42-37960 DELTA GIRL
MACR 2539
Boeing B-17G-20-DL Delta Girl: Named by the pilot, Hugh E. Noell, whose wife (Claire
McLean Noell) was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta. A little town called Itta
Bena right in the heart of the Delta. They got married about a year before Hugh got
shipped overseas and he named his plane after her.
Crew on Feb 10, 1944 Mission #4: Brunswick
On the return flight from the target, the plane was attacked by German
fighters near Meppen, Germany. The waist section was riddled by shells.
With one engine feathered, and the aircraft on fire, the crew bailed out.
The B-17 crashed at Dankern in the village of Altharen, 15km NW of
Meppen. Watt and Fitzgerald were killed in the air and buried in the New
Cemetery at Lingen/Ems. They were reinterred at the American Cemetery
in the Ardennes.
Letter of October 16, 1990 from co-pilot Walter Jungbluth:
"We were attacked by Me-190's after dropping our bombs. We were flying
a high #2 position on the Commanding Officer's wing when attacked. As
the highest B-17 in the formation, we were attacked first. 20mm cannon
fire from the Me-109 knocked out the top turrett and shot out engines #1
and 4. #3 was then hit and set on fire. The two waist gunners and the tail
gunner were killed in the attacks by the Me-109's. Noell, Jackson and the
radio operator, Fowler, were wounded. We parachuted out, landing in
Germany near the Holland border. All survivors were captured and
became POWs."
