In custody of the local military unit, the ten airmen, miraculously safe and sound, were taken by truck to the folk high school in nearby Hemse. After two nights, the crew left for the Swedish mainland....

Albin Larsson, of the Home Guard, armed with the rifle and bayonet, neared the area of the smoking plane and called out to the crew of ten in his foreign tongue, "Are you wounded? Are there any bombs?"...

The man walking toward the plane was Albin Larsson, workshop owner and member of the Home Guard. From what I have read, the Home Guard was comprised of local armed volunteers, likely former soldiers, who were "on guard" to protect the island. ...

Captain Charles W. "Smithy" Smith, with assistance from co-pilot Merle P. Brown, skillfully guided the crippled B-17 for about 2500 feet before it came to rest. The crew members, all ten of them, were stunned but unhurt. It was 4:55 in the afternoon....

There is a place on the island known as "Mastermyr." It is a bog west of Hemse where significant medieval artifacts have been found. This is the spot where the Liberty Lady pilot Charles W. Smith and the copilot Merle P. Brown chose to bring...

Our wilting B-17 Liberty Lady is flying over the island of Gotland, a Swedish province. Remember that the crew had no idea where they were and suspected that they were still flying over enemy territory. As waist gunner Don Courson remembers, when they came...

Lasse Svensson, a little boy who lived in the tiny village of Hemse on the island of Gotland, heard the noise of a plane flying low. Because his Dad owned a photoshop in Hemse, there was always a camera nearby, and it was always loaded...

The B-17's were built by the Boeing Aircraft Company, beginning in 1934. There were several models built until the final and largest model which was the B-17G....

In August of last year when I first began to search for information about the Liberty Lady, I was amazed to find a post on forum.armyairforces.com about my Dad's crew!...