The Old Man's Ordeal

L/E of 200 Giclee Prints
S/N by the Artist
Image Size: 25" x 19.5"
Paper Size: 30" x 24"

Plane Type: B-17 Fighting Fortress

On 8 March 1943, on a long-range photo-recon mission over Gasmata airstrip on New Britain, a Sixty-fifth Bomb Squadron, Forty-third Bomb Group B-17, the Old Man was jumped by 13 Zeros and a battle was on. One Zero pilot shot several bursts into the nose of the aircraft, wounding the pilot Melville "Dutch" Ehlers. Bombardier Thomas Lloyd "Breezy" Boren released four 500-pound bombs and the long-range bomb-bay auxiliary fuel tank to lighten the craft as they frantically clawed to gain airspeed. They limped back to the Dobudura airfield complex, Papua New Guinea, and the crew (also including copilot Joseph Cochran, navigator Warren Bryant engineer Madison, gunner Echols, radioman Boly, ball-gunner Andrade, and tail-gunner Ferriola), was credited with five aircraft destroyed.

PLANE JUNKIE - The Old Man's Ordeal by Jack Fellows (B-17 Flying Fortress)