Another view of the 398 BG B-17 that took the flak hit. The shell probably burst above the B-17 and downward. A lot of the damage you see may have occured on the flight home with pieces of the damaged plane shredding off, after all the plane was probably flying around 150 MPH. The pictures I saw said that the bomb togglier, S/Sgt. George Abbott was the only one killed. I got this info from: 398.org/images/images_aircraft_b-17/air

Lt. DeLancey's B-17

321stBG,447thBS, Lt Leonard L Shapiro's little Dog, PFC SCRAPPY, KIA on 05 July 1943 on Bombing Mission on the Gerbini Main Satellite #1. The B-25 took a direct hit by enemy flak, and went down in flames, All 5 crew members were killed, as well as Special Assistant, “PFC Scrappy”, The Pilot’s (Lt. Shapiro’s) Little Dog. All 5 Crew Members are buried or memorialized together at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, USA.  Pilot: Shapiro, Leonard L. “Shap”, 1Lt; Co-Pilot: Greenwood, Nathan H., 2Lt;  Schulze, George F., S/Sgt; Waldrip, Robert L., T/Sgt; Rider, Lawrence E., S/Sgt; plus PFC Scrappy (Lt Shapiro’s “little dog” / Special Assistant).


Special Assistant KIA 

Another argument for the toughness of B-17's. I might add also that most of these pilots were 21 or 22 kids who two years before had probably never even been in an airplane. Pictures like this says a lot for their training and courage.