Robert K. Mason B-17 Incident Report and Photographs Collection

The Robert K. Mason B-17 Incident Report and Photographs Collection consists of an incident report and photographs of a B-17G crew, 490th Bomber Group, 850th Squadron, based in Eye, East Anglia, England, with its aircraft that was damaged by enemy fire during a bombing mission on March 9, 1945.

The two-page report by B-17 pilot Robert Mason describes that the crew came under flak fire en route to their bombing target: railroad yards in Frankfurt, Germany. A shell passed through the No. 2 engine in the left wing without exploding. After jettisoning bombs and excess weight, the crew flew an hour and a half before they managed an emergency landing at an RAF base in Wevelgem, Belgium. Report includes names and stations of the ten crew members, flight times, and altitude. In addition to the report, the collection includes six black-and-white photographs that are copies of originals taken by an RAF photographer at the Wevelgam base, with handwritten descriptions: one 4x5" photo of crew, identified on back in pen; two photos of crew standing in and around hole, one 8x10" and one 4x5" with crew members identified in pen; three black and white 8x10" photos of hole in left wing.

Digitized Materials: The entirety of this collection has been digitized.

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