Sir Baboon McGoon

Sir Baboon McGoon
	The plane after its belly landing in England in October 1943
Type	Boeing B-17F-75-DL Flying Fortress
Manufacturer	Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, California
Construction number	8442
Serial	42-3506
Owners and operators	US Army Air Force (USAAF)
In service	1943–1944
Fate	Ditched after collision with a friendly bomb on 29 March 1944

Last updated March 20, 2023

Sir Baboon McGoon was an American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress last assigned to the 324th Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, operating out of RAF Bassingbourn (AAF Station 121), Cambridgeshire, England. The plane was featured in Popular Science magazine following an October 1943 belly landing in England. It was recovered and repaired, then later ditched in the North Sea on 29 March 1944 after a bombing run over Germany—the plane's 10-man crew all survived but became prisoners of war.

History

The plane was built as a B-17F-75-DL by Douglas Aircraft Corporation at the Long Beach, California, plant under license from Boeing. It was assigned serial number 42-3506 and delivered on 12 July 1943.^[1] The plane's nose art and name were apparently derived from a character in Al Capp's comic strip Li'l Abner ^[2]—Earthquake McGoon,^{[lower-alpha 1]} who in at least one 1943 comic strip serving as an advertisement for Cream of Wheat was referred to as "Baboon McGoon" by Mammy Yokum.^[5]

Belly landing

On 10 October 1943, the aircraft ran out of fuel while returning to RAF Bassingbourn, and made a belly landing in a wet and muddy sugar beet field near the village of Tannington, Suffolk, England.^[6] Its recovery was described in an article in the June 1944 issue of Popular Science magazine, as well as a 1945 article in Flying magazine.^[7] The article describes how the aircraft was jacked up in the sugar beet field. Once on its own gear, it was determined that it could be flown out of the field and several weeks of mobile repairs resulted in the engines and propellers being replaced and temporary patches being applied. An 1,800-foot-long (550 m) steel mesh temporary runway allowed the aircraft to depart the sugar beet field in November 1943 and fly to a maintenance depot for more extensive repairs.

Squadron records of the 324th BS indicate that Sir Baboon McGoon returned to Bassingbourn on 19 February 1944. It flew seven additional missions from 24 February 1944 until its final mission just over a month later.

Final mission

The 10-man crew for the plane's final mission on 29 March 1944, was headed by 2Lt Edgar C Downing.^[8] Most of his crew had flown other missions, and they had flown this particular aircraft on one previous mission since its return to service. The crew members described it as "a real crate" of an airplane, with many patches and quirks. The assigned mission for that day was a bombing run to Braunschweig (Brunswick, Germany). As their portion of the formation arrived over the primary target, the crew reported that the target area was obscured by clouds or smoke, so they proceeded to their secondary target.

Bombs released from a bomber above them struck one of their engines (believed by the crew to be number 4, the right-outboard engine). This shut down one engine, but the propeller couldn't be properly feathered and there was damage to the electrical and/or hydraulic systems. Their troubles mounted when they attempted to drop their bombs and the bomb bay doors had to be manually opened and the bombs released manually. Once the bombs were gone, the crew was unable to close the bomb bay doors. The increased drag of a non-feathered propeller and the open bomb bay doors, combined with the lost power from one inoperative engine, caused them to slow down and forced them to fall out of formation. The crew recalls that they were then attacked by German fighter aircraft and they lost one or two more engines and had to drop down to the cloud deck (tops around 5,000 feet (1,500 m)) to attempt to continue flying. The aircraft was headed west towards England, but was lower than their formations and unable to keep up. Witness crew members from a 323rd Bomb Squadron aircraft reported losing sight of the missing aircraft about 30 minutes (east of) the Zuider Zee, but that the aircraft was continuing on course, just lower and slower. The witnesses reported that the engines were feathered, but crew statements suggest that the engines were not turning, however the propellers were not feathered either.

As the accident aircraft continued westward, the crew was ordered to lighten the load by jettisoning all the extra weight that they could. The ball turret gunner was able to get back into the plane and so they jettisoned the ball turret. One crew member stated that they probably jettisoned any emergency radio they may have had, because they didn't have one in the life rafts. Approximately 4 p.m. and 20 nautical miles (23 mi; 37 km) west of the coast, they were firmly over the North Sea as darkness approached. They were flying on one sputtering engine, and they had approximately 80 to 90 nautical miles (92 to 104 mi; 150 to 170 km) to go to make the English coast. The pilot polled his crew and a unanimous decision was made to attempt a controlled ditching with the limited remaining power, rather than pressing on and facing a forced ditching with no power, quite likely in the dark. Based on previous boating experience, the pilot ditched, but 90 degrees different than the recommended procedure—following his return to service, the ditching procedures were changed to match his successful method.

