B-17 “Battle Queen – Peg of My Heart” (42-30315) “Bomber Oak Tree” Memorial Plaque
Details:
Attached to large stone underneath a large tree in the middle of a cultivated private field. Contact the B-17 Museum in Utzenstorf to arrange a visit.
Plaque
A small brass (6”x6”) inscribed plaque attached to a large field stone.
The memorial remembers the plane and crew of a B-17, “Battle Queen- Peg of My Heart” (42-30315) of the 569th Bomber Squadron, 390th Bomber Group- “Wittan's Wallopers”, 8th US Air Force flying out of Framlingham (Airfield 153) Airfield on August 17, 1943 on a bombing mission to Regensburg, Germany. The 390th Bpmber Group ("Square J") was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for this action on August 17, 1943, known as "
Per Missing Aircraft Report (MACR) 391, the plane along with another 126 B-17 Bombers escorted by 207 P-47 Fighters took off to bomb the industrial center of Regensburg. The plan for the planes was to turn south after the bombing raid and land in bases in Northern Africa. After the bombing run, “Battle Queen” damaged by enemy fighters and hit by flak decided to make an emergency landing in Switzerland. The plane landed in a potato field outside the small town of Utzenstorf. The entire crew were taken as “internes” (considered POWs as of 2013). The crew was interned at the
(Note: 1517 US Service members, mostly aircrews, were interned in Switzerland during the war; the 134 internees held at the Wauwilermoos Camp were recognized as POWs in the US in 2014)
Crew of “Battle Queen”:
Pilot: 1st Lt Stephen P. Rapport, Jr.
Copilot: 2nd Lt Elmer R. Holloway
Navigator: 2nd Lt Grover D. Boyd, Jr.
Bombardier: 2nd Lt Charles O. Ryan
Engineer: S/Sgt John Scott
Radio: S/Sgt William R. Carter
Ball Turret: S/Sgt Theodore P. Obsharsky
Right Waist: Sgt Joseph W. Russell
Left Waist: S/Sgt Blair C. Neal
Tail Gunner: Sgt Ricardo Robledo
Special thanks for the B-17 Museum in Utzenstorf, Switzerland for the photos of this memorial and for information concerning this crash.
For more on the B-17 Museum Utzenstorf, see the museum website at: https://www.b17museum.ch
Monument Text:
The text is written in German and reads:
Die Bomber Eiche
Lester Landeplatz
Von der
B-17
“Battle Queen –Peg of My Heart”
17. August 1943
Utzenstorf, BE
The translation in English:
The Bomber Oak
The landing place of
B-17
“Battle Queen – Peg of My Heart”
17 August 1943
Utzenstrof, Bern
Commemorates:
People:
Units:
390th Bomber Group
569th Bomber Squadron, 390th Bomber Group
8th Air Force
Swiss Internees (POWs)
Wars:
WWII
Other images :
