Help Identifying Great Uncle's B-17 (2 Viewers)

[Yesak23]

Hi!
I have a family mystery I hope someone one here can solve.
I've been trying to identify my Great Uncle's B-17 from WW2 to no avail. I have some pictures attached, but they have limited information. One picture has a little bit of the nose art that I hope will help identify it. His name was Roy L. Simmons Jr. and he was a Navigator. He made it back from the war and died in the 1970's I believe. I never met him.
Once identified, I would like to do some research on it. I appreciate any help the anyone here can provide!!

Thank you!!
Yesak23

 

[SaparotRob]

I can't help but there are those here who might be able to. Great project and welcome.

 

[mjfur]

Jr. passed in 1988 1LT Roy L Simmons Jr. (1922-1988) - Find a Grave...
Sr. passed in 1973 Roy L Simmons (1894-1973) - Find a Grave Memorial

It's most likely a B-17E or F, no chin turret. Unfortunately "len" leads to a lot of possibility's.

The photos in general, what the crew is wearing, etc., gives me the impression that these photos were taken Stateside while in Training. Not 100% sure, but best guess. While it was rare some training aircraft did have names applied.

 

[Snautzer01]

https://www.fold3.com/search?docQuery=(fieldedKeywords:!((texts:!(Roy+l+simmons+jr),type:full-name)),filters:!((type:military.conflict,values:!((label:World+War+II,value:World+War+II)))))

 

[Wurger]

Unfortunately "len" leads to a lot of possibility's.

IMHO that's the name 'Helen"

 

[Yesak23]

Jr. passed in 1988 1LT Roy L Simmons Jr. (1922-1988) - Find a Grave...
Sr. passed in 1973 Roy L Simmons (1894-1973) - Find a Grave Memorial

It's most likely a B-17E or F, no chin turret. Unfortunately "len" leads to a lot of possibility's.

The photos in general, what the crew is wearing, etc., gives me the impression that these photos were taken Stateside while in Training. Not 100% sure, but best guess. While it was rare some training aircraft did have names applied.

That's right. I got it wrong in my initial post. Jr. passed in the 80's. Thanks for the information!!

 

[fubar57]

Going through the "B-17 Nose Art Name Directory" Halfway through and found several hits for "len". Keep in mind that the book was publish a long time ago and isn't complete; where the book say no nose art photo, I found a few. Also, the nose art name might be stacked, as in

Stolen
Baby

or something like that. I'm checking that avenue as well. I'll post a list of what I've found later tonight or tomorrow

 

[fubar57]

Okay, this is what I found in the directory and remember, its not a final say as not all B-17s were documented or had photos taken. We'll start with Wojtek's Helen. It will include Bomb Group, Bomb Squadron, s/n and whether there is a known photo

• Helen: no data
• Helen Belle: 2nd BG, 429th Sq, 44-6350, No
• Helen Heaven: 303rd BG, 358th Sq, 42-31224, No
• Helen Repeat: 401nd BG, no other data
• Lady Helen of Wimpole: 91st BG, Yes
• Our Helen: no data
• Thru Helen Hiwater: 303rd BG, 427th Sq, 42-39875, Yes
• Virginia Helen: 447th BG No
• Satan's Chillen: 401 BG, No
• Jackie Ellen: 305th/379th BG, 423rd/562nd Sq, No
• Mark Allen: 447th BG No

This is all now track em down

 

[Wurger]

Geo, the "Thru Helen Hiwater" we may exclude. Not the font style ...

the source: the net.

 

[fubar57]

Done

 

[Wurger]

The Lady Helen of Wimpole too ...

the pic source: Helen E Pierson | American Air Museum

 

[fubar57]

Done

 

[Wurger]

Neither Mary Ellen ...

the source: Archived Gallery 1 - 385th BGA

nor the Mary-Ellen II

the source: B-17 #42-30601 Photo | B-17 Bomber Flying Fortress – The Queen Of The Skies

 

[fubar57]

Hah....I forgot to include Mary Ellen as it was late and when I woke up this morning I forgot where I was . Note that there were three of them and note, the pic you posted, according to the directory, doesn't exist....well done

Just noticed the BG number, something odd here

 

[fubar57]

Just seen your edit. Good one. As I mentioned before, I've found nose art where the book says there was none. One photo I found was in a forum about vintage race car racing

 

[Wurger]

Yep .. also believing mjfur's guess it could be the training unit and it can be a problem. Most of such pics were taken while servicing in a operational squadrons but not during a training. It may be a trouble in finding at all. What is more the images in the first post seem to be taken with a smartphone and the flash what resulted in making the pics of the worse quality.

 

[fubar57]

Aaaaaah, never saw his edit. Very possible. Lots of training class history books out there but can't remember where I saw them. Problem is, which base and which class

 

[fubar57]

Looks like a good place to start..... View Items

 

[Yesak23]

Okay, this is what I found in the directory and remember, its not a final say as not all B-17s were documented or had photos taken. We'll start with Wojtek's Helen. It will include Bomb Group, Bomb Squadron, s/n and whether there is a known photo

• Helen: no data
• Helen Belle: 2nd BG, 429th Sq, 44-6350, No
• Helen Heaven: 303rd BG, 358th Sq, 42-31224, No
• Helen Repeat: 401nd BG, no other data
• Lady Helen of Wimpole: 91st BG, Yes
• Our Helen: no data
• Thru Helen Hiwater: 303rd BG, 427th Sq, 42-39875, Yes
• Virginia Helen: 447th BG No
• Satan's Chillen: 401 BG, No
• Jackie Ellen: 305th/379th BG, 423rd/562nd Sq, No
• Mark Allen: 447th BG No

This is all now track em down

This is awesome! I'll see what I can find. Thank you! - Yesak23

 

[Yesak23]

Yep .. also believing mjfur's guess it could be the training unit and it can be a problem. Most of such pics were taken while servicing in a operational squadrons but not during a training. It may be a trouble in finding at all. What is more the images in the first post seem to be taken with a smartphone and the flash what resulted in making the pics of the worse quality.

Yeah, I have the hard copy pictures (poor quality). To post them on this site I, to took with my iPhone. I'll double check when I get home, but I believe he trained in Alexandria, Louisiana. Looking online it looks like it was called Pollock Army Air Field.