B-17G-35-BO 42-32024 "Swamp Fire"
Swamp Fire was the first Heavy Bomber to reach one hundred Missions - "Without an Abort" for the 379th BG. She was chosen to participate in the 28 May 1944 top secret "Grapefruit" mission to drop Americans first Glide bomb 20+ miles from the primary target of Cologne, Germany. When she reported to Alconbury she was repainted and renamed "The Scorpion" and flew around thirty weather missions
Milestones of Swamp Fire
*Completed & delivered 15 January 1944- flown to England 14 February 1944
*Pressed into duty 21 February 1944
*Achieved 25th Mission status on 04 May 1944
*Picked to be one of sixty crews out of 2300 available, to fly the top secret "Grapefruit Mission” on 28 May 1944
*Winner of Grand Slam Award for April/May mission statistics 1944
*Achieved 50th Mission Status on 22 June 1944
*Achieved 75th Mission Status on 13 August 1944
*Achieved 100th Mission Status on 01 November 1944- First Heavy Bomber to do so without an Abort.
*Crashed on landing by rookie crew after completing her 117th Mission
*Declared 'War Weary' by the Commander & Ground Crew Chief Dominick DeSalvo on 12 December 1944
*Sent to 2nd BAD and turned into a Weather Ship flying thirty missions
*Returned to the United States 12 July 1945
*Declared surplus 30 November 1945 moved to Kingman, Arizona
*Sold as surplus 29 December 1945 & Scrapped to make miniature B-17 Toys & Aluminum Canoes
*The Grand Slam was created by the Command Staff of the 8th Army Air Force. Only one Bomb Group ever met the standards outlined in the award. The 379th.
Go to side bar and click on Grand Slam Award for more information.
* She was combat active from 21 Feb to 11 Dec 1944. A total of 314 days during which she
flew 117 combat missions with only one abort (her 114th mission). Giving her an average of flying every two & a half day.
Text from
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/aircraft/42-32024
https://sites.google.com/site/swampfiresite/
