archives.
Per Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_FranticOperation Frantic was a series of seven shuttle bombing operations during World War II conducted by American aircraft based in Great Britain and Southern Italy which then landed at three Soviet airfields in Ukraine. The operation began in June, 1944 and ended in September.
21 June 1944 145 of 163 B-17s opened shuttle bombing between the United Kingdom and the USSR. 72 P-38 Lightnings, 38 P-47 Thunderbolts and 57 P-51 Mustangs escorted the B-17s to the target ( synthetic oil plant) 123 B-17s bombed the primary target, 21 bombed the marshaling yard at Elsterwerda and a lone B-17 bombed the marshaling yard at Riesa, Germany, owing to a bomb rack malfunction. 4th Fighter Group P-51s accompanied the B-17s to the USSR (including 486 Squadron "borrowed" from the 352nd FG). 20 to 30 Luftwaffe fighters attack the force; in the resulting battle a P-51B (43-6784, 4th FG, 335th FS) and six German fighters are destroyed; an F model B-17 42-3490, 385th Bombardment Group, 549th Bomb Squadron piloted by Matthew Totter was damaged by Flak and lost three engines. It flew to Sweden, was interned and later converted to SE-BAN, a Swedish airliner. 144 B-17s landed in the USSR, 73 at Poltava, and the rest at Mirgorod; the 64 remaining P-51s landed at Piriatyn.What was unknown at the time is that after the raid on Ruhland, the attacking B-17s were being shadowed from a distance by a Luftwaffe Heinkel He-111 bomber, which identified the Ukrainian airfields where they landed.[9] Other sources indicate that the Germans were already aware of the locations and had assembled a strike force at Minsk in anticipation.
On the night of 21 June, the Combat Wing of B-17s which earlier landed at Poltava sustained severe losses in a German air attack. Hungarian planes also participated in the attack. Personnel were alerted at approximately 2330 hours when it was announced that German bombers had crossed the front lines in the general direction of Poltava. At 0030 hours, Pathfinder aircraft released flares directly above the airfield and ten minutes later the first bombs were dropped. For almost two hours, an estimated 75 Luftwaffe bombers attacked the base, exhibiting a very high degree of accuracy. Nearly all bombs were dropped in the dispersal area of the landing ground where only B-17s were parked, indicating without question that the B-17s constituted the specific objective of the raiders.
Of the 73 B-17s which had landed at Poltava, 47 were destroyed and most of the remainder severely damaged. One American B-17 copilot, Joseph Lukacek, was killed. His captain, Raymond Estele, was severely wounded and died later; several others suffered minor injuries. The stores of fuel and ammunition brought so laboriously from the United States were also destroyed. Three days after the attack, only nine of the 73 aircraft at Poltava were operational. The truck-mounted 50-caliber machine guns that the Soviet high command insisted would be adequate had no effect on the Luftwaffe, as no aircraft were shot down or disabled. Also, Russian and American fighter aircraft were not allowed to take off (by Soviet high-command) to engage the Luftwaffe during this attack; the reason for this is unclear.
American personnel losses were light due to adequate warning and the network of slit trenches distant from the aircraft parking area. Russian losses were much higher since work crews were ordered to fight fires and disable anti-personnel bombs while the raid was ongoing. Butterfly bombs continued to explode on the field for many weeks thereafter. Red Air Force losses included 15 Yak-9s, 6 Yak-7s, three trainers, a Hawker Hurricane, and a VIP DC-3. Soviet anti-aircraft fire was intense but random, and perversely served to outline the field for the German aircraft. There are conflicting reports about whether Soviet aircraft engaged the enemy, but since there was no radar intercept capability, even American fighters would have been ineffective.
The well-planned German attack was led by Oberstleutnant Wilhelm Antrup of KG 55 and carried out by He-111Hs and Ju-88s of KG 4, KG 53, KG 55, and KG 27 operating from bases at Minsk. The operation was nicknamed Zaunkoenig. After the He-111s left, the Ju-88s strafed the field at low altitude. He-177s from Night Reconnaissance Squadrons performed target reconnaissance, pathfinder duties and bomb damage assessment. There were no German losses.
