Yo-Yo B-17 It always comes back !

[Glen]

I was watching the special tonight on PBS on the Wars years and they were showing a little clip of a group of Guys infront of a B-17 name Yo-Yo It always comes back ! Look like a F model to me dose any body have info on this Bird ?

[Glen]

any ideas of what group this bomber was part of ?

[ZeamerB17]

I also posted this question in another thread and got no response. The only thing I can find is in Wallace Forman's "B-17 Nose Art Name Directory" which lists a "Yo Yo" with the 305th; no s/n, no sq, no known photos. Don't know if it's the same a/c or not.

Dave

[Glen]

Thanks Dave Pretty cool looking bird. Would like to know more of it, maybe some day

[ZeamerB17]

Yeah, me too.

Dave

[ajraines]

I have no idea if anyone is still following this post, but if so I believe I can shed a little light on the subject. I suppose it is possible more than one plane bore that name, but my grandfather - a waist gunner - served on a B-17F named "Yo-Yo - It Always Comes Back." I have a copy of a picture of him standing in front of the plane while serving with the 92nd Bomb Group near Alconbury, England. My grandfather was shot down on October 14, 1943, during the second Schweinfurt raid, almost certainly in this plane. In his memoirs he recorded the fate of his crew mates as follows:

William J. Byrne, pilot - KIA
Clyde Fairchild, co-pilot - POW
James D. Carr, radio - KIA
Anthony V. Gerhert, ball turret - KIA
Robert W. Fisher, engineer, top turret - wounded, POW
John G. Krupinski, tail gunner - wounded, POW
George Reynard, togglier - POW
Robert J. McCarthy, navigator - POW
Jack W. Pumphrey, left waist gunner - POW
Ernest R. Raines, right waist gunner - wounded, POW

Krupinski, Reynard, Pumphrey and Raines were held as POWs in Stalag XVII-B near Krems, Austria. Fisher was with them briefly, but his wounds were severe enough to qualify him for repatriation. Fairchild and McCarthy were commissioned officers and were held elsewhere. All seven survived prison and returned home after the war. My grandfather, SSgt. Ernest Raines, was the last living member of the Yo-Yo's crew when he died in 2014.

[ZeamerB17]

Yes, at least ONE of us is following this thread.

Interesting.

How about sharing that photo with us?

[airnutz]

More to ponder on this Day...Thanks for your post AJ!

[Cherrybomber13]

I have to agree with Airnutz. Interesting timing to read this story. Love to see the photo!

[ajraines]

It is entirely possible that it was a different plane with the same name. According to the report (MACR 845) my grandfather's plane was 42-30708. The one in the link shared by TriangleP (42-30375) has very similar nose art, but the American Air Museum in Britain indicates that it was returned to the States.

http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/4365

The picture I have is very poor quality (a photo of a copy), but I'll be happy to share it if somebody can clue me in on how to insert a picture.

[Xray]

Go here http://postimage.org/ and upload the pic.
Click "copy to clipboard" next to "direct link".

Now in this thread post a reply, in the reply click the "IMG" button which will leave something like this [img [/img] {I can't post it exactly or it will not show up at all}

In between those 2 where the ] [ are, paste the photo link you copied, pic will show up.

[schmiant]

Hello American Friends,
I am a freshly retired German engineer and start to investigate the Black Thursday, 14.10.1943, when the ball bearing industry in Schweinfurt, where I was testing engineer for 36 years, was the target of the bombers. Googeling I found lots of local information of a B17 crashed near Schweinfurt with the crew listed in this subject. This plane crashed into a small wood (49.962120 , 10.080459). I was there and found a bullet, a part of gear and other smal parts of the plane. If there ist any interest I can send pictures, newspaper reports, reports of German soldiers of this item oft this accident. ajraines: Your grandpa is now alive for me!

[ajraines]

Clearly I haven't monitored this thread in quite some time. And I totally forgot about uploading that picture. I don't have the book with me at the moment, but will try to upload it in a day or so.

In the meantime I hope I can clear things up. Upon further research I no longer believe my grandfather was shot down in Yo-Yo. His notes appear to indicate that he was with Yo-Yo's crew in the states, and that they flew the plane to England. Upon arriving in England the plane was assigned to a different crew while he and his crewmates spent time in further training. They (or most of them - there were some personnel changes in the meantime) ultimately flew missions in a different plane.

And schmiant, I would be pleased beyond words to have any information that you have!!

[schmiant]

Hello Mr. Raines,
thanks for your reply. I got a system mail that there is a new information available.
This is my mail adress: schmidt_toni@freenet.de
I propse you send me your's so I can send you all I have as attachments.
Although th B17's nickname might be unknown forever, it is fact that your grandpa was shot down here.
In the meantime I was 4 times at this crash area and always found small destructed plane parts and 50 cal. amunition from the machine guns.
Furtheron I googled for the name Ernest Raines and found some Information about his funeral ceremony. Is his wife's name Shirley E. Raines, living in Breaks VA, phone number (276) 531-8709. Up to now I hesitated to phone her. I think it's better to talk with you?
Greetings and have a good time
Anton Schmidt