EXTREMELY RARE! WWII 1944 B-17 Flying Fortress “MRS GEEZIL” MISSION #301 8th Air Force Large Engine Wreckage Fragment
EXTREMELY RARE! WWII 1944 B-17 Flying Fortress “MRS GEEZIL” MISSION #301 8th Air Force Large Engine Wreckage Fragment
Comes with hand-signed C.O.A.
*Accompanying this once-in-a-lifetime B-17 8th Air Force artifact is a 54-page photocopied MIA/KIA first-hand crew reports from the B-17 Flying Fortress from the 384th Bomb Group - 545th Bombardment Squadron (squadron code 545th‑JD*J) - 8th Air Force.
This extremely rare and museum-grade WWII artifact is a very large engine wreckage fragment from a B-17 Flying Fortress from the 384th Bomb Group - 545th Bombardment Squadron (squadron code 545th‑JD*J) - 8th Air Force. This B-17 Flying Fortress, also known as “MRS GEEZIL” is accredited with 19 aerial combat missions with the 8th Air Force before failing to return from a raid mission targeting a Ball-Bearing Plant in Schweinfurt, Germany on April 13th, 1944. This large engine fragment the B-17 Flying Fortress “MRS GEEZIL” when it was shot down by German fighter aircraft. Its last mission would be 384th BG Mission #89 and 8th Air Force Mission #301. This mission would be the greatest loss of B-17s for the 384th Bomb Group during the war.
PILOT: FIORETTI, EDWARD ANTHONY POW
CO-PILOT: BUSH, SIDNEY LEWIS - KIA
NAVIGATOR: MERLO, SAMUEL JOSEPH - POW
BOMBARDIER: GRIFFITH, LEONARD RAYMOND
POW: RADIO OPERATORMORTON, CECIL GORDON - KIA
ENGINEER/TOP TURRET: STUHL, WALTER EDWARD - KIA
BALL TURRET: EYRE, CHARLES HARRIS - KIA
TAIL GUNNER RACHUNAS, JOSEPH GEORGE - POW
WAIST GUNNER: VORISEK, DONALD THOMAS POW
WAIST GUNNER: CHAPERON, PHILLIP WILLIAM - POW
In the 8th Air Force after-action report it states:
TARGET: BALL-BEARING PLANT
TYPE: BEARINGS INDUSTRY
LOCATION: SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY
PRIMARY ATTACKED, HUGE LOSSES: THE 384TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP (H) FLEW AS THE HIGH GROUP OF THE 41ST COMBAT WING ON TODAY'S MISSION. VICIOUS FIGHTER ATTACKS KNOCKED DOWN NINE OF OUR AIRCRAFT - THE GREATEST ONE MISSION LOSS FOR THE GROUP DURING THE WAR - BUT THE BOMBERS WERE ABLE TO ATTACK THE ASSIGNED TARGET WITH GOOD RESULTS.
FAILED TO RETURN.
COMMENTS: SHOT DOWN DURING FIGHTER ATTACKS WHICH LASTED FROM 1354 TO 1357 HRS; CRASHED NEAR LINDENFELS, GERMANY. MACR 3869”