Monument Details

B-17s Chicken Ship, Scarlet Harlot, & Raven's Nest Crash Memorial -457th Bomber Group

Details:

In the woodbine adjacent to the picnic area along the road. Monument

A gray inscribed granite marker along with two black granite marble inscribed stones; two of the planes include the names of the crews that crashed nearby and the third which crashed in northern Germany the names are not included.

The memorial remembers three B-17 aircraft of the 457th Bomber group that were shot down on a mission to bomb nearby Gdynia, Poland on April 9, 1944.

The three B-17s of the 457th Bomber Group included B-17 (42-97537) "Chicken Ship" of the 749th Bomber Squadron and B-17 (42-97465) "Scarlet Harlot" of the 751st Bomber Squadron. These two B-17s were shot near this memorial in the Choctaw Forest. The third bomber, B-17 (42-31629) "Raven's Nest" which was shot down near Schleswig, Germany.

From the 457th Bomber Group Assocition website:

Mission No. 23 Narrative, April 9, 1944, Target - Gdynia, Poland

Over three hundred bombers were sent to bomb a FW-190 aircraft plane in Gydnia, Poland. This was the longest mission that the 457th had flown to date. Because of the distance friendly fighter protection would not be available near the target. The group lost three planes to a furious fighter attack both before they hit the target and on the way home. The route was over the North Sea, across Denmark and then East across the Baltic Sea. Many planes dropped out due to extremely bad weather conditions but the weather cleared as they approached the target. The bomb run and results were good in spite of enemy fighter attacks. Flak was moderate. The 457th lost three planes to enemy action. The 8th Air Force lost 32 bombers on this mission.

Monument Text:

The text on the monument is inscribed in English and Polish.

+ indicates Killed in Action (KIA)

The English reads:

Far left main plaque upper section:

IN MEMORY OF AMERICAN AIRMEN

FROM THE B-17 BOMBERS

NO. 42-97537 "CHICKEN SHIP"

NO. 42-97465 "SCARLET HARLOT"

457TH BOMB GROUP

8TH AIR FORCE

WHO WERE SHOT DOWN