41-24418 Mickey Finn aka Special Delivery II

Wes Gallagher, a war correspondent for the Associated Press stationed in North Africa, was allowed aboard a 301st Bomb Group B-17 Flying Fortress on the Group's raid on Tunis in early January 1943. He photographed one of the 301st Bomb Group B-17 Flying Fortresses (serial number 41-24418) through the waist gunner's window aboard the B-17 Flying Fortress he was riding in. Passed for publication 16 Jan 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: '301BG.' Printed caption on reverse: 'Pictures Taken During Actual B media-457797.jpg FRE 10130 Wes Gallagher, a war correspondent for the Associated Press stationed in North Africa, was allowed aboard a 301st Bomb Group B-17 Flying Fortress on the Group's raid on Tunis in early January 1943. He photographed one of the 301st Bomb Group B-17 Flying Fortresses (serial number 41-24418) through the waist gunner's window aboard the B-17 Flying Fortress he was riding in. Passed for publication 16 Jan 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: '301BG.' Printed caption on reverse: 'Pictures Taken During Actual Bombing Raid On Tunis When 19 German Fighters Were Shot Down. This interesting series of photographs were taken by Wes Gallagher, the Associated Press War Correspondent in North Africa, when he flew in one of the bombers which raided Tunis at the beginning of this year. Flying Fortresses carried out the raid, escorted by P-38 fighters. The sortie resulted in the biggest air battle on the Tunisian front to date, 19 German fighters being shot down. Associated Press Photo Shows:- The Fortresses start lining up wing to wing for the attack. This is how one of the bombers looked from the waist gunner's position in the photographer's plane. GAP 254302. 16-1-1943.' Censor no: 243403. On reverse: Associated Press, US Army Press Censor ETO and US Army General Section Press & Censorship Bureau [Stamps]. Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection

Object Number - FRE 10130 - Wes Gallagher, a war correspondent for the Associated Press stationed in North Africa, was allowed aboard a 301st Bomb Group B-17 Flying Fortress on...

Assigned 352BS/301BG Westover 12/7/42; Chelveston 9/8/42; flew group's first mission 5/9/42; Tafaraoui 26/11/42; as MICKEY FINN 11m; transferred 32BS and renamed SPECIAL DELIVERY II total 79m; Returned to the USA Rapid City 398BG (training) 10/11/43; Written off 20/10/44.



Assigned to the 352nd Bomb squadron at Westover, this B17F was initially named as "Mickey Finn" and flew eleven missions from Chelveston bearing that name. Lt Walter A Williams flew the Fort on the 301BG's first combat sortie to Rouen on 5th September 1942. When the group redeployed to Tafaraoui in North Africa, #418 was transferred into 32BS and re-named as "Special Delivery II" after the originally named Fort suffered flak damage in mid December and was scrapped.



Sixty-eight more missions were completed before "Special Delivery II" was considered "War Weary" and sent back to the USA proudly sporting at least eight swastikas for fighter kills. Here it was used to train the seemingly endless line of fledgling aircrews at Rapid City AAB, including men destined for service with 398BG. In October 1944, it was deemed worn out and written off.

Connections

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Units served with

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment
The insignia of the 398th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Places

Missions

Events

Event Location Date Description

Assigned

Westover Air Reserve Base, 57 Patriot Ave, Chicopee, MA 01022, USA 12 July 1942 Assigned to 352BS, 301BG 8AF Westover 12-Jul-42.

Other

Moved to ETO

Chelveston, Wellingborough NN9, UK 9 August 1942 Moved to ETO with 352BS, 301BG 8AF.

Other

Moved to MTO

Tafraoui, Algeria 26 November 1942 Moved to MTO with 32BS, 301BG 8AF.

Other

Returned to Zone of the Interior

Rapid City, SD, USA 10 November 1943 Returned to the USA with 398BG training crews for ETO.

Other

Written off

Rapid City, SD, USA 20 October 1944 Written off and scrapped 20-Oct-44.

Manufactured

Seattle, WA, USA Built at Boeing.

Delivered

Washington, USA Delivered to USAAF.

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added "aka" to the nickname.

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log

41-24418: Gallery (3 items)