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| USAAF 5th AF 43rd BG 65th BS Former Assignments 63th BS 19th BG 30th BS |
Aircraft History Built by Boeing at Seattle. Constructors Number 3086. On June 26, 1942 delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as B-17F-5-BO Flying Fortress serial number 41-24401. On July 28, 1942 took off piloted by Lt. William M. Thompson, Jr. as one of twelve B-17F Flying Fortresses on a ferry flight via Hickam Field then across the Pacific. Nicknamed "Lak-A-Nookie" in block letters with hyphens between each word. The name as a reference to lack of sex and was a Hawaiian sounding name. Wartime History On August 14, 1942 assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 43rd Bombardment Group (43rd BG), 63rd Bombardment Squadron (63rd BS). Assigned to pilot Lt. William M. Thompson, Jr. On August 20, 1942 assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group (19th BG), 28th Bombardment Squadron (28th BS) for "training and combat operations and indoctrination". Sometime between August 21, 1942 to September 4, 1942, damaged when it hit a tree at Mareeba Airfield while being taxied by ground personnel. Afterwards, the damage was repaired. On October 31, 1942 took off piloted by Captain Richard F. Ezzard as one of nine B-17s on a night mission over the Shortland Harbor and spent two and a half hours over the target area and made at least 20 runs dropping flares to illuminate the Faisi Island area. On November 1, 1942 in the mid morning returned safely to Port Moresby. On November 2, 1942 took off from 7 Mile Drone near Port Moresby piloted by Captain Boris M. Zubko (28th BS) as one of two B-17s on a mission to bomb a Japanese convoy of destroyers and transports. Spotting the convoy roughly 40 miles south of Gasmata, the B-17s were intercepted by nine fighters roughly 4-10 miles from the convoy and jettisoned their bomb loads and used cloud cover to escape and returned safely to Port Moresby. In early November 1942 returned to the 63rd Bombardment Squadron (63rd BS) for the remainder of the month. On December 2, 1942 assigned to the 65th Bombardment Squadron (65th BS). On February 11, 1943 took off piloted by Captain Jay P. Rousek with bombardier 1st Lt. Walter J. Lucien from the 64th BS on a night bombing mission over Simpson Harbor near Rabaul. On February 12, 1943 around midnight arrives over the target and made five bombing runs over a two hour period making glide bombing runs with the engines throttled back in a shallow dive. In total, this bomber released a a dozen 100 pound daisy cutters, 40 fragmentation clusters and 69 incendiary bomblets plus two bags of empty bottles to produce a whistling sound. The crew observed two small fires on the ground at Lakunai Airfield. Later, according to a Japanese Prisoner Of War (POW) later captured and a diary captured later, this was a highly effective raid and resulted in the destruction of thirty parked fighters. This B-17 returned safely. On July 10, 1943 took off from 7 Mile Drone near Port Moresby piloted by Major Jay P. Rousek as part of a mixed formation of B-17s and B-24s on a night bombing mission over Vunakanau Airfield near Rabaul. On July 11, 1943 after midnight, the bombers arrived over the target at various altitudes and encountered light anti-aircraft fire. This B-17 sustained a direct hit from anti-aircraft fire in the no. 4 engine that severed control cables and shrapnel hit the radio compartment but returned safely with the damaged engine running at reduced power. Next, transfered to the 65th Bombardment Squadron (65th BS) and continued to fly combat missions from Australia and New Guinea. By October 1943, the bomber had a large scoreboard on the right side of the nose with fifty bomb markings indicating missions flown plus six parachutes indicating supply drops and silhouettes of six ships claimed as sun and eight fighters claimed as shot down in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA). On October 21, 1943 one of five veteran B-17s flown across the Pacific back to the United States. After landing at Hamilton Field, plans to use the bombers on a war bond tour across the United States were canceled. On November 11, 1943 the B-17s were flown to Oklahoma City for reassignment. During 1944, this B-17 operated from Rapid City Army Air Base northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota and flown by air crews from the 398th BG, 603rd BS training before the squadron was sent overseas to join the 8th Air Force (8th AF) in England. During early 1944, photographed parked with 1st Lt. Victor E. Stoll with crew 66 and retained the "Lak-A-Nookie" nickname. For the remainder of World War II, used to train aircrews in the United States. Fate In November 1945 scrapped at Kingman, Arizona. References USAF Serial Number Search Results - B-17F-5-BO Flying Fortress 41-24401 "24401 to 43rd BG, 63rd BS. Taxied into tree, but repaired. Transferred to 65th BS. Returned to USA Nov 1943. Salvaged at Kingman, AZ Nov 1945." 398th Bomb Group Memorial Association - Stoll's Crew - 603rd Squadron - Between 1 January 1943 and 12 September 1943 (photo) Pride of Seattle (1998) by Steve Birdsall page 7 (41-24401) Fortress Against The Sun (2001) pages 289-290 (October 31, 1942–Nov 1, 1942), 291 (Nov 2, 1942), 391 (41-24401), 430 footnote 29 Ken’s Men Against The Empire Volume I (2016) pages 55 (ferry flight), 126 (February 11-12, 1943), 244 (July 10-11, 1943), 306 (photo), 308 (October 1943), 324 (63rd BS, 41-24401), 329 (65th BS, 41-24401), 337 (nickname), 338 (photo), 346 (photo 1944), 396 (index Lak-A-Nookie) Thanks to Steve Birdsall for additional information Contribute
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