HISTORY
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History of the War Horse -
December 1943 to November 1944.


Airplane Serial Number 42-31764,
as assigned by Boeing in December of 1943,
was delivered to Denver, CO. on 12/12/43

The bomber was sent to Great Falls, MN. on 12/17/43

On 12/19/43 the B-17 was flown back to Denver CO. It is unknown why the bomber was flown back to Denver ?

On 12/31/43 #42-31764 was stocked at Kearney, NE.

The bomber was flown by the Northern air route from USA and landed at Presque Isle, Scotland 1/21/44.

On 4/22/44 the B-17 was delivered to the 549th Squadron - 385th Bomb Group, Great Ashfield England. The where-abouts of 42-31764 between January 21, 1944 and April 22, 1944 is unknown ? ( It was speculated the bomber might have been flown by some group, or for a special reason, during the three month period????? )

No. 42-31764 was flown by several crews of the 549th Squadron until assigned to Lt. Lamping and crew.

The crew named the B-17 the "WAR HORSE" - painted a picture of an old Horse on the right nose and flew until all were relived of duty, or KIA, in October 1944.

EPILOGUE: The War Horse served it's duty and crew well - and like the crew, became battle weary. Another combat crew flying the War Horse out of Great Ashfield crashed in Easton England November 11, 1944. The pilot was killed when the bomber exploded in mid-air - and injured six others when they bailed out of the falling bomber. Records show #42-31764 - The War Horse - caught fire while climbing for altitude to join the formation headed to target at Koblenz Germany. The explosion and resulting crash damaged the bomber beyond repair and and upon it's demise was salvaged for spare parts after November 11, 1944.


Crew names at time of crash on Mission No. 211 (11 / 11 / 44 )out of Great Ashfield England=

Pilot - Lt. R. S. Naylor
Co-pilot - Lt. C. L. Cunningham
Navigator - Lt. R. S. Rueben
Bombardier - Lt. H. E. Stumberg
Top Turret Gunner - Sgt. S. J. Powelko
Radio Operator - Sgt. F. J. Abdella
Ball Turret Gunner - Sgt. L. C. Bahten
Tail Gunner - Sgt. W. S. Takaberry
Waist Gunner - Sgt. C. R. Slayton


This crew was assigned to the 551st Squadron of the 385th Bomb Group.

It should be noted here that on June 3, 2002 - the remains of 1st Lt. Arthur C. Naylor are still burried at the Cambridge Military Cemetery in England.
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FOOTNOTE I: It was normal proceedure for a "Green-Pilot" coming to Great Ashfield to fly his first combat mission with a seasoned crew before being allowed to take his own crew into combat.

On July 8, 1944 - Lt. Donald J. Noe flew his first combat mission as co-pilot on the crew of the War Horse.

It was on this mission - the 15th for the crew of the War Horse - when Lt. W. W. Dutt was hit by flak. The War Horse was severely damaged and fell from formation - more than 10,000 feet - before the pilot and co-pilot gained control to pull out of the dive and fly the crippled bomber back to Great Ashfield on three engines.

On August 6,1944 - Lt. Noe's bomber was damaged on a mission to Berlin - With dead and wounded on board, utilizing the four engines to maintain elevation and direction, he flew his B-17 back to Great Ashfield without use of rudder and elevator control. All control cables to the tail had been cut by a ME-109 that all but sliced the bomber in half behind the Radioroom in the waist area.

At Great Ashfield, the dead and wounded were thrown out using "Dead-Man" cords to open parachutes - then after heading the bomber out to the English Channel - Lt. Noe bailed out !

It was later learned the B-17 turned and crashed into a house in England. The bomber and house were destroyed but no one was hurt on the ground. The Lady of the house happened to be in Church that day !


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FOOTNOTE II: On October 6, 1944 - While flying their last and 35 combat mission with another crew - Lt. Slaper and Sgt. Wolverton were shot down over Berlin. Lt. Slaper was KIA and Sgt. Wolverton survived the jump and was taken P.O.W. by Germans until released at the end of the war.


