B- 17 Queen of the Skies - Mission 159 - Target: Aschersleben Aircraft Factory

I'm part of a 'Play by Forum' group at BoardGameGeek who play the solitaire board game B-17: Queen of the Skies together.  The group is run by BGG user 'jasta6' and represents the fictional 281st Bombardment Group (Heavy).  The 159th mission is an attack on the Junkers aircraft factory at Aschersleben, Germany on February 22, 1944.

This is how I went...

After Action Report:

Pilot: 2Lt. Christopher B. Whitman
B-17: 'To Prussia With Love' (B-17F-65-B0 42-29711 ) (2nd Mission)

Squadron: 153rd Bombardment Squadron, 281st Bombardment Group (Heavy)

MISSION: 159 (This bomber 2)
Date: Tuesday, February 22, 1944 (1 day from last mission)
Primary Target: Aschersleben, Germany. A/I (Junkers Aircraft Factory)
Secondary Target: None
Tertiary Target: None

Position: High

Crew Status: LW=0 / SW=0 / KIA=0 / FB=0 / POW=10

Position – Rank – Name – Missions (n) – Status
Pilot – 2Lt. Christopher B. ('Toffee') Whitman (2) - POW
Co-Pilot – 2Lt. James J. ('J.J.') Scott (2) - POW
Bombardier – 2Lt. Matthew S. ('Payload') Kelly (2) - POW
Navigator – 2Lt. Luke K. ('Wrong Way') Wray (2) - POW
Engineer - MSgt. Howard D ('Wrench') Rubin (2) - POW
Radio Operator - TSgt. Norman B. ('Mad Dog') Morgan (2) - POW
Ball Gunner - Sgt. Ernest J. ('Serious') Reed (2) - POW
Port Waist – Sgt. Roy M. ('Burnin') Bridges (2) - POW
Starboard Waist - Sgt. David M. ('Deadeye') Garcia (2) - POW
Tail Gunner - Sgt. James L. ('Back Door') Herrera (2) - POW

Key:
½ = Half an Enemy A/C KIA
* = 1 Enemy A/C KIA
# = 5 Enemy A/C KIA

Bomb Run: DNB
Bomb Drop:
Accuracy:

Enemy Fighters Encountered: (KIA – 0 / Prob – 0 / Damaged – 0)

Claims:

B-17s Disposition: The 'To Prussia With Love' was hit by flak outbound and crashed in the Netherlands.

Mission Debriefing:

Outbound
Zone 2: No Encounters
Zone 3: No Encounters
Zone 4: Three Me109s that were all driven off by fighter cover.
Zone 5: The 'To Prussia With Love' was hit by flak outbound over the Netherlands. The aircraft appeared to have suffered a fire to the starboard wing fuel tank. The pilot was seen to dive the B-17 in an effort to put out the fire but was unsuccessful. The aircraft was then seen to fall out of control in flames. 10 parachutes were seen to open. Presumably the entire crew escaped safely from the aircraft and were likely captured.

Game notes: It was only this aircraft and crew's second mission. So disappointed to find a random sporadic flak roll outbound in Zone 5 ended up with a fuel tank hit causing the aircraft to go down in flames. Only positive was that the entire crew bailed out safely. Sadly, as they were over the Netherlands they were all automatically captured and became POWs. I have submitted a request to the moderator for a replacement aircraft for Mission 160.