During WWII several US bomber groups had an aircraft named "The Bad Penny" ... do you know why?

291fifth

Because the saying was, "The bad penny always comes back."

Just a bit of numismatic trivia for your enjoyment on President's Day.

grip

The enemy would be seeing him quite often:)

WillieBoyd2

Interesting.

CaptHenway

Because "it keeps coming back!"

Zoins

How many Bad Penny bomber groups can we find?

Here some info on Bob Upcott and the crew of Bad Penny which took part in Operation Manna to drop food over The Hague in 1945:

Wikipedia
The first of the two RAF Avro Lancasters chosen for the test flight, the morning of 29 April 1945, was nicknamed Bad Penny, as in the expression: "a bad penny always turns up".[4] This bomber, with a crew of seven young men (five from Ontario, Canada, including pilot Robert Upcott of Windsor, Ontario), took off in bad weather despite the fact that the Germans had not yet agreed to a ceasefire. (Seyss-Inquart would do so the next day.) Bad Penny had to fly low, down to 50 feet (15 m), over German guns, but succeeded in dropping her cargo and returned to her airfield.

The Bad Penny Crew of Operation Manna
Canadian Historical Aircraft Association, Windsor, Ontario
Bob Upcott was the Flying Officer of the Lancaster bomber crew nicknamed "The Bad Penny." His crew was tasked with a dangerous test mission. Could planes drop food near The Hague without being shot down? On April 29, 1945, the Bad Penny took off from England with only hope in their hearts and a plane loaded with food, not bombs. Under the wary eyes of enemy anti-aircraft gunners, the Bad Penny crew flew over the dykes of Holland to a pre-determined drop zone, a horse race track. The test was a success. 'Operation Manna' had begun.

OldEastside

Some B-17 Nose Art

Steve

lablover

Often referred to the b-17 flying fortress. Many brave men died in the b-17.

DRUNNER

Venerable . . . legendary . . . what a beautiful machine.

Once a summer we have an airshow with one of the surviving B-17s thundering around Salt Lake . . . .what an impressive sight and sound.

Drunner
USAFA 78

CaptHenway

A few years ago there was a B-17 and a few other warbirds out at the airport in Aurora, IL selling rides. I went out there on Sunday with the cash in my pocket to ride the B-17, but it was grounded that day due to an oil leak in one of the engines. Looked around and left.

The next day it took off for the next stop on the tour, and that engine burst into flames. The pilot set it down in a field and everybody got out OK, but the bird was destroyed.

TD

SkyMan

To help the bad penny get back...
.

291fifth

Operation Manna, mentioned earlier in this thread, involved the dropping of food supplies to the Dutch in the area of the Netherlands still controlled by the Germans. Keep in mind that on April 29th Hitler was still alive and the Battle of Berlin was raging.

Circa 1944, when allied bombers usually had fighter escorts all the way to the target, losses to the German "Reich Defense" force of about 4000 fighters were very high. Some German fighter units had 400% turnover that year. If five German fighters made a determined attack on a bomber stream it could be expected that three of them would be shot down and two of the pilots would be killed.

ricko

Very interesting historical post....Thanks for the details ..and the pictures... Cheers, RickO

asheland

Cool thread!

DRUNNER

Gabreski!!!!!!!!!

Just about up there with Rickenbacker, Bong, and Cunningham (he with later problems) . . .

Drunner

mustangmanbob

My neighbor was a waist gunner on a B17, and spent 17 month as a POW.

My drafter also was a waist gunner, 23 missions, not a scratch on him.

lablover

My father spent 3-1/2 years in the Pacific w/the 1st Marine Division. Wounded three times. Those men were the best of the best. A very special group. In fact, any one who serves our great county in uniform deserves our respect!!!!!

Thank you to all of you...

ChangeInHistory

I watched a special on Gabby, Air Aces on AHC I believe. That guy was a MAN'S MAN!