Barksdale Airmen restore B-17G for 8th Air Force museum

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. John Gordinier
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. (AFNS) --  Airmen, volunteers and contractors here are busy preserving, restoring and painting a B-17G Flying Fortress for the 8th Air Force Museum in honor of Maj. Gen. Lewis E. Lyle, a World War II B-17 pilot.

The aircraft being restored will be preserved to the best extent possible and replicated as the B-17G that General Lyle flew March 22, 1944, said Master Sgt. Keith Baron, the 8th AF museum restoration and maintenance superintendent.

Twenty-eight aircraft took off from Molesworth, England, that day to bomb the Ernest Heinkel aircraft factory at Oranienburg, Germany. The second target was the Friedrichstrasse Station in Berlin. Then-Lt. Col. Lyle, the 303rd Bomb Group deputy commander, flew the B-17 "Miss Liberty" and was the aircraft formation lead.

Intelligence officials told the team the Heinkel plant was producing about 30 German He-177s per month. 8th AFofficials wanted to shut it down if weather permitted; however, the weather didn't cooperate, and the team moved to their second target.

The aircraft dropped more than 1,000 65-pound bombs from 27,000 feet on Berlin. General Lyle described the mission as "a darned good mission."

"We really hit Berlin," he said. The fighters gave the bombers "more than good support" that day, and the bomber pilots didn't see any German fighters, the generak said. "We didn't see the results of our own bombing until after we left the target. We were too busy dodging flak."

General Lyle's co-pilot, Maj. Walter Shayler, said they dropped their bombs near the river and "they really hit something."

"There was one big burst of red flame that shot thousands of feet into the air, clear through the clouds at 8,000 feet," he said.

Nine hours after takeoff, all the bombers landed back at Molesworth with mission success. Most of the bombers received flak damage, but that was considered usual over Berlin. Two crewmen suffered frostbite, but no one was severely injured.

"Our B-17G is one of approximately 30 or so B-17s left in the world, and only about five of those are in flying condition," Mr. Miller said. "Considering how rare it is, we must preserve and restore it. It will accompany the 303rd Group monument to General Lyle located next to the aircraft."

The Barksdale B-17G was the second to last made by Douglass Aircraft Company under contract with Boeing, and rolled off the assembly line in July 1945.

"This one was produced as bare aluminum with no paint on its skin," Sergeant Baron said. "To save manufacturing time, very few B-17Gs had paint. However, the "Miss Liberty" B-17G that General Lyle flew during the mission in 1944 had paint; and we are going to replicate that down to the tail number -- 42-31340.

"It is very important that we preserve the remaining artifacts from that time period so that the stories and the sacrifices made are not forgotten altogether," Sergeant Baron said. "One of our missions here in the museum is to do just that; preserve and protect so that others may learn."

"General Lyle was an aviator's aviator," said Gary Miller, the 8th AF museum director. "He was the most decorated (pilot) in 8th AF and he later (became) a general with Strategic Air Command. If you had to pick a hero of 8th AF, it was him flying 72 combat missions over Germany."

General Lyle continued his Air Force career and retired July 1, 1967. He passed away April 6, 2008 at the age of 92.

(Historical information courtesy of 303rd Bomb Group historian and 8th AF Museum)