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B-17F 42-3216

Aircraft Details

Serial Number: 42-3216
Name: THE JOKER
Manufacturer: Built by the Douglas Aircraft Company, B-17F-35-DL, Camouflage
Squadron: 545th Bombardment Squadron (H)
Squadron ID Code: 545th‑JD*S
Start Date: 15 April 1943. Original AC: Start Date is approximate..
Missions: This aircraft was credited with 17 combat missions with the 384th.
End Date: 14 October 1943. Failed to return from combat operations.
Related Documents:Missing Air Crew Report # 841 (17.212 MB)
Photo Album: Aircraft 42-3216 Photo Album
(more...)

B-17F Aircraft 42-3216 Was Assigned To 28 Missions Manned by 384th BG Personnel,
Earning Combat Credit For 17 Of Them
Number Date Target Results Mission/Sortie Information
122 June 1943Target: General Motors Truck Factory
Type: Industry
Location: Antwerp, Belgium
Completed MissionTail gunner's feet were frostbitten.
Sortie Report
225 June 1943Target: Industrial Area & Submarine Pens
Type: Military
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Scrubbed: Did Not Take OffReplaced by Ground Spare Aircraft 42‑30143
Sortie Report
326 June 1943Target: Villacoublay Airfield
Type: German Air Force (Luftwaffe)
Location: Paris, France
Aborted Mission After Taking Off.Turned back with #3 engine running rough, low oil pressure and smoking; feathered engine.
Sortie Report
428 June 1943Target: Fighter Airfield
Type: German Air Force (Luftwaffe)
Location: Beaumont-le-Roger, France
Completed Mission Sortie Report
529 June 1943Target: duNord Aircraft Works, Villacoublay Airfield
Type: German Air Force (Luftwaffe)
Location: Paris, France
Completed Mission Sortie Report
710 July 1943Target: Drucat Airfield
Type: German Air Force (Luftwaffe)
Location: Abbeville, France
Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused 
924 July 1943Target: Aluminum & Magnesium Plants
Type: Industry
Location: Herøya, Norway
Completed MissionHigh Squadron lead, group deputy.
Sortie Report
1229 July 1943Target: Naval Base
Type: Military
Location: Kiel, Germany
Completed MissionWing lead.
Sortie Report
1330 July 1943Target: Aircraft Assembly Plant
Type: Aircraft Industry
Location: Kassel, Germany
Completed MissionGround Spare Aircraft; replaced 42‑3259.
Sortie Report
1412 August 1943Target: Synthetic Fuel Hydrogenation Plant
Type: Industry
Location: Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Completed MissionGroup lead. Bomb bay doors wouldn't open on bomb run; bombs dropped on target of opportunity 30 west of Gelsenkirchen.
Sortie Report
1515 August 1943Target: Poix-en-Picardie and Amiens-Glisy Airfields
Type: German Air Force (Luftwaffe)
Location: Poix-de-Picardie & Amiens, France
Completed MissionLow Squadron deputy.
Sortie Report
1616 August 1943Target: Le Bourget Airport & Air Depot
Type: German Air Force (Luftwaffe)
Location: Paris, France
Completed Mission Sortie Report
1717 August 1943Target: Ball-Bearing Plant
Type: Bearings Industry
Location: Schweinfurt, Germany
Completed Mission Sortie Report
--24 August 1943Diversion
(Non-Combat)
Scrubbed: Did Not Take OffReplaced by Ground Spare Aircraft 42‑5843.
Sortie Report
--2 September 1943Vannes, France, RECALLEDMission Recalled Sortie Report
203 September 1943Target: Air Park and Aerodrome
Type: German Air Force (Luftwaffe)
Location: Romilly-sur-Seine, France
Completed Mission Sortie Report
216 September 1943Type: Industry
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
Ground Spare Aircraft, Unused 
227 September 1943Target: Bruxelles-Evere Airfield/Repair Depot
Type: Aircraft Industry
Location: Brussels / Bruxelles, Belgium
Completed MissionGroup deputy lead.
Sortie Report
239 September 1943Target: Airfield
Type: German Air Force (Luftwaffe)
Location: Lille-Vendeville, France
Completed MissionLow Squadron Lead.
Sortie Report
2416 September 1943Target: Blockade Runner Ship (in Loire River)
Type: Transportation
Location: Nantes, France
Completed MissionGroup lead.
Sortie Report
--21 September 1943Riems, France, RECALLEDMission Recalled Sortie Report
--26 September 1943Nantes, France, RECALLEDMission RecalledWilliam A. Jones
Sortie Report
2627 September 1943Target: Port Area
Type: Transportation
Location: Emden, Germany
Completed MissionOne engine went out before the target, and a second was hit by flak. A third engine quit on the way home. The crew threw as much as possible overboard, and the pilot was able to bring it in on one engine.
Sortie Report
298 October 1943Target: Workshops
Type: Submarine Facility
Location: Bremen, Germany
Completed Mission Sortie Report
309 October 1943Target: Aircraft Factories
Type: Aircraft Industry
Location: Anklam, Germany
Scrubbed: Did Not Take OffReplaced by Ground Spare Aircraft 41-24529.
Sortie Report
3110 October 1943Target: Railroad Marshalling Yards
Type: Transportation
Location: Münster, Germany
Aborted Mission After Taking Off. Sortie Report
--13 October 1943Emden, Germany, RECALLEDMission Recalled Sortie Report
3214 October 1943Target: Ball-Bearing Factory
Type: Bearings Industry
Location: Schweinfurt, Germany
Failed To ReturnDamaged by enemy aircraft; exploded and crashed near Dilsen, Belgium; MACR 841.
Sortie Report