NAME TP - M# SER - BLK - MF

SERIAL #

AF

BG

BS

 SC RCL/# V#-P

PHOTO CREDITS

BAD PENNY, The

B

-

24

 H

-

 30

-

 DT 42-51183

15

376

512

~ F/27 05-2

N/A

#27 Then #26 - Lost 31 Jan 45, AUT - MACR 12067 - Pilot Wante J. Bartol

Info Contributor - Ed Clendenin
From Robert Willis (Armorer/Nose Gunner): "We slid The BAD PENNY on to a dirt strip adjacent to an English fighter base North of Bari. They requested we land in the dirt as they did not want to damage their runway if we blew up. We thought we were going to abandon over the Adriatic Sea or the North coast of Italy, but we made it. We slid the plane up to the edge of an old Roman store quarry. We were picked up by truck and hauled back to the 376th. As I recall, we hit the S.W. marshalling yards in Vienna again. The BAD PENNY did not recover, too many holes and the slide to first base didn't help, but we got back. It could have been worse if we went over the edge of the quarry after all that."

Standing (L-R)
Malcolm Willis - Tail Gunner
Morton Fink - Engineer
Bill McCarty - Radio Operator
Jack Soderlund - Waist Gunner
Cecil  R. Chappell - Asst Eng/Ball Gunner
Robert Willis - Armorer/Nose Gunner		 Kneeling (L-R)
Bob Westrup - Navigator
Melvin Sossaman - Pilot
Tom Cassidy - Co-Pilot
Jim Esbanshade - Bombardier

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