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Old 666
Old 666 was a Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress heavy bomber, serial number 41-2666, assigned to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) 19th and 43rd Bombardment Groups in 1942–1943. It is notable for being the aircraft piloted by Lt. (then Captain) Jay Zeamer Jr. on the 16 June 1943 mission which earned him and 2nd Lt. Joseph Sarnoski each a Medal of Honor, and all other members of the aircrew the Distinguished Service Cross.
Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress serial number 41-2666 was built in Seattle, Washington, in March 1942. It arrived in Hawaii in May 1942 for delivery to Australia. That same month, it was assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group. Sometime after it arrived in Australia, 41-2666 was equipped with a trimetrogon camera array used in high-altitude topographical mapping.
During the summer and fall of 1942, the Flying Fortress was flown primarily by the 8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron (PRS), usually while attached to the 19th. Late in the year, it was transferred to the 43rd Bomb Group, where during a mission in December 1942, it was damaged severely enough to be grounded for a long period of time. Nothing more is known about the aircraft until the following April, when it was once again being flown on photo-recon missions by the 8th PRS. In May 1943, having by then gained a reputation as a “Hard Luck Hattie” for its record of acquiring ongoing damage and oddball accidents, 41-2666 was transferred to the 65th Bombardment Squadron, 43rd Bombardment Group, at Seven-Mile Airstrip, located at Port Moresby, New Guinea.
Captain Jay Zeamer Jr., the squadron executive officer at the time, requisitioned the B-17 for use by his own selected aircrew, who called themselves the Eager Beavers, due to Zeamer's regular habit of volunteering for missions. Besides significantly reducing its overall weight by 2,000 pounds (910 kg), including stripping out unnecessary structure, cartridge belts, and ammunition feed equipment, the aircrew also replaced the four aging engines with new ones, as Zeamer wanted a fast aircraft.
An Associated Press (AP) report dated 30 April 1943 recounted Zeamer and his crew dropping from 8,000 feet (2,400 m) to 300 feet (91 m) to complete a reconnaissance mission over Rabaul, New Britain, while harassed by 15 to 20 Japanese Zero fighters; the action yielded Silver Star decorations for the crew. Another AP article, dated 30 May 1943, reported Zeamer and his crew strafing Japanese searchlights while flying over Wewak, New Guinea, at an altitude of 900 feet (270 m). At least one version of that article noted the crew's "Eager Beavers" nickname.
According to Zeamer's own flight log entry for the 16 June 1943 mission, and the 65th Bombardment Squadron morning report for that mission, the crew had increased the plane's active armament from 12 to 16 M2 Browning .50 caliber machine guns. The plane had custom-engineered twin .50s mounted in both waist positions and overhead in the radio compartment (rather than a single .50 in each position) and a single fixed .50 mounted on the deck to the right of the bombardier's chair, specially sighted and wired for Zeamer to fire remotely from his pilot's control yoke, through the lower right nose plexiglass ball socket. Additionally, three loose .50s were carried in the aircraft's catwalk for quick substitution in case any machine guns became inoperable for any reason. This accounts for the 19 machine guns Zeamer referred to in a 1945 issue of The American Magazine.
As for the B-17's name, Zeamer's aircrew referred to 41-2666 only as "666" or "the plane". On 14 June 1943, two days before their final mission together, Zeamer officially named their B-17 Lucy. He had the name painted in script under the three windows on the port side nose, mostly between and underneath the small forward window and larger gun window on that side. This was in honor of Lucile Christmas, the daughter of Major General John K. Christmas, whom he dated stateside while stationed at Langley Air Force Base. Despite their extensive reworking of the B-17, Zeamer and his aircrew flew 41-2666 only five times, two of which were test hops. Standard bombing missions were flown by the other Flying Fortresses, reserving "666"/ Lucy and its specialty camera array for photo and mapping work.
Zeamer's aircrew flew three reconnaissance missions in 41-2666, the last occurring on 16 June 1943. It called for a solo B-17 to map the west coast of Bougainville Island, almost 600 miles (970 km) over mostly open ocean from Seven-Mile, in support of a planned invasion of the island later that year. Such mapping demanded rigorously straight and level flight for the duration to avoid blurring of the photos, and this mission would require a 22-minute level run over hostile territory.
