Search found 35 matches

by Steve Birdsall
Mon Mar 21, 2011 6:27 pm
Forum: Wrecks & Losses
Topic: Recover them Yes or No
Replies: 58
Views: 148063

Re: Recover them Yes or No

Good points, well made.
by Steve Birdsall
Sun Jun 20, 2010 2:44 am
Forum: Wrecks & Losses
Topic: 394th Bomb Squadron B-17Es
Replies: 3
Views: 4928

Re: 394th Bomb Squadron B-17Es

A bit of an update . . . the man in the back row on the far left in the crew photo is the pilot, 1/Lt Charles R. Stewart. He can't identify all the crew, but he says the man next to him was the "new co-pilot, then Bombardier, then Navigator name Joos, last man was an Observer". Front row no further ...
by Steve Birdsall
Fri Jun 18, 2010 2:15 am
Forum: Wrecks & Losses
Topic: B-17 "Pluto", lost off Northern Aust. Mar 26 1943,
Replies: 22
Views: 40783

Re: B-17 "Pluto", lost off Northern Aust. Mar 26 1943,

Image

This is the Robert Keatts crew with 41-24543 before the "Pluto" artwork was painted on the right side of the nose. I Dood It was originally with the 403rd Bomb Squadron, and I guess that's where she got this name.
by Steve Birdsall
Fri Feb 26, 2010 4:13 pm
Forum: Pacific Wrecks Updates & Information
Topic: NEW DVD - Black Jack's Last Mission
Replies: 2
Views: 10290

Re: NEW DVD - Black Jack's Last Mission

Thanks for making that correction, I'm sorry about the error. Ralph De Loach came up with that crew photo after the film was completed. It wasn't easy to identify several of the crew, and flight engineer Delbert Smith always insisted that the tail gunner on that mission was "Flynn", not Paul Blasewi...
by Steve Birdsall
Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:44 am
Forum: Member Profiles
Topic: New Member
Replies: 2
Views: 5316

Re: New Member

Yes, welcome . . . Black Jack is pretty important to many of us here.
by Steve Birdsall
Mon Feb 01, 2010 1:40 am
Forum: Wrecks & Losses
Topic: B-17E # 41-9209
Replies: 20
Views: 52860

Re: B-17E # 41-9209

This is interesting. I know that Justin had doubts about that photograph and thought it wasn't a B-17. I got my copy from Fred Blair, a 63rd Bomb Squadron bombardier, who identified it as McCullar's crash when he loaned me his wartime print. People closely associated with McCullar, like Lucky Steven...
by Steve Birdsall
Thu Dec 17, 2009 12:33 pm
Forum: Wrecks & Losses
Topic: CORRECTION: “BLITZ BUGGY” AT RABAUL
Replies: 0
Views: 2166

CORRECTION: “BLITZ BUGGY” AT RABAUL

http://users.beagle.com.au/stevepb/640BBWM.jpg I would like to correct my error about the 19th Bomb Group B-17F ”Blitz Buggy” . The incorrect information appears in my books Claims To Fame: The B-17 Flying Fortress and Pride of Seattle . Gene Salecker repeated the error in his Fortress Against The ...
by Steve Birdsall
Mon Nov 23, 2009 12:42 am
Forum: Wrecks & Losses
Topic: B-17 "Pluto", lost off Northern Aust. Mar 26 1943,
Replies: 22
Views: 40783

Re: B-17 "Pluto", lost off Northern Aust. Mar 26 1943,

I'm sorry to say that I didn't look closely enough at Gordy's photo of "Pluto" or I would have noted the various differences between the artwork on that B-17F, and the artwork on the right side of the nose of 41-24543. http://users.beagle.com.au/stevepb/640Pluto.jpg While quite similar, the artwork ...
by Steve Birdsall
Sat Nov 21, 2009 7:20 pm
Forum: Wrecks & Losses
Topic: RAAF and 19th Bomb Group at Mareeba
Replies: 1
Views: 3171

RAAF and 19th Bomb Group at Mareeba

Does anyone have a comprehensive list of Australian personnel seconded to the 19th Bomb Group at Mareeba in 1942? I'm particularly interested in Australians who flew as co-pilots and navigators.
by Steve Birdsall
Mon Oct 26, 2009 3:48 pm
Forum: Wrecks & Losses
Topic: Help finding a crashed B-17 in New Guinea
Replies: 8
Views: 7530

Re: Help finding a crashed B-17 in New Guinea

A basic search confirms that your uncle enlisted at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland on February 11, 1944. By that time the only B-17s operating in and around New Guinea were assigned to various troop carrier squadrons as armed transports, or serving as utility aircraft or personal transports for AA...
by Steve Birdsall
Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:40 pm
Forum: Wrecks & Losses
Topic: Help finding a crashed B-17 in New Guinea
Replies: 8
Views: 7530

Re: Help finding a crashed B-17 in New Guinea

What was his enlistment date? Date and place of birth might help too. And why do you believe he was in a B-17?
by Steve Birdsall
Thu Oct 01, 2009 5:21 pm
Forum: Wrecks & Losses
Topic: Nose Art Photos...Curious about their history
Replies: 7
Views: 11146

Re: Nose Art Photos...Curious about their history

From your list and your comments it sounds like your grandfather's "good friend" was Al G. Merkling of the 20th Combat Mapping Squadron.

Image
by Steve Birdsall
Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:12 am
Forum: Wrecks & Losses
Topic: 394th Bomb Squadron B-17Es
Replies: 3
Views: 4928

Re: 394th Bomb Squadron B-17Es

http://users.beagle.com.au/stevepb/640-2440wm.jpg Here is a photo of Calamity Jane before she was de-fanged and sent home from New Caledonia. The crew is from the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Group and the photo was taken in Fiji. The fellow on the far left, kneeling, is Ray Spaulding. After compl...
by Steve Birdsall
Fri Jul 24, 2009 2:59 pm
Forum: Wrecks & Losses
Topic: B-17 "Pluto", lost off Northern Aust. Mar 26 1943,
Replies: 22
Views: 40783

Re: B-17 "Pluto", lost off Northern Aust. Mar 26 1943,

Just for the record, that photo shows 41-24543 "Pluto" with artwork by Ernie Vandal, not 41-24384. As far as I know, nobody has ever found a photo of 41-24384, although veterans certainly remember it as "Pluto". The artwork was on both sides of 41-24543's nose. http://users.beagle.com.au/stevepb/Plu...
by Steve Birdsall
Fri Jul 24, 2009 2:19 am
Forum: Wrecks & Losses
Topic: 394th Bomb Squadron B-17Es
Replies: 3
Views: 4928

394th Bomb Squadron B-17Es

I've been looking again at the 19th Bomb Group's homeward flight from Australia in October 1942. As we know, in early November 1942 three of their least war-weary B-17Es were traded to the 394th Squadron in Hawaii, and those B-17s were soon on the way to SOPAC under the command of Captain Orin H. Ri...