Wartime History
Based at Clark Field at the start of the Pacific war, when Japanese aircraft bombed the airfield on December 8, 1941. Withdrawn to Del Monte and flew missions in the Philippines until American aircraft withdrew to Australia, evacuating 28 personell from the Philippines., flying via Davao then to Batchelor Field on December 23, 1941.

Next, assigned to the 19th BG and operated from Townsville flying combat missions.

A photo of B-17C 40-2072 aircraft for this period has the following:
"It flew from San Francisco to Manila, in Oct 1941 via Hawaii, Midway, Wake, New Guinea and Australia. Capt Mueller-Pilot, Lt Tobaric-Co-Pilot, Lt Marcovitch-Navigator, Sgt Anderson-Engineer, Sgt Olson-Radio, Sgt Schelito-Gunner, Sgt -Bomber. Seems as if they used the star for a target. this ship is still flying August 21, 1942. It sunk 2 loaded transports, one destroyer, one sub from 20,000 feet with one bomb, and has shot down 21 planes including a 4-engined flying boat. It has bombed landing parties and enemy occupied airdromes in the PI. It got 2 direct hits from 3" AA and had over 1000 machine gun holes in it. It was always flown by the same crew. It never had a man killed aboard it, and only 3 slightly hurt. It evacuated 28 pilots from Del Monte at night in a tropical storm and flew to Australia. "

B-17C 40-2072 flew bombing missions until December 24, 1942 when it suffered wing structural damage when it was returning to Australia from a bombing mission and had to dive from 20,000' down to 12,000'. As the Flying Fortress pulled out of the dive the wing flexed leaving permanent damage. The wing was structurally bent and according to Del Sparrow, one of its crew chief, it was the only B-17 on the flight line whose wing tips were a foot higher than the others.

Service As A Trasport
Repair was attempted but was reassigned to the 317 Troop Carrier Group. All its armament was removed, and flooring installed inside the bomber.

The aircraft's nickname, "Miss E.M.F." (Every Morning Fixing). This B-17 was converted for transport duties, along with an LB-30 to fly servicemen from the R&R area at Mackay Airfield to New Guinea and vice-versa. It was stationed in Mackay with the 46th Troop Carrier Squadron.

Its remaining days were ferrying troops and supplies between New Guinea and Australia (a 4.5 hour flight) and R&R trips. These flights were described by a number of people including Teddy Hanks and Robert Foye both of Witchita Falls, Texas and Del Sparrow of Sonoma, California, as packing the troops in the B-17C like sardines in a can. In fact when the aircraft took off the passenger had to try and inch forward so that the aircraft wasn't tail heavy on takeoff. Passengers did not mind the inconvenience of sitting on the aircraft floor without seat belts for the 4.5 hour flight because landing meant the start of R&R.

Mission History
There were six crew and 35 passengers aboard. A few minutes after take-off from Mackay Airfield, it crashed at Bakers Creek, killing forty of the crew, and only one survivor. This crash was the single worst aviation disaster in WWII, and in Australian history. There was only one survivor: Sgt Robert Foye of Witchita Falls, TX. Sgt Del Sparrow, of Sonoma, CA and another Sgt flipped for crewing the aircraft that day.

The verbal account of the people there that day as well as the diary of Capt Cutler, a Red Cross commander in Mackay who keep a manifest of the aircraft and the accident for that day. His son, Robert Cutler, has his father's diary.

At the time of the accident wartime security was in affect both in Australia and with the US troops. Everything about the accident was classified. The Australian police report was declassified and recovered by the RSL in early 1990 but the USAAF/USAF classified report has never been located. The seriousness of the accident and bad publicity that might result if disclosed and wartime security guaranteed silence for a long time. We are actively seeking these US documents now and previous attempts by the Aussies and Americans in the 1990s did not produce any results. Even the name and burial of those killed required the determination of Colin Benson, the RSL historian who has pursued the history of this aircraft for some 8 years, and Teddy Hanks in the US required searching and digging for a number of years just to get the 40 names of those killed.

Memorials
The 40 military killed that day were all buried in Townsville. After the war the bodies were returned to American soil. Thirteen are buried in the Punchbowl Cemetery in Hawaii and the remaining were buried in their home towns. List of KIA crew & passengers List including burial sites.

A memorial to the crew was built near the crash site outside Mackay, by the efforts of the local RSL and Robert Cutler.

References
The records at USAF Maxwell Historical incorectly state this aircraft crashed on June 17, 1943. The Australian police had a full report on the accident and the RSL retrieved it and has been gathering data on it since 1992 and has built a memorial near the crash site outside Mackay, Australia. They daily fly the American flag and the Australian flag over the site and now some of the 20 States, whose sons died that day, are donating their state flag to be flown on special occasions in honor of the Americans who helped defend the area from the Japanese invasion

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Last Updated
November 8, 2009

B-17

Forgotten
B-17C

Crash of B-17C at Bakers Creek
Australia @ War