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“There probably isn’t a B-17 in the ETO which gets any better care than First Lieut. Avery J Ink’s Ground Hog. The reason. It’s one of the few B-17s named by a ground crew.” So ran the opening lines of a press release in November 1943. Ink’s crew were not the first to fly the plane. In fact, they were the second crew to successfully complete a combat mission in it and they went on to fly ten of their missions in this F model. It was un-named when they took it over for the flight to Watten in late August and at that time it lacked an updated oxygen system and other features of later B17Fs.
Ink and his crew liked the ship in spite of its inadequacies – it handled well as well as being sturdy and reliable. So the ground crew got to work to bring its modifications up to scratch. SSgts Patterson and Goble, together with Pfc Benicewicz installed a new oxygen system, scrounged new instruments from salvaged aircraft and within a few days completed their work. So pleased with the result, Lt Ink and his crew decided that the ground pounders had more than earned the right to name the Fortress.
Avery Ink flew his last mission in this B17 on 30 November and a month later it was shot down with Rueben Eckhardt’s crew. Some of this crew managed to evade capture and their story is covered in “The Flight of Eagles” by Ray Bowden.
Date | Pilot |
Target |
Notes |
28 Jul 1943 | W L Horr / A G Neal | Oschersleben | |
29 Jul 1943 | J H Mudge / W Clark | Warnemunde | R/E (NS) |
27 Aug 1943 | A J Ink / R A Payne | Watten (abortive) | |
3 Sep 1943 | (scrubbed) | Ground accident | |
23 Sep 1943 | A J Ink / W B Whitlow | Kerlin Bastard | |
26 Sep 1943 | A J Ink / A E Stokes | Reims-Champagne | |
27 Sep 1943 | A J Ink / ? | Emden | |
2 Oct 1943 | A J Ink / A E Stokes | Emden | |
4 Oct 1943 | A J Ink / A E Stokes | Frankfurt (St Dizier) | |
8 Oct 1943 | C L Doron / W E Wheeler | Bremen | |
14 Oct 1943 | Beriont (96BG) | Schweinfurt | Flew with 96BG |
18 Oct 1943 | A J Ink / A E Stokes | Duren (recalled) | |
3 Nov 1943 | A J Ink / A E Stokes | Wilhelmshaven | |
5 Nov 1943 | A J Ink / A E Stokes | Gelsenkirchen | Cat A - flak |
11 Nov 1943 | M J Persechini / J D McKee | Munster | Failed to bomb due frozen release |
13 Nov 1943 | J E Richey / T A Helman | Bremen | R/E (NS) - rudder, elevator froze, controls inop. |
26 Nov 1943 | A J Ink / A E Stokes | Paris - Bremen (abortive) | |
29 Nov 1943 | A J Ink / J A Downard | Bremen | Crew data confusion |
30 Nov 1943 | A J Ink / A L Stokes | Soligen | |
11 Dec 1943 | C S Moats / A J Corriveau | Emden | |
13 Dec 1943 | G W Schweider / W G Gildner | Kiel | |
22 Dec 1943 | R H Palmer / R L Skaggs | Munster | |
30 Dec 1943 | R H Eckhardt / C Erichson | Ludwigshaven | MISSING - left formation at 1512 under control and hit the deck. 2 KIA |