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FOOTNOTE III : It is recorded - on October 6, 1944 - the 549th Squadron of the 385th Bomb Group - was the only heavy bomber squadron flying out of England to lose all nine ( 9 ) B-17 bombers on a single combat mission.

The story goes = An adjacent heavy bomb group unable to muster all B-17s needed for a formation - asked the 385th BG to provide a squadron of bombers. The task was assigned to the 549th squadron.

Over Berlin - 75 ME-109s - flying through their own flak barrage - attacked the group from head-on in waves of 25 fighters each.

Suffering loss of many fighters - the ME-109s re-grouped ahead of the formation and continued attacking the lower bomber squadron until nine bombers were shot-down - then broke-off the attack.

There was not a single complete crew of Airmen remaining in the 549th squadron after the loss of the nine B-17s over Berlin.

It should be noted the War Horse had been grounded for repair of combat damage and did not fly on this mission to Berlin. Several of the crew members did fly as noted in FOOTNOTE II.

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FOOTNOTE IV : The crew of the War Horse DID NOT fly in the B-17 they later named the War Horse on D-Day - June 6, 1944 - rather they flew two combat missions that day in another bomber which was later named "Miss D-Day."

Bomber Serial No. 42-31764 was assigned to Lt.Lamping and crew several days after June 6, 1944. The general appearance of the bomber - olive drab in color and showing many bright aluminum wing and fuselage patches covering flak holes gave the bomber an appearance of being old and weary - Thus the name War Horse, to reflect appearance, was selected for a name.

The B-17 Lt. Lamping's crew flew in on June 6, 1944 was bomber Serial No. 42-31864. This B-17 was later named "Miss D-day" by the crew to whom the bomber was assigned after that date.

As a side-line = Bomber Serial No. 42-31864 - ( later named Miss D-day ) was crash-landed on return from the second mission on D-Day. Unknown to Lt. Lamping there was unseen flak damage. When the wheels touched down on the tarmac it was discovered a piece of flak had deflated the right tire which resulted in collapse of the right landing gear on landing.


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FOOTNOTE V : It was a 385th standing order - any bomber headed-out on a combat mission - and experiencing an engine failure before completely crossing the English Channel and reaching German costal defenses - was required to abort the mission. The bomber pilot contacted the formation Commander with the problem - and the bomber was ordered to abort and return to Great Ashfield.

Engine vibraations often loosened oil line fiffings resulting in loss of all engine oil. The crew of the War Horse experienced this situation on three ( 3 ) different occasions.

An aborted mission was not counted toward the crew's tour of duty number of missions.


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FOOTNOTE VI : As of October 21, 2001, there are four known remaining crew members of the War Horse.

1. Lt. C. H. (Bud) Lamping - Oregon

2. Sgt. Jim (Duke) Skophammer - California

3. Sgt. Frank (Junior) Mays - Virginia[FRANK MAYS PASSED AWAY IN JAN OF 2005]

4. Sgt. David ( Pop ) Maxwell - Florida



Three of the War Horse survivors are in contact this date by email. Should you like to inquire email = frank.mays@gte.net

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FOOTNOTE VII : It should be understood all combat missions listed were not flown by the crew of the War Horse in the B-17 named the War Horse. All too often the crew and bomber received great damage caused by anti-aircraft flak and fighters such that on some occasions several days were required for repairs. During this time the War Horse crew were assigned to other bombers to fly their missions. It was not always recorded by the crew which missions were in the War Horse and which were in other bombers. Some base records of bomber assignments for the crew have been damaged and memories fail after so many years - therefore - it is estimated the War Horse crew flew in at least a half dozen other bombers while putting in their 35 combat missions. Vague memories tell names of other bombers in which the crew accomplished missions but are not listed for fear of stating an error.
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