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Old 666
Old 666 was a Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress heavy bomber, serial number 41-2666, assigned to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) 19th and 43rd Bombardment Groups in 1942–1943. It is notable for being the aircraft piloted by Lt. (then Captain) Jay Zeamer Jr. on the 16 June 1943 mission which earned him and 2nd Lt. Joseph Sarnoski each a Medal of Honor, and all other members of the aircrew the Distinguished Service Cross.
Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress serial number 41-2666 was built in Seattle, Washington, in March 1942. It arrived in Hawaii in May 1942 for delivery to Australia. That same month, it was assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group. Sometime after it arrived in Australia, 41-2666 was equipped with a trimetrogon camera array used in high-altitude topographical mapping.
During the summer and fall of 1942, the Flying Fortress was flown primarily by the 8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron (PRS), usually while attached to the 19th. Late in the year, it was transferred to the 43rd Bomb Group, where during a mission in December 1942, it was damaged severely enough to be grounded for a long period of time. Nothing more is known about the aircraft until the following April, when it was once again being flown on photo-recon missions by the 8th PRS. In May 1943, having by then gained a reputation as a “Hard Luck Hattie” for its record of acquiring ongoing damage and oddball accidents, 41-2666 was transferred to the 65th Bombardment Squadron, 43rd Bombardment Group, at Seven-Mile Airstrip, located at Port Moresby, New Guinea.
Captain Jay Zeamer Jr., the squadron executive officer at the time, requisitioned the B-17 for use by his own selected aircrew, who called themselves the Eager Beavers, due to Zeamer's regular habit of volunteering for missions. Besides significantly reducing its overall weight by 2,000 pounds (910 kg), including stripping out unnecessary structure, cartridge belts, and ammunition feed equipment, the aircrew also replaced the four aging engines with new ones, as Zeamer wanted a fast aircraft.
An Associated Press (AP) report dated 30 April 1943 recounted Zeamer and his crew dropping from 8,000 feet (2,400 m) to 300 feet (91 m) to complete a reconnaissance mission over Rabaul, New Britain, while harassed by 15 to 20 Japanese Zero fighters; the action yielded Silver Star decorations for the crew. Another AP article, dated 30 May 1943, reported Zeamer and his crew strafing Japanese searchlights while flying over Wewak, New Guinea, at an altitude of 900 feet (270 m). At least one version of that article noted the crew's "Eager Beavers" nickname.
According to Zeamer's own flight log entry for the 16 June 1943 mission, and the 65th Bombardment Squadron morning report for that mission, the crew had increased the plane's active armament from 12 to 16 M2 Browning .50 caliber machine guns. The plane had custom-engineered twin .50s mounted in both waist positions and overhead in the radio compartment (rather than a single .50 in each position) and a single fixed .50 mounted on the deck to the right of the bombardier's chair, specially sighted and wired for Zeamer to fire remotely from his pilot's control yoke, through the lower right nose plexiglass ball socket. Additionally, three loose .50s were carried in the aircraft's catwalk for quick substitution in case any machine guns became inoperable for any reason. This accounts for the 19 machine guns Zeamer referred to in a 1945 issue of The American Magazine.
As for the B-17's name, Zeamer's aircrew referred to 41-2666 only as "666" or "the plane". On 14 June 1943, two days before their final mission together, Zeamer officially named their B-17 Lucy. He had the name painted in script under the three windows on the port side nose, mostly between and underneath the small forward window and larger gun window on that side. This was in honor of Lucile Christmas, the daughter of Major General John K. Christmas, whom he dated stateside while stationed at Langley Air Force Base. Despite their extensive reworking of the B-17, Zeamer and his aircrew flew 41-2666 only five times, two of which were test hops. Standard bombing missions were flown by the other Flying Fortresses, reserving "666"/ Lucy and its specialty camera array for photo and mapping work.
Zeamer's aircrew flew three reconnaissance missions in 41-2666, the last occurring on 16 June 1943. It called for a solo B-17 to map the west coast of Bougainville Island, almost 600 miles (970 km) over mostly open ocean from Seven-Mile, in support of a planned invasion of the island later that year. Such mapping demanded rigorously straight and level flight for the duration to avoid blurring of the photos, and this mission would require a 22-minute level run over hostile territory.
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