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Ole Betsy
The photos in this post feature the only early “shark fin”-tailed B-17 known to exist, and the only surviving B-17 to have seen action in the 1941–42 Philippines Campaign.
This B-17 Flying Fortress is the only D model in existence. Originally named Ole Betsy, this B-17D participated in several bombing missions in the desperate weeks after Pearl Harbor. Later named The Swoose, it also served as a transport for the commander of Allied air forces in the Southwest Pacific, Lt. Gen. George Brett.
The Army Air Corps accepted this aircraft and assigned it to the 19th Bombardment Group at March Field, Calif., in April 1941. In May it participated in the first mass aircraft flight from the mainland U.S. to Hawaii. In September, the aircraft flew from Hawaii to the Philippines in the longest mass flight to date.
Within hours of the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941, Ole Betsy flew on the first U.S. combat mission in the Philippines. During the following three weeks, it struck at the Japanese forces invading the Philippines. After transferring to Java, it continued to fly combat missions.
On Jan. 11, 1942, three Japanese fighters caused heavy damage to Ole Betsy — but lost two of their own in the process — during a running 35-minute engagement off the coast of Borneo. Maintenance personnel in Australia replaced the damaged tail with one from another B-17D, replaced the engines, and converted the aircraft into an armed transport.
B-17D “The Swoose”
The new pilot, Capt. Weldon Smith, gave it a new nickname after a then-popular song about a half-swan, half-goose called the “Swoose.”
In the spring of 1942, Capt. Frank Kurtz, the personal pilot for Lt. Gen. George Brett, took over The Swoose. (His daughter, famed actress Swoosie Kurtz, was named after the aircraft.) The Swoose traveled to forward air bases in the combat zone, and sometimes the crew had to man the guns against enemy fighter attack.
As told by Michael John Claringbould and Peter Ingman in their book South Pacific Air War Volume 4: Buna & Milne Bay, September 1942, meanwhile Major-General George Kenney had arrived in Australia on 28 July, having learned of the Buna landings when passing through Hawaii on his trans-Pacific flight. After meeting MacArthur, Kenney was informed of the Tulagi and Guadalcanal invasions planned for 7 August and the need for the SWPA bomber force to give maximum assistance.
Immediately Kenney borrowed Brett’s personal transport plane, an old B-17D named The Swoose, and flew to Port Moresby and then to Mareeba to inspect the 19th BG.
Kenney formed a low opinion of the unit, writing in his memoirs that:
‘The crews were thinking only of going home … Their morale was at a low ebb and they didn’t care who knew it.’
The oldest surviving Fortress
Kenney was appalled to learn that of 32 B-17s on strength, only fourteen were ready for operations and most were “pretty much worn out”. Kenney famously temporarily stood down the tired group so as to have as many B-17s as possible available to use against Rabaul to coincide with the Solomons landings planned for 7 August. At this time Brett was sent back to the US aboard The Swoose and Kenney assumed command of the Allied Air Forces, South West Pacific Area (SWPA).
Criticism of Brett and the 19th BG by both MacArthur and Kenney ironically coincided with when the mere appearance of B-17s had forced the fourth Buna convoy to turn back in a small but significant victory for the Allied Air Forces.
During Brett’s return flight across the Pacific to Washington DC The Swoose set multiple speed records. The aircraft was used by Brett as his personal transport until late 1945, after which it narrowly escaped scrapping and was subsequently passed between various museums and display locations. Today The Swoose is the oldest surviving B-17 and is undergoing restoration at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
South Pacific Air War Volume 4: Buna & Milne Bay, September 1942 is published by Avonmore Books and is available to order here.
Photo credit: U.S. Air Force and Bill Larkins via Wikipedia
