My B-17

This B-17 was built as a tribute to my father, his brother, and the crew of the "Spirit of Alcohol".

My uncle was a member of the 91st Bomb Group and he was in the 322nd Squadron. The name of his plane was the "Spirit of Alcohol",serial number 41-24483 and was a B-17F-10-BO. This Boeing-built B17F was assigned to the 91st's group's 322nd Squadron as one of their originial aircraft at Dow Field, Bangor, on September 6th, 1942. The "Spirit of Alcohol" flew sucessfully until May 19, 1943 when the Luftwaffe finally caught up with it on a mission to the docks at Kiel, Germany and claimed retributions for their losses. 1Lt. Edwin Baxley was the pilot that day and his crew had flown three previous missions in the plane. Flying with them was a British news corespondent reporting on the American air war. German fighters raced through the formation, pumping 20mm shells into the number 3 engine and caused the plane to fall away to join the safety of another group below. Within minutes, other exploding shells slammed into the plane and knocked it from this temporary refuge, The British correspondent was killed and the crew began to tumble from the doomed plane. Only three chutes were seen before the ship plunged into the Kiel fiord and exploded on impact. In fact, somehow Baxley and three others survived. Unfortunately my uncle was not one of them. He is buried in Concord, North Carolina.

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Crew of the Spirit of Alcohol

B-17 Photos

Memories of the War

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