Why Worry 42-97864 B-17

WHY WORRY
42-97864

This site is dedicated to the brave men of
the 8th Army Air Corps, 452 Bomb Group.
It highlights the history of the crew of the
B-17, "Why Worry". The pilot was Captain
Robert C. Patrick and the co-pilot was Lt.
Robert F. Kerr(my uncle). After several
missions, the plane was shot down by
German fighter planes on May 12, 1944
over Mershausen, Germany. The entire
crew survived, but all were taken prisoner
by the Germans. Uncle Bob and the other
officers were taken to Stalag Luft III. The
enlisted crew members were taken to
Stalag Luft IV.

CAPT

ROBERT C PATRICK

PILOT

POW

6 MISSIONS

1LT

ROBERT F KERR

CO PILOT

POW

9 MISSIONS

2LT

JOHN H McCRAKEN

NAVIGATOR

POW

9 MISSIONS

2LT

THOMAS J LEWIS

BOMBARDIER

POW

5 MISSIONS

SGT

JOHN D HERWIG

ENGINEER

POW

5 MISSIONS

SGT

THEODORE C OTTE

RADIOMAN

POW

7 MISSIONS

SGT

HARRIE JONES

BT GUNNER

POW

6 MISSIONS

SGT

JOSEPH P CADLE

RW GUNNER

POW

6 MISSIONS

SGT

MILLARD H SHERRELL

LW GUNNER

POW

5 MISSIONS

SGT

EDMOND A WOODS

TAIL GUNNER

POW

8 MISSIONS

Naming the Plane

Why Worry: The crew of pilot Robert C. Patrick
were at the airfield in Deopham Green coming up
with clever names for their plane. A short time
earlier the King and Queen of England had been
invited to view another American 8th Air Force
airfield. Some of the nose art on the B-17's was
risqué in nature. The commanders covered up a
lot of the planes so the Queen would not be
offended by the names or nose art on them.
Patrick's crew had chosen several clever names,
but because of the incident with the Queen, their
commanders kept telling them they could not
use any of the names they had come up with.
After being frustrated, one crew member said ,
"Ah, why worry about it?", and they had just
about given up the idea of naming their plane.
Then another crew member said, "That's it, we'll
name her Why Worry?".

My E-Mail

My Uncle Bob
LTC Robert F Kerr, Ret.

Click on the news clips to get a higher resolution
picture and read the stories.

This is the only known picture of the "Why Worry" which was drawn by Sgt Theodore
Otte/Radioman. Otte was an accomplished artist and produced a color painting of
this sketch. Many thanks to the Otte family for providing me with this information.
They are very fine people and I am glad to know them.

You need Java to see this applet.

TIME LINE
July 3, 1942- Craig Field/Selma Alabama.
Commissioned as pilot and 2Lt in the AF Reserve.

August 1942- CIS(Central Instructor's School)
Maxwell Field, Alabama for single and twin engine
training.

Sep/Nov 1942- Columbus, Miss. Twin engine
instructor(planes had wooden props)

Dec 1942- Feb 1944- Instructor at George Field,
Lawrence, Indiana.

Feb-Mar 1944- Dyersburg, TN. B-17 training.

April, 1944- Took part in flight of 400 B-17G's from
Nebraska to Maine to New Foundland to Iceland and
finally Me(i)tts Corner, Ireland.

April, 1944- Assigned to 452BG/728SQ

May 12, 1944- Why Worry, 42-97864 shot down @
12:05 over Koblenz on way to Brux oil fields.
Parachuted safely near Merzhausen, Germany.

Dulag Luft- Frankfurt. Uncle Bob first one
questioned from the crew.

Stalag Luft III- Sagan
Dec1944-Jan 1945-Forced march to Nuremberg.
"Snow, below zero temperatures, 24 hour marches,
no water, no food, no nothing! Very bad times."

Stalag XIII D- Nuremberg
March to Moosburg. "Spring, warmer temperatures,
19 days on the road. This time we were smart! We
took everything in site!"

Stalag VIIA- Moosburg
April 29, 1945 @ 12:15 p.m.- Patton's 14th Armored
Division liberates the camp. General Patton to the
newly liberated POW's, "I bet you sonsofbitches are
glad to see me!" @110,000 POW's of all nationalities
are freed.

May 1945- Return to the USA

Nov, 1963- Retires as LTC @ Lincoln AFB, Lincoln, NE.

Notes:
Stalag Luft III- No medical facilities. If sick, you either
recovered or died. If you died, body was removed,
never to be seen again. No funeral services allowed.
Most graves were unmarked holes in the ground.

Received no pay for labor(afforded by Geneva
Convention) When the prisoners questioned the
Germans about this, they were told that they were
being charged for room and board. According to
Uncle Bob, the Germans owe him $388.80!

Had an escape committee with prisoners escaping
all the time. If captured, they were returned to camp.
Some escapees were never heard from again, their
whereabouts unknown. If captured in civilian clothes
by the Gestapo or the SS, the prisoner was shot. If
caught by the German Army, prisoner was returned
to camp.

Stalag III theater- Movies...had 5 total at the camp(all
American produced)
Uncle Bob was the projectionist.