Photo Gallery

Beaver Dam Daily Citizen Sept 27 1944

The Lexington Herald August 25 1943

Leader Tribune August 27 1944

Stateside photo of Lt Charles Harding Crew. Courtesy of Derrick Muntner.

The bomber of the 8th Air Force, 100th Bomb Group with the registration XR-O landed in Payerne after a mission over Munich and was flown back to Burtonwood on October 11, 1945. The second aircraft of the 100th Bomb Group was flown by 1Lt Charles S. Harding. Navigator 2Lt Thomas P. Hunt and gunner SGT Robert J. Buchanan were guests in this crew. The ball turret gunner, SGT Norman D. Fuller, remembers this mission: Due to the problems we had with our engines, we were no longer able to follow the formation. We could not maintain either altitude or speed. We released our bombs before we reached Munich and turned 180 degrees towards England. Shortly afterwards we were hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire. We lost all the fuel from tank number three. As a result, we could no longer reach England and had to turn off to Switzerland. Two Swiss fighters were immediately on the spot and told us to follow them. They showed us the way to Payerne. Flight mechanic SGT Norbert A. Fike adds: I quickly cranked out the landing gear because the hydraulics had failed. After landing, we were greeted by soldiers who pointed guns at us. We were questioned and interned. Harding's B-17 was the last plane to leave Switzerland for Burtonwood in October 1945. Warbirds.ch

Lt Howard Crew in A/C 44-8334 XR-M was attacked by an Me 109. The #3 engine caught fire and the pilot peeled out of formation to the left and feathered #3 engine. The fire appeared to go ouor in the engine but the wheel well was blazing. The bombs were salvoed, and the aircraft completed a 180 degree turn and headed back alone. It was last seen diving into a cloudbank. There were 40 to 50 enemy fighters in the area. (W. E. Woods)

Doug Palmer that is so awesome , I always wondered exactly which missions my dad flew. His name is Charles J Hopkins 100th bomb group, 349 th squadron. He flew his 25 th and last mission in September 1944. He trained as a Radio operator, but did over half in the ball turret, as the other gunner was Kia. Courtesy of son John Hopkins

Lt Sam Barr original Crew at Wendover ?

Capt Sam Barr crew with Torchy 3 Standing far left is William Ohl

The Ohl Brothers