Draft:Liberty Lady
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|
 A Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress in flight | |
| Occurrence | |
|---|---|
| Date | March 6, 1944 |
| Site | Mästermyr, Gotland, Sweden |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress |
| Aircraft name | Liberty Lady |
| Operator | United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) |
| Flight origin | RAF Thurleigh, England |
| Destination | Erkner, Germany (intended) |
| Crew | 10 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Survivors | 10 |
Liberty Lady was an American bomber aircraft of the type Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The aircraft crash-landed on the island of Gotland, Sweden, on March 6, 1944, after a 16-hour mission.
A book was in 2016 written containing the complete story of its final mission, fate and aftermath.
Liberty Lady during World War II
[edit]Liberty Lady was part of the 306th Bombardment Group in the U.S. Eighth Air Force’s 1st Bomb Division, stationed at Thurleigh near Bedford, England. The aircraft participated in the first daylight bombing raid on Berlin on March 6, 1944, as part of a formation of 730 bombers. They took off that morning to bomb a ball bearing factory in Erkner, on the eastern outskirts of Berlin. During the mission, Liberty Lady was hit by anti-aircraft artillery over central Berlin. One engine and a fuel tank were damaged. Following the incident, Liberty Lady changed course to the north towards Sweden instead of returning westward to Thurleigh.[1][2]
Around 4 PM, the aircraft was observed over Öland, and it crash-landed at Mästermyr west of Hemse, approximately 45 km south of Visby on Gotland. The day after the emergency landing, the 10-man crew was transported to the Swedish mainland and then to the American internment camp in Rättvik.[1]
Aftermath
[edit]Albin Larsson, a workshop owner and member of the Swedish Home Guard in Hemse, was the first to arrive at the crash site. He later purchased the wreckage for 250 kronor (excluding the engines). The wing beams were repurposed as roof trusses in Hemse and Havdhem.[1]
Crew member Lieutenant Herman F. Allen, was interned and began working for his country's espionage agency, the OSS. He later married Hedvig Jonsson in the Gustav Vasa Church in Stockholm in January 1945.[1]
On July 24, 1943, another B-17F, named Georgia Rebel, belly-landed near Årjäng. This aircraft was the first of a total of 68 B-17s to seek refuge in Sweden during World War II.[3]
Book publication
[edit]In 2016 a book was published entitled Liberty Lady: A True Story of Love and Espionage in WWII Sweden about the crash.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d DiGeorge, Pat: "Liberty Lady's History" Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine, Forced Landing Collection
- ^ Gahm, Ulf (2012): “Amerikaner vilse” [Lost Americans], Gotlandsguiden - allt du behöver veta om Gotland 2012, Gotland: Visby.
- ^ "Emergency Landings from the USA" Archived 2016-08-23 at the Wayback Machine, Forced Landing Collection
- ^ Patterson, Lezlie (5 November 2016). "Love and espionage during World War II". The State.
External links
[edit]- 1944 in Sweden
- Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
- Aviation accidents and incidents in 1944
- Aviation accidents and incidents in Sweden
- March 1944 in Europe
- Accidents and incidents involving military aircraft
- Individual aircraft of World War II
- World War II strategic bombing conducted by the United States
- World War II strategic bombing of Germany
- Military operations directly affecting Sweden during World War II
- Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
- World War II military equipment of the United States