“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.

Known Mission List

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

 

© Ray Bowden 28 November 2021