Tenny Belle

On 11th April 1944, a mix of 917 B-17s and B-24s of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Bomb Divisions (BD) of the USAAF, departed their airfields in England to strike at a range of targets across Germany – it was mission 298. The 1st BD, made up of 341 B-17s, attacked targets at Cottibus, Dobberphel, Stettin, Trechel and Sorau. the Focke Wulf aircraft assembly plant in Germany.

One of those aircraft taking part was #42-31083 “Tenny Belle” of the 525nd BS, 379th BG, based at RAF Kimbolton (Station 117) in Cambridgeshire. The aircraft had already flown thirty-seven operations before this one, but this would sadly be her last.

After taking off from Kimbolton at 07:41, the aircraft climbed to gain altitude and to form up. Its flight would take it easterly over Norfolk and the coast.

On board the aircraft, a B-17G-1-BO “Flying Fortress”, ‘FR*A’, was: 2nd Lt. John E. Daly Jr. (pilot); 2nd Lt. Robert W. Koerber (co-pilot); 2nd Lt. Williams F. Evans (navigator); S/Sgt. Carl B. Christensen (nose gunner/bombadier); T.Sgt. Omer L. Young (Flt. Engineer/top turret gunner); T.Sgt. Adriel Langendoerfer (radio operator); S.Sgt. Harvey W. Tuber (Ball turret gunner); S.Sgt. John N. MacCallum (right waist gunner); S.Sgt. Frank J. Hearne Jr. (left waist gunner) and S.Sgt. Howard L. Polizzo (tail gunner).

This was not Daly’s first crew though, they had formed at Pyote Air Base, Texas and transferred out to the UK together. On this operation, S/Sgt. Carl B. Christensen replaced the normal bombardier 1st Lt. Joseph Jennings who was at RAF Alconbury receiving Radar training.

Once airborne, the aircraft levelled out and began to find its place in the formation before heading off over the sea to Germany. At 09:03 and at 9,000 feet, in formation travelling at about 115 mph, the aircraft for unknown reasons, suddenly and violently lurched to the left as if the pilot had tried to steer away from another aircraft; it then lurched once again, this time to the right throwing the crew around inside the fuselage in an uncontrollable manner. The forces acting on the weary aircraft were too great though, and a fracture caused it to split into two sections.

The “Tenny Belle“, now unstable and with no aerodynamic stability whatsoever, simply fell from the sky hitting the ground with such force as to completely destroy it. In the impact, it also killed nine of the ten crewmen left onboard. The tenth, 2nd LT. Evans, managed to don his chute and escape the stricken aircraft whilst it hung in the air on the smallest amount of lift possible immediately following the accident.

According to the official crash report Form AF-14, the aircraft came down four miles west-south-west of Downham Market in the small hamlet of Barroway Drove. However, some sources say the aircraft fell at Fen Farm some six miles south-west of the town, neither can be confirmed at this stage, although due to the nature of the accident, it is possible parts were located in both areas.

There was no record of any explosions, and all engines were reported by 2nd Lt. Evans as “running very fast”. In his statement following the crash he said:

“The formation entered the clouds and we levelled off. We were in the clouds only a few minutes when the ship swerved violently to the left. I thought the pilot saw another wing-tip and was trying to avoid it. We then swerved more violently to the right. I then figured out it was out of control and thought that the plane had broken in two. I had my chute on before this. The last I saw of the Bombadier, he was trying to put his chute on. We were going straight down, and the engines were all running fast. There did not appear to be any fire in the wings. I tried to get to the escape hatch, but everything at his point is very confused and I do not know if I got out this way. I remember looking down to see of my chute was on, and noting that it was backwards. It opened with some help from me and a moment later I hit the ground. I looked around to the plane coming down, the tail part landed way behind the ship and numbers of burning pieces were falling around. There was a farmer near and I tried to walk over to him, but I was feeling pretty shaky. He got a car and took me to a hospital. I didn’t feel any explosions and no alarm was given.”

The official board of enquiry concluded that:

“The cause of the accident is undetermined and consequently, responsibility therfor[sic] cannot be established.”

Post crash, the bodies of the crew were removed and the B-17 guarded, none of the bombs aboard detonated. It was later salvaged on the 18th April 1944, but the strength of the impact had completely destroyed its fragile structure.

The normal bombadier, Joseph Jennings learnt about the loss of the crew that day, the news affected him badly, and he never talked about them or their loss afterwards.

Pilot, 2nd Lt. John Daly, (s/n: 0-805776) had flown 273 hours and 15 minutes on B-17s, gaining his pilots licence on June 30th 1943. He was only 19 years of age and thought to be one of the youngest pilots to serve in the USAAF at that time.

Sources and further reading.

Air Accident Form (A.A.F.) No. 14 USAAF.

American Air Museum Website accessed 14/1/25

Downham Market Heritage Centre