A successful ditching was made, and the entire 10-man crew evacuated through the top hatch. They deployed their two five-man life rafts and pushed away in just in time to watch their aircraft sink in the North Sea. The crew recalls that they were cold, sore, injured, and angry. They watched formations of bombers returning to England, and a lone German aircraft came and circled their position once and could have strafed them, but didn't. It appeared to return perhaps an hour later. Struggling to keep their two rafts together in heavy 5-foot (1.5 m) waves, they feared they would freeze or drown in the icy water at approximately 60 degrees north latitude. After darkness fell, they began launching flares every half-hour or so until a boat arrived and rescued them.

Aftermath

The crew were initially taken to a jail near the streetcar line. Subsequently, they were ordered onto a train and transported to the DuLag (DurchgangsLager, transfer camp), and about April 1944 the crew had arrived in Luft Stalag 17-B in Krems, Austria, where they were held as prisoners of war for just over a year until the end of the war.

German records include documents for each of the 10-man crew. These documents are titled "Report On Capture of Members of Enemy Air Forces" and are shown with a "PLACE: 8th E-boat Flotilla, Haarlem".^[9] Each crew member was reported as being taken POW "At sea 28 nautical miles 300 degrees IJmuiden" on 29 March 1944 at 2125 (9:25 p.m.). IJmuiden is a coastal city where the Germans had hardened concrete E-boat pens for their Schnellboot (fast boats). Larger than an American PT boat, these boats probably were based from IJmuiden and the specific reference of time, distance and direction—28 nautical miles (32 mi; 52 km) 300 degrees west-northwest from IJmuiden at 2125 hours—provides a very specific location.

There is a table that estimates the drift rate for a five-man raft under those wind and wave conditions, which provides a reasonably accurate estimate for the location of the ditching around 4 p.m., followed by 5 hours and 25 minutes drifting in the rafts. The North Sea is approximately 80 feet (24 m) deep at the estimated ditching site.

The June 1944 issue of Popular Science featured the article of the successful restoration of Sir Baboon McGoon from its October 1943 belly landing. By the time the article appeared in print, the aircraft had been on the bottom of the North Sea for at least two months.

Notes

↑ At least two B-17s were named "Earthquake McGoon" (42-38209 and 43-37597);^[3]^[4] it was also the nickname of pilot James B. McGovern Jr.

Related Research Articles

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater of Operations and dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during World War II. It is the third-most produced bomber of all time, behind the four-engined Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the multirole, twin-engined Junkers Ju 88. It was also employed as a transport, antisubmarine aircraft, drone controller, and search-and-rescue aircraft.

German submarine U-571 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany for service during World War II. U-571 conducted eleven war patrols, sinking five ships totalling 33,511 gross register tons (GRT), and damaging one other for 11,394 GRT. On 28 January 1944 she was attacked by an Australian-crewed Sunderland aircraft from No. 461 Squadron RAAF west of Ireland and was destroyed by depth charges. All hands were lost.

The Blohm & Voss BV 138Seedrache, but nicknamed Der Fliegende Holzschuh was a World War II German trimotor flying boat that served as the Luftwaffe's main seaborne long-range maritime patrol and naval reconnaissance aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leon Vance</span> United States Army Air Force pilot and Medal of Honor recipient (1916–1944)

Leon Robert Vance Jr. was a Medal of Honor recipient who served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Polebrook</span> Airport in Northamptonshire, England

Royal Air Force Station Polebrook or more simply RAF Polebrook is a former Royal Air Force station located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east-south-east of Oundle, at Polebrook, Northamptonshire, England. The airfield was built on Rothschild estate land starting in August 1940.

The 91st Bomb Group (Heavy) was an air combat unit of the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War. Classified as a heavy bombardment group, the 91st operated B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft and was known unofficially as "The Ragged Irregulars" or as "Wray's Ragged Irregulars", after the commander who took the group to England. During its service in World War II the unit consisted of the 322nd, 323rd, 324th, and 401st Bomb Squadrons. The 91st Bomb Group is most noted as the unit in which the bomber Memphis Belle flew, and for having suffered the greatest number of losses of any heavy bomb group in World War II.

Royal Air Force Bassingbourn or more simply RAF Bassingbourn is a former Royal Air Force station located in Cambridgeshire approximately 3 mi (5 km) north of Royston, Hertfordshire and 11 mi (18 km) south west of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.

Nine-O-Nine was a Boeing B-17G-30-BO Flying Fortress heavy bomber, of the 323d Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group, that completed 140 combat missions during World War II, believed to be the Eighth Air Force record for most missions, without loss to the crews that flew her. A different B-17G, painted to mimic the Nine-O-Nine, crashed at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, in October 2019.

Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby, originally Shoo Shoo Baby, is a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in World War II, preserved and currently in storage at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, awaiting transfer to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. A B-17G-35-BO, serial number 42-32076, and manufactured by Boeing, it was named by her crew for a song of the same name made popular by The Andrews Sisters, the favorite song of its crew chief T/Sgt. Hank Cordes. Photographs of the bomber indicate that a third "Shoo" was added to the name at some point in May 1944 when the original aircraft commander completed his tour of duty and was replaced by another pilot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan Am Flight 6</span> 1956 passenger plane crash over the Pacific ocean

Pan Am Flight 6 was a round-the-world airline flight that ditched in the Pacific Ocean on October 16, 1956, after two of its four engines failed. Flight 6 left Philadelphia on October 12 as a DC-6B and flew eastward to Europe and Asia on a multi-stop trip. On the evening of October 15 the flight left Honolulu on a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser Clipper named Sovereign Of The Skies. The accident was the basis for the 1958 film Crash Landing.

Tuninter Flight 1153 (UG1153/TUX1153) was a Tuninter Airlines international flight from Bari International Airport in Bari, Italy, to Djerba-Zarzis Airport in Djerba, Tunisia. On 6 August 2005, the Tuninter ATR 72 ditched into the Mediterranean Sea about 18 miles (29 km) from the city of Palermo. Sixteen of the 39 people on board died. The accident resulted from fuel exhaustion due to the installation of fuel quantity indicators designed for the ATR 42 in the larger ATR 72. It was also Tuninter's first fatal accident in the 14-year history of the company.

Tannington is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located around ten miles south-east of Diss, in 2005 its population was 110. At the 2011 Census the population had fallen below 100, and not therefore being maintained on this site was included in the civil parish of Brundish.

Dumbo was the code name used by the United States Navy during the 1940s and 1950s to signify search and rescue missions, conducted in conjunction with military operations, by long-range aircraft flying over the ocean. The purpose of Dumbo missions was to rescue downed American aviators as well as seamen in distress. Dumbo aircraft were originally land-based heavy bomber aircraft converted to carry an airborne lifeboat to be dropped in the water near survivors. The name "Dumbo" came from Walt Disney's flying elephant, the main character of the animated film Dumbo, appearing in October 1941.

Pan Am Flight 526A, a Douglas DC-4, took off from San Juan-Isla Grande Airport, Puerto Rico, at 12:11 PM AST on April 11, 1952 on a flight to Idlewild International Airport, New York City with 64 passengers and five crew members on board. Due to inadequate maintenance, engine no. 3 failed after takeoff, followed shortly by engine no. 4. Nine minutes after takeoff, the aircraft ditched in rough seas 11.3 miles NW of San Juan Airport, broke apart and sank after three minutes. Panicking passengers refused to leave the sinking wreck. 52 passengers were killed, and 17 passengers and crew members were rescued by the USCG. After this accident it was recommended to implement pre-flight safety demonstrations for over-water flights.

This is a partial list of accidents and incidents involving the Boeing-designed B-17 Flying Fortress. Combat losses are not included except for a very few cases denoted by singular circumstances. A few documented drone attrition cases are also included.

German submarine U-417 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

VPB-103 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Bombing Squadron 103 (VB-103) on 15 March 1943, redesignated as Patrol Bombing Squadron 103 (VPB-103) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 31 August 1945.

VP-27 was a Patrol Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 83 (VP-83) on 15 September 1941, redesignated Bombing Squadron 107 (VB-107) on 15 May 1943, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 107 (VPB-107) on 1 October 1944, redesignated Patrol Squadron 107 (VP-107) on 15 May 1946, redesignated Heavy Patrol Squadron (Landplane) 7 (VP-HL-7) on 15 November 1946, redesignated Patrol Squadron 27 (VP-27) on 1 September 1948 and disestablished on 11 January 1950.

I-37, originally numbered I-49, was a Japanese Type B1 submarine in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Commissioned in 1943, she made three war patrols, all in the Indian Ocean, during the last of which her crew committed war crimes by massacring the survivors of the merchant ships she sank. Subsequently, converted into a kaiten manned suicide attack torpedo carrier, she was sunk during her first kaiten mission in 1944.

References

↑ "B-17 42-3506 / Sir Baboon McGoon". b17flyingfortress.de. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
↑ Recollections of Ken McTigue a WW-II child evacuee in England who witnessed and described the October crash and recovery efforts.
↑ "B-17 42-38209 / Earthquake McGoon". b17flyingfortress.de. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
↑ "B-17 43-37597 / Earthquake McGoon". b17flyingfortress.de. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
↑ "1943 Cream of Wheel Cereal Ad". outletsmars.com. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
↑ Hawkins, Ian (1990). The Munster Raid: Bloody Skies Over Germany. AERO. p. 232. ISBN 9780830650019 . Retrieved 21 July 2020.
↑ "Crash Landing". Flying . 36 (5): 39–43. May 1945. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
↑ "Edgar C Downing". americanairmuseum.com. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
↑ "Report on Capture of Members of Enemy Air Forces" . 29 March 1944 – via fold3.com.