THE LAST B17

A shot of 95th Bombardment Group (H) B17G 44-8640, 334th Squadron,
taken during a mission on April 20, 1945

On May 7th, 1945, B17G 44-8640 took off from Horham Airfield, an Eighth Air Force base in Suffolk, to take part in a 'Chowhound' mission over German occupied Holland. These missions, to drop supplies and food to Dutch civilians in German occupied territory, were carried out by the RAF and American forces, the German authorities having given safe passage to these humanitarian flights. On the return leg 48640 overflew the Dutch port of Ijmuiden, then a German E-boat base, and was fired on by an SS machine gun unit, which scored hits on the aircraft including No 2 engine which caught fire. The aircraft came down in the sea about 3 1/2 miles off Southwold, Suffolk. Of the 8 crew and 5 passengers on board there were four survivors. This was the last B17 shot down in the European Theatre of Operations. (From Bill Cook and Ian Hawkins, Framlingham Eighth Air Force Memorial Museum, England).

Back to Main Page