447th Bomb Group Association
43-37797
American Beauty
No. 43-37797, "American Beauty," a B-17G-70-BO, was built by Boeing in Seattle and delivered to the Army Air Force on May 23, 1944. It was assigned to the 708th Bomb Squadron, 447th Bomb Group on June 16, and flew its first combat mission on July 11.
Combat Missions:
American Beauty appears to have flown 87 combat missions.
| No. | Date | Target | Pilot |
| 1 | 7/11/1944 | 106/ Munich, BMW plant | Hawkins |
| 2 | 7/12/1944 | 107/ Munich | Westrope |
| 3 | 7/13/1944 | 108/ Munich | G. Phillips |
| 4 | 7/14/1944 | 109/ Operation "Cadillac", Southern France | Thorpe |
| 5 | 7/16/1944 | 110/ Munich | G. Phillips |
| 6 | 7/18/1944 | 111/ Kiel, Oil targets | Thorpe |
| 7 | 7/19/1944 | 112/ Eberbach, industrial target | G. Phillips |
| 8 | 7/20/1944 | 113/ Merseberg, synthetic oil refinery | G. Phillips |
| 9 | 7/21/1944 | 114/ Regensburg, Messerschmitt plant | G. Phillips |
| 10 | 7/24/1944 | 115/ Petiers/St. Lo area, COBRA | G. Phillips |
| 11 | 7/25/1944 | 116/ Petiers/St. Lo area | G. Phillips |
| 12 | 7/27/1944 | 117/ Ostend, Belgium- coastal batteries | G. Phillips |
| 13 | 8/2/1944 | 119/ Paris, oil and supply dumps | G. Phillips |
| 14 | 8/8/1944 | 123/ Bretteville sur Laise, troop strong point | Weddle |
| 15 | 8/11/1944 | 125/ Belfort, France- marshalling yards | Westrope |
| 16 | 8/15/1944 | 128/ Handorf, Germany- airfield | G. Phillips |
| 17 | 8/16/1944 | 129/ Rositz, Germany- oil installation | G. Phillips |
| 18 | 8/18/1944 | 130/ St. Dizier, France- airfield | G. Phillips |
| 19 | 8/24/1944 | 131/ Bruz, Czechoslovakia- oil plant | G. Phillips |
| 20 | 8/27/1944 | 134/ Berlin | Zalewski |
| 21 | 8/30/1944 | 135/ Bremen, Germany | G. Phillips |
| 22 | 9/8/1944 | 139/ Mainz, Germany- industrial plants | Polansky |
| 23 | 9/9/1944 | 140/ France- Operation Grassy(French Resist.) | Quintin |
| 24 | 9/10/1944 | 141/ Giebelstadt, Germany- airfield | Weddle |
| 25 | 9/11/1944 | 142/ Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz- oil plant | R. Adam |
| 26 | 9/17/1944 | 145/ Arnhem- flak towers | Quintin |
| 27 | 9/19/1944 | 146/ Western Germany- marshalling yards | Thorpe |
| 28 | 9/22/1944 | 147/ Kassel, Germany- vehicle factory | Russel |
| 29 | 10/2/1944 | 152/ Kassel, Germany- truck factory | Moore |
| 30 | 10/3/1944 | 153/ Giebelstadt, Germany | Moore |
| 31 | 10/6/1944 | 155/ Berlin- munitions dumps, aircraft/AFV plants | Hawkins |
| 32 | 10/7/1944 | 156/ Merseburg, Germany | Hysong |
| 33 | 10/12/1944 | 158/ Bremen, Germany- aircraft plant | Polansky |
| 34 | 10/15/1944 | 160/ Cologne, Germany | Moore |
| 35 | 10/17/1944 | 161/ Cologne, Germany | Hysong |
| 36 | 10/19/1944 | 163/ Mannheim, Germany- Focke Wolf plant | Moore |
| 37 | 10/22/1944 | 164/ Munster, Germany- marshalling yards | Tietjen |
| 38 | 10/25/1944 | 165/ Hamburg, Germany- oil plant | Wessling |
| 39 | 10/26/1944 | 166/ Hannover, Germany- industrial plant | Tietjen |
| 40 | 10/30/1944 | 167/ Merseburg, Germany | Russel |
| 41 | 11/2/1944 | 168/ Merseburg, Germany- synthetic oil plant | Russel |
| 42 | 11/4/1944 | 170/ Hamburg/Rhenania, Germany- oil refinery | Russel |
| 43 | 11/5/1944 | 171/ Ludwigshafen, Germany- oil refinery | Zalewski |
