Digital
28/05/2007
Dedicated to the memory of the crew of “Chow-hound” B-17G SN 42-31367
A little tribute to the memory of the crew of “Chow-hound”, B-17 of the 322nd Bomb Squadron-91st Bomb Group stationed at AF Station 121, Bassingbourn, England, 1944.
First Lieutenant Jerold Newquist was assigned this ship for his first mission as first pilot, having previously flown three as a co-pilot to an experienced crew combat veteran. Newquist’s crew named the plane and in a PRO release dated May ‘44’ he recorded, “Our new Fortress was christened Chow-hound because we fight to eat and eat to fight. A silly name yes, but to us flying and fighting in her, Chow-hound is the eleventh member of the crew”. M/Sgt. Julian Murdock, the Crew Chief, recorded in the same release, “Chow-hound in more than 30 missions has not had a supercharger changed. She went 26 sorties before we made our first engine change and 29 sorties before the other three engines were retired from old age”. At that time, Murdock was about to set a new record of 50 missions without a turn back due to mechanical failure, although only the latter half as a result of “Chow-hound’s” performance.
This time , for the nose art, Tony Starcer chose to paint a Pluto-like cartoon hound riding the bomb instead of the usual glamour girl. Sometime after the plane’s 15th mission a flak splinter or machine gun bullet penetrated the nose right where the dog’s stomach had been painted. Starcer soon set to work with his brushes and painted on a Purple Heart medal beside the shiny new flak patch.
One of the many people that flew in “Chow-hound” was a newly arrived pilot who flew as co-pilot to Jerold Newquist on 29th January on the ship’s first mission. Sitting in the co-pilot’s seat that day for his first taste of combat was Louis LaHood and he noted the experience in his diary. “We got all our equipment together and were out at the ship at 0650. It was still very dark, the gunners were already there getting their guns in. The ground crew was busy giving the ship the last minute check – they had been up all night practically, getting the ship ready ….The assembly altitude was 20,000ft over the field but when we got there no one was able to find the leader to get into formation. We got tired of flying in circles so we went to the coast and tacked onto another formation who we hoped were going to the same target”.
As they approached the target the left oxygen system went dry and the crew had to use the small walk-around bottles. Louis continued, “We hadn’t encountered any opposition until about a half hour before the target. Then flak started bursting all around us and we had a few fighter attacks. The flak over the target was pretty thick and accurate. We had a few close burst’s and we got a hole in the rudder …. There were over 800 Forts on this raid and the sky was simply black, with bombers, fighters and smoke from the flak …. We couldn’t see the bombs hit, but they must have hit something because the smoke rose above the clouds. We saw about 15 fighters who made a few attacks after the target …. Two Me109’s had a little difficulty deciding who should get out of the other’s way because they ran head-on into each other and exploded into a million pieces”. On the 22nd February Newquist’s crew flew “Chow-hound” to Oschersleben where a flak burst exploded close to the plane and started an oil leak in number three engine. The prop was feathered and “Chow-hound” kept in position as waves of enemy fighters swept through the group. Later as they approached the Channel coast a number the number 4 engine ceased but generous proportions of luck and skill brought the plane safely into Bassingbourn. On landing it was discovered that a 20mm shell had pierced two fuel cells setting one on fire inside the wing, searing a head-sized hole in its spongy liner and partially melting through one of the main spars – lucky indeed! The crew were credited with two Me109’s destroyed and two more damaged. Julian Murdock’s ground crew had plenty of work to do to get the plane back into combat condition for its next sortie on 2nd March. In all Jerold Newquist completed 22 of his missions in “Chow-hound” including four trips to Berlin, another four to Frankfurt and one to Schweinfurt. After Newquist came the crew of Maynard Frey who completed another 13 sorties in the plane including one on D-Day, 6th June. They were lucky. The next crew that reached 13 sorties in “Chow-hound” unfortunately proved to be the last. Jack “Tex” Thompson first took the ship to Fleury in France on 23rd June and other missions followed, to Munich, Lechfeld, Merseberg and several targets in France.
”Chow-hound’s” luck did not last forever and on the 8th of August at 13:10hrs, it finally ran out. Their mission was to bomb enemy positions in Bretteville on Laize – the group leader decided to make a second bomb run because the target was difficult to identify on the first pass, the flak was intense and a direct hit cuts the plane in two near the position of the waist gunners – the rear portion goes down in a spiral but unfortunately the forward section is seen to explode before falling to earth. A figure is seen to jump from the wreckage but his parachute does not open. Part of the wreckage falls near Lonlay l’ Abbaye where it is quickly secured by the German occupying forces. Three bodies were recovered from the “Chow-hound” crash site in 1944, all eventually found their way into Overseas American Cemeteries in France. Those three men were: 2nd / Lt Charles Sherrill - O-759225 - Sgt. Warren D. Godsey - 37534026 and Sgt. Richard Collins – 32099321. The remains of 1st / Lt. Jack. Thompson - O552172 – 2nd / Lt Charles F. Bacigalupa - O716321 and Sgt. Gerald F. Gillies – 375408830 were also found in 1944.
Not until 2004 did JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command) excavate the crash site of “Chow-hound” and recover what remained of this gallant crew. The remains of T / Sgt Blake A. Treece, Jr - 14033465 - T / Sgt Henry Fr. Kortebein - 1212730310 and co-pilot 2 / Lt David J. Nelson O552168 were turned over to the CIL (Central Identification Laboratory) in Hawaii for positive identification.
On Thursday 24 August 2006 at Arlington National Cemetary the US Army held a "full honors" funeral for the three missing crewmembers of the B-17 "Chow-hound" which was lost over France on 8 August 1944, a fourth casket was there to represent the six crew whose bodies were found back in 1944.
“you will never be forgotten".
Credits: Extract taken from; Plane Names & Fancy Noses courtesy Ray Bowden © 1993
The nose art is not an exact representation of the nose art painted by the great Tony Starcer, I have added a few additional items for my own artistic licence - the additional "Der Fuehrer's Face" graphic is based on the Walt Disney film of the same name starring Donald Duck © 1942 Walt Disney Studios.
Link to article about the crews funeral: Chow-hound's Crew