B-17 Stopover at Benbecula August 1942

[Steve Birdsall]

On August 21, 1942 a B-17F from the 327th Bomb Squadron of the 92nd Bomb Group, enroute to Prestwick, landed at Benbecula for reasons unknown. It flew on to Tiree, then to Prestwick, arriving August 22.

I think that the aircraft was 41-24473, but am unable to confirm it. Do any logs from Benbecula or Tiree exist that might provide an answer?

[Atcham Tower]

Atlantic crossings at that time were a bit hit and miss when making a landfall, so aircraft aiming for Prestwick but low on fuel often ended up at the first airfield they could find. The records of RAF Transatlantic Flying Control tell of B-17s and B-24s landing at a variety of Scottish, Irish and English airfields throughout the war years. Unfortunately, serials are not recorded. I have some notes I made from RAF Benbecula's Operations Record Book in The National Archives but they do not include this B-17. I did, however, note B-24 41-11928 landing on Nov 26 1942, so it is possible that your B-17 serial is in the ORB but I missed it.
I wonder why they made the short hop to Tiree. Perhaps to pick up some fine Scotch at source!

[Steve Birdsall]

One crew member recalled the problem being that the pilot "seemed unable to follow a compass heading" and "became disoriented in weather". This crew was split up soon after arrival in England and it's hard to put all the pieces back together.

[Steve Birdsall]

Glad to say we’ve positively confirmed that the 92nd Bomb Group B-17F, named Exterminator, was 41-24473. The Operations Record Book for Benbecula recorded the arrival of 41-24473 at 10:54 in the morning of August 21, 1942 and its departure at 15:51 the next day. The ORB for Tiree notes 41-24473’s arrival at 16:03 on August 22 and its departure for Prestwick two hours and twenty minutes later.



This B-17 was transferred to the 97th Bomb Group’s 414th Bomb Squadron, where it was named Kissy-Me-Kowboy by Lt Clarence L. Thacker, a native of Kissimee, Florida. Later the aircraft was stripped down and served as a utility aircraft in Italy. It was salvaged overseas in August 1945.

My special thanks to William Spencer and Alan Clark for their assistance in identifying this B-17.