1 June 1944 LTC Chester L. Sluder (R), commander of the 325th FG, makes nice with Soviets at Piryatin
C-47 at Russian base
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses on way to axis target from a Russian base
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Patches on shuttle mission to Russia, with North American P-51 Mustangs escorting
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Patches on shuttle mission to Russia, with North American P-51 Mustangs escorting
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Patches on shuttle mission to Russia, with North American P-51 Mustangs escorting
B-25 Russian military mission, arriving in Alaska by transport plane in the late summer of 1942.
B-17 42-38078 Sweet Pea (99th BG 347th BS 7 jan 44, 14 missions, transf to 2nd BG 429th BS 28 march 44, damaged on Debreczen 21 sept 44, crash landing on base
B-17 42-32048 Queen (483rd BG 840th BS 14 march 44, transf to 2nd BG 20th BS 31 march 44, lost on Moravska Ostrova, 29 aug 44
An American Gi Prepares To Check The Lockheed P-38 Lightening 'Dot And Dash' After It Landed At Eurk, Russia
American and Soviet ground crew men lost no time in swarming over this P-51 Mustang which force landed at an American airdrome in the USSR
A Consolidated B-24 Liberators, attempting to make a landing during a dense fog on 5 January 1945, crashed at Poltava Airbase, one of the shuttle mission bases in Russia
A Consolidated B-24 Liberator is parked at Poltava Airbase, one of the shuttle mission bases in Russia. 11 April 1945
A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, a Consolidated B-24 Liberator and a Douglas C-47 are parked at Poltava Airbase, one of the shuttle mission bases in Russia. 11 April 1945
A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress from the 2nd BG taxied into a hidden slit trench on Russian soil
Consolidated B-24 Liberators, North American B-25 Mitchells, & Douglas C-47 Parked At Bari Airfield, Italy. October 1944
Frozen brakes caused the North American P-51 LOTTIE to crash when it came in for a landing at Poltava Airbase, one of the shuttle mission bases in Russia. 26 March 1945
Maintenance area at Poltava Airbase, one of the shuttle mission bases in Russia. 11 April 1945
P-38 Lightning above was the first U.S. AAF shuttle plane to land in the U.S.S.R. It was flown on a reconnaissance mission from England by Col. Paul T. Cullen
P-51B (ship #45) of the 318th Ftr Sq, 325th FG Checkertail Clan taxies for takeoff from a Soviet base in the summer of 1943
P-51s of the 325th FG at a forward operating base in the Soviet Union
Russia-Audrea Hincerockur, Russian Pilot, Lt. Thompson Highfill Antescadero, Calif., American pilot of Bomb Group, Cozsen Veuzopkin of the Russian Air Force
RUSSIA-Boeing B-17s landing at the finish of a shuttle mission
Russian And American Flyers In Eurk, Russia, Following Shuttle Bombing Attacks On Enemy Installation In Rumania Li-2
Russian fighter planes, Yak 9's, guard the new U.S. bomber bases in the U.S.S.R
The aircraft is an Li-2, licence built Douglas DC-3. Not a C-53 as indicated. Russia built over 4000 Li-2's
The Consolidated B-24 'Judith Ann,' Carrying Major General Deane And Major General Edmund W. Hill Comes To A Halt On The Steel Mat Runway At Poltava Airbase
The first Russian military mission to Alaska arrives at Nome in the late summer of 1942 Li-2
The wing of the Douglas C-47 LADY HELEN was damaged by fire when the wing was being washed down with gasoline on 30 April 1945 at Poltava, Airbase
U.S. Shuttle Bombers Use Russian Base.-Flying Fortresses over Russia. During a shuttle from Italy to new U.S. bases in the Ukraine, U.S.S.R., U.S. Army 15th Air Force bombers
View of Boeing B-17s on their way home from Russia
This is the only picture taken of the German bombing raid on the American Shuttle Bases in Russia. It is a combination of flares and anti-aircraft fire. 21 June 1944
8th Air Force B-17s on Poltava Airfield, Ukraine, Russia, having just completed their first shuttle-bombing msision from England, were destroyed by German raid
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