B-17G Wee Willie
World War II Aviation History, bravery, innovation and sacrifice are all part of world war 2 aviation history, but it is also fraught with tragedy. Among the innumerable aerial machines that were lost during the Allied bombing campaign over Europe, the story of B-17G Wee Willie is a haunting reminder of the human cost of aerial warfare. Shot down on a dangerous mission the plane and crew became icons not only of bravery but of loss in the unforgiving sky over enemy territory.
This article looks at the history, mission and death throes of B-17G Wee Willie putting the story in perspective of the air war over Europe and remembering the men who flew aboard her. B-17G Wee Willie
The B-17G Flying Fortress: A War Machine in the Skies
In order to be able to understand what happened to B-17G Wee Willie it is necessary to understand the aircraft itself, firstly. The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was the mainstay of the strategic bombing of the United States Army Air Forces. Designed for high altitude, long range bombing aircraft, the B-17G was the most developed and heavily armed of the aircraft. B-17G Wee Willie
Some of the major characteristics of B-17G were:
Thirteen x .50 caliber machine guns
A crew of ten airmen
Undefended defensive positions (Chin out)
The Flying Fortress was not indestructible although the nickname. German fighters and anti-aircraft fire (called flak) claimed thousands of B-17s in the course of the war. Each loss was not so much of metal and machinery as it was short lives. B-17G Wee Willie
Introducing B-17G Wee Willie
B-17G Wee Willie was one of a host of bombers that were assigned the dangerous daylight bombing over occupied Europe. Like many aircraft she has had given a nickname chosen by the crew – most often a symbol of luck, a sense of humour or a connection to home.
Wee Willie flew in a bomber group which was called on to attack strategic targets which include:
Aircraft factories
Oil refineries
Rail yards Industrial centres
Every mission was taking them deeper into the enemy defenses where German resistance was increased and chances of survival was markedly decreased.
The Crew Behind the Name
The story of B-17G Wee Willie is inextricably bound with the story of the men that flew in her. The standard B-17 crew was:
Pilot and co-pilot
Navigator
Bombardier
Flight engineer/Top turret gunner
Radio operator
Ball turret gunner
Two waist gunners
Tail gunner
These men trained together, lived together and counted on each other’s life. Many were not much more than their teens. Each knew each mission to be his or her last.
Onboard Wee Willie this bond was to be tested in the most horrifying way to be imagined.
The Mission That Changed the World
On the day of her last mission, B-17G Wee Willie steamed off an air field in England in a gray foreboding sky. The target was deep in enemy territory and it was heavily-defended with flak batteries, squadrons of fighters.
As the stream of bombers raced across the coast line and proceeded inland however, anti-aircraft fire broke out. Black bursts shot up into the sky shaking the aircraft violently and ripping holes in wings and fuselages.
Then came the fighters.
Over Europe Interception of Enemies
German Luftwaffe pilots were skilled as well as blood-thirsty. Using fast climbing interceptors such as the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 or Messerschmitt Bf 109, they attacked by bombing bomber formations from the front and from the rear.
B-17G Wee Willie Got a Beating. Cannon shells flew through the plane and put out critical systems as well as wounded crewmen. Defensive guns fired endlessly but the great numbers of the attackers overwhelmed the formation.
Flames shot out of one engine. Control surfaces were slow to respond. The bomber began to fall behind.
To get behind in the Europe skies was often to die.
The Downing of B-17G Wee Willie
The fatal moment arrived, when a burst of flak hit the aircraft with devastating accuracy. The explosion blew through the fuselage causing catastrophic structural damage.
The pilot had problems maintaining control but it soon was apparent that B-17G, Wee Willie, was not going to keep itself aloft. The order for bailing out was given.
Chaos followed.
Smoke filled the cabin. Intercom lines were dead. Crew members struggled their way to escape hatches as the aircraft was in a spiral descent. Some made it out. Others never had the chance.
Moments later, Wee Willie went down for the last time, when she was blown up by violent explosion.
Survival, Capture, and Loss
The fate of the crew of B-17G Wee Willie was typical of the savage randomness of war. Those that were able to parachute out had new dangers on ground.
Some were:
Captured by German forces
Treated as prisoners of war
Subjugated to horrible interrogations and long imprisonment
Others were killed either in bailout or on impact with ground. Each result had its own trauma, both to the men involved, but also to the families that waited anxiously back home.
The Aerial Warfare’s Emotional Cost
Wee Willie’s loss of a B-17G was not an isolated case. Frequently, a bomber group would lose a number of planes on one mission. Crews were struggling back to base to empty bunks, incomplete letters and abandoned flight gear.
It was psychologically tremendous at the cost of:
Survivors dealt with guilt
Morale suffered with each loss
Crews were flying again with awareness of the odds
Yet the missions continued. Strategic bombing was thought to be of a significance to end the war.
Why B-17 Losses Mattered
Each downed bomber like B-17G Wee Willie was more than a tragedy – it was a grim signifier of the price paid to defeat Nazi Germany.
The bombing campaign:
Disrupted German industry
Driven enemy resources to Air Defense
Helped victory of Allies to a vast extent
However, there came a cost of success huge. Thousands of airmen never made it back home.
Remembering Wee Willie B-17G Today
Decades later the story of B-17G Wee Willie still continues to live on in military records, history and family memory. Aviation museums and memorials for the aircraft and the men who flew her.
Their legacy is a reminder that history is not abstract that it’s deeply personal.
The memory of Wee Willie involves the memory of:
Courage under fire
Brotherhood, in the face of death
Sacrifice to a higher cause
A Greater Legacy to Flying Fortress
B-17 Flying Fortress became one of the most famous planes in history. Yet behind every restored aircraft and museum display is a story such as that of B-17G Wee Willie – a story of loss, heroism and human endurance.
These types of aircrafts were flew not by machine but by people who believed in their mission despite that their price was unbearable.
Conclusion
The tragic story behind downing of B-17G Wee Willie captures the terror, sacrifice and courage that was part of the air war over Europe. From takeoff to destruction her last mission is typical of the kind of difficult realities faced by bomber crews every day of the World War II.
By not forgetting Wee Willie and her crew we pay tribute to all those who dared to brave the terror in the skies – and paid with their lives for freedom.
