My Grandfather's B-17G

[JJB17463rdBombGroup]

I'll do it sometime. I've logged him into the National WWII Memorial as well. Currently looking for the route of his last mission so I can finish it for him.

Apparently the navigation routes for each mission should exist at the National Archives from what I was told earlier by the 463rd BG Historian.There were also crew loading lists and lists of where particular aircraft were to be in formation as well.They might be somewhat difficult to acquire but you perhaps should contact the 2nd BG Historian or perhaps some 2nd BG veteran Navigators might also have that info.

[lbarr]

Hi! I found your post through a google search. Our grandfathers served in WWII together. My grandfather was Michael Birbiglia - the Navigator on this B-17G who was killed instantly when the plane was hit. My mom was only 10 months old when her dad died. Thinking of him and all the others who have fought and sacrificed for us. Thanks for posting.

Laila Barr

[GaryRR]

Godspeed to all of the heroes who sacrificed the fullest measure for Freedom's cause. To not only our US Heroes but also to our cousins over seas. We all owe an eternal thanks to these brave men.

Both of my grandfathers were in vital civilian roles and somewhat higher in age during WWII. But my great uncle was in Pearl on 12/7/41. He shot at Japanese planes with a Colt. I looked up to him. Thanks be to all of them.

[Skycat]

On Saturday I made a trip to the Airmen's Museum at Cut Bank International Airport. As I posted 10 years ago, Cut Bank was one of the four aerodromes in Montana used for B-17 training. The WWII hangar and a couple of old "temporary" army buildings still remain. I went into the airport's administration building lobby (built in 1949) and I had the place to myself. Display cases of WWII uniforms and historical items were along one wall. Captioned photographs of the airport's history lined a hallway. In a locked corner room I could see WWII radios, a mockup of a B-17 instrument panel and practice bomb through a window. Then I found a binder of WWII accident reports associated with Cut Bank left out for public browsing.

There was the sad tale of Skippy the terrier. As the story went, a Cut Bank girl gave the puppy to a B-17 pilot and wife living with the family. Later, the B-17 made a crash landing in Missouri with Skippy on board. Nobody was seriously hurt but Skippy came the closest to severe injury when a fence post punctured the bombardier's station. Skippy continued on to Corsica with the captain and was always at his side. Skippy even had his own special oxygen mask so he could fly on missions. On what would have been Skippy's fifth combat combat mission Skippy couldn't be found in time, or perhaps he refused his oxygen mask, and he had to be left behind. The aircraft went down and all aboard were lost. According to the last newspaper clipping the captain's friend, a lieutenant, was scheduled to bring Skippy home to the captain's wife in Georgia as soon as he completed the requisite number of missions for leave. 'Peg' the widow was looking forward to Skippy's return so she could feel her husband's presence.

There was also the report of a crew that snagged some high tension wires in the dark, in a dust storm at 1 a.m., and landed at Great Falls with propellers damaged and much of the tail shorn off.

A more somber accident was a B-17 that lost three of four engines after a practice bombing mission. The pilot, only 19 years old, chose to belly land on a hill near Cut Bank's runway. The bombardier was fatally injured after bumping his head in the radio room in what otherwise was described as a gentle belly landing.