| 44 | 11/21/1944 | 176/ Western Germany- oil refinery | Weeks |
| 45 | 11/30/1944 | 180/ Lutzkendorf, Germany- oil refinery | Brill |
| 46 | 12/4/1944 | 181/ Mainz, Germay- marshalling yards | Scanlon |
| 47 | 12/6/1944 | 182/ Merseburg, Germany | B. Bates |
| 48 | 12/10/1944 | 183/ Koblenz/Lutzel, Germany- marshalling yards | B. Bates |
| 49 | 12/11/1944 | 184/ Giessen, Germany- marshalling yards | Scanlon |
| 50 | 12/12/1944 | 185/ Darmstadt, Germay- marshalling yards | Scanlon |
| 51 | 12/15/1944 | 186/ Hannover, Germany- marshalling yards | Pearsall |
| 52 | 12/18/1944 | 187/ Mainz, Germany- marshalling yards | Scanlon |
| 53 | 12/24/1944 | 188/ Babenhausen, Germany- airfields | Lund |
| 54 | 12/30/1944 | 190/ Mannheim, Germany- marshalling yards | Russel |
| 55 | 12/31/1944 | 191/ Wenzendorf, Germany- Stade Airfield | Russel |
| 56 | 1/1/1945 | 192/ Dollbergen, Germany- oil plant | Schreiner |
| 57 | 1/3/1945 | 194/ Koblenz/Mosel, Germany- marshalling yards | Russel |
| 58 | 1/5/1945 | 195/ Waxweiler, Germay- communication center | W. Bates |
| 59 | 1/6/1945 | 196/ Worms, Germany- marshalling yards | Russel |
| 60 | 1/7/1945 | 197/ Paderborn, Germany- marshalling yards | Russel |
| 61 | 1/10/1945 | 199/ Karlsruhe, Germany- marshalling yards | Summers |
Returning from the mission to Karlsruhe,
Lt. Summers made an emergency landing at Rattlesden
| No. | Date | Target | Pilot |
| 62 | 2/26/1945 | 220/ Berlin- Alexanderplatz rail station | Phaneuf |
| 63 | 2/27/1945 | 221/ Liepzig, Germany- communication center | Osborne |
| 64 | 3/1/1945 | 222/ Ulm, Germany- marshalling yards | Russel |
| 65 | 3/8/1945 | 226/ Frankfurt,Germany- marshalling yards | Bland |
| 66 | 3/10/1945 | 228/ Dortman, Germany- marshalling yards | Osborne |
| 67 | 3/11/1945 | 229/ Hamburg, Germany- shipyards & sub yards | Gurney |
| 68 | 3/12/1945 | 230/ Marburg, Germany- marshalling yards | Roberts |
| 69 | 3/14/1945 | 231/ Hannover/Gebruder, Germany- munitions plant | Gurney |
| 70 | 3/18/1945 | 234/ Berlin | Eakes |
| 71 | 3/20/1945 | 236/ Hamburg, Germany- Blohm&Voss U-Boat yards | Gurney |
| 72 | 3/21/1945 | 237/ Wilheimshaven, Germany- Wittmndhafen Airfield | Phaneuf |
| 73 | 3/22/1945 | 238/ Essen/Dusseldorf, Germany- military encamp. | Gurney |
| 74 | 3/23/1945 | 239/ Holzwickede, Germany- marshalling yards | Thompson |
| 75 | 3/24/1945 | 240/ Varrelbusch airfield (Germany)- | Gurney |
| 76 | 3/31/1945 | 243/ Bandenburg, Germany- airfield | Glazener |
| 77 | 4/3/1945 | 244/ Kiel, Germany- Sub yards | Gurney |
| 78 | 4/4/1945 | 245/ Kiel, Germany- Deutsche Ship yards | Glazener |
| 79 | 4/5/1945 | 246/ Nuremburg, Germany- mashalling yards | Gurney |
| 80 | 4/9/1945 | 249/ Neuberg, Germany- airfield | Gibson |
| 81 | 4/11/1945 | 251/ Ingolstadt, Germany- airfield | Haig |
| 82 | 4/14/1945 | 252/ Bordeauz/Royan, France | Gurney |
| 83 | 4/16/1945 | 254/ Royan area, France | Gurney |
| 84 | 4/17/1945 | 255/ Dresden, Germany- marshalling yards | Gurney |
| 85 | 4/19/1945 | 256/ Dresden, Germany- marshalling yards | Gurney |
| 86 | 4/20/1945 | 257/ Neuruppin, Germany- marshalling yards | Scanlon |
| 87 | 4/21/1945 | 258/ Ingolstadt Airfield, Germany | Gurney |
American Beauty was sent to Kingman in late 1945 to be scrapped. Her tail appears in this 1946 photo.
