US Army Air Force

Emergency landing

US Army photo**

Locals look at an American B-17 bomber that makes an emergency landing in the Bern region on a field near the Utzenstorf commune in Switzerland. American bomber B-17F-95-BO (serial number 42-30315) with its own name "Battle Queen, aka Peg of My Heart" from the 569th Bomber Squadron of the 390th Bomber Group of the 8th Air Force USAF was damaged on August 17, 1943, when 300 American bombers taking off from British airfields bombed Messerschmitt factories in Regensburg, Germany and Wiener-Neustadt, Austria. The goal was achieved at a great cost - every fifth aircraft was lost. The operation did not provide for the return of bombers to bases in Great Britain, the final destination of the mission was Tunisia, North Africa. Thus, this bomber, due to the inability to reach its destination, ended up in neutral Switzerland.