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B-17 with 2 swans, Belgium

Hello,

I’m trying to solve a B-17 belly landing, which occured only a few miles from were I live .

According to a witness, 2 swans (or swan-like birds) were painted on this B-17. Besides the 2 swans, the B-17 was decorated with a row(s) of 43 bombs (probably symbolizing the amount of missions it had flown).

The ship had made a perfect belly landing in the little village of Sint-Agatha-Rode (Rhode-Ste-Agathe), Belgium. Sint-Agatha-Rode is situated about 13 miles (20 kilometres) southeast of Brussels and about 6 miles (10 kilometer) west by northwest of the airfield Le Culot (airfield No. B.68 became A.89). Sint-Agatha-Rode (Rhode-Sainte-Agathe) was situated in liberated territory (Rhode-Ste-Agathe is probably the name the Allies used in maps and documents).

The belly landing was perfectly performed. The ship’s nose got damaged while sliding in a right angle across a road, which was situated on a slightly higher level. Once the B-17 had come to a halt on the other side of that road, her 9 crewmembers left the ship unhurt (the road connects the village of St.- Agatha-Rode with the village of Pécrot). According to hear say, one airman had parachuted just prior to the wheels-up landing. The ship came to a halt in a pasture not far from the river Dyle. Other major towns situated near Sint-Agatha-Rode are Leuven (Louvain) and Wavre.

Unfortunately the exact date is no longer known by the villagers of Sint-Agatha-Rode. The crash occured somewhere between September 1944 and the spring of 1945. So it’s much like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Is there anyone of you experts able to identify this B-17 by means of the clues mentioned above. I hope the swans are a valuable clue in revealing the identity of this aircraft.

Thanking you in advance for your kind help in this matter.
Regards,
Dirk

Re: B-17 with 2 swans, Belgium

Hi,

Here is some additional information in regard to the B-17 that belly-landed on the boundary between the Belgian villages named Sint-Agatha-Rode (Rhode-Sainte-Agathe) and Pécrot.

The aircraft was a silver B-17G (Natural Metal Finish).
According to a witness, it were definitely two white swans. They were painted in a row next to one another and in a classical manner - as if afloat on the water, with typical curbing S-like necks.
Because of the fact that these two white swans were painted directly beneath a row of 43 or 45 black bombs, my witness always assumed they represented two special kind of missions, flown by the crew - missions or targets for which the swan was used as a symbol. The swans weren’t very big in size.

In constrast to what I previously mentioned, one airman didn’t parachute, but simply jumped out of the plane when it hadn’t fully halted yet. The airman vacated the B-17 at the moment that only a few feet of air separated the plane from the ground or during the moment it glided across the pasture.

According to the same witness the incident occurred somewhere after the Battle of the Bulge. In the month of January, February or even March 1945 (Some say it was already laying in that pasture on Sunday, February 18th 1945, so it must have happened somewhere in January or February 1945).

Does anyone have an idea whether swans were used in certain Bomb Groups or Bomb Squadrons to depict some special mission, target, victory or whatever? Were there any Bomb Groups or Bomb Squadrons with an affinity for swans?

Regards,
Dirk

Re: B-17 with 2 swans, Belgium

Arrow - see my post , AAF forum ??? let me know
Cheers