11 Jan Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby

Trivia Question: Of all the bombers that force-landed in Sweden during World War II, how many are left for us to see?

Sadly, only one.

B-17G #42-3490 was assigned to the 91st Bomb Group, flying out of Bassingbourn Airfield, 11 ømiles west of Cambridge.  The song “Shoo Shoo Baby,” made popular by the Andrews Sisters in the 1943 film Three Cheers for the Boys, inspired a few bomber crews to christen their bombers with this name, and this one was no exception. At some point, a third “Shoo” was added to the name of their plane. (I wonder if it happened when the spicy nose art was applied by 91st BG line mechanic and artist extraordinaire Tony Starcer, who did artwork for more than 100 B-17s including the famous Memphis Belle.)

On the 29th of May, 1944,  Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby was en route to Posen, its 24th combat mission. The last time it was spotted, the #4 engine was smoking, and when the crew landed in Sweden, two or three engines were damaged. The men were safe and interned until October 1944 when they returned to England.

The engines were changed out, and the plane took flight again on June 30, 1944. Then #42-3490 was one of nine B-17s sold to the Swedes for $1 each. After a short time as a transport, it went to the Danish Airlines, then to the Danish Air Force and Navy, renamed Store Bjørn. It served in Greenland until 1955 when it was sold to the Babb Company, then to the French Institute Geographique Nationale. After service for worldwide aerial mapping, the plane was sent to a scrap yard in France. By this time, all her original equipment had been stripped out, and she was literally a wreck.

During the 1960s, Australian aviation historian Steve Birdsall tracked down Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby in France. It took years of detective work for him to do so. In an article in “The Ragged Irregular,” April 1969 91st Bombardment Group newsletter, the author reported that the B-17 was sitting at Creil airport in France, minus engines, with no air time since 1961. The 91st BG Memorial Association was investigating the possibility of returning her to the United States to be preserved as a memorial. Raising the funds was the big obstacle. Their mission was finally accomplished.

The French, as a gesture of friendship, presented the B-17 to the Secretary of the Air Force for preservation by the Air Force Museum. She was disassembled and airlifted in the belly of a C-5A transport directly to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

In 1978, the plane went to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for restoration by the volunteers of the 512th Antique Restoration Group. After ten years of massive effort, the aircraft was flown to the Air Force Museum near Dayton, Ohio, in October 1988, where it is on exhibit today.

And yes, Tony Starcer recreated his nose art.

CREDITS

The Sweden Crew (from Making for Sweden, Part 2 by Widfeldt and Wegmann)
1/Lt Robert J. Gunther, pilot
2/Lt George Havrisik, co-pilot
2/Lt John M. Lowdermilk, navigator
2/Lt Leonard V. Peterson, bombardier
T/Sgt James Shoesmith, top turret gunner
T/Sgt John H. Bigham, radio operator/waist gunner
S/Sgt Nick Premenko, ball turret gunner
S/Sgt Harry J. Teems, tail gunner
S/Sgt Harold F. Nicely, waist gunner

Photos
National Museum of the US Air Force
American Museum in Britain, Roger Freeman Collection

Rare Vintage Film on YouTube

The Return of Shoo-Shoo Baby by William G. Holder, Air University Review, January-February 1973

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