Warbird Information Exchange

I can't find the Warbird photo Christmas thread started a week or two ago, so I will start a new somewhat related
thread. No photos with this, but a couple of scans and warbird-related.

On Christmas Day 1943 my dad flew on his 29th or 30th combat mission with the 419th Bomb Squadron of the 301st
Bomb Group out of Cerignola, Italy with the 15th AF. They were aboard B-17F-25-DL, 42-3077, "Jenny Lou" with
Capt. Elgin F. Akin pilot, and 1st Lt. William F. Hubel, co-pilot on a mission to bomb the Bolzano Bridge and
Marshaling Yard. Sixty-Four B-17s from the 301st and 97th BG's dropped 186 tons of bombs on this Christmas
Day. My dad, S/Sgt. Ernest Lloyd Thompson was a fairly new Flight Engineer / Top Turret Gunner, after flying his first 25
missions or so as the Tail Gunner.

Below is the Navigator's Log Sheet. The Navigator was 1st Lt. Eugene V. Markel. One of the crewmembers told me he thought Markel was still alive in Louisiana 10 or 15 years ago. I was never able to find him. The Log Sheet, in error, gives the tail number as "007" instead of the correct "077". It mentions Colonel Jean Byerly being lost. The 301st Commander
prided himself on flying the "rough" missions. He was leading the Group this Dec 25th. He was having engine
problems that day with B-17F-90-BO, 42-30134 and put his bomber about one thousand feet below its planned
altitude. About two-thirds of the way down the bomb run, Byerly's #2 engine took a flak hit and went ablaze with big pieces departing the aircraft. Then a second flak burst hit the radio compartment and the furiously smoking Fortress peeled off in a sharp dive. A third flak shell hit the tail sending the B-17 spinning down about 10,000 ft. before exploding. Seven chutes were reported but Col. Byerly was not among them.

Markel writes:

"Christmas Day" - Christ's BIRTHDAY! And we're dropping bombs! It doesn't seem right.







I have found only a couple of photos of the nose art of Jenny Lou. I don't have permission to post either. The better one was when 42-3077 was with the 97th BG. The artwork is a nice portrait of what apparrently was Jenny Lou Carson, a budding Country Western singer of the day. My Dad was on many of his missions in this ship and it was his favorite. The 301st split the crews up often on a mission by mission basis, and the crews shared a number of different aircraft typically before hitting the 50-mission mark.

Sort of puts things in perspective..I guess the fact that I'm working on the holiday doesn't seem like such a big deal.

I was once interviewing a B-17 radioman, and asked him what his most vivid combat memory was. He replied, "seeing my best freind's plane explode with no survivors on Christmas Day, 1944."

SN

Thanks for sharing this sobering story. It just reinforces the statement that "freedom is not free" even if it means dropping bombs on x mas. I was watching "Charlie Browns Chistmas" last night. The part where Linus is giving his real meaning of Christmas speech as the cast of the Christmas play looks on, he says "peace on earth, goodwill toward men" always strikes me as being something that everyone should live by. Too bad countless humans down through history dont take this into consideration before they bring their wars, death and destruction upon their fellow man. Merry Christmas everyone and god bless our men and women in uniform who are working on Christmas protecting our freedom.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!