B-17 CC Additional Material by Robert M Stitt

Fortress 41-9234 shortly
after landing at Mareeba,
Queensland, following the
harrowing mission to Milne
Bay on August 26, 1942.
The aircraft’s identify was
confirmed by enlarging the
data block, visible below
the rearmost nose window.
Of note are two bullet
holes in the fuselage, one
at the bottom left corner of
the large gun window and
one behind the data block.
Repairs to these and the
distinctive paint demarcation
line between the upper
Temperate Sea and lower Sky
helped confirm the identity
of the aircraft in the colour
image on page 13 as also
being 41-9234. Damage
to the Perspex nose panels
was caused by shrapnel
that killed bombardier Sgt
Earl Snyder and injured the
navigator, Lt. David Hirsch.
(Paul Cool, son of Capt. Paul
E Cool)
B-17E 41-9234 spent close to
nine weeks at the Cheyenne
Modification Centre in
mid-1942. Here Lockheed
Vega-built B-17F Fortresses
are prepared for service with
the USAAF at the United Air
Lines – run facility in May of
the following year. 42-23024
(foreground) served in the
US throughout the war while
42-30139 was lost while
participating in the costly
Schweinfurt ball bearing
plant raid of August 17,
1943. The main fin assembly
was painted Medium Green
by the subcontractor rather
than Dark Olive Drab – this
area would subsequently
exhibit a characteristic red
hue on weathered airframes
such as 41-9234. Also
of interest, the nose gun
windows were narrower on
Vega-built Fortresses than
on those manufactured by
Boeing and Douglas. (United
Air Airlines)
Clown House – another B-17E originally destined for the RAF Coastal Command – led ‘B’ flight. As
Zubko’s mission report describes, the mission did not proceed smoothly for his flight.
I led a flight of three planes for reconnaissance north of Milne Bay. My aerial engineer, M/Sgt. Thrasher,
broke his arm in [the] top turret so I returned to Port Moresby landing at 1345. Got another gunner and
immediately took off again on [the] same mission. Searched areas off Milne Bay, Trobriand and D’Entrecastreaux
Islands with remainder of my flight. Lt. Laubscher was forced to return due to a faulty flight indicator.
Returning to Port Moresby by way of Milne Bay and the China Straits, we found enemy cruiser and two
destroyers in mouth of Milne Bay shelling coast. Time was 1815 and it was almost dark. Before a run could
be completed darkness and weather obscured the ships… returned to Port Moresby. Weather during mission
bad. Ceiling 100 to 800 feet. Overcast. Visibility less than two miles.
The following day, Zubko led a flight of three Fortresses including 41-9234, again flown by Lt. Walter
Schmid, on a 7½-hour armed reconnaissance to the east and north of Milne Bay, while on September 7,
Capt. Richard Ezzard led a gruelling 10½-hour, three-plane search in the same area as pilot-in-command
for Schmid’s crew in 41-9234. There were no sightings on each occasion and all bombs and ammunition
were brought back to Port Moresby.
Four days later, on September 11, word came through that two enemy destroyers had been spotted
off the Japanese bridgehead at Buna on the north Papuan coast. At 2:00pm, Major Elbert Helton